Jeremiah C. Wells (born October 30, 1986) is an American professional

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

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

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 ( ...

Background

Wells was born in 1986 in West Hazelton, Pennsylvania, a city of about 25,000, nearby

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Growing up a variety of sports, ranging from football, basketball and soccer, he eventually settled into breeding dogs to sell and working at a factory to support his child. He started training MMA at the age of 24 and fell in love with it, pursuing it as a career.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Wells competed as an amateur

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have beg ...

from 2011 to 2012, amassing a 2–1 record. Making his professional MMA debut at PA Cage Fight 14, he scored a first-round TKO against Quinton Stephens, before submitting his next two opponents, Bradley Desir and Scott Hudson, via second round rear-naked chokes. He would then compete for the Cage Fury FC Welterweight Championship against Emmanuel Wallo at CFFC 56, which he would lose by unanimous decision. After drawing with Bassil Hafez at CFFC 69, Wells would rebound, chocking out Gary Balletto Jr in the first round at CES MMA 49. Wells would then defeat The Ultimate Fighter season 16 alumni Jon Manley via unanimous decision at CES MMA 50, before winning by unanimous decision against Jason Norwood in the main event of CES MMA 52 for the CES MMA Welterweight Championship. Losing the championship in the next bout at CES MMA 52 against future Bellator fighter Vinicius de Jesus via unanimous decision, Wells knocked out Mumia Abu Dey-Ali in the first round att CFFC 76. In his final bout before the UFC, Wells submitted Marco Smallman in the second round at CFFC 78.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In his UFC debut, Wells faced

Warlley Alves Warlley Alves (born 4 January 1991) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2011, Warlley made a name for himsel ...

, replacing

Ramazan Emeev Ramazan Dadaevich Emeev (; born May 20, 1987) is a Russian mixed martial artist. He is Combat Sambo World Champion who currently fights in the Welterweight division. He is a former M-1 Global middleweight champion and fought in the Ultimate Fig ...

, on June 26, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov. Wells won the fight via knockout in round two. Wells was scheduled to face Jake Matthews on December 4, 2021, at

UFC on ESPN 31 ''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Aldo'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 31'' and ''UFC Vegas 44'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on December 4, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Neva ...

. However, just hours before the event the bout was cancelled after one of Wells's cornermen tested positive for COVID-19. His second fight in UFC, Wells faced Mike Mathetha, replacing Orion Cosce on February 12, 2022, at

UFC 271 ''UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Middleweight Champio ...

. He won the fight via technical submission in round one. Wells faced

Court McGee Court McGee (born December 12, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, McGee mostly fought in local pr ...

on June 18, 2022, at UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Emmett. He won the bout in the first round, knocking out McGee with a left hook. This win earned him his first Performance of the Night award. Wells faced

Matthew Semelsberger Matthew Semelsberger (born November 23, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Semelsberger is a 2011 graduate of Urbana High School, where he compete ...

on April 22, 2023, at

UFC Fight Night 222 ''UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 222, UFC on ESPN+ 80'' and ''UFC Vegas 71'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 22, 2023, at the UFC A ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. Wells faced

Carlston Harris Carlston Lindsay Harris (born July 9, 1987) is a Guyanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Having left Guyana in 2007 in search of better job prospects, Harris moved ...

on August 5, 2023, at UFC on ESPN 50. He lost the bout in the third round, getting choked out via anaconda choke. Wells faced

Max Griffin Max Griffin (born November 29, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Griffin currently competes in the Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2009, Griffin has also competed for ...

on February 10, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 236. He lost the bout by split decision. Wells was scheduled to face

Niko Price Nicholas Gordon “Niko” Price (born September 29, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Cape Coral, Florida, Price attend ...

on June 1, 2024 at UFC 302. However, due to an injury, Wells was replaced by

Alex Morono Alexander Quincy Morono (born August 16, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2010, Morono has also fought for Legacy ...

. Wells was scheduled to face promotional newcomer Andreas Gustafsson on May 31, 2025 at

UFC on ESPN 68 ''UFC on ESPN: Gamrot vs. Klein'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 68'' and ''UFC Vegas 107'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on May 31, 2025, at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada, part ...

. However on May 20, 2025, Wells withdrew due to an injury and was replaced by

Trevin Giles Trevin Dewayne Giles (born August 6, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist. Giles currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Giles was born in San Antonio, Texas, and was a footbal ...

in a catchweight bout.

Championships and accomplishments

Cage Fury Fighting Championships Cage Fury Fighting Championships (CFFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion primarily operating in the Northeastern United States, founded by Felix and Amy Martinez. They promoted their first shows in Atlantic City, New Jersey, laun ...

** Cage Fury FC Welterweight Championship (one time; former) * CES MMA ** CES MMA Welterweight Championship (one time; former) *

** Performance of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Bensalem, Pennsylvania Bensalem Township is a township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township borders the northeastern section of Philadelphia and includes the communities of Andalusia, Bensalem, Bridgewater, Cornwells Heights, Eddington, Flush ...

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Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

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Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

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Hazleton, Pennsylvania Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,963 at the 2020 census. Hazleton is the second-most populous city in Luzerne County. It was incorporated as a borough on January 5, 1857, and as a city on ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Jeremiah 1986 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Mixed martial artists from Pennsylvania