Mark Robinson (born 18 March 1963) is a South African martial artist and powerlifter. He is considered one of South Africa's most accomplished athletes with his most notable accomplishments being world champion in submission wrestling, sumo and powerlifting. Background Robinson was born to a family of martial artists. His father, Norman Robinson, was one of the first practitioners of Shotokan Karate in South Africa and helped instigated the establishment of the South African branch of the Japan Karate Association. His grandfather, Jack Robinson, was a pioneer of judo in South Africa and set up an establishment that would later become Judo South Africa. Grappling career Robinson's earliest sporting achievement was in 1982, when he became the South African Judo Champion in the heavyweight division. Robinson later started pursuing various forms of amateur wrestling including both Greco-Roman and Freestyle. From 1994 to 1996, he won multiple medals in wrestling at the African Wrestling Championship and African Games. His strong performance at the 1996 Acropolis Wrestling Grand Prix qualified him for a spot at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. However, he was unable to compete due to budget restrictions. Robinson competed in the 1996 Sumo World Championship with only a few months of training. In the finals he defeated Emmanuel Yarbrough to become champion of the openweight class. Robinson competed at the 2001 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship in the +99 kg category against many strong candidates. He defeated Valeriy Yureskul, Vitor Belfort and Ricco Rodriguez to reach the final. He defeated Jeff Monson in the final to become the tournament's champion. Powerlifting career Around the same time he started his grappling career, Robinson also participated in powerlifting. He is a multiple time medalist at WPC World Championships including winner of the 1990 World Championship at the +140 kg category. Personal Bests Squat – 496/936.9 lb (Raw/Single) Bench press – 297.6/595.2 lb (Raw/Single) Deadlift – 545.6/821.2 lb (Raw/Single) Total – 1289.7/2353.4 lb (Raw/Single) Mixed martial arts career Robinson had a brief career in mixed martial arts. On 26 August 2000, he fought for the promotion, World Extreme Fighting at the event WEF – New Blood Conflict. He faced Joe Leyva who and won by submission in less than 30 seconds. On 23 February 2001, he fought for the promotion, Ultimate Fighting Championship at the event UFC 30. He faced Bobby Hoffman and was knocked out in the first round by