Blas Avena (June 30, 1983 – May 4, 2016) was 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 ...

. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2016, Avena competed for the WEC and Bellator. Known for his exciting fighting style, none of his 16 career bouts made it to a decision.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Avena relocated from Southern California to Las Vegas in 2004 to work as a security guard for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and later made his professional MMA debut in 2005. Avena compiled an overall record of 3-0 before being signed by the WEC.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Avena made his promotional debut at WEC 25 against Logan Clark on January 20, 2007. Avena lost via TKO in the third round. After the loss at WEC 25, Avena decided to drop down to the

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division and faced

Tiki Ghosn Tiki Ghosn is an American retired mixed martial artist, competing from 1998 to 2009 in the Welterweight division. History Ghosn played football while attending Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, where he played defensive back. Ghos ...

on August 5, 2007 at

WEC 29 ''WEC 29: Condit vs. Larson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. The event took place on Sunday, August 5, 2007 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas), Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, Las V ...

. Avena won via rear-naked choke submission in the first round. Avena followed this up with another first-round submission win over Joe Benoit at WEC 30 before dropping his next fight against Hiromitsu Miura at WEC 33 on March 26, 2008 via first-round knockout. Avena made his next appearance at WEC 35 against Dave Terrel on August 3, 2008 and won via first-round TKO. Avena then faced Jesse Lennox on January 25, 2009 at

WEC 38 ''WEC 38: Varner vs. Cerrone'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on January 25, 2009. It aired live on the Versus Network. In the main event, WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner defended his title against undef ...

. Avena was defeated via second-round knockout and subsequently released from the promotion.

Bellator MMA

After his release from the WEC, Avena went 1-3 with one no contest before being signed by Bellator. Avena made his promotional debut against Lenny Lovato February 28, 2013 at Bellator 91 and won via first-round knockout. Avena then faced

War Machine War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...

at Bellator 96 on June 19, 2013. Avena was defeated via first-round TKO.

Death

On the morning of May 4, 2016, Avena's body was discovered by police in his Las Vegas apartment. A cause of death was not immediately disclosed, however it was being investigated as a suicide.

Mixed martial arts record

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References

External links

*
www.BlasAvena.comwww.wec.tv/BlasAvenaBlas 'The Dispile' Avena
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avena, Blas 1983 births 2016 deaths American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent Bodyguards American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu