| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | April 20, 1967 (age 53) White Sands, New Mexico, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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.svg.png "Silver medal – second place"){kind=icon}
.svg.png "Gold medal – first place"){kind=icon}
Townsend Saunders (born April 20, 1967) is an Olympic silver medalist[1] in wrestling who was a two-time All-American at Arizona State University. In 1987 Saunders became an NCAA Div. II National Champion for California State University-Bakersfield. Townsend was a Goodwill Games gold medalist in 1994 and also won two Pan American Games gold medals in 1991 and 1995.
Biography
Saunders was born in White Sands, New Mexico. Known in college as "Junior" Saunders,[2] he adopted his given name in international competition. In 1985 he was a California State runner-up while wrestling for Torrance High School in Torrance, California.
Saunders married Tricia, a four-time World Champion FILA wrestler, and is the father of three children. Saunders currently works for ZipRecruiter in Tempe, Arizona.
Townsend Saunders has also competed in mixed martial arts for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, at UFC 16 and UFC 18.
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 2 matches | 0 wins | 2 losses |
| By decision | 0 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–2 | Mikey Burnett | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 18 | January 8, 1999 | 1 | 15:00 | Kenner, Louisiana, United States | |
| Loss | 0–1 | Pat Miletich | Decision (split) | UFC 16 | March 13, 1998 | 1 | 15:00 | Kenner, Louisiana, United States | MMA Debut. |
Submission grappling record
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
| Win |  Andre Pederneiras | Decision | The Contenders | 1997 | 5 | 5:00 |
References
- ^ Dan, Gable (1998-12-01). Coaching Wrestling Successfully. Human Kinetics. ISBN 978-0-87322-404-8.
- ^ Rowe, Reginald E. (2016-05-09). The Golden Era of Amateur Wrestling: 1980S. Archway Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4808-2963-3.
External links
- Professional MMA record for Townsend Saunders from Sherdog
- Townsend "Junior" Saunders at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame site
- Townsend Saunders at UFC
