Curt Warburton (born 1981) is an English

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 ...

from Coundon, County Durham. He formerly trained at Wolfslair MMA Academy in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Warburton's most notable achievement in the domestic circuit is his 1–1–1 record against The Ultimate Fighter 9 Lightweight Winner

Ross Pearson Ross Pearson (born 26 September 1984) is a retired English mixed martial artist who last competed in 2019. A 26-fight veteran of the UFC, he was a three-time "Fight of the Night" winner and was the lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 9 ...

. The first two fights took place at the semi-professional level, at Total Combat (UK) 18 and 19, which resulted in a draw in their first bout (in November 2006) and a submission (armbar) victory for Pearson (in February 2007). Warburton would gain a measure of revenge in September 2007, when he was victorious via TKO (doctor stoppage) in the only bout to feature on both competitors' professional records. In February 2009, Warburton was entered into the draw for the British Fighting Championship organisation, which was intended to be one of the top tournaments in England, to serve as a showground for the top domestic fighters to participate in a knockout style tournament. Warburton was drawn against top domestic prospect in

Che Mills Ché Mills (born 29 October 1982) is an English mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Cage Warriors. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the UFC, Cage Rage, BAMMA, and M-1 Gl ...

. However, a few months later, just before the start of the organisation's tournaments, the organisation was forced to disband due to the lack of progress in securing a television deal and financial issues, which meant the Mills fight was scrapped. This failure led to Warburton, who signed a contract months in advance, failing to compete, which led to over a year's gap between fights for Warburton. He finally returned against Toon Van Thielen and was victorious via submission (guillotine choke). Warburton's final pre-UFC fight was against Tom Maguire and Warburton was victorious via unanimous decision. This win won him the Strike and Submit Lightweight title.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Warburton, along with Wolfslair teammates

Rob Broughton Rob Broughton (born 3 March 1983) is an English former mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor between 2004 and 2015, Broughton is a former British Cage Rage heavyweight champion and has also co ...

and Tom Blackledge joined the UFC. Shortly after joining the UFC, former opponent

gave Warburton a big endorsement of his skills, stating: "I expect big things from Curt, he's a good guy, he's a good friend now even if we have had three wars together." Warburton made his UFC debut against UFC veteran,

Spencer Fisher Spencer William Fisher (born May 9, 1976) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2002–2012, he is best known for his 17-fight tenure with the UFC, winning "Fight of the Night" honors three times. Backgroun ...

on 16 October 2010 at UFC 120. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Warburton faced

Maciej Jewtuszko Maciej Jewtuszko (born January 31, 1981) is a Polish mixed martial artist who most recently competed in 2019. A professional since 2005, he has fought in the UFC, WEC, and KSW. He is the former KSW Lightweight Champion. Background Jewtuszko com ...

on 27 February 2011 at

UFC 127 ''UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in Nort ...

. He handed Jewtuszko his first professional loss via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28). Warburton next faced

Joe Lauzon Joseph Edward Lauzon Jr. (born May 22, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist, competing in the UFC's Lightweight division. A well-rounded fighter, he has the fourth most post-fight bonus awards in UFC history, behind Donald Ce ...

on 26 June 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. He lost the fight via first round submission. Following the loss, Warburton was released from the UFC.

BAMMA

Warburton made his

BAMMA BAMMA (British Association of Mixed Martial Arts) was a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United Kingdom. It premiered on June 27, 2009, and was shown on the television channel Bravo. BAMMA events were shown live on ITV4 in the UK and I ...

debut against Tim Newman on 10 December 2011 at BAMMA 8. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Next he faced Lee Wieczorek at BAMMA 10 on 15 September 2012, where he continued his winning streak via unanimous decision to earn himself a BAMMA British Lightweight Title shot. Warburton received that title shot against Stevie Ray on 9 March 2013 at BAMMA 12. He won the fight via unanimous decision to become the new BAMMA British Lightweight champion.

Cage Warriors

Warburton made his Cage Warriors debut against Wesley Murch in December 2013. He win the fight in the 1st round via rear naked choke. The fight was a catchweight bout and se Curt on the part to a Lightweight title shot. Warburton was supposed to fight the Lightweight champion in Jordan but the champion decided to rescind his title and step aside. Warburton faced Stevie Ray at Cage Warriors 69 on 7 June 2014 on Super Saturday for the vacant Cage Warriors Lightweight Title. He lost the bout via split decision.

BAMMA

After a break of over 3 years Warburton returned to action with BAMMA on their return to his native North East. He won the bout against Warren Kee via TKO in the 1st round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 14–6 , Warren Kee , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 33 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 ,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

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Stevie Ray Lash Steven Huffman (born August 22, 1958) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray is best known for his seven-year tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 20 ...

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, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–5 ,

, Decision (split) , Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 69 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 13–4 , Wesley Murch , Submission (standing rear-naked choke) ,

Cage Warriors Cage Warriors (CW) is an Irish owned mixed martial arts promotion, based in London, England. The promotion was established in 2001 and staged its first MMA event in London in July, 2002. Many MMA stars have made their names under the Cage Warri ...

62 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 ,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 , Mansour Barnaoui , TKO (punches & elbows) , BAMMA 13: Night of Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:08 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

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, Decision (unanimous) , BAMMA 12: Walhead vs. Veach , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Lee Wieczorek , Decision (unanimous) , BAMMA 10: Sinclair vs. Winner , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Declan Larkin , Submission (triangle armbar) , Total Combat 46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 ,

Spennymoor Spennymoor is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is south of the River Wear and is south of Durham. The civil parish includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe. History Origins The lan ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3 , Artur Sowinski , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , KSW 18 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:03 , Plock, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3 , Tim Newman , Decision (unanimous) , BAMMA 8: Manuwa vs. Rea , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–3 ,

, Submission (triangle kimura) , UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

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, Decision (unanimous) ,

: Penn vs. Fitch , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Sydney, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , London, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Tom Maguire , Decision (unanimous) , Strike and Submit 12 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Gateshead, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Toon Van Thielen , Submission (guillotine choke) , OMMAC 1 – Assassins , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 ,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Will Burke , Submission (armbar) , MMA Total Combat 24 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jamie McKenzie , TKO (punches) , MMA Total Combat 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:20 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , MMA Total Combat 21 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Ian Margerison , TKO (punches) , MMA Total Combat 21 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:43 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Mark Mills , TKO (punches) , Ultimate Force 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:42 ,

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated i ...

, England ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warburton, Curt 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Bishop Auckland English male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters People from Coundon Sportspeople from County Durham