Shonie Carter

Mearion Shonie Bickhem III (born May 3, 1972), better known as Shonie Carter, is an American mixed martial artist who has competed in the Welterweight, Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions. He is a former WEC Welterweight Champion, a UFC veteran, and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He has also competed in Pancrase, King of the Cage, M-1 Global, KSW and Bellator. He is known for his flashy dress, colorful vocabulary, outlandish personality and use of the spinning backfist in competition. Following coming back from retirement, Carter currently fights in the Welterweight division though his last fight took place in Coventry in the sport of Bareknuckle boxing, Carter lost after 5 rounds via decision to Irelands Jimmy Sweeney the BKB middleweight king.

Early life and martial arts background
Carter was born in the African American ghettos of Chicago, Illinois and served for six years in the United States Marine Corps before beginning his profession as a fighter. Carter attended Proviso East High School. He began his martial arts training in Greco-Roman wrestling at Triton Community College in River Grove, Illinois before transferring to Carson-Newman College in Tennessee where he began studying judo and jujutsu, under Dr. Stephen Terrell and Dr. Stephen Karr. He was also an All-American wrestler and participated in the Olympic trials. After a semester of studying judo, Carter enrolled in the Tennessee state championship in the white-green, brown, and black belt divisions. He won state titles in the white-green and brown divisions, and placed second in the black belt division. His instructor awarded him his brown belt after his performance. Carter later added sanshou and Shidōkan Karate to his repertoire.

In addition to his MMA career, he also holds a record of 57 wins and 5 losses as a professional kickboxer.

Career
Carter has fought in a wide variety of shows, both large and small. He has won at least ten belts in various organizations throughout his career. He began his career in 1997, fighting primarily in the Extreme Challenge promotion. Though he lost his debut fight to LaVerne Clark by knockout in just 9 seconds, he went on to rack up an 11-1-2 record before facing UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich. He lost via a decision.

Carter began to make appearances in Pancrase and won his UFC debut at UFC 24 against Brad Gumm. He went on to win notable victories over Chris Lytle and Matt Serra. In 2003, he appeared in fledging promotion World Extreme Cagefighting and became the WEC welterweight champion after defeating JT Taylor. He would lose his first title defense to Karo Parisyan. Other notable fights included a loss to future UFC title contender Jon Fitch, a victory over future UFC fighter Jess Liaudin, and a victory over Jason Black, who was undefeated in 22 fights prior to the bout.

The Ultimate Fighter 4
After losing to Nathan Quarry at UFC 53 by TKO, Carter's UFC record stood at a lukewarm 3-2. He applied as a contestant for the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter a reality show on Spike. The season, subtitled "The Comeback", featured MMA veterans whose careers in the UFC could use a jumpstart. Carter joined Team Mojo and was picked to fight first against Team No Love's Rich Clementi. Carter arrived to the show out of shape and struggled through his initial workout. With help from his cornerman Matt Serra, however, Carter won a two-round decision over Clementi. In the second round, Carter fought a rematch with Matt Serra. Much was made of Carter's come-from-behind KO by spinning backfist in their previous encounter. Though Carter landed another spinning backfist, he lost the fight by decision.

Throughout the show, Carter earned notoriety and sparked irritation from his cast-mates with his habits, including his unusual style of dress and various artistic projects. He angered both teams by unilaterally deciding to train with Team No Love for a day. He also asked Clementi to corner him in his fight with Serra. On the show, his MMA record showed that he had 198 professional fights.

Post-show career
After the completion of the show, Carter did not appear on the card of the season finale. He did, however, make an appearance a month later on UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Riggs, losing to Marcus Davis by unanimous decision. Afterward, Carter continued to fight at smaller promotions. He won the Throwdown Middleweight Championship at Throwdown ETC – Showdown on February 20, 2009, via a split decision victory from George Lockhart. He lost 7 out of his last 9 fights.

Carter announced his first retirement in January 2013, with around 240 full contact karate, kickboxing and MMA bouts under his belt.

Carter came out of retirement in January 2014, when he faced Matt Dwyer for the BFL Welterweight Championship. Carter lost the fight by TKO (retirement).

Other activities
After finishing his stint on The Ultimate Fighter, Carter appeared on BET's similar program The Iron Ring as a coach for Lil Jon's team, Headbusters. While taping, Carter verbally sparred with Floyd Mayweather, the leader of another team, over a fight stoppage. Mayweather was condescending toward the sport of mixed martial arts throughout the show. Carter claims that he has gained more notoriety from members of the black community since his appearance on The Iron Ring than from his UFC and The Ultimate Fighter appearances.

On May 16, 2008, Carter served as an impromptu guest referee for a notorious bout at a Legends of Fighting event that resulted in a double-knockout. Eight seconds into the bout, newcomers Tyler Bryan and Shaun Parker landed simultaneous knockout punches. The video of the double-knockout, and Carter's subsequent reaction, has been viewed on YouTube over 1 million times. and looking into a career in the WWE. He spoke with C.M. Punk on making the jump to the professional wrestling ring.

On April 22, 2017, Carter took part in a "bare knuckle" (in actuality fighters hands were wrapped) boxing event for Bare Knuckle Boxing in England. He faced Jimmy Sweeney in a Middleweight title fight. Carter lost the bout by decision.

Personal life
Carter is currently single and has three children: a daughter Sierra Rena, and sons Samearion Andreas, and Kavion Osiris. He resides in Chicago teaching at the Honbu Dojo Shidokan USA under the guidance of USA Shidokan Branch Chief Eddie Yoshimura. He is a bartender and bouncer at the Mexican restaurant Fiesta Cantina in the Wrigleyville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois and a personal trainer at the LA Fitness Gym's Ravenswood location.

Amateur wrestling

 * National Junior College Athletic Association
 * NJCAA All-American
 * Collegiate World Team member

Judo

 * Tennessee State Judo Championships
 * Tennessee Middleweight Judo Championship (Two times)

Karate

 * Ireland Super Cup
 * Ireland Super Cup Welterweight Championship
 * Shidōkan German Cup
 * Shidōkan German Cup Championship
 * Shidōkan Mixed Fighting
 * SMF Welterweight Championship
 * Shidōkan Superfight
 * Shidōkan Superfight Middleweight Championship
 * United States Shidōkan Championships
 * USSC Lightweight Championship
 * USSC Middleweight Championship
 * USSC Light Middleweight Championship

Kickboxing

 * Illinois State Kickboxing
 * Illinois Light Heavyweight Championship
 * North Carolina State Kickboxing
 * North Carolina Middleweight Championship

Mixed martial arts

 * Extreme Challenge
 * EC Lightweight Championship
 * EC Lightweight Tournament Championship
 * Indiana Martial Arts Challenge
 * IMAC Welterweight Championship
 * International Fighting Championship
 * IFC Welterweight Superfight Championship
 * Iron Heart Crown
 * IHC Shooto North American Welterweight Championship
 * King of the Cage
 * KOTC Welterweight Superfight Championship
 * Throwdown
 * Throwdown Middleweight Championship
 * World Extreme Cagefighting
 * WEC Welterweight Championship
 * World Fighting Council
 * WFC Middleweight Championship

Submission grappling

 * North American Grappling Association
 * NAGA Midwest Super Heavyweight Championship
 * United States Pankration Championship
 * United States Pankration Championship

Other

 * Awards and accomplishments
 * U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame Induction (2008)
 * Lifetime Achievement Award, Combat Radio Broadcasting (2009)
 * Action Martial Arts Hall of Fame Induction (2010)
 * Master's Hall of Fame Induction (2011)