Joe Schilling

Joseph Francis Schilling (born January 13, 1984) is an American professional Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist who most recently competed for Bellator Kickboxing in the Middleweight division, and in the Middleweight division for Bellator MMA.

Known for his use of elbows to cut opponents and nicknamed "Stitch 'em Up", Schilling began fighting professionally in 2006 and was a two-time national titlist before defeating Kaoklai Kaennorsing to become the WBC Muay Thai Interim World Light Heavyweight Champion in 2011.

His profile further increased the following year when he engaged in a controversial rivalry with Simon Marcus.

After a short and unremarkable amateur career, Schilling turned professional on September 30, 2006, taking on Lawson Baker in an 84 kg/185 lb bout on ten days' notice in Inglewood, California.

He recalls striking his opponent with all his might, only to watch him continue to advance unfazed.

After being dropped multiple times and nearly throwing in the towel, Schilling finally found the one weapon that worked, elbows.

47 landed elbows later, he won his first professional Muay Thai fight by way of split decision.

In keeping with that theme, when Schilling and Komuro decided to open their own gym, they were inspired to name it after the exercise area in prison, and in 2007 they opened The Yard, a Muay Thai gym located in Lincoln Heights.

Having amassed an undefeated record over the course of the next year, Schilling was given the opportunity to fight for the vacant International Karate Kickboxing Council (IKKC) United States Super Middleweight (-75 kg/165 lb) Muay Thai Championship against Russian import Denis Grachev in Highland, California, on November 29, 2007.

Grachev defeated Schilling with a 47-second knockout in the first round after Grachev delivered a spinning heel kick to the body, as Schilling was unable to beat the referee's ten count.

Throughout 2008, he turned his focus towards mixed martial arts and amassed a 1–3 record in the sport with all of his bouts ending in a submission.

Schilling also debuted as a professional boxer on December 20, 2008, and knocked out his opponent Orlando Brizzio in just five seconds, the fastest KO in American combat sports history.

He made his return to Muay Thai in early 2009 and took wins over Chidi Njokuani and Chris Spång before experiencing a devastating loss to Wang Hong Xiang on August 30, 2009, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Fighting under Sanshou rules for the first time, Schilling was repeatedly thrown and taken down throughout the bout and injured both of his knees.

He was counted out by the referee in round two when he could not continue after a leg sweep.

He required surgery on his knees after the fight which resulted in a year-long layoff.

Schilling made his return to the ring on September 26, 2010, in his adopted hometown of Los Angeles where he faced Ryan Roy in a bout for the Muay Thai Association of America (MTAA) United States Super Middleweight (-75 kg/165 lb) Championship.

After dominating Roy in the first round utilizing his height advantage with knees from the Thai clinch, Schilling forced the referee to stop the contest in the second when he barraged his opponent with a series of unanswered elbows.

Less than a month later, he made his international debut as he defeated Argentine opponent Luciano Vazquez via fourth round technical knockout at the historic Rajadamnern Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on October 24, 2010.

On December 5, 2010, in Los Angeles, he beat Chaz Mulkey by third-round TKO in a WBC Muay Thai United States Super Middleweight (-76.204 kg/168 lb) title eliminator.

He knocked Mulkey down four times throughout the bout, causing a referee stoppage.

Schilling was then scheduled to face Ky Hollenbeck for the WBC National Super Middleweight Championship on March 5, 2011, in Los Angeles but Hollenbeck withdrew from the bout to fight for a world title and was replaced by Chase Green, and so the interim belt was then put on the line instead.

After forcing a standing eight count on Green with a combination of a thip to the face and punches early in round one, he pounced on his hurt opponent and finished the fight with a flurry of strikes at the 2:13 mark of the opening stanza.

Schilling was expected to fight at the Stand Up Promotions' World Class Championship Muay Thai event in Anaheim, California, on August 13, 2011 but he dropped out to fight Brandon Banda for the vacant WBC United States Light Heavyweight (-79.379 kg/175 lb) Championship at Lion Fight: Battle in the Desert 3 in Primm, Nevada, a week later.

The bout was the pair's rubber match as they had gone 1-1 as amateurs, and Schilling took the lead in their rivalry as he knocked his foe unconscious with a knee strike inside the opening round to claim his second national title.

Having established himself as an elite fighter domestically, Joe Schilling was matched up with two-time Rajadamnern Stadium Champion and K-1 star Kaoklai Kaennorsing in a WBC Interim World Light Heavyweight Championship bout at the M-One: Thailand vs. America event held at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on October 21, 2011.

The fight was one-sided in favour of Schilling, as he floored the Thai in the opening seconds and again immediately after he beat the referee's eight count.

After a period of clinching, he knocked Kaoklai down for the third time with a right hook towards the end of the round, ending the fight.

In January 2012, Schilling and former foe Chaz Mulkey were brought in as sparring partners for MMA star Nick Diaz ahead of his Interim UFC Welterweight Championship match with Carlos Condit at UFC 143.

Joe Schilling and Canada's Simon Marcus went head to head in a bout to determine North America's top Light Heavyweight at Lion Fight: Battle in the Desert 5 in Las Vegas on February 25, 2012.

Both men agreed to a "winner takes all" scenario, meaning that whoever came out victorious would take 100% of the fight purse, and the fight ended as controversially as it began.

In round one, Marcus tripped Schilling, sending his head slamming into the canvas.

As of November 1, 2018, he is ranked the #7 middleweight kickboxer in the world by Combat Press.

Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, Schilling was raised by a single mother alongside two other siblings.

A troublesome child, Schilling was expelled from four different schools and took up Muay Thai at 15 years old, hoping that it would give him direction and focus.

After being kicked out of the family home at 17, he worked odd jobs and began his fighting career in local Toughman Contests while living in a small property that his grandmother owned with his brother Kevin.

After his grandmother died, Schilling moved to Los Angeles, California where he found work as a personal trainer at a YMCA.

He met his future trainer and business partner Mark Komuro while training at the LA Boxing Club, in downtown Los Angeles.

When that gym shut down, the pair moved to a spartan gym situated in a dilapidated structure that had formerly housed the Lincoln Heights city jail, with Schilling being announced at fights as fighting out of "The Jail."

He was released from Bellator in October 2020 after the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulations refused to grant him a license to fight.