Daniel Puder

Photo credit: Chris Riley

Real name: Daniel Puder
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 235 lbs.
Date of birth: October 9, 1981
From: Sunnyvale, CA
Pro debut: 2004
Trained by: Al Snow
Finishing move: Spinebuster

Biography

– Puder competed in amateur wrestling at high school level, before entering the world of MMA
– Puder contested his first professional MMA event on September 6, 2003, defeating Jay McCown by unanimous decision at an X-1 event
– Puder entered the fourth season of WWE Tough Enough in 2004
– During the Tough Enough competition, Puder was involved in an infamous segment with Kurt Angle, where Angle challenged the Tough Enough contestants to a ‘shoot match’. Puder legitimately secured a kimura lock on Angle, with only Jimmy Korderas counting a non-existent pinfall to break the hold before Angle suffered a severe injury.
– At Armageddon 2004, Puder defeated Mike Mizanin in a ‘Dixie Dog Fight’ as part of the Tough Enough competition
– Puder was announced as the winner of Tough Enough on the December 16 episode of Smackdown
– Puder competed in the 2005 Royal Rumble match, where he was legitimately chopped by Eddie Guerrero, Hardcore Holly and Chris Benoit, supposedly as retribution for Puder’s ‘attack’ on Angle
– In the summer of 2005, Puder began working for WWE’s developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling, but was cut from his WWE contract after OVW coaches claimed he had attitude problems
– Puder returned to MMA, raking up a further 5 victories at StrikeForce branded events between March 2006 and September 2007
– Puder turned up in ROH in January 2008, hosting the $1000 Daniel Puder Submission Challenge, as well as defeating Mike Bennett in a Proving Ground Match
– Puder returned to MMA again in 2009, picking up two wins at Call To Arms events. These turned out to be his final professional MMA events and he left the sport with an 8-0 record
– Puder began working in Japan in 2010, initially for IGF before joining New Japan
– Puder teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura in the 2010 G1 Tag League
– Puder left New Japan following the conclusion of the Tag League in November 2010
– Puder was scheduled for a return to MMA in a match against Tank Abbott in February 2011, but pulled out of the match through injury and never returned to competition
– As of 2018, Puder operates the MLMP group of organisations, designed to combat bullying and promote self-betterment