Paul Taylor (born 15 December 1979) is an English retired 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 ...

who competed in 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 of 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 ( ...

. A professional competitor from 2002 until 2013, Taylor also competed for Cage Rage.

Mixed martial arts career

Taylor fought for Team Kaobon of Liverpool and was a WPKC World Kickboxing Champion. Taylor got into

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 ...

when his coach entered him in the UK's first cage tournament, Cage Rage. Taylor had given up

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

after becoming disillusioned at the lack of money in the sport. After giving up kickboxing, Taylor decided to retrain as a carpenter whilst doing MMA on the side, but eventually trained MMA full-time until his retirement.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Taylor sent a DVD of his fighting to the UFC to try and secure a contract with the organization and they signed him immediately. In his UFC debut, Taylor stopped previously undefeated Edilberto de Oliveira via TKO due to strikes early in the third round. His second UFC fight at

UFC 75 ''UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The event was held September 8, 2007, at The O2 in London, United Kingdom. Background The event was the fourth event held by the UFC in ...

was a loss via

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armpit lock is very useful; it will immobilize an opponent and pin them on the ground. An armlock t ...

to Marcus Davis. Although Taylor lost the fight he came close to winning with the referee seconds away from stopping the action due to Taylor connecting with a high kick and landing several blows on a rocked Davis. Due to its high pace and excitement the fight was awarded Fight of the Night. His next fight at UFC 80 was a loss via unanimous decision to fellow countryman Paul Kelly. Although he lost, Taylor along with Kelly was awarded $35,000 as a bonus for Fight of the Night. This was the second time that Taylor had won the award. Taylor fought

Jess Liaudin Jess Liaudin (born 21 December 1973) is a French mixed martial artist, kickboxer and film actor. A professional MMA competitor from 1990 until 2014, he competed for UFC, Pancrase, Cage Rage, and King of the Cage. Background Liaudin trained ...

in a rematch at UFC 85. Taylor won by split decision. Taylor met MMA veteran Chris Lytle at

UFC 89 ''UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on October 18, 2008, at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Background The event was headlined by a middleweight ...

which took place at the

National Indoor Arena Utilita Arena Birmingham (previously known as Arena Birmingham, The Barclaycard Arena, originally as the National Indoor Arena and still commonly called The NIA) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, England. It is owne ...

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, England. Lytle won a unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 30–27). The decision resulted in loud boos and Taylor was surprised at Lytle being awarded the judges' decision.

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

, MMAWeekly and MMAJunkie thought Taylor had won the decision. The fight was awarded ''Fight of the Night'' honors and both fighters received $40,000 following their exciting, action packed fight. Although this was Taylor's third defeat in the octagon, he had won ''Fight of the Night'' awards on three occasions when he had been defeated in the UFC. Taylor next fought John Hathaway at

UFC 105 ''UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, United Kingdom at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This event aired on the same day, via tape d ...

Manchester, England 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 ...

, losing via unanimous decision. Taylor was expected to make his

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 ...

debut against John Gunderson on 10 April 2010 at UFC 112. However, due to complications after making the weight cut, Taylor was not medically cleared to fight. Taylor next faced Sam Stout on 23 October 2010 at UFC 121. The fight saw both fighters attempt kicks. The first round saw Stout bloody Taylor's nose and successfully gain a takedown. Taylor came back in the second, catching Stout on the inside. Stout went on to win a split decision (29–28, 28–29, 30–27). Taylor next faced Gabe Ruediger on 5 February 2011 at UFC 126. Taylor won via KO after landing a head kick and follow up punches in the second round. Taylor was expected to face John Makdessi on 14 August 2011 at UFC on Versus 5. However, Makdessi was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Donald Cerrone. However it was later revealed that Taylor had broken his foot and was forced out of his scheduled bout and replaced by Charles Oliveira. Taylor was expected to face Anthony Njokuani on 5 November 2011 at

UFC 138 ''UFC 138: Leben vs. Muñoz'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 5, 2011 at LG Arena in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the United ...

. However, just days before the event, Taylor sustained a whiplash injury during a minor traffic collision forcing him from the bout. With no time to find a suitable replacement the bout was scrapped. Taylor/Njokuani was expected to take place on 11 July 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. However, Taylor was forced out of the bout with yet another injury, and replaced by

Rafael dos Anjos Rafael Souza dos Anjos (; born 26 October 1984), also known by his initials RDA, is a Brazilian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Champion ...

. Taylor was expected to return from the extended hiatus and the bout with Njokuani scheduled for a third time on 26 October 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 ...

. However, Taylor was forced to pull out of the bout once again with another injury and was replaced this time by Al Iaquinta. After the most recent withdrawal, the UFC announced that Taylor has retired from MMA.

Championships and accomplishments

** Fight of the Night (Three times) **UFC.com Awards ***2008: Ranked #10 Fight of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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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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Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

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Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

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UFC 70 ''UFC 70: Nations Collide'' was the second UFC event held in the United Kingdom, and the first in Manchester on Saturday, April 21, 2007. ''UFC 70'' was also only the seventh UFC event held outside the United States, and the first since '' UFC ...

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References

External links

*
Official UFC ProfilePure MMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Paul 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Walsall English male kickboxers English male mixed martial artists Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Welterweight mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists