Nordine Taleb (, born June 10, 1981) is a French and Canadian former 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 ...

. He is currently signed 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 ARES FC. A professional from 2007 to 2019, he has also competed for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

and

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 ( ...

for six years.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Taleb began his professional career with a unanimous decision victory, before losing his next bout via TKO. After a further four victories across Canada, Taleb fought Pete Sell at Ring of Combat 38 for Sell's welterweight championship. Taleb was the much quicker man and was able to move in and out of range quickly, which reduced the amount of strikes he took from Sell. In the second round, Taleb hit Sell with a counter right hand, followed by strikes on the ground. The referee stopped the fight early in the second round and Taleb was declared the ROC Welterweight Champion.

Bellator

In 2011, Taleb was signed by

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * ''Bellator'' (fish), a fish genus in the family Triglidae (sea robins) ** ...

and made his debut at Bellator 64 against Matt Secor. Taleb dominated the fight and outclassed Secor enough to be awarded 10-8 rounds by one judge. Taleb was able to take Secor down multiple times and also controlled the stand-up portion of the fight. Taleb won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24). Taleb's second fight for Bellator was against Matt MacGrath, which was held as a 180lb. Catchweight bout, due to the fight being contested at short notice. Taleb controlled MacGrath in the opening round, by utilising his reach advantage via straight punches. MacGrath started to come back into the fight in the second round, but was knocked down by a left hand from Taleb. Taleb hit MacGrath with some follow-up shots and was declared the winner via TKO. Taleb was then entered into the Bellator Season Seven Welterweight Tournament. Taleb's opponent in the quarterfinal was the first-and-only

DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensation (psychology), sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around ...

welterweight champion Marius Žaromskis. Taleb lost via unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter

In December 2013, it was announced that Taleb was selected as one of the fighters to represent Canada for the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia. In his first fight on the show, Taleb lost to Tyler Manawaroa via unanimous decision after three rounds. In a rare move, the UFC revealed in March 2014 that Taleb would also appear as a participant on the next season of the show, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn. Taleb lost his preliminary fight to get into the house against Mike King via decision after a sudden victory round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Despite being announced as a participant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, Taleb appeared on the event leading up to its premiere as he faced fellow contestant Vik Grujic at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Taleb faced

Li Jingliang Li Jingliang ( Chinese: 李景亮; pinyin: Lǐ Jǐngliàng; born March 20, 1988) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Originally from a small town near Tac ...

on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. He won the fight via split decision and marked a successful return to welterweight. Taleb was expected to face

Cláudio Silva Cláudio Silva (born 6 September 1982) is a retired Brazilian-British mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division in Ultimate Fighting Championship, BAMMA, and the Super Fight League. Background Silva was born in the Brazili ...

on April 25, 2015 at

UFC 186 ''UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi'' was a mixed martial arts event held on April 25, 2015, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Background The event was the seventh event that the UFC has hosted in Montreal, Quebec. The event was expec ...

. However, Silva was forced out of the bout with a broken foot and replaced by Chris Clements. Taleb won the fight by unanimous decision. Taleb 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 ...

on August 1, 2015 at

UFC 190 ''UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 1, 2015, at the Jeunesse Arena, HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship bout between former ...

. He lost the fight by submission in the second round. Taleb faced

Erick Silva Erick Silva (born June 21, 1984) is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional from 2005 till 2019, he competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator MMA, and Jungle Fight, where he ...

on March 5, 2016 at

UFC 196 ''UFC 196: McGregor vs. Diaz'' was a mixed martial arts event held on March 5, 2016, at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was officially announced in November 2015 as "UFC 197", taking place on March 5, 2016, at ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the second round. Taleb was expected to face

Alan Jouban Alan Michael Jouban (born November 25, 1982) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor from 2010 to 2021, Jouban has also formerly competed for the Ultimate Fight ...

on July 7, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 90. However, Taleb pulled out of the bout in early June citing an injury. Taleb faced Santiago Ponzinibbio on February 19, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 105. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Taleb was expected to face

Emil Weber Meek Emil Weber Meek (born August 20, 1988) is a Norwegian retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight division. He previously fought in the UFC and Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). Background Meek grew up in Nesna Muni ...

on 28 May 2017 at UFC Fight Night 109. However, Meek pulled out of the fight on May 12 citing injury. Meek was replaced by promotional newcomer

Oliver Enkamp Miko Eric Oliver Enkamp (born August 10, 1991) is a Swedish mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division. He has previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC and Bellator ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Taleb was expected to face Sultan Aliev on 16 December 2017 at UFC on FOX 26. However, Aliev was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons in early December and was replaced by Danny Roberts. Taleb won the last bout of his contract by knockout in the first round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night bonus. Taleb faced

on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130. He lost the fight via a rear-naked choke in the first round. Taleb faced

Sean Strickland Sean Thomas Strickland (born February 27, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. ...

on 27 October 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 138 ''UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 138'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on October 27, 2018 at Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. B ...

. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round. Taleb was scheduled to face

Siyar Bahadurzada Siyar Bahadurzada (; born 17 April 1984) is a retired Afghan-born Dutch mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, making him the first Afghan to compete in the promotion. He currently w ...

on 4 May 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy. However, it was reported on April 24, 2019 that Bahadurzada pulled out of the bout citing injury, and he is replaced by newcomer

Kyle Prepolec Kyle Prepolec (born August 30, 1989) is a Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Lightweight division. He is the current SMMA Lightweight Champion and had previously won the BTC Catchw ...

. Taleb won the fight via unanimous decision. Taleb faced Muslim Salikhov on September 7, 2019 at

UFC 242 ''UFC 242: Khabib vs. Poirier '' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on September 7, 2019 at The Arena, Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event mar ...

. He lost the fight via knockout in round one.

Post-UFC career

After being released by the UFC, Taleb was expected to headline ARES 2 on April 3, 2020, against Maarten Wouters. However, 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 ...

, the event was postponed until October 30, 2020.

Championships and achievements

** Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Danny Roberts

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 15–7 , Muslim Salikhov , KO (punch) ,

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Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

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Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–4 , Santiago Ponzinibbio , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

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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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Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

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, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 , Marius Žaromskis , Decision (unanimous) ,

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Rama, Ontario Chippewas of Rama First Nation, also known as Chippewas of Mnjikaning and Chippewas of Rama Mnjikaning First Nation (, also alternatively Rama Anishinaabek), is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe, Ojibway) First Nations in Canada, First Nation located in t ...

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Victoriaville Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of ...

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Mixed martial arts exhibition record

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Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taleb, Nordine 1981 births Living people French male mixed martial artists French practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Saint-Tropez Middleweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Var (department) Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 21st-century French sportsmen