Biography

Ian William Freeman (born 11 October 1966) is a retired English mixed martial artist who was the Cage Rage World Heavyweight Champion and the final Cage Rage British Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the first British person to fight in the UFC, as well as the first person to beat Frank Mir. His autobiography, "Cage Fighter: The True Story of Ian 'The Machine' Freeman", was published in 2004 by Blake Publishing.

In 2004, he was the referee on the game show Britain's Hardest, which ran for 10 episodes on Sky 1.

On 1 November 2006, it was announced that Ian was due to coach a British-based team that would have participated in the International Fight League from 2008, had the promotion not shut down due to financial difficulties.In 2005, Ian was the referee on ITV's ill-fated Celebrity Wrestling gameshow. Freeman also starred in the 2008 British boxing action-comedy film Sucker Punch.

In 2009, Freeman was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for a year, for tax fraud, as he had not declared earnings from his fighting career and had also fraudulently claimed £12,352 in tax credits with his wife. He was additionally ordered to complete 120 hours community service and wear an electronic tag. His wife was sentenced to a six-week community order and also electronically tagged.Ian was the ring announcer for M-1 Global: Breakthrough, which took place on 28 August 2009 at Memorial Hall, in Kansas City, Kansas.Ian has recently agreed to be ring announcer for Clan Wars, Ireland's first Pro ISKA governed MMA competition.

In 2010, Ian worked as spokesman for the now defunct Kudegra Fighting Championship, shortly after he parted company with the promotion.In 2019, his daughter Kennedy was signed to Bellator.