Juan Adams (born January 16, 1992) is an American

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) fighter and currently competes in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division. Adams is currently signed to BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing in the super heavyweight division. He formerly competed 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 ( ...

(UFC) and

Professional Fighters League The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

(PFL).

Background

Adams was born in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

on January 16, 1992. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, competed in

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

and was an

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

during his high school years. During his senior year at

Strake Jesuit College Preparatory Strake Jesuit College Preparatory (properly referred to as Strake Jesuit or Jesuit but often informally called Strake) is a Jesuit, college-preparatory school for boys, grades 9–12, in the Chinatown area and in the Greater Sharpstown district ...

in Houston, Adams broke his hand and failed to get a collegiate football scholarship. Thus, he turned his focus to wrestling. He was offered a scholarship from

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...

. Upon graduation, he received

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

tryouts for a defensive linemen position from the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, without success. Being 6-foot-5 and over 300 pounds, he turned his focus to

MMA 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 ...

, since he had started training at Paradigm Training Center during his break from university in his hometown. Adams took his first amateur MMA fight after he graduated with a

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

degree. He won the fight and knew being a mixed martial artist would be his choice for his career.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Adams began his professional MMA career in 2017 and fought in

Legacy Fighting Alliance The Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Houston, Texas. It was created as a result of the Legacy Fighting Championship and Resurrection Fighting Alliance merg ...

and amassed a record of 3-0 prior to competing in Dana White's Contender Series 15.

Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series

Adams appeared in Dana White's Contender Series 15 on July 31, 2018, facing Shawn Teed. He won the fight via

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in round one and was signed by UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Adams made his UFC debut on December 15, 2018 against Chris de la Rocha at UFC on Fox 31, He won the fight via technical knockout in round three. His next fight was on May 4, 2019 at

UFC Fight Night 151 ''UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 151'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 9'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on May 4, 2019 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontari ...

against

Arjan Bhullar Arjan Singh Bhullar (born May 13, 1986) is a Canadian mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division of ONE Championship, where he is the former ONE Heavyweight World Champion. He has also competed in the Ultimate Fightin ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Adams faced Greg Hardy on July 20, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 4. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one. Adams faced Justin Tafa on February 8, 2020 at

UFC 247 ''UFC 247: Jones vs. Reyes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 8, 2020, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Light Heavyweight Championshi ...

. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. On February 12, 2020, Adams revealed he had been released from the UFC. Later it was clarified that Adams fought out his rookie contract and it was not renewed.

Post-UFC career

Adams signed with ARES Fighting Championship in late February 2020. Despite the contract with ARES, Adams ended up facing Jeremy Hardy at Fury FC 46 on May 16, 2021. He won the fight via first-round technical knockout. He was then scheduled to face Juan Torres at Fury FC 47 on June 20, 2021, but the fight was cancelled. Adams faced Eric Lunsford at Fury FC 48 on July 25, 2021. He won the fight via first-round

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC), also known as hadaka jime (裸絞) in Judo and "lion killer choke (Mata Leão)" in BJJ, is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word ''naked'' in this context suggests that, unlike other stra ...

submission.

Fury FC Heavyweight Champion

Adams challenged Richard Odoms for the Fury FC Heavyweight Championship at Fury FC 49 on August 29, 2021, he won the fight by third round TKO. Adams made a defence of his Fury FC Heavyweight Championship against Austen Lane at Fury FC 54 on November 21, 2021. He lost the bout and title via a 4th round TKO stoppage. Adams faced

Aaron Rosa Aaron Isaac Rosa (born May 28, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2013, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, ShoXC, and Strikeforce. Background Born and raised in the bor ...

at Fury FC 56 on February 6, 2022. Adams won the bout in the first round via ground and pound TKO.

Professional Fighters League

Adams faced Sam Kei on June 24, 2022 at PFL 5. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Adams, replacing Denis Goltsov, faced Matheus Scheffel in the Semifinals of the Heavyweight tournament on August 13, 2022 at PFL 8. Adams lost the bout via TKO stoppage in the third round.

Return to regional circuit

Adams was then scheduled to face Austin Green at Fury FC 78 on April 23, 2023. However, the bout was scrapped after Green withdrew from the bout citing weight issues. Adams is now scheduled to face Shelton Graves for the inaugural Paradigm Combat Sports Heavyweight Championship at PCS 3 on June 17, 2023.

Championships and accomplishments

*Fury Fighting Championship **Fury FC Heavyweight Championship (one time; former)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 10–6 , Shelton Graves , TKO (punches) , PCS 3 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:33 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–5 , Matheus Scheffel , TKO (punches) , PFL 8 (2022) , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:45 ,

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

, Wales , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Sam Kei , TKO (punches) , PFL 5 (2022) , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:30 ,

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 ,

, TKO (punches) , Fury FC 56 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:08 ,

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–4 , Austen Lane , TKO (punches) , Fury FC 54 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 0:43 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3 , Richard Odoms , TKO (punches) , Fury FC 49 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 , Eric Lunsford , Submission (rear naked choke) , Fury FC 48 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:27 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Jeremy Hardy , TKO (punches) , Fury FC 46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:59 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 , Justin Tafa , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:59 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 , Greg Hardy , TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:45 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–1 ,

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

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Chris de la Rocha , TKO (punches) , UFC on Fox: Lee vs. Iaquinta 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:58 ,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Shawn Teed , TKO (punches) , Dana White's Contender Series 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:09 ,

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 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Dwight Gipson , TKO (submission to punches) , LFA 32 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:09 ,

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, fifth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the county seat, parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles (Louisiana), Lake Char ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Brice Ritani-Coe , TKO (punches) , LFA 26 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Chris Rose , TKO (punches) , LFA 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:11 ,

, United States , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Juan 1992 births Living people Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Martial artists from Houston American male mixed martial artists American male sport wrestlers VMI Keydets wrestlers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century American sportsmen