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

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He most competed in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. Bra ...

division in the

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

(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 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

event at

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. 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 (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

, winning all three fights against Rick James, Journey Newson and Benjamin Vinson, respectively. After the fight against

Steven Peterson Steven Timothy Peterson (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Peterson currently competes in the Featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2010, Peterson ha ...

at Dana White's Contender Series 7 , Lopez was awarded with UFC contract, together with

Joby Sanchez David Joby Sanchez (born June 24, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Legacy Fighting Alliance. A professional mixed martial artist since 2011, Sanchez has also competed in the Ul ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On 9 December 2019, 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 Albert Morales (born May 25, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and of Bellator MMA. Background Born and raised in Southern Califor ...

. 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 January 26, 2019 at

UFC 233 ''UFC 233'' was a planned mixed martial arts event that was rescheduled to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on January 26, 2019 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The promotion initially announced on December 12, 2018 that t ...

. As a result of the cancellation of

, the pair was rescheduled to UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez on February 17, 2019. He lost the fight via guillotine choke submission in round one. Lopez was scheduled to face Ricky Simon at

UFC 227 ''UFC 227: Dillashaw vs. Garbrandt 2'' was a mixed martial arts event that was produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and held on August 4, 2018, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background A UFC Bantamweight Championshi ...

on August 4, 2018. However, it was reported that Lopez pulled out from the bout for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by Montel Jackson. Lopez faced

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

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 Mario Bautista (born July 1, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist. He currently competing in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Bautista was born in Winnemucca, Nevada, United States. He sta ...

on November 5, 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 Ap ...

. 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 lost to Bautista, Lopez was released from UFC.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Submission (reverse triangle armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:54 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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

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

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, 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 ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, 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 the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. The population of the city was 15,506 at the 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 2000 census. Following the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

Journey Newson Journey Ja-rel Newson (born March 7, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Newson grew up in the Merced area. Due to his mother's drug addiction and d ...

, 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) ,

, , 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