Benito Francisco Lopez (born 6 April 1994) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. He most recently competed in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

(UFC).

Combat career

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

In April 2014, Lopez won his debut MMA debut fight against Oscar Ramirez at Bellator 115 event at

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Later in September, Lopez signed to WFC and won two MMA matches versus Drey Mitchell at the WFC 11 - Mitchell vs. Major event and against Matt Wagy at the WFC 13 - Huckaba vs. Mitchell event. In 2016 and the first half of the 2017, Lopez signed a multi-fight contract with the

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock Jr. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstre ...

, winning all three fights against Rick James, Journey Newson and Benjamin Vinson, respectively. After the fight against Steven Peterson at Dana White's Contender Series 7, Lopez was awarded with UFC contract, together with Joby Sanchez.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On 9 December 2017, Lopez was scheduled to face Martin Day at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega. However Day pulled out of the event due to a knee injury and he was replaced by Albert Morales. He won his UFC debut fight via unanimous decision. Lopez was scheduled to face

Manny Bermudez Manny Bermudez (born July 19, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Bermudez has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

on 26 January 2019 at UFC 233. As a result of the cancellation of UFC 233, the pair was rescheduled to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez on 17 February 2019. He lost the fight via guillotine choke submission in round one. Lopez was scheduled to face Ricky Simon at UFC 227 on 4 August 2018. However, it was reported that Lopez pulled out from the bout for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by

Montel Jackson Montel Samuel Jackson (born April 24, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight (MMA), Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of May 6, 2025, he is #14 in the ...

. Lopez faced

Vince Morales Vince Morales (born November 12, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Morales has also competed in Bellator. Backg ...

on 13 July 2019 at UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd. He won the fight via unanimous decision. After a three-year layoff, Lopez faced Mario Bautista on 5 November 2022 at

UFC Fight Night 214 ''UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 214, UFC on ESPN+ 72'' and ''UFC Vegas 64'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 5, 2022 at the UFC ...

. At the weigh-ins, Lopez weighed in at 138.5 pounds, two and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. Lopez will be fined 20% of this individual purse which will go to his opponent Bautista. He lost the fight via a reverse triangle armbar submission in the first round. After the loss to Bautista, Lopez was released from UFC.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 , Mario Bautista , Submission (reverse triangle armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:54 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: de Randamie vs. Ladd , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–1 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:09 ,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Albert Morales , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Steven Peterson , Decision (split) , Dana White's Contender Series 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Benjamin Vinson , TKO (Doctor Stoppage) , KOTC: Flashback , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Oroville, California Oroville (''Oro'', Spanish for "Gold" and ''Ville'', French for "town") is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. Its population was 15,506 at the 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 2000 census. After the 20 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Journey Newson , KO (punches) , KOTC: Unchallenged , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:04 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Rick James , KO (punch) , KOTC: Home Turf , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:08 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Stephone Taylor , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , IFC: Warriors Challenge 36 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:56 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Matt Wagy , Submission (guillotine choke) , WFC 13: Huckaba vs. Mitchell , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Drey Mitchell , Decision (unanimous) , WFC 11: Mitchell vs. Major , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Oscar Ramirez , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 115 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Benito 1994 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Oroville, California American male kickboxers Bantamweight mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century American sportsmen