Mark “The Bear” Smith
RIP: December 24th, 1973 – May 14th, 2010
Mulisha family member Mark Smith, passed away Friday May 14th, 2010, at his home in Maui, Wailuku, Hawaii. Mark started training in 1996 at Beverly Hills Ju-Jitsu, and received his Purple Belt from Sensei Marcus Vinicius. The Bear trained with Bas Ruten in 1999, which led him to hold the UAGF Heavyweight Belt and also hold the UK Cagewars Heavyweight. Since moving to Hawaii Mark put together a team of top fighters on the islands who call themselves the Maui Mulisha.
Mark became a close friend, MMA Trainer and bodyguard of Brian Deegan in 1996. After training with Deegan, Jeremy Lusk, Ronnie Faisst and other Mulisha Members, The Bear, became a part of the Mulisha Family.
Mark said, “My quest in life is to be the best I can be if its fighting, coaching, body guarding or just giving back all the knowledge I’ve picked up throughout all my years of experience in life! Being true to your family and friends and not being a poser or fall over, but trying to be a lender is what I truly believe is a must in life!”
The Bear continued to train and coach his friends on the Mulisha team as he also changed his life on July 3rd 2008. Mark was saved and devoted his life to god with the help of his new Pastor and good friend TJ. Mark said, “It was a great feeling, it was like a million pounds of bullshit just fell off my back.”
Deegan said “Mark Smith was one of my best friends. I had so many good times with his like when he trained me to win the LA sx. One of a few guys who really made me laugh and always looked out for everyone! Ill miss him. My prayers to his family and friends. I was with Mark when he got saved so ill see him in Heaven…RIP ”
After visiting Mark’s MySpace page we have one of Mark’s last quotes from his Heroes Section: “The big man upstairs “GOD”, My MOM, And my sister Tammy always look down at me from Heaven, “I sure miss her”!!! Jeremy Lusk Word is Bond my little Brother!! Even that I was older than you your words meant so much 2 me!!!!! I miss u Lusk hold it down up there In Gods Hands!!!!!”
This tragedy and loss will never be forgotten. Mark will always be in our hearts now and forever. RIP BEAR watch over the rest of us as you will always be in our thoughts and prayers.
i know bodyguard for long time he is good guy i will pray for him and lusk too
Rest in peace bear. You will be missed.
Rest in Peace forever Mark. You will be missed.
RIP brother you will be deeply missed….May God Bless you and your family
go with god, bear! ur time on earth will now be forgotten, brother!
BEAR! your will be greatly missed and i am glad i got the chance to meet you! hold down the fort up there and make sure you watch Lusk’s back!
RIP, you will be missed, praying for u, be our body guard from heaven…
R.I.P BEAR YOU WERE ONE OF A KIND !
sorry to have heard about this you were the force of mma behind the mulisha and your influence will be felt in mma and so-cal for years to come. i can remember you fighting at illegal shows in l.a back in the day. mark was an animal in the cage and a gentleman outside of it. never had an ego always had is hand out and a friendly smile and hello. miss you bro take care.
R.I.P BEar!!!
Dont be sparring with Jesus up there. Haha! Rest in peace big man. You will be missed by many. We know you’re in a much better place now.
To have a video of Lusk and Bear is crushing my heart. You will be so missed and the both of you will always be in my prayers.
R.I.P. Bro!!!! DONT LET LUSK DOWN!!! love ya bros
wuts good I figured I better pay some respect to the man bear you were a beast and you still are wish I could of had a chance to train wit you and kick it wit you but mabey I will get a chance in heaven!!! save a place for use true rydas RIP BEAR!!!! YOUR IN GODS HANDS NOW
RIP Mark Smith. You will be missed dearly. Say hi to Lusk for me (:
Damn I’m sorry 2 hear tha RIP 2 another brave metal mulisha & 2 lusk we will miss u homie
Rest In Peace Bear. We will all miss you dearly. Your in good hands now brother.
R.I.P. Bear. CRASH
R.I.P Bear my thoughts are with your family and friends tell Lusk I said whut up
Sending prayers to you and your family. Sorry to hear of the loss of another great man. We will miss you BEAR!
Bear… You were the love, the life, the safety and our papa bear around Australia. We girls adore you and you will forever be in our memories of the best 6 weeks of our lives!
Thank you and may you be at peace up there.. Forever in my heart, love your lil’ Pocket Rocket (Krissie), Renee, Frances, Emma, Keira, Jacqui and Hayley xxx
I knew I was in good hands once the first guy from a crowd jumped the fence and started running toward we girls in a show and they copped the choke hold and then you lined them up out the back and I was upset they might be hurt but you waited with me there to see them come to and that they were ok
Big Bear. you will always be in our hearts. mulisha for life. you will never be forgotten
R.I.P. BEAR. ONE OF THE NICEST GUYS EVER, YOU WILL BE MISSED BY OUR FAMILY
Brian you are in my prayers for such a huge loss of a another great guy. Bear RIP.
RIP man u will be missed
RIP man. You were a big inspiration for a lot of people and you will always be remembered as the great man you were!
Once the MM shirt comes out for you Bear I’m sure it’ll be amazing!
RIP BEAR. Hope he’s with Lusk , sounds like he missed him… My heart goes out to his family, friends and the Mulisha.
R.I.P bear, May god be with you.
Many great times with the Bear, as big of a tough guy as he could be, he was one of the nicest guys I’ve met while having the3 privilege of working with the Mulisha over the years. Now he’s got the Lord’s back, don’t step… GODSPEED MARK, you will be greatly missed. Noel @ Stompgrip.
I can’t believe he died. I will pray on and on for Bear and Jeremy Lusk. RIP. Now you can be a body guard for everyone up in Heaven and see Jeremy once again. RIP to both.
I loved You from the moment that I met you 16 years ago. I can’t believe that your really gone. You always made me smile. I will miss you terribly but will see you again someday. God Bless You and Rest In Peace my sweet friend.
i cant believe this happened, and when i found out i shed tears for this great guy i only met him once in 05 when MM toured in oz and i have a picture of bear as we were watching from the stands and he was sitting there taking up 2 chairs and a little girl she wouldve been all of maybe 6 to 8 yrs old came up on her own and asked for his autograph and her dad really wanted it i think but she was almost scared of his size but his true nature showed thru and in the end the little girl got a photo of her sitting on one of his broad shoulders , to this day i will never forget this and i saw then that he was one of the nicest guys to ever cross my path i am glad he found his true calling before this happened and i hope i make it up there to meet him again rest in peace big guy,,,,,skafty
R.i.P Mark we will miss you, you are now in heaven with Jeremy
we miss you both of you
Rest in peace Mark.
Mark. I love you and always will. I will remember all of the great years and great times we had together. From wrestling back in the day with my dad to training for your fights to FMX events.
To all of the Mulisha boys, Mark really had a lot of respect for all of you and really enjoyed being a part of the whole deal.
Every story i tell starts with me and my boy mark. Man this is hard. With much respect. Your boy, Trox
chad i hopeyour doing ok i am so sorry for your loss of you best friend. I love you Aunt Cindy
OMG Mark you will be missed big guy!!! I worked with you at the Candy Cat 1 & 2 and your were my bodyguard at that time and you didn’t let anybody mess with me then one night I didn’t believe you about brian d and you called him on the phone so that I could say hi!!!! I will always love you and miss you sweetheart!!!! You will always be the best!!!!
Mark was one of the nicest guy that I’ve ever had the chance of meeting! All the way back from high school to college to run ins I had with him when I was home from deployments. All the fun times we had and all the times i’d drop to the ground laughing at some of things you’d say. Those memories I’ll cherish forever. Brother you will be missed! I will see you soon!
RIP Mark!
I know you will continue to protect us from up there. Thank you for being you!
you will be missed by many!!!!
Smitty, where do i start brother! we were co-workers, roomates, but most of all friends. You truly were one of a kind a mean mother when need be, but a gentle giant most the time. My daughter cried for you when i told her the news, she said i will miss uncle bear! i too will miss you and the way you always made me laugh and the training we did together. I am never going to forget when we went to England and you won that title. To all who knew you we are hurting, but 5 years ago we promised eachother if we passed on there would be no tears just a party to celebrate our life. R.I.P Mark “The Bear” Smith a.k.a Smitty. Deegan sorry the MM lost another great soldier on earth, but heaven gained another one.
RIP Bear God called another great one home so young and full of life, you will be truly missed by all, I think God needed another bodyguard
All my love and prayers to his family and friends
Mark was a dear friend. Anyone wanting tribute tattoos for Mark. I’ll do ‘em for shop cost, all my time is free. RIP Brother, you’ll be missed. The earth lost a great man
Contact me at riqoberhaus@gmail.com for tribute tattoos only. RIP Smitty
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Rest In Peace Mark,my deepest condolences to his family and friends!
mark was one of the gental giants you read about in books,
i will miss him, a club brother of the red devils sfv, i salute
you and will see you soon. love ya , doug
R.I.P BROTHER CONDOLENCES TO HIS FAMILY AND THE OLD MULISHA TEAMS. FROM FRENCH POLYNESIA MULISHA BOYS
NOO!! This has to stop happening!! R.I.P Mark “The Bear” Smith!
M/M will continue your Legacy!
a good guy once again taken way too young R.I.P. Mark…. You will be missed
RIP BEAR…The Bear and the Pitbull IN GODS HANDS with GOD!!! PEACE BE WITH U MARK!!! I will see u in heaven sumday man!!! UR LEGACY LIVES ON!!!
REST IN PEACE MAN! U and Lusk will be missed BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN!
IN GODS HANDS. . . YOU WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED!
Bear, you will be dearly missed. rest in peace.
Rest In Peace Bear forever remembered and missed my prayers go out to you and ure family. RIP champ
I didn’t know the man everyone else knew, but my condolences go out to Mark’s family and all of his friends. It’s such a trajedy when the young go first…for whatever reason, and there is a reason. RIP Bear, Sincerely, Scummy’s Mom.
RIP Mark, your legacy will live on in the lives of the Mulisha Family and everyone that you touched. I will see you in heaven brother!!! You were a true Soldier!
R.I.P. Bear, now for the next part of the journey. You will be missed by all who knew you as an friend. You did so much for so many you genuinely cared for.
Look after each other up there!
Respect
Pineapple
RIP
So sorry to hear about Bear. May you rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers are with you, your family, and all your Mulisha family at this time.
Leigh Ann
What an absolutely beautiful job you have done with this page to remember Mark… Thanks for sharing.. I lost touch with him for about 7 years and reconnected with him on facebook about a year ago… I am glad that you made this page… it helped me reconnect with his life and legacy… We love you Mark!
Man, so many great memories. You where involved with the beginning of Moto XXX and we had so many fun times, shared so many laughs, ahd great conversations. I just talked to you while i was in Hawaii and you where doing so well. Im so sad to see you go but, i will, like all these other people you touched, always remember you Mark. R.I.P. my dear friend! My condolences go out to your family, friends, and the Mulisha boys.
I will dearly miss my baby nephew. Thank you to all of you who are taking the time to leave messages. It means soooo much to my sister (Marc’s mom), his dad, his brother Brian, his sister Kimberly, and his adoring nephews and the rest of our family. The grief we feel can’t be put into words but knowing how he touched so many lives brings a measure of comfort. There will be a special service June 3rd in Calif. “A hui hou” (until we meet again). Aunt Kathy
Marky, we love you dearly one of the biggest teddy bears anyone could of known!! Always smilin!! Love you see you when we see yah
RIP
my felt condolencias friend q God it illuminates to you and it takes care of to you where estes…
rest in peace bro. your hard work changed alot of lives
God Lives and Saves Souls through Jesus Christ and your Brother Mark is sitting at the table, enjoying the fruit of ever lasting life. God Bless you all…
Hey brother you will be missed by all im still in shock but they say God only takes the best
REST IN PEACE your aussie mate
R.I.P Big Man
God and JC now have the best bodyguard ever behind them for when JC comes back to earth
see you soon
R.I.P Bear <3
I went to high school with Mark and hung out with him in my early twenties. He was a really great guy. It’s really sad to find out that he passed away. My condolences to his family and friends.
R.I.P BEAR…I got to meet your mom about one month ago at the store over here me SIMI VALLEY. i was rocking a METAL MULISHA t-shirt and she starts telling me about you and i was like yea i have see him with the METAL MULISHA guys and she was yep that my son. When i was done talking to her she even hooked me up with one of your cards that had you pic and #. I was like thank you so much………………………R.I.P Mark “The Bear” Smith