Irwin Rivera (born February 14, 1989) is a Mexican

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 ...

who competes in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

division of the

Eagle Fighting Championship Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC), commonly referred to as Eagle FC, is a Russian mixed martial arts promotion company established in 2020 by former UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. It was renamed to Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC ...

. A professional mixed martial artist since 2014, Rivera has competed for

Combate Americas Combate Global (formerly known as Combate Americas) is an Hispanic America, Hispanic American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company founded in 2011 by current-CEO Campbell McLaren and based in New York City, New Yor ...

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

Titan FC Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

where he was the Bantamweight Champion.

Background

Rivera was born in

Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl Nezahualcóyotl (), or more commonly Neza, is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico. It is located in the List of states of Mexico, state of State of Mexico, Mexico, adjacent to the ...

, Mexico, but

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

with his parents to

New Windsor, New York New Windsor is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 27,805 at the 2020 census. It is located on the eastern side of the county and is adjacent to the Hudson River and the City of Newburgh. History The region wa ...

where he grew up. He has a younger sister Kelly, older sister Lezlye and a brother. Rivera initially trained for boxing, but dabbled into mixed martial arts after his boxing gym closed its doors.

Mixed martial arts career

Titan FC

After getting cut from

, Rivera made his Titan Fighting Championship debut against Edir Terry at Titan FC 48 on February 16, 2018. He lost the fight due to technical knockout stemming from a leg injury. Rivera made his sophomore appearance in Titan FC against Lazar Stojadinovic at Titan FC 53 on March 15, 2019. He won the fight via first-round knockout. Rivera then faced Matt Wagy for the interim Titan FC Bantamweight Championship at Titan FC 55 on June 28, 2019. Rivera claimed the interim championship via fourth-round technical knockout stemming from a body punch. On November 11, 2019, Rivera was elevated to undisputed Bantamweight Champion after the reigning champion Rudson Caliocane vacated the title. For his first title defense, Rivera faced Danny Sabatello at Titan FC 58 on December 20, 2019. Rivera retained his title via fourth-round technical knockout. In May 2020, Rivera vacated his title in order to sign with the

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Replacing Mike Davis on two days' notice, Rivera signed with the UFC and faced Giga Chikadze in a featherweight bout at

UFC Fight Night 172 ''UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 172'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 30'' and ''UFC Fight Island 2'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 19, 2020 ...

on May 16, 2020. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Rivera made his second appearance in the organization at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik on August 8, 2020 against Ali AlQaisi. He won the fight via split decision. Rivera faced Andre Ewell on September 19, 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 178 ''UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 178'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 36'' and ''UFC Vegas 11'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 19, 2020, at t ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Rivera was scheduled to face Ray Rodriguez on March 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 187. Due to the two counts arrest of attempted murder of his two sisters, UFC rescinded their bout negotiation.

Post UFC

Rivera faced Firdavs Khasanov at Eagle FC 46 on March 11, 2022. He won the bout in the second round after dropping Khasanov with a body kick and then finishing him with ground and pound. Rivera faced Joseph Penafiel at Gamebred FC 4 in a bare-knuckle MMA bout on May 5, 2023, winning the bout via unanimous decision. Rivera faced Joshua Weems on September 8, 2023 at Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, losing via unanimous decision.

Legal troubles

In January 2021, Rivera was arrested on two counts of attempted murder in

Palm Beach County, Florida Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and Broward County, Florida, Broward County ...

after he allegedly stabbed his two sisters. He was booked into the Palm Beach County jail and held without bail. On January 8, it was revealed that Rivera was being kept in a mental health facility rather than in jail. His sisters also broke their silence, stating that they love Irwin and that all that they wish for their brother is for him to get the help that he needs for his mental state. Irwin was granted a conditional release from custody on October 19, 2021, after the judge in the case approved Rivera’s plea of

not guilty by reason of insanity Not or NOT may also refer to: Language * Not, the general declarative form of "no", indicating a negation of a related statement that usually precedes * ... Not!, a grammatical construction used as a contradiction, popularized in the early 1990 ...

. He was diagnosed with

Bipolar I disorder Bipolar I disorder (BD-I; pronounced "type one bipolar disorder") is a type of bipolar spectrum disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic episode, with or without mixed or psychotic features. Most people also, at other ti ...

and it was determined that he was having a psychotic episode at the time of the stabbings.

Personal life

Rivera has a daughter (born 2016) from his previous relationship.

Championships and accomplishments

** Titan FC Bantamweight Champion (one time) ***One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

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Steven Peterson Steven Timothy Peterson (born May 29, 1990) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. Peterson competed in the Featherweight (MMA), Featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Irwin Living people Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1989 births Mexican male mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Mexican practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu 21st-century Mexican sportsmen