Jai Herbert (born 13 May 1988) 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 ...

who currently fights as a

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

in 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 ...

. He is the former

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 ...

lightweight champion and also competed in

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 ...

Background

Herbert was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

, England. He spent 14 years as a scaffolder and worked a full-time job while competing as an amateur and professional. He didn't turn to full-time fighting until signing with the UFC. As an amateur fighter, Herbert competed at welterweight and didn't consider the strain of a weight cut to be worthwhile at such a level. In August 2020, Herbert was part of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

' kit launch.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After going 9–1 as an amateur, Herbert made his professional MMA debut in 2015. He recorded consecutive second-round knockouts with Full Contact Contender and later signed a four-fight contract with

. On 14 November 2015, Herbert made his promotional debut at BAMMA 23 and beat Ben Bennett via knockout in the second round. On 14 May 2016, he earned a second round submission against Tony Morgan at BAMMA 25. On 16 December, he suffered his first loss against future UFC fighter Rhys McKee in a lightweight title bout at BAMMA 27. In February 2017, Herbert was due to face Steve Owens at BAMMA 28, but his opponent was forced to withdraw with illness the day before. On 12 May, Herbert beat Rick Selvarajah at BAMMA 29 via knockout in the second round. In late 2017, Herbert voiced his displeasure about BAMMA's matchmaking. Due to an over-booking of fights by the promotion, Herbert saw a scheduled bout cancelled at late notice due to the number of tickets sold by the fighters. He announced he would not fight under the BAMMA promotion again and subsequently signed with

Cage Warriors

On 16 June 2018, Herbert faced Erdi Karatas at Cage Warriors 94. He won by unanimous decision in the co-main event. He was then due to fight Donovan Desmae at Cage Warriors 98, but had to withdraw two weeks prior to the bout. On 8 December, he returned with a first round knockout against Joe McColgan at Cage Warriors 100. On 2 March 2019, Herbert appeared in the co-main event at Cage Warriors 102 and beat Steve O'Keefe via a first round knockout. He was then handed his first title opportunity with the promotion and beat Jack Grant at Cage Warriors 106 to claim the vacant lightweight championship. On 26 October, he successfully defended his title against Cain Carrizosa at Cage Warriors 109 with a first round knockout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In January 2020, Herbert signed with the UFC. He was due to face

Marc Diakiese Marc Diakiese (born 16 March 1993) is a Congolese-born English professional mixed martial artist who competes as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has also competed for Caged Steel and BAMMA. Background Aged 17, Dia ...

as a replacement at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards in March, but the event was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 25 July, Herbert faced Francisco Trinaldo at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till. He lost the fight via knockout in round three. Herbert faced Renato Moicano on June 26, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov. He lost the fight via a rear-naked choke in round two. Herbert faced Khama Worthy on October 23, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori. He won the bout via TKO in round one. Herbert was scheduled to face Mike Davis on March 19, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 204. However, Davis withdrew from the bout due to personal reasons and he was replaced by

Ilia Topuria Ilia Topuria ( ka, ილია თოფურია) (born January 21, 1997) is a Georgian and Spanish mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight and Featherweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of December 13, 2 ...

. Herbert landed a head kick in the first round that dropped Topuria, but ultimately lost the fight via knockout in round two. Herbert faced Kyle Nelson on July 23, 2022 at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Herbert is scheduled to face

Ľudovít Klein Ľudovít Klein (born February 22, 1995) is a Slovak mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Ľudovít Klein was born in Nové Zámky, where he also started his sports care ...

on March 18, 2023 at

UFC 286 ''UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3'' is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on March 18, 2023, at The O2 Arena in London, England. Background A UFC Welterweight Championshi ...

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Cage Warriors Lightweight Championship (One time) *** One successful title defence ** Cage Warriors Academy South East Lightweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 12–4 , Kyle Nelson , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–4 ,

, KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:07 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Khama Worthy , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Costa vs. Vettori , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:47 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Renato Moicano , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:36 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 , Francisco Trinaldo , TKO (punch) , UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:30 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Cain Carrizosa , KO (knee) , Cage Warriors 109 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:26 ,

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 ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Jack Grant , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 106 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:22 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Steve O'Keefe , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 102 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:07 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Joe McColgan , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 100 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:00 ,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, Wales , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Erdi Karatas , Decision (unanimous) , Cage Warriors 94 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Antwerp, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Rick Selvarajah , TKO (punches) , BAMMA 29 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:37 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Rhys McKee , KO (punches) , BAMMA 27 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:47 ,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Tony Morgan , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BAMMA 25 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:19 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ben Bennett , KO (body kick) , BAMMA 23 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:59 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Martin Sweeney , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 13 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:41 ,

Horwich Horwich ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Prior to 1974 in the historic county of Lancashire. It is southeast of Chorley, northwest of Bolton and northwest of Manchester. It l ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Omid Muhammadi , TKO (punches) , Full Contact Contender 12 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:22 ,

, England , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Jai 1988 births Living people English male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Luta Livre Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters English Muay Thai practitioners English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Wolverhampton