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Mark Robinson
Mark Robinson
Born	18 March 1963 (age 61)
Nickname	White Rhino
Residence	Johannesburg
Nationality	South African
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	300 lb (136 kg; 21 st 6 lb)
Division	Super heavyweight
Style	Wrestling
Team	Mark Robinson MMA
Mixed martial arts record
Total	2
Wins	1
By submission	1
Losses	0
No contests	1
Other information
Notable relatives	Norman Robinson (father)
	Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mark Robinson (born 18 March 1963) is a South African martial artist and powerlifter. He is considered to be one of South Africa's most accomplished athletes due to his accomplishments in several wrestling styles (freestyle, Greco-Roman, sumo) and powerlifting.^[2]^[3]

Background

Robinson was born to a family of martial artists.^[7] His father, Norman Robinson, was one of the first practitioners of Shotokan Karate in South Africa and helped instigate the establishment of the South African branch of the Japan Karate Association.^[8] His grandfather, Jack Robinson, was a pioneer of judo in South Africa and set up an establishment that would later become Judo South Africa.^[8]

Grappling career

Robinson's earliest sporting achievement was in 1982, when he became the South African judo champion in the heavyweight division.^[7]

Robinson later started pursuing various forms of amateur wrestling including both Greco-Roman and freestyle.^[7] From 1994 to 1996, he won multiple medals in wrestling at the African Wrestling Championship and African Games.^[7] His strong performance at the 1996 Acropolis Wrestling Grand Prix qualified him for a spot at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling.^[7] However, he was unable to compete due to budget restrictions.^[7]

Robinson competed in the 1996 Sumo World Championship with only a few months of training.^[2]^[3] In the finals, he defeated Emmanuel Yarbrough to become champion of the openweight class.^[2]^[3]^[9]

Robinson competed at the 2001 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship in the +99 kg category against several strong candidates.^[3]^[10] He defeated Valeriy Yureskul, Vitor Belfort and Ricco Rodriguez to reach the final,^[3]^[10] where he defeated Jeff Monson to become champion.^[3]^[10]

Powerlifting career

Around the same time he started his grappling career, Robinson also participated in powerlifting.^[7]

He is a multiple time medalist at WPC World Championships including winner of the 1990 World Championship at the +140 kg category.^[7]^[1]

Personal Bests

Squat – 496/936.9 lb (Raw/Single)^{[citation needed]}
Bench press – 297.6/595.2 lb (Raw/Single)^{[citation needed]}
Deadlift – 545.6/821.2 lb (Raw/Single^{[citation needed]}
Total – 1289.7/2353.4 lb (Raw/Single)^{[citation needed]}

Mixed martial arts career

Robinson had a brief career in mixed martial arts.^[11]

On 26 August 2000, he fought for the promotion, World Extreme Fighting at the event WEF – New Blood Conflict. He faced Joe Leyva and won by submission in less than 30 seconds.^[11]

On 23 February 2001, he fought for the promotion, Ultimate Fighting Championship at the event UFC 30.^[11] He faced Bobby Hoffman and was knocked out in the first round by a standing elbow strike.^[11]^[12] However Hoffman failed a drug test afterwards and the decision was changed to a no-contest.^[11]

Personal life

Robinson lives in Johannesburg with his wife Deirdre and daughter.^[7]

Robinson set up a martial arts academy in 2001 in South Africa.^[7]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
2 matches	1 win	0 losses
By submission	1	0
No contests	1


Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
NC	1–0 (1)	Bobby Hoffman	NC (overturned)	UFC 30	23 February 2001	1	3:27	Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States	Originally a KO win for Hoffman; overturned due to Hoffman failing drug test.
Win	1–0	Joe Leyva	Submission (neck crank)	WEF: New Blood Conflict	26 August 2000	1	1:22	N/A

^[11]

Submission wrestling record

Result	Rec.	Opponent	Method	Event	Division	Date	Location
10 Matches, 7 Wins, 3 Losses
Lose	7–3	Reese Andy		ADCC 2003	Absolute	2003	São Paulo
Lose	7–2	Mike van Arsdale		ADCC 2003	+99 kg	2003	São Paulo
Win	7–1	Jeff Monson	Points	ADCC 2001	+99 kg	2001	Abu Dhabi
Win	6–1	Ricco Rodriguez	Penalty
Win	5–1	Vitor Belfort	Penalty
Win	4–1	Valeriy Yureskul	Submission
Lose	3–1	Ricardo Morais		ADCC 2000	+99 kg	2000	Abu Dhabi
Win	3–0	Lee Hasdell		ADCC 2000	+99 kg	2000	Abu Dhabi
Win	2–0	Luis Roberto Duarte		ADCC 1999	+99 kg	1999	Abu Dhabi
Win	1–0	Yasuaki Hiramatsu		ADCC 1999	+99 kg	1999

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Robinson Mark – results in powerlifting and benchpress, records, personal data, photos and video". en.allpowerlifting.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "All About the ADCC: +99Kg Division | BJJ Heroes". 6 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Calitz, Wilna (28 December 2015). "South African Sports stars – the guys and gals in green and gold". FinGlobal. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ "international sumo federation". www.ifs-sumo.org. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c "International Wrestling Database". www.iat.uni-leipzig.de. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Mark Robinson Mixed Martial Arts". 15 November 2018. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b "50 years of martial arts – Steve Bazzea". Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
^ "Results of the Fifth Sumo World Championships" (PDF). 24 August 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship 2001 • ADCC NEWS". adcombat.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Mark Robinson". Sherdog. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
^ Winston, Dallas (2 September 2012). "Future Evolutions In MMA: Muay Thai Standing Elbows (Part One)". Bloody Elbow. Archived from the original on 20 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.