Jordan Andrew Espinosa (born November 8, 1989) is an American

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 ...

competing in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

division. He is most notable for his time in 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

Espinosa wrestled with the West Mesa High School in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. He won the state championship as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, placed third as a junior and second in his senior year. At the national level, he was a five time Southwest Nationals Champion. Espinosa attended the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

where he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Computer Engineering.

Mixed martial arts career

Amateur career

Epinosa made his amateur debut in June 2009, beginning his career as a flyweight. His third opponent was Ronnie White, whom he defeated by TKO due to punches. In his fifth amateur fight, he faced Joby Sanchez for the Que Loco CF Bantamweight title. Espinosa lost by submission in the third round. His sixth amateur fight would beagainst Jeremy Robledo. Espinosa won a unanimous decision. Espinosa achieved victory in his next three fights as well, with submission wins over Corey Cline and Noah Gagstatter, as well as a decision victory over Aaron Arvanitis. Espinosa finished his amateur career with a 8–1 record.

Early career

Espinosa made his professional debut in 2012 at Fostoria Fight Night, where he faced Joshua Killion. Espinosa won the fight by way of brabo choke. Prior to appearing on

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been mov ...

, Espinosa had amassed a 10–5 record, finishing eight of his ten wins. During this time he won the TSE Bantamweight title, with a decision win over Brett Roller, and had spent the first part of his mixed martial arts career as a

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 ...

, and fought two catchweight bouts. Espinosa faced Nick Urso in a rematch on August 22, 2017, at Dana White's Contender Series 7, after their first fight in the regional circuit ended in a no contest. He won the rematch by a technical submission via a d'arce choke. However, he was not awarded a UFC contract after this win. Espinosa then faced C.J. Hamilton at an Alliance MMA event in March 2018 and won by split decision. Returning to the Contender Series, he fought Riley Dutro during Dana White's Contender Series 12. Espinosa won the fight by TKO at the very end of the third round. Following the win, Espinosa was awarded a UFC contract.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Espinosa was scheduled to make his UFC debut on November 10, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: The Korean Zombie vs. Rodríguez against

Mark De La Rosa Mark De La Rosa (born August 31, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA) who fights in the flyweight division. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background De La Rosa was born in Fort Worth, Texas in the United St ...

. However, prior to the fight, Epsinosa suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Joby Sanchez. Espinosa subsequently made his debut on March 23, 2019, against Eric Shelton at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis. Espinosa won the fight by unanimous decision. Espinosa's next faced

Matt Schnell Matthew Christopher Schnell (born January 15, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Schnell formerly competed for Legacy Fighting Alliance ...

at UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler on August 3, 2019. He lost in the first round by triangle choke submission. Espinosa next faced Alex Perez at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos on January 25, 2020. He lost the fight in the first round by technical submission due to an arm triangle choke. Espinosa was scheduled to face Zhalgas Zhumagulov at a UFC in Kazakhstan on June 13, 2020. However, the event for Kazakhstan was later cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and moved to a location in the United States. Espinosa faced

at UFC on ESPN: Eye vs. Calvillo on June 13, 2020. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Espinosa faced David Dvořák on September 19, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Espinosa was expected to face

Tim Elliott Timothy Samuel Elliott (born December 24, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Competing professionally since 2009, Elliott is the former Titan FC Flyweig ...

on January 16, 2021, at UFC on ABC 1. However, Espinosa tested positive for COVID-19 in late December and the pairing was moved to

UFC 259 ''UFC 259: Błachowicz vs. Adesanya '' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 6, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...

. Espinosa lost the fight via unanimous decision. On March 11, 2021, it was announced that Espinosa was released from the UFC.

Post-UFC Career

In his first fight since leaving the UFC, Espinosa faced Jose Zarauz at Combate Global - Reyes vs. Gomez on May 20, 2022. He would lose the fight via rear-naked choke late in the second round.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, , Jose Zarauz , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Combate Global - Reyes vs. Gomez , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:19 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–5 (1) , Nick Urso , Technical Submission (D'Arce choke) , Dana White's Contender Series 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:23 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–5 (1) , Dinis Paiva , Decision (unanimous) , CES MMA 41 - Bessette vs. Croom , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistica ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 (1) , Brett Roller , Decision (unanimous) , TSE - Rocky Mountain Rubicon 3 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–4 (1) , John Dirham , TKO (punches) , New League Fights - The Takeover , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:13 ,

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, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 7–4 (1) , Nick Urso , NC (illegal strikes) , Jackson's MMA Series 17 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:50 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–4 , Jordan Morales , Submission (brabo choke) , PA Cage Fight 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:35 , Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–4 , Rafael de Freitas , Decision (unanimous) , Legacy Fighting Championship 36 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4 , Jeremy Pender , Decision (unanimous) , Gladiators of the Cage: The Road to Glory 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–4 , Chris Dunn , Decision (unanimous) , Turf Wars 18 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–3 , Rico DiSciullo , Decision (unanimous) , CES MMA 23 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Tim Sosa , Submission (brabo choke) , XFC 25: Boiling Point , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:36 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Andrew Cseh , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Rocktagon MMA 26: Veni, Vidi, Vici , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:49 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , David Vigil , Submission , Dollar D Promotions: Rattler Rumble , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Joshua Killion , Submission (brabo choke) , Golden Lotus Productions: Fostoria Fight Night , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 ,

Fostoria, Ohio Fostoria (, ) is a city located at the convergence of Hancock, Seneca, and Wood counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 13,046 at the 2020 Census, slightly down from 13,441 at the 2010 Census. It is ap ...

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Noah Gagstatter , Submission (strikes) , Kentucky Fighting Challenge 07/30/11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Aaron Arvanitis , Decision (unanimous) , NAAFS Proving Ground Series 9 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:30 , Streetsboro, Ohio, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Corey Cline , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Boyz Gone Bad 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:39 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Jeremy Robledo , Decision (unanimous) , Campus Cage Fights , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:00 ,

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