Issue 227
March 2026
Giancarlo Aulino catches up with Dan Severn to trace how one of MMA’s original iron men went from no-holds-barred pioneer to a still-evolving student of longevity, competition, and life beyond the cage.
Dan Severn helped pave the way for many amateur wrestlers through his UFC Hall of Fame career. He’s a pioneer who competed during the promotion’s ‘No Holds Barred’ era, which featured one-night tournaments. Despite debuting at age 37, he achieved plenty of success, including capturing the UFC Superfight championship, and retired with a professional record of 119-19-7. Severn faced some of the greatest fighters of his era, including Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Mark Coleman. Fighters Only got in touch with him to reflect on his legendary career and find out what life looks like now.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE UFC
Today’s fighters are beginning their careers much younger, but Severn’s debut came when he was about to turn 37 at UFC 4.
“I always tell people that I was a whole lot closer to 37 than I was to 36,” smiles Severn. “You don’t normally start a cage-fighting career at that juncture in life. You typically would depart from it, but that’s when the opportunity presented itself.”
The UFC had only been around for a year at that point, so Severn had only seen videotapes, but it quickly developed a devoted fan base.
“When the UFC was first coming out, they had their videos all on cassettes, and they were being sold at your local Blockbuster video store,” he said. “I watched a couple of my buddies on the couch going rabidly crazy, watching it more than I was watching what they were getting crazy about. And there’s something here because these are a couple of my buddies, and they’re turning into rabid fans.”
Severn viewed his bouts as personal challenges rather than fights.
“I tell people that all the time,” he says. “It’s not that I’m a fighter, but I am a competitor. And I always say that life is competition. Anyone else that says life is not competition, well, they’re probably on the lower rungs of life. It's a competition. But the reality is you’re really only in competition with yourself.”
A WRESTLER AT HEART
Before his MMA career, Severn was a decorated NCAA Division I wrestler and won gold at the 1986 Pan American Championships and 1986 World Cup, but missed the Olympics, which is something he continues to reflect on.
“Lou Banach ended up winning the gold medal, and everybody he wrestled, I had pinned in under a minute. So would I have won that gold medal? Yes, I would have. It’s just one of those things. I can’t turn back the clock of time.”
Retrospectively, this is what started his MMA career.
“I would have never jumped into the UFC. The UFC did the very first show in 1993. So I would have been retired. I would have been coaching at some small university or major university or whatever, high school, and being an industrial arts teacher, and life would have been just fine for me.”
UFC AT THE WHITE HOUSE
During the early years, the UFC was banned in several states. Now, 23 years later, the promotion is being welcomed to the White House, which he’s taken great interest in.
“I think it’s definitely full circle,” says Severn. “You had a lot of different politicians and legislators, especially from the state of Arizona, you had Senator John McCain, who was one of the biggest advocates trying to do away with this barbaric type of sport that was taking place.”
Severn is familiar with Gaethje, having crossed paths with him many times.
“Gaethje is a former Arizona wrestler, so it just puts a little pride in there for the fact that he comes with a wrestling pedigree. Although, how often does he show that wrestling pedigree when he’s out there? I have done some interviews with Gaethje in the past, and I go, ‘I have yet to see you use your grappling pedigree.’ And he goes, ‘Well, I like to bang.’ And I’m there thinking, ‘Well, so be it. You like to bang.’”
LIVING A HEALTHY, ACTIVE LIFE
After thriving in amateur wrestling, he transitioned to MMA, eventually becoming a UFC Hall of Famer while still competing, and also worked as a professional wrestler with WWE during the famous Attitude Era. Today, he continues to prioritize fitness.
“I do something physically every day, but I go to the gym every other day,” he says. “I just started doing that probably within the last eight months. Now that I’ve changed the tempo of going to an actual gym every other day, I’m seeing great improvements here once again.”
This is coupled with a constant search for ways to improve his health.
“For a guy who started as late as I did and then went that many years, and to be a lifetime chemical-free athlete speaks volumes for what I did,” he said.
Today, Severn continues to give back to the sport through coaching and regularly interacts with fans at speaking engagements.
“I like the little life that I carved out for myself, and I’ll continue to keep moving forward. I do a lot of research on stem cells, hyperbaric chambers, and related things that might extend my life. I stay busy and am always working on the body and the mind. I travel quite extensively, and I do a lot of teaching and speaking. My first love is still teaching amateur wrestling. That’s the number one thing that I like doing.”
His focus is on mentoring, helping the next generation navigate their own journeys and the world is better for that shared knowledge.
