Michael Lee Graves (born January 8, 1991) 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 ...

who most recently competed 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 Titan FC, where he is the former Welterweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2013, he formerly competed for the

UFC 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 larg ...

and was also a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians.

Background

Born and raised in

Maumee, Ohio Maumee ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is a suburb about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 13,896 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Maumee was declared an Al ...

, he graduated from

Maumee High School (Ohio) Maumee High School is a public high school in Maumee, Ohio, southwest of Toledo. It is the only high school in the Maumee City School District. Their mascot and sports teams are known as the "Maumee Panthers". They are members of the Northern ...

where he 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 ...

. Graves began training in mixed martial arts in 2009 and began competing as an amateur in 2010.

Mixed martial arts career

Graves made his professional mixed martial arts debut in February 2013. He compiled a record of 4–0, competing for various regional promotions in Florida where he finished all of his opponents before trying out for

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

in late 2014.

The Ultimate Fighter

In February 2015, it was announced that Graves was one of the fighters selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians. In his first fight on the show, Graves faced

Kamaru Usman Kamarudeen Usman (born May 11, 1987) is a Nigerian-American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler, and graduated folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championsh ...

. He lost the closely contested bout via majority decision. In his second fight on the show, Graves faced off against Jason Jackson. After nearly being finished in the fight's opening moments (when he was dropped by a groin strike and subsequent follow up punches), he won the fight via submission in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Graves made his official debut for the promotion on July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale where he faced fellow castmate

Vicente Luque Vicente Catta Preta Luque (born November 27, 1991) is a Brazilian and American professional mixed martial artist of Chilean and Brazilian descent. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). B ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Graves was expected to face Danny Roberts on December 10, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 80 ''UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 80'') was a mixed martial arts event held on December 10, 2015, at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was expected to be headline ...

. However, Graves was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by

Nathan Coy Nathan David Coy (born July 24, 1978) is an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC. A professional competitor since ...

. Graves next faced Randy Brown on April 16, 2016, at

UFC on Fox 19 ''UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 19'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 16, 2016, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Background The event was the second that the organization has hosted in the Tampa Bay A ...

. He won the fight via submission in the second round. Graves next faced

Bojan Veličković Bojan Veličković (; born December 18, 1988) is a Serbian retired mixed martial artist and sambist. He was competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has competed for the UFC, Professional Fighters League, ...

on July 30, 2016, at

UFC 201 ''UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 30, 2016, at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Background This was the third event that the organization has hosted in Atl ...

. The bout was declared a majority draw (30-27, 28-28, 28-28). Graves was expected to face

Sérgio Moraes Sérgio Moraes (born July 23, 1982) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as well as being a competitor on '' The Ultimate Fig ...

on November 19, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 100. However, Graves was removed from the fight on October 3 after he was arrested on a misdemeanor

battery Battery or batterie most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

charge and was replaced by

Zak Ottow Zachary Ottow (born ) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Welterweight (MMA), welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, he has also competed for King of t ...

. In turn, he was released from the promotion in April 2017.

Post-UFC career

After the release from UFC, Graves signed with Fight Nights Global, where he suffered his first professional career loss against Nikolay Aleksakhin in his promotional debut at Fight Nights Global 74. After the bout Graves fought to a draw with Murat Khasanov at Fight Nights Global 87.

Titan FC

After the brief stint in the Russian promotion, Graves signed with

Titan FC Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

again where he faced Gegg Ellis at Titan FC 51 on December 28, 2018. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Next he faced

Jared Gooden Jared Alexander Gooden (born December 5, 1993) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional since 2015, Gooden has also competed for Legacy Fighting All ...

for the interim Titan Welterweight Championship at Titan FC 52 on March 15, 2019. Graves won the fight via unanimous decision, becoming the Titan FC interim Welterweight Champion as was subsequently promoted to undisputed Welterweight Champion as Uros Jurisic was stripped of the title. Graves was expected to make his first title defense against Kamal Magomedov at Titan FC 57, but withdrew from the bout due to an injury. Magomedov fought Italo Goncalves for the interim Welterweight Championship instead and won the title via submission. Graves was scheduled to face Magomedov in a title unification bout at Titan FC 59 on February 28, 2020, but Magomed withdrew from the bout. Graves then headlined Titan FC 59 against Yuri Villefort. Graves successfully defended his title by knocking out Villefort in the fourth round. Graves faced Oton Jasse at Titan FC 65 on November 22, 2020. At weigh-ins, Graves missed weight by 2 pounds and was therefore stripped of the title. He won the bout via guillotine choke in the first round. In October 2021, news about Graves

tweeting A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around 8 ...

threats to mixed martial arts reporter Amy Kaplan and UFC president

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who is the CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at . Out ...

emerged. Simultaneously, Titan FC COO Lex McMahon revealed that Graves had not been under contract with the organization for a while.

Championships and accomplishments

Titan Fighting Championship * Titan FC Interim Welterweight Championship (One time; former) * Titan FC Welterweight Championship (One time; former) **One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, , Oton Jasse , Submission (guillotine choke) , Titan FC 65 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

, Dominican Republic , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1–2 , Yuri Villefort , TKO (punches) , Titan FC 59 , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:40 ,

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Titan FC 53 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1–2 , Gregg Ellis , Decision (unanimous) , Titan FC 51 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Draw , align=center, 6–1–2 , Murat Khasanov , Draw (majority) , Fight Nights Global 87: Khachatryan vs. Queally , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1–1 , Nikolay Aleksakhin , TKO (punches) , Fight Nights Global 74: Aleksakhin vs. Graves , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:06 ,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia , , - , Draw , align=center, 6–0–1 ,

, Draw (majority) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, 6–0 , Randy Brown , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:31 ,

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians Finale , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, 4–0 , Rafael Souza , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Titan FC 31 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Rico Farrington , TKO (punches) , MTC - In the Beginning , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Danny Finz , TKO (punches) , Fight Time 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Nicolas Ryske , KO (punches) , Fight Time 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:48 ,

, United States , , -

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Jason Jackson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians , (airdate) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:01 ,

Coconut Creek, Florida Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated north of Miami, it had an estimated population of 57,348 in 2022. It is part of South Florida's Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area. The city seceded from Pompano Beach ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 ,

, Decision (majority) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians , (airdate) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...