Brian Bowles (born June 22, 1980) is a retired 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 ...

who most recently 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 of 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 ...

. A professional competitor from 2006 to 2013, Bowles is also the former WEC Bantamweight Champion.

Background

Bowles was born in Charleston, West Virginia and raised in the small town of Chesapeake, West Virginia by his single mother. Bowles' father, who was largely absent from his life, died when Bowles was 11 years old. In the tenth grade, Bowles moved to

Jackson County, Georgia Jackson County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,485. The county seat is Jefferson. Jackson County comprises the Jefferson, GA Micropolitan Statistical Ar ...

, attending Jackson County Comprehensive High School where he competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

for three years. Bowles was later introduced to mixed martial arts by a former teammate after graduating, and began training at The HardCore Gym which has since been renamed to SBG Athens.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Bowles compiled an undefeated 7-0 amateur record and began his professional career in regional promotions, earning two first-round stoppages and amassing an undefeated record of 3-0.

World Extreme Cagefighting

In his first two fights in the organization, he submitted

Charlie Valencia Carlos Enrique "Charlie" Valencia (born October 31, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist. He has fought for the WEC and UFC in their Bantamweight divisions, and is the former King of the Cage Bantamweight Champion. He is one of only two m ...

with a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...

and knocked out Marcos Galvao at '' WEC 31'' with a flurry that stunned his opponent and a strong right hook to finish, both ending within minutes of the second round, showcasing his proficiency in striking and submission offense (with a primarily wrestling base). At ''

WEC 35 ''WEC 35: Condit vs. Miura'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on August 3, 2008 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada. The event drew an estimated 423,000 viewers on Versus. The ...

'' he finished fellow Bantamweight contender

Damacio Page Damacio James Page (born September 30, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing for Legacy Fighting Championship in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Page has also formerly competed ...

with an impressive first-round

guillotine choke The guillotine choke, also known as Mae Hadaka Jime (前裸絞, "front naked choke"; compare to a rear naked choke) in judo, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from in front of the opponent, often on the ground but can also be done while st ...

he locked in while his opponent was still standing. It was near the end of 2008 where Bowles would have his most notable victory in the organization yet, defeating

Will Ribeiro Will Ribeiro (born February 17, 1983) is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist and Luta Livre Esportiva (brown belt) practitioner, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biography Born in Campo Grande, a suburb of the city of Rio de Janeir ...

(who was 10-1 at that time) in the third round via another guillotine choke, on the ''

WEC 37 ''WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on December 3, 2008 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event aired live on the Versus Network. Background Former IFL standou ...

'' main card. He was then scheduled to headline ''

WEC 40 ''WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on April 5, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The event aired live on the Versus Network. Background This was the first WEC event to ...

'' in a bout with Miguel Torres, but was forced to withdraw due to a back injury weeks before the event, and was replaced by top ten bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki. Torres successfully defended his belt against Mizugaki. Torres and Bowles headlined

WEC 42 ''WEC 42: Torres vs. Bowles'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on August 9, 2009 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada Background Kenji Osawa was originally scheduled to face Rani Yahya at this e ...

on August 9, 2009 at the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ...

in Las Vegas, Nevada. Bowles defeated Torres via first-round KO to become the new WEC Bantamweight Champion. Bowles made his first title defense against

Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz (born March 9, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Cruz ha ...

on March 6, 2010 at

WEC 47 ''WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on March 6, 2010. It was held at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Background The only WEC event held in Ohio, WEC 47 coincided with the Arnold S ...

. Bowles lost via TKO (doctor stoppage) at the end of the second round with a broken hand. Bowles was expected to face

Wagnney Fabiano Wagnney Silva Fabiano-Santos (born July 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is best known for fighting in the WEC, as well as for the Toronto Dragons of the International Fight League and is the former IFL Featherweight Champion ...

on November 11, 2010 at

WEC 52 ''WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on November 11, 2010 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. Background Urijah Faber made his bantamweight debut against Japanese striker Takeya M ...

. However, Bowles was forced off the card with a foot injury.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Bowles faced former opponent

on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. In what Joe Rogan described as " a comet that comes around every 1,000 years," Bowles defeated Page by guillotine choke at 3:30 of the first round, the same method and exact time that he defeated Page in their first meeting. Bowles faced Takeya Mizugaki on July 2, 2011 at

UFC 132 ''UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background UFC 132 was originally set to feature a rematch between B.J. Pen ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, and 29–28), making this the first time he has gone to a decision in his career. Bowles faced off against

Urijah Faber Urijah Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Ma ...

on November 19, 2011 at

UFC 139 ''UFC 139: Shogun vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 19, 2011 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California. It was the first UFC event in San Jose, the longtime home and base a ...

. He lost the fight by submission (guillotine choke) in the second round. Bowles returned from an extended 18-month layoff and faced

George Roop George H. Roop (born November 10, 1981) is a retired mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir'', winning his preliminary and first round fights. He fought as a bantamweight in th ...

on May 25, 2013 at

UFC 160 ''UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on May 25, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a rematch between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez and An ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round. Bowles failed his UFC 160 drug test with an elevated testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio. The NSAC allows a T/E Ratio of 6:1 and Bowles was over 20:1. Bowles did not appeal the result and was subsequently suspended for nine months and fined $5,700. Bowles was released from the UFC on March 2, 2015.

Arrest

On January 14, 2015, Bowles along with Rhomney Marie Moon, were arrested and face multiple felony charges in

Arcade, Georgia Arcade is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,786. History Arcade was chartered in 1909. Early plans to erect an arcade-style schoolhouse accounts for the name. Geography Arcade is l ...

Championships and awards

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

** WEC Bantamweight Championship (One time) **Knockout of the Night (One time) **Submission of the Night (Two times) *

** Submission of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:43 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:27 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Takeya Mizugaki , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 ,

, Technical Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:30 ,

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Miguel Torres , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:57 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:11 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , WEC 35: Condit vs. Miura , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:30 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 ,

Marcos Galvão Marcos Galvão (born 23 June 1981) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2003, Galvão peaked at a global rank ...

, KO (punch) , WEC 31 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:09 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , WEC 28 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:33 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Shane Weinischke , Submission (rear-naked choke) , ISCF: Invasion , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:38 , Atlanta, Georgia, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Charles Nutt , TKO (punches) , Wild Bill's Fight Night 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:28 ,

Duluth, Georgia Duluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. Located north of Interstate 85, it is approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, Duluth had a population of 31,873, and the United States Census Bureau estimated the po ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Tim Honeycutt , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Wild Bill's Fight Night 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:55 , Duluth, Georgia, United States ,

References

External links

*
Official UFC ProfileSBG Athens
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Brian American male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu World Extreme Cagefighting champions Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia People from Kanawha County, West Virginia Mixed martial artists from West Virginia American sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in mixed martial arts American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1980 births Living people