Buell Fighting Systems was started in 1994 by three brothers with a common goal --- to develop a more complete fighting style. Their quest was born out of necessity and a love for combat arts. Coming back from Iraq with job skills such as jumping out of airplanes, clearing booby-trapped bunkers, and having excellent shooting skills, Michael was desperate to make "this whole fighting thing work." After Michael left the Army, he was able to get a job teaching tennis. This gave him many opportunities to go down the street to a well-known boxing gym. Michael's original goal was to become a professional boxer. That all changed the day he saw a 186lbs Brazilian "SUBMITTING" much larger opponents. The Brazilian was named Royce Gracie and he exploded everyone's idea of what fighting was and what fighters looked like. Americans have all ways been taught that the toughest guy on the planet was the Heavy Weight Boxing Champion. Now, we had a new "toughest guy on the planet" and he was not black nor could he even throw an effective punch, but he could wreck all of his opponents. He claimed that his family's style of Jiu Jitsu was unbeatable and the whole world ate up his every word. Everyone except the Buell brothers.
From the start, the Buells knew there were too many holes in the Gracie game. Some of those holes were the complete lack of any punching and kicking and the use of only two takedowns that are easily countered. The Buells knew early in the beginning years of No Holds Barred that a truly effective form of fighting would be a complete form. Meaning all aspects of fighting would need to be practiced developed and learned in order to be considered a complete fighting style. After years of training in Boxing, Mauy Thai Kickboxing, Wrestling, and different forms of Submission Wrestling, the Buells were confident that their blend of the best aspects of those styles to form one great style was ready for the world of Mixed Martial Arts competition.
Now that Michael's career as a fighter has come true and has ended, there are many great memories for Michael to look back on. Some of his great accomplishments are:
* Winning his fight in the first MMA event in Arizona's history.
* Getting the call up from Steve Nelson to fight for America's largest Shoot fighting Organization (USWF).
* Winning an 8-man tournament belt.
* Winning the USWF World Champion Belt, this came with a contract to fight in a sister organization in Japan known as SHOOTO.
* Getting an invitation from the Sheik in Abu Dhabi to wrestle in the first ever Submission Wrestling World Championships.
* Michael has knocked out professional boxers
and submitted Olympic wrestlers, but Michael's
toughest fight was the battle with his back.
Two months before his back surgery that left
him with 4 titanium screws, two large titanium
rods, and a missing vertebra; he accepted a
fight in Russia against an Olympic wrestler
from Belarus. This was the last fight of Michael's
career and a glorious achievement for him personally,
to be able to overcome so much pain and fight
someone at that caliber and win it with a heel
hook that only the Buells could have invented
(see video).
* Of all Michael's achievements, the one that Michael can sit back and say is his greatest accomplishment in the fight game is that he was RIGHT. He and his brothers knew the future of fighting was not Gracie Jiu Jitsu but a more complete fighting style. The proof is that there are no fighters calling themselves Jiu Jitsu anymore. Now, they all call themselves Mixed Martial Arts fighters. The Buells didn't jump on the Gracie bandwagon and take the easy ride. They chose their own path and developed a style of fighting that will last the test of time. Just sit back and watch as the world's fighters continue to blend Martial Arts the way the Buells did in the 90's.
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