Richard Allan Crunkilton Jr (born November 25, 1979) 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 ...

. Crunkilton is perhaps best known for his 8–2 stint with the

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was mad ...

promotion. He currently competes 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.

Early career

Crunkilton made his professional MMA debut in October 1999, defeating Ray Totorico via TKO. Following this, Crunkilton would compile a record of 8–0 before signing with the

promotion in 2002.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Crunkilton made his debut on June 7, 2002, at WEC 3, defeating Cruz Gomez via first-round TKO. He then made a quick turnaround and faced Luciano Oliveira at

WEC 4 ''WEC 4: Rumble Under The Sun'' was a mixed martial arts event held on August 31, 2002, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA. The main event was a fight between Aaron Brink and Jeremy Horn. Results See also * W ...

on August 31, 2002. He won the fight via armbar submission. Crunkilton then defeated Victor Estrada at WEC 5: Halloween Havoc on October 18, 2002, due to an ankle injury.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

With an impressive undefeated record of 11–0, Crunkilton signed with the UFC and faced Hermes França at UFC 42 on April 25, 2003. Though Crunkilton was the moderate favorite coming into the fight, he would lose the fight via unanimous decision and was subsequently released shortly after.

Return to WEC

Following a short stint in 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 ...

, Crunkilton returned at

WEC 15 WEC 15: Judgment Day was a mixed martial arts event promoted by World Extreme Cagefighting on May 19, 2005, at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. The card featured the likes of Joe Riggs, Chris Lytle and James Irvin compet ...

on May 19, 2005, defeating Paul Jenkins via KO. He faced Nick Ertl at WEC 18: Unfinished Business on January 13, 2006. He won the fight via TKO, advancing his WEC to 5–0. He then faced Adam Lynn at WEC 21 on June 15, 2006. He won the fight via rear-naked choke. Crunkilton won his next fight against Mike Joy at WEC 25 on January 20, 2007, via D'arce choke. Crunkilton lost his first fight in the WEC on September 5, 2007, when he lost to

Rob McCullough Robert Alexander McCullough IV (born May 26, 1977) is an American former Muay Thai kickboxer and professional mixed martial artist. A professional from 2001-2011 in MMA, McCullough has formerly competed for the WEC, Bellator, DREAM, the Wor ...

via TKO for the WEC Lightweight Championship at WEC 30. He defeated Sergio Gomez on March 26, 2008, at WEC 33. He was scheduled to face

Donald Cerrone Donald Anthony Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and actor. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight divisions of the Ultima ...

WEC 34 ''WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on June 1, 2008, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. The main event, announced on WEC 33, was a bout between Jens Pulver and ...

, but was forced off the card with an injury. Crunkilton was forced to withdraw from his bout with

Bart Palaszewski Bart K. Palaszewski (; born May 30, 1983) is a retired Polish-American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion compa ...

at WEC 39 because of a knee injury. He was again scheduled to fight Donald Cerrone on June 7, 2009, at WEC 41, but dropped out due to another undisclosed injury. Crunkilton made his return from injury at

WEC 43 ''WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 10, 2009, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Background The event was scheduled to take place on September 2, 2009, at the Co ...

where he lost by decision to WEC newcomer

Dave Jansen David Hendrik Jansen (born August 21, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in Bellator's Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, Jansen has also formerly competed for the WEC and M-1 Global. Bac ...

. Shortly after his defeat at

, Crunkilton was released from the promotion.

Post-WEC

In his first fight since leaving the WEC, Crunkilton faced UFC veteran Carlo Prater at the Shine: Lightweight Grand Prix on September 10, 2010. He won the fight via split decision. After a three-year hiatus, Crunkilton returned to MMA and faced Akhmet Aliev at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 14 on December 7, 2013. Crunkilton lost the fight via KO.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 19–4 , Akhmet Aliev , KO (punch) , Fight Nights - Battle of Moscow 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:15 ,

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 ...

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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 ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Cruz Gomez , TKO (punches) , WEC 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:04 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Leonard Speights , KO (punches) , WEF - World Extreme Fighting: Rumble at the Rodeo 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Scott Johnson , Submission (kneebar) , WVF - Battlejax , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:19 ,

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References

External links

*
Official UFC Profile for Richard Crunkilton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crunkilton, Richard 1979 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Florida Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male judoka Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters