Jonathan Cruz Tuck (born August 28, 1984) is a Chamorro 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 ...

. Tuck is the first Chamorro native from

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

to be signed by 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 competes at 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. His official nickname is the "Super Saiyan", taken from the Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

''.

Background

Tuck grew up with a love of

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

, which he attributes to being from the culture of warriors, the Chamorros. Tuck began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and MMA with his cousin, about six years before coming to the UFC. Tuck attended college at the

University of Guam University of Guam () (U.O.G.) is a public university, public land-grant university in Mangilao, Guam. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and offers thirty-four degree programs at the undergraduate level and ele ...

and was studying physical education before putting his education on hold because of his career in fighting. However, he does plan on finishing his college education in the near future. Before becoming a professional MMA fighter, Tuck also worked as a power plant operator.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Tuck made his professional debut in 2007, earning his first win over Joe Nauta via rear-naked choke early in the first round. His second fight was against John Salas, winning via TKO (doctor stoppage). On November 17, 2007, Tuck made his debut in Pacific Xtreme Combat against Giovanni Sablan. He shows his

grappling Grappling is a fighting technique based on throws, trips, sweeps, clinch fighting, ground fighting and submission holds. Grappling contests often involve takedowns and ground control, and may end when a contestant concedes defeat. Shou ...

skills by defeating Sablan via rear-naked choke. After a year layoff he returned to fighting. He defeated Thomas Calvo via Rear-Naked-Choke in the first round. On November 21, 2009, he made his debut in Gorilla Warfare, in a Superfight against his toughest opponent yet,

URCC Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) is the first and only professional mixed martial arts promotion based in the Philippines. Its inaugural event was held at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque, Philippines on November 23, ...

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 ...

Champion, Martial Combat Champion,

ONE FC ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) until January 2015, is a Multinational corporation, multinational combat sports Promoter (entertainment), promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Origi ...

Lightweight Champion

Eduard Folayang Eduard Ayangwa Folayang (born November 22, 1983) is a Filipino professional mixed martial artist and wushu practitioner who competes in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship, where he is a two-time ONE Lightweight World Ch ...

. He defeated Folayang via KO in just eight seconds.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu career

Tuck competed in the

World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup The Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship (ADWPJJC), often simply called the Abu Dhabi World Pro, and from 2009 to 2014 known as the World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Cup (WPJJC), is an international Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition that ...

. He won the gold medal in the finals against Mohammed Naser in the Open Light division. Despite having a knee injury, Tuck competed in the -78 kg division placing second, which secured him the silver medal.

Comeback in MMA

After competing in Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments all over the world, Tuck finally returned to MMA, defeating former

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

fighter Tristan Arenal. Tuck got hit with some solid punches, stayed calm and composed. Tuck got a takedown, then knocked Arenal unconscious with

ground and pound Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

punches.

The Ultimate Fighter

In February 2012, Tuck was announced as a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 15. In his first fight, Tuck lost via unanimous decision to eventual finalist Al Iaquinta in the elimination round to get into the house. Tuck dislocated a toe during the fight.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Tuck made his official promotional when he faced Zhang Tiequan on November 10, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 6. Tuck won the fight via unanimous decision. Tuck was expected to face

Norman Parke Norman Parke (born 22 December 1986) is a mixed martial artist from Northern Ireland. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki ...

on April 20, 2013, at

UFC on Fox 7 The year 2013 was the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with ''UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping''. 2013 also saw the introduction of the wom ...

. However, the bout was scrapped during the week leading up to the event as Tuck was forced out of the bout with an injury. The rescheduled bout with Parke eventually took place on October 26, 2013, at

UFC Fight Night 30 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 large ...

. Tuck lost the fight via unanimous decision. Tuck was expected to face Yosdenis Cedeno on June 7, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 42. However, Cedeno pulled out of the bout in early May citing an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Jake Lindsey. He won the fight via submission in the third round due to heel strikes to the body. Tuck faced Kevin Lee on September 27, 2014, at UFC 178. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Tuck faced Tae Hyun Bang on May 16, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 66. Tuck won the fight via submission in the first round, which also produced a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Tuck was expected to face

Nick Hein Nick Hein (born April 24, 1984) is a German retired mixed martial artist and actor, who is best known for appearing in the German television show '' Diese Kaminskis''. Before Hein became an actor, he was also a national judo champion and police o ...

on May 8, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 87. However, just days before the event, Hein pulled out citing injury. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Josh Emmett. Tuck lost the back and forth fight via split decision. Tuck was scheduled to face Mehdi Baghdad on October 15, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 97. However, Baghdad pulled out of the fight in mid-September citing injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Volkanovski. In turn, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely. Tuck was quickly rescheduled to face Damien Brown on November 27, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 101 ''UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Brunson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 101'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 27, 2016, at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Background Thi ...

. He lost the fight by controversial split decision. Tuck faced

Takanori Gomi is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who gained international fame in Pride Fighting Championships. Later in his career, Gomi also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Gomi is the only Pride FC Lightweight Champion in the ...

on June 17, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia. He won the fight by submission (rear-naked choke) in the first round. Tuck faced Drew Dober on August 25, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 135. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Bellator

On September 4, 2019, news surfaced that Tuck will be replacing injured Paul Redmond on short notice against Brandon Girtz at Bellator Dublin on September 27, 2019. Eventually only a week before the fight, Girtz withdrew from the bout due to an injury leading to Tuck being removed from the card as well.

Championships and accomplishments

** Performance of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

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Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

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, Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Tae Hyun Bang , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Faber , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:56 ,

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 Philippine census, 2020 census, it has a ...

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Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

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Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Zhang Tiequan , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fuel TV: Franklin vs. Le , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

, SAR, China , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Tristan Arenal , KO (punches) , Pacific Xtreme Combat 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:47 ,

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Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, Northern Mariana Islands , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Thomas Calvo , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pacific Xtreme Combat 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,

Mangilao Mangilao is a village on the eastern shore of the United States territory of Guam. The village's population has decreased slightly since the island's 2010 census. Cliffs lie along much of the village's shoreline provide dramatic views, including ...

, Guam , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Giovanni Sablan , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Pacific Xtreme Combat 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:41 ,

, Guam , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , John Salas , TKO (doctor stoppage) , GHBW 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 , Hagåtña, Guam , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Joe Neuta , Submission (rear-naked choke) , GHBW 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:13 , Agana, Guam ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

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Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Jon 1984 births Living people Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Guamanian male mixed martial artists American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Chamorro people Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters