Daniel Straus is an American mixed martial artist and former two-time featherweight Bellator champion. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Straus grew up tough and had to support and look after himself. Being in a rough environment, he had to learn how to defend himself from an early age and began wrestling. He joined the Sycamore High School wrestling team and had a great deal of success there despite being surrounded by controversy. He’s widely considered one of the best wrestlers out of Ohio from 2001-2010.

As a freshman, Straus was an alternate for the state tournament. As a sophomore, he competed at the state level. As a junior he finished third at 135 at the state level and in his senior year he was ruled academically ineligible and missed the second half of the season including the state tournament. However, he was given a wild card berth into the high school senior national championship and won the tournament.

After high school, Straus headed out to Florida but some legal troubles followed him which landed him in prison. Once out, Straus went back to his home city and submerged himself into the world of martial arts. 

In 2017, Straus was involved in a near fatal motorcycle accident which left him temporarily paralyzed for eight months. He had to learn how to walk again and somehow compete in an extremely physical sport at a high level. After leaving MMA, Straus hopped right into the deep end of bare-knuckle fighting taking on Dat Nguyen. Not many gave him a chance but he made a great showing of himself, rocking Nguyen many times but falling just short via decision. Look forward to more impressive performances from the hard-hitting, technical Straus.