“Our students typically get started on their applications early and take advantage of the expertise and generosity of their faculty mentors in formulating their projects,” Burke said. The other schools at the top of the list – Michigan, Yale, Brown, Stanford, University of Chicago and Northwestern – achieved an 18 percent to 33 percent success rate.ĪSU students are especially successful at winning these overseas study grants, partly because of ASU’s emphasis on global studies and foreign languages, and also because of the strong support of faculty mentors, said Janet Burke, associate dean for national scholarships and internships at Barrett, the Honors College.
Download Full ImageĮspecially notable is that ASU has the highest winning percentage of any school in the nation, with 46 percent of the university’s 50 applicants achieving success. Three students declined their awards to pursue other opportunities. One of their coaches during their time at ASU, Aaron “A-Train” Simpson, also is currently fighting in the UFC as well.Īll four fighters will be on hand Friday night at the Riches Wrestling Complex in Tempe as the current Sun Devils hold their annual Maroon & Gold Wrestle-offs starting at 6:30 p.m.ĪSU has been named one of the top producers of students who win Fulbright awards to study and teach abroad, by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The university stands out among public colleges, coming in second only to the University of Michigan.Ī record 23 ASU students received Fulbright awards last spring, and 20 currently are representing the school in 13 different countries. Two of his teammates that helped ASU take sixth place at the 2006 NCAA Championships are currently fighting, including The Ultimate Fighter Champion Ryan “Darth” Bader and The Ultimate Fighter runner-up C.B.
Velasquez, who graduated from ASU with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in 2006, is currently one of four former Sun Devil wrestlers in the UFC. A training partner for Severn at UFC 5, Frye fought in and won the UFC 8 tournament and later captured the Ultimate Ultimate 96 tournament. The final Sun Devil to win a title in the UFC was Don “The Predator” Frye. The winner of the UFC 17 tournament, Henderson later joined PRIDE and rose to elite status as a multiple champion by holding the titles at both welterweight and middleweight at the same time. “Dangerous” Dan Henderson continues to fight (currently with Strikeforce) and was a veteran of the UFC as well. Severn is the only triple crown winner in the promotion’s history as he won the UFC 5 tournament, the Ultimate Tournament and the UFC Superfight.
Perhaps best know of that trio is UFC Hall of Famer Dan “The Beast” Severn, who went 70-13-7 in his career. Velasquez is not the only former Sun Devil wrestler that has found success in the world of MMA and joins a trio of Sun Devils that held belts during their careers.
He also won his eighth professional fight by knock-out, his third in a row in the UFC and captured his fourth first-round win during his time in the UFC. Velasquez has now won seven-consecutive fights in the UFC, which is the longest active streak in the promotion’s history. The win not only kept Velasquez undefeated at 9-0 in his young mixed martial arts career, but it also proved that he is a force to be reckoned with in the UFC.ĭespite entering the Octagon 20 pounds lighter than his opponent, who was an All-American heavyweight at Minnesota, Velasquez weathered an early storm from Lesnar before taking the fight to the former champion and unleashing a barrage of punches to eventually force a referee stoppage at 4:01 into the first round. Velasquez, a two-time All-American with the Arizona State University wrestling program, became the new face of the ever-expanding world of mixed martial arts as he completed his climb to the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight division when he scored a first-round technical knock out of former champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 in Anaheim, Calif., to become the UFC World Heavyweight Champion.