Shane del Rosario

Shane Kalani del Rosario (September 23, 1983 – December 9, 2013) was an American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer.

He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Heavyweight division, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, ShoXC, and King of the Cage.

He held the distinction of being the first American to become the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Del Rosario was born and raised in Orange County, California, and was half-Filipino American.

He started training as a fighter at the age of 17 with Marco Ruas.

Del Rosario then attended and graduated from college with a bachelor's degree in psychology out of UC Irvine.

Del Rosario competed as a Heavyweight in Muay Thai on the World Championship Kickboxing series of kickboxing events and In Sync Productions Inc.

On November 9, 2006, Shane Del Rosario fought Tyler Grear.

After surviving a spinning backfist that stunned him in round one, Del Rosario dropped Grear with a power punch early in round two.

Grear could not beat the referee's 10-count as Del Rosario was declared the winner by knockout at 16 seconds of the second round.

Shane del Rosario transitioned into mixed martial arts in 2006 when he made his debut for mixed martial arts promotion King of the Cage.

He then competed for notable promotions including EliteXC, M-1 Global and Strikeforce.

Shane del Rosario defeated Brandon Cash in his Strikeforce debut.

He was expected to face Bobby Lashley at Strikeforce: Miami, but the bout never materialized.

He was then expected to meet Ron Sparks at Strikeforce: Los Angeles on June 16, but that bout also never happened.

After defeating Justin Carver by first-round knockout on January 11, 2007, Shane then fought reigning WBC Muay Thai International Heavyweight Champion Ricardo van den Bos for the vacant WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Championship.

Del Rosario dominated van den Bos throughout the majority of the bout.

After dropping van den Bos twice in round number two, Del Rosario landed a knee that finished Ricardo van den Bos at the last second of the round.

He was then declared the winner by knockout at 3:00 of round two and the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

He would also become the first American to have won the WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight title.

Del Rosario's first career loss came in his first title defense against Dutch kickboxer Ginty Vrede.

Going into the bout as the fan favorite, he appeared to hurt Vrede in the opening round.

Vrede came back with a powerful hook that stunned del Rosario and forced a standing eight-count by referee Steve Mazzagatti.

After beating the count, del Rosario was dropped by an immediate high kick.

The referee stopped the fight at 2:24 of the first round and declared Vrede the new WBC Muay Thai World Heavyweight Champion.

Following Vrede's death, the WBC World Heavyweight Championship was vacated.

Del Rosario then knocked out Mexican kickboxer Ricardo Romero at 1:20 in the second round on July 26, 2008, to win the title for a second time.

Shane won against Lolohea Mahe by way of TKO on July 23, 2010, at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe.

After the bout, Shane expressed his desire to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

On February 12, 2011, Del Rosario competed in an alternate bout for Strikeforce's World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament.

He faced Lavar Johnson and won the bout with an armbar submission in the closing minute of the first round to earn the first reserve spot in the tournament.

He was to face Daniel Cormier at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum, but was involved in a car accident in which a drunk woman hit his car from the back.

As a result, from the accident, he suffered a herniated disc which kept him from training as well as forcing him to withdraw from the bout.

Del Rosario's manager Jason House announced that he had signed to the UFC to compete in the Heavyweight division, starting in 2012.

Del Rosario was expected to face Gabriel Gonzaga on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146.

Due to Alistair Overeem testing positive for high levels of testosterone, Frank Mir replaced him for the title shot which promoted Antônio Silva to fight for the co-main event against Cain Velasquez.

The move left Roy Nelson with no opponent, which prompted the UFC to let him face former title contender Gonzaga while del Rosario faced Stipe Miocic.

del Rosario was defeated in the second round by TKO, giving him his first professional MMA career loss.

Del Rosario faced Pat Barry at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale.

He lost the fight by knockout at 0:26 of the second round.