Frank Trigg (born May 7, 1972) is an American retired mixed martial artist, color commentator, pro wrestler, MMA referee^[1] and TV host.^[2] Trigg is a veteran of the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, BAMMA, World Fighting Alliance, and has made professional wrestling appearances in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.^[3]

In 1995, Trigg began studying judo under Sensei and former Olympian, Patrick Burris. It was while training with Burris that Trigg earned his first black belt and was introduced to the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

A high school state champion wrestler in his native New York, Trigg initially wrestled at Oklahoma State as a walk-on before transferring to Phoenix College. After finishing second in the NJCAA championships, he returned to the NCAA ranks when OSU's arch-rivals Oklahoma offered him a scholarship. After receiving his bachelor's degree in Public Affairs and Administration from OU in 1997, Trigg stayed on as an assistant coach for the Sooners. Frustrated with his place in the US wrestling pecking order, he started a professional MMA career, using his purses to pay for flights to enter international freestyle wrestling tournaments. In 1999, Trigg fought at Pride 8 in Japan, defeating Fabiano Iha via TKO due to strikes. Less than a year later, in early 2000, Trigg qualified as an Olympic Trials Finalist in wrestling.

Beating some of the World's best athletes convinced Trigg that a legitimate professional wrestling and mixed martial arts career was the next step. By the end of 2000, Trigg fought the Shooto world champion Hayato Sakurai for his title. While Trigg initially controlled the bout, Sakurai staged a comeback and brutally knocked Trigg out in the second round due to knees, handing Trigg his first career loss.

Trigg joined the World Fighting Alliance from 2001–2002, where he held the WFA welterweight title. Trigg was undefeated in WFA.

After several successful years with the WFA, in 2003, Trigg joined the premier organization in the world for MMA, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Trigg earned an immediate title shot against champion Matt Hughes at UFC 45: Revolution. After a tactical grappling match-up early on, Trigg fell victim to a rear naked choke in the first round.

Trigg rebounded quickly, defeating Dennis Hallman and Renato Verissimo in UFC 48 and UFC 50 to earn another shot at Hughes' Welterweight Championship.

In their second fight at UFC 52, Trigg had Hughes at the brink of defeat after an illegal groin strike went unnoticed by referee Mario Yamasaki. Hughes went on to reverse position, and slam Trigg to the mat before locking in a rear naked choke late in round one. This was considered one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history. After this loss, fans of Frank Trigg affectionately termed the choke the "rear naked Trigg."

Trigg returned at UFC 54 to take on future welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre where he lost by a rear naked choke in the opening round. The loss would be Trigg's final appearance in the UFC until UFC 103, almost 50 events later.

In addition to MMA, Frank Trigg was also an analyst and on-screen character in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2008, aligning himself with Kurt Angle, who used his passing resemblance to Trigg as part of a storyline. At No Surrender (2008) he faced A.J. Styles in an MMA style match, the match going to a draw due to an "unintentional" low blow on Trigg. The crowd was hostile to both combatants, chanting "This is bullshit", "We want wrestling", and "Fire Russo". After the match, Styles beat down Trigg using a kendo stick and declared that "I'm a wrestler, I don't do this crap!".

In 2019, Trigg appeared as the trainer for Moose in the build up for his Bound for Glory match with Ken Shamrock. On 20 October 2019, Trigg was in the corner of Moose and interfered several times in the match, most notably removing a turnbuckle pad which Ken Shamrock was thrown into resulting in a Moose victory.

Long a critic of MMA officiating stemming from his second fight with Hughes, Trigg was approached by veteran referee "Big John" McCarthy in 2011 with the offer to take his official's training course. Trigg spent several sessions with McCarthy learning the ins and outs of being an MMA referee and began controlling amateur fights in 2014. On December 9, 2017, Trigg made his UFC debut as a referee, officiating a match-up between Alexis Davis and Liz Carmouche at UFC Fight Night 123.^[9]

Frank Trigg has four children; Frankie, Kiara, Stone, and Lavin.^[10] Trigg welcomed his son Stone in September 2008.^[11] On October 2, 2010, Trigg welcomed his son Lavin.

In 2006, he appeared in the episode "Fight Schlub" on the sitcom The King of Queens. He has mostly worked as a stuntman since retirement from fighting, with credits including extensive work on the re-make of Hawaii Five-0. Frank is also a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, initiated in 1997 at the Xi Delta chapter at the University of Oklahoma

He is the second retired UFC fighter to return as a UFC referee, with the first being Dan Severn.

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • UFC Hall of Fame (Fight Wing, Class of 2015) vs. Matt Hughes 2 at UFC 52
• World Fighting Alliance
  • WFA Welterweight Championship (One time)
• Icon Sport
  • Icon Sport Middleweight Championship (One time)

• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of Phi Beta Sigma brothers