Sean Tyrone Spencer (born June 25, 1987) 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 ...

currently competing 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

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 ...

. A professional since 2009, he has also 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 ...

, Bellator, and Legacy FC.

Background

Born and raised in

Bluefield, Virginia Bluefield is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, Tazewell County, Virginia, United States, located along the Bluestone River. The population was 5,096 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield, West Virginia, Bl ...

, Spencer 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 ...

through high school. In 2006, he began competing in amateur

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, and was a

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

Champion.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After compiling an amateur record of 5–1 with one no contest, Spencer began his professional career in 2009. Until 2011, he fought mainly for such

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based promotions as ''King of Kombat'' and ''Supreme Warrior Championship''. With a record of seven wins and one loss, he signed with Bellator.

Bellator MMA

Spencer faced Joseph Daily on March 23, 2012, at Bellator 62 and won via submission due to a rear-naked choke in the second round.

Legacy Fighting Championship

Spencer was expected to face Hayward Charles on August 17, 2012, at Legacy FC 13. However, due to undisclosed reasons, Spencer was rescheduled to face Evan Cutts in the same event. He defeated Cutts via unanimous decision (29-28, 29–28, 29–28). Spencer was scheduled to face Roy Spoon on April 12, 2013, at Legacy FC 19 but it was announced in January 2013 that he had in fact signed with the

to replace an injured Magnus Cedenblad against Rafael Natal.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Spencer made his promotional debut on short notice against Rafael Natal on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson. He was defeated via submission due to arm-triangle choke in the third round. In his second fight in the promotion, Spencer moved down to the welterweight division and faced Yuri Villefort on September 4, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 28. He won the fight via split decision (30-27 Spencer, 29-28 Villefort, 29-28 Spencer). Spencer was called to replace an injured

Zak Cummings Zacharry "Zak" Michael Cummings (born August 2, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also for ...

against Sérgio Moraes on November 30, 2013, at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. However, Moraes also got injured and Spencer instead faced promotional newcomer Drew Dober. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Spencer next faced Alex Garcia on March 15, 2014, at UFC 171. He lost the back-and-forth fight via split decision. Spencer was expected to face Luiz Dutra on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens but the bout was scrapped due to an injury from Dutra. Spencer faced

Paulo Thiago Paulo Thiago Alencar Antunes (; born January 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of KSW. A professional competitor since 2005, he has also competed for the UFC and Jungle Fight ...

on September 13, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51, replacing an injured

Joe Riggs Joseph Jonathan Riggs (born September 23, 1982) is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who was most recently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship where he lost via KO to Lorenzo Hunt. He former ...

. Spencer won the fight via unanimous decision. Spencer faced

Cathal Pendred Cathal Pendred is an Irish people, Irish actor and former mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the Cage Warriors Welterweight World Champion. Background Pendred was born in Boston, Massachusetts to Ir ...

on January 18, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 59. Spencer lost the fight by a controversial unanimous decision. Both Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg had felt Spencer had dominated the fight and declared on air how baffling the decision was; later UFC president Dana White echoed this sentiment on air. Likewise, all 15 major MMA media outlets scored the fight in favor of Spencer. Spencer was expected to face Mike Pyle on May 23, 2015, at UFC 187, but an injury forced Spencer out of the bout, and he was replaced by

Colby Covington Colby Ray Covington (born February 22, 1988) is an American professional Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight (MMA), Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a ...

. The bout with Pyle was rescheduled and eventually took place on February 6, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 82. Spencer lost the back-and-forth fight via TKO in the third round. Both participants were awarded ''Fight of the Night'' for their performance. Spencer next faced Yancy Medeiros on September 10, 2016, at UFC 203. He lost the fight via submission in the second round.

Return to LFA

After being released from the UFC, Spencer returned to Legacy Fighting Alliance. Spencer fought Bilal Williams at LFA 47 and lost via TKO in the second round.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ( ...

** Fight of the Night (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–7 , Bilal Williams , TKO (punches) , LFA 47 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:58 ,

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