Shonie Carter

On April 22, 2017, Carter took part in a "bare knuckle" (in actuality fighters hands were wrapped) boxing event for Bare Knuckle Boxing in England at BKB 4. He faced undefeated Jimmy "Celtic Warrior" Sweeney, BKB's most popular and recognized fighter, in a Middleweight title fight. Carter lost a spirited bout by decision after five rounds, but took Sweeney the distance, the first fighter in BKB history to do so.

Carter came out of retirement in January 2014, when he faced Matt Dwyer for the BFL Welterweight Championship. Carter lost the fight by TKO (retirement).

Carter announced his first retirement in January 2013, with around 240 full contact karate, kickboxing and MMA bouts under his belt.

Carter has fought in a wide variety of shows, both large and small. He has won at least ten belts in various organizations throughout his career. He began his career in 1997, fighting primarily in the Extreme Challenge promotion. Though he lost his debut fight to LaVerne Clark by knockout in just 9 seconds, he went on to rack up an 11-1-2 record before facing UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich. He lost via a decision.

After the completion of the show, Carter did not appear on the card of the season finale. He did, however, make an appearance a month later on UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Riggs, losing to Marcus Davis by unanimous decision. Afterward, Carter continued to fight at smaller promotions. He won the Throwdown Middleweight Championship at Throwdown ETC – Showdown on February 20, 2009, via a split decision victory from George Lockhart. He lost 7 out of his last 9 fights.

On May 16, 2008, Carter served as an impromptu guest referee for a notorious bout at a Legends of Fighting event that resulted in a double-knockout. Eight seconds into the bout, newcomers Tyler Bryan and Shaun Parker landed simultaneous knockout punches. The video of the double-knockout, and Carter's subsequent reaction, has been viewed on YouTube over 1 million times. and looking into a career in the WWE. He spoke with C.M. Punk on making the jump to the professional wrestling ring.

Carter began to make appearances in Pancrase and won his UFC debut at UFC 24 against Brad Gumm. He went on to win notable victories over Chris Lytle and Matt Serra. In 2003, he appeared in fledgling promotion World Extreme Cagefighting and became the WEC welterweight champion after defeating JT Taylor. He would lose his first title defense to Karo Parisyan. Other notable fights included a loss to future UFC title contender Jon Fitch, a victory over future UFC fighter Jess Liaudin, and a victory over Jason Black, who was undefeated in 22 fights prior to the bout.

Mearion Shonie Bickhem III (born May 3, 1972), better known as Shonie Carter, is an American mixed martial artist. He is a former WEC Welterweight Champion, a UFC veteran, and a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter 4 reality show. He has also competed in Pancrase, Shooto, King of the Cage, M-1 Global, KSW, and Bellator. He is known for his flashy dress, colorful vocabulary, outlandish personality and use of the spinning backfist in competition.