Fulton O’Malley Gaines (Born March 26, 1980 in Hell's Kitchen, New York) Is an Irish-American Mixed Martial Artist turned Professional Wrestler currently competing for Fearless Championship Wrestling. In his MMA career, he holds notable wins over Jens Pulver, Forrest Griffin, Bas Rutten, and Wanderlei Silva.
Early life[]
Fulton was born in Hell’s Kitchen, New York to Irish-American parents Patrick Gaines, and Flora Gaines-O’reilly. As a child, Fulton took interest in early UFC competitions, and soon got his father to enroll him in Karate classes. Over the years, he continued to excel in Martial Arts, and in 1997, at the age of 17, earned his black belt.
Mixed Martial Arts Career[]
That exact same year, Fulton began training under UFC Legend Bas Rutten, and was present at many of his fights. However, due to his age, He was deemed too young to compete. However, it would only be a matter of months before Fulton turned 18, and would meet age requirements. His birthday passed, and two days after his birthday, on March 28, 1998, he made his first amateur MMA debut, in a losing effort to former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver. He and Pulver would go on to have five more classic battles, including an infamous incident in 2001 where Fulton landed a flying knee for the TKO on Pulver in the first round. After qualifying for the Rage In The Cage tournament in San Francisco, Fulton’s career began to soar to the next level. He went into the completion as the underdog and silenced all critics when he pulled a final round upset after defeating another young up and comer by the name of Forrest Griffin. Soon after, Fulton decided to turn to professional wrestling. After his third consecutive Rage In The Cage championship win, he finally decided to call it quits. He fought his last fight against Jeff Cole in 2003. He won by decision.
Professional Wrestling[]
New Era Wrestling (2003-2006)[]
On June 2, 2003, Gaines signed a deal with Florida based promotion New Era Wrestling (NEW) where he came in and immediately formed an alliance with another former Mixed Martial artist by the name of Marcel Marks. Gaines and Marks would form the tag-team called Knockout Kings, and would go on to hold the NEW World Tag Team championships a record setting 7 times. In 2005, however, Fulton set out on his own in singles competition. He found great success and managed to win the NEW Junior Heavyweight Championship 3 times. However, after a lack of activity in 2006, Fulton grew tired of the company, and requested his release a month later.
Fearless Championship Wrestling (2007-present)[]
Fulton Gaines made his FCW in October 2006, knocking out “Rockstar” Rick King for the pinfall. He earned an extreme title shot a week later against current champion Prozac. He lost the opportunity, but came back two weeks later, and won a four way match. It was during this time, however, that Fulton was concussed after a botched legdrop from Jamie McKnight would put him out of action for several weeks. He made his return to television on the January 8th, 2008 edition of Tuesday Night Tartarus in which he was entered in to the New Beginnings Tournament. On the January 15th edition of Tartarus he gained his first FcW championship when he pinned Sevrena after their New Beginnings Tournament victory to win the FcW Extreme Championship via 24/7 rule.
Championships and accomplishments[]
In Wrestling[]
- Fearless Championship Wrestling
- FcW Extreme Championship (1x, current)
- New Era Wrestling
- NEW World Tag Team Championship (7 times, With Marcel Marks)
- NEW Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
In MMA[]
- Rage in The Cage Tournament
- RITC World Champion 1999
- RITC World Champion 2000
- RITC World Champion 2001