Devin Powell (born March 1, 1988) is an American retired

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

fighter who competed in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

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 ( ...

and

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

Background

A once-aspiring professional guitarist who played in a rock band in his teens, Powell graduated from Marshwood High School in South Berwick in 2006. He attended college for a year before dropping out, and taking a clerical job at the National Passport Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Seeking a creative outlet, Powell began attending an MMA gym in town and started participating in jiu-jitsu tournaments, where he found some success.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Powell had his first amateur fight in 2010, losing by split decision. In a little over a year, Powell won his next three amateur fights. When he fought his first professional bout in 2012, he was ranked #1 among amateur lightweight MMA fighters in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. In May 2014, Powell took over The Shop MMA academy in

Somersworth, New Hampshire Somersworth is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 11,855 at the 2020 census. Somersworth has the smallest area and third-lowest population of New Hampshire's 13 cities. History Prior to European settle ...

when its owners decided to call it quits. Powell revamped the facility, founding Nostos MMA, a small family-friendly MMA gym which is owned by Powell and managed by his wife Carol Linn Hawkins. In 2016, Powell went on a rapid win streak of four wins in six months. In February, he defeated Jeff Anderson by unanimous decision at ''Combat Zone 57''. In April, despite hurting his back during the fight, Powell finished Jesse Erickson by first-round TKO to win the New England Fights professional lightweight championship. In June, he debuted on

World Series of Fighting The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

, winning a split decision over Tom Marcellino. While taking a break from training and spending some time recuperating from lingering injuries in the days after a winning the Marcellino fight, Powell was asked in mid-July to step in on short notice to fight in New England Fights' upcoming event ''Dana White: Looking for a Fight'' on August 6 in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

UFC 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 TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

would be attending this event, scouting talent to sign to his promotion. The event would also be filmed and promoted through White's reality web series of the same name. Powell, the reigning NEF MMA Professional Lightweight Champion, agreed to rematch Jon Lemke in a three-round non-title fight at a catchweight of 160 pounds. At ''Looking for a Fight'', Powell pressed the action for most of the fight, using kicks to keep Lemke at range. Despite getting caught with a punch at one point that resulted in a visibly broken nose, Powell continued to press the action. Powell dropped Lemke with an uppercut and immediately took his back for a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

submission in the first round. During the fight, Powell tore his LCL.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

A few days after his performance in Bangor, Powell was signed to a non-guaranteed four-fight contract with the UFC. In November he was booked to fight at UFC Fight Night: Rodríguez vs. Penn on January 15, 2017. Powell's original opponent was

Jordan Rinaldi Jordan Rinaldi (born September 25, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the welterweight Complete Devastation champion. Rinaldi competed in featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Rinaldi was b ...

, but Rinaldi pulled out just before Christmas due to an injury. The UFC quickly signed newcomer

Drakkar Klose Drakkar Klose (born March 9, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised alongside six other siblings in South Haven, Michigan, Klo ...

to his own four-fight contract to replace Rinaldi on short notice. In their fight, Klose defeated Powell decisively, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 for Klose. Powell faced

Darrell Horcher Darrell Joseph Horcher (born July 28, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2010, he formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator and the Cage Fury Fighting Championships, where he was ...

on June 25, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 112. He lost the fight via split decision. Powell faced

Álvaro Herrera Álvaro Herrera Mendoza (born May 14, 1990) is a Mexican mixed martial artist competing in the Lightweight (MMA), Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, he competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was also a contest ...

on July 28, 2018 at

UFC on Fox 30 ''UFC on Fox: Alvarez vs. Poirier 2'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 30'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 28, 2018 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Background The ...

. He won the fight via knockout due to kicks to the body in the first round. Powell was expected to face Claudio Puelles on November 17, 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 140 ''UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Ponzinibbio'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 140'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on November 17, 2018 at Estadio Mary Terán de Weiss in Buenos Aires, ...

. However, it was reported that Puelles pulled out from the event due to injury and he was replaced by newcomer Jesus Pinedo. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Bellator MMA

Powell made his debut for Bellator MMA at Bellator 232 on October 26, 2019, against Marcus Surin. He won the fight by technical submission after his opponent appeared to be unconscious at the end of the second round. He made his sophomore appearance against Manny Muro at Bellator 252 on November 12, 2020. He lost the fight via unanimous decision and subsequently retired after the loss.

Personal life

Powell has a daughter , Clementine Carol linn Powells step daughter (born 2012).

Mixed martial arts record

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Mashantucket, Connecticut Mashantucket is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northeastern part of the town of Ledyard, New London County, Connecticut, United States. It consists of land held by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. The Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Re ...

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Salem, New Hampshire Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census and an estimated 30,647 in 2022. Salem is a northern suburb of Boston located on Interstate 93. As the first town along I-93 north ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Devin 1988 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Strafford County, New Hampshire Mixed martial artists from Maine Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Somersworth, New Hampshire People from South Berwick, Maine Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from New Hampshire