Ferrid Kheder (born 3 March 1975 ) is a French retired Olympic judoka who placed seventh at the Sydney Olympic Games and a former professional mixed martial artist who fought from 2004 to 2013. He holds the sixth Dan in IJF Judo and a BJJ black belt.

Judo career

Kheder began training judo in 1979 at the age of four. He went on to train with the French Team from 1993 to 2001, and in the Tunisia Team from 2001 to 2004. He won twice the Paris Grand Slam (1999 and 2000) and the Dusseldorf Grand Slam (2000 and 2002). He won the european championship U21 in Spain (1995) and the European championship by Team (1996). He has medaled seven times in the Super World Cup and won many Opens and World Cups, he placed 3rd at the European Championship in 2000 and 7th at the 2000 Olympic Games.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2004 Kheder started to add Muay Thai and grappling training to his judo background to compete in MMA with Fighting Klub Team (FK TEAM). In 2005 he moved to Australia to continue his new journey. In 2007 while fighting in Australia, a manager from the US contacted him and recruited him to join Team Quest in California. He later became contracted under the Bellator organization. Between September 2008 and June 2011 Kheder won 13 of his 14 fights winning 11 fight by KO or Submission and losing only a decision (28-29) to Daisuke Nakamura at M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough on August 28, 2009. His interest in BJJ grew through his MMA career during which he had the opportunity to train with some of the worlds best BJJ players. In 2015 he earned his black belt while living in San Diego. Today, he teaches Martial Arts.

Xtreme Vale Todo 5 controversy

There is some question as to if Kheder's alleged victory over Hermes Franca was rigged by a promoter, Lu Dwyer, during the Xtreme Vale Todo event that took place on December 19, 2010. In addition to the fight's announcer, all three judges, and the referee had scored the bout in favor of Franca. Regardless of the judges' scores, Dwyer declared Kheder the victor, and another promoter raised Kheder's hand in victory after the referee refused to do so. There is a potential conflict of interest due to the fact that Kheder is primarily sponsored by Dwyer and her business J & L Irrigation. Dwyer sponsors "Team FK" by paying his living expenses and taking a percentage of his winnings. Days after his controversial decision win Kheder posted on his Facebook page that Dwyer overturned the fight result to a "No Contest" and suggested a 5 round rematch, presumably in the same promotion. The rematch never happened since Hermes Franca found guilty in the sexual abuse of a child under 14 years of age in 2012 and has been sentenced to 42 months in prison.

Bellator

In 2010 Kheder was supposed to fight in Bellator's Lightweight Tournament but due to a case of appendicitis, he has been forced out of the eight-man field and has been replaced by WEC veteran James Krause. In 2011 Kheder was 1 kg too heavy and refused to step onto the scale to be weighed and was instead removed from the tournament which allowed Josh Shockley to take Kheder's place.

Judo achievements

Mixed martial arts record