Tarec Robert Saffiedine (born 6 September 1986) is a Belgian 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 ...

who 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 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 MMA competitor since 2007, Saffiedine has also formerly competed for

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 ...

and

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

, and was the last Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.

Background

Saffiedine was born to a Lebanese father, who emigrated to Belgium to study as an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, and a Belgian mother. His father was a

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

practitioner, and since the age of ten Saffiedine has trained in

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Cantonese) or Yong Chun (Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin) (, lit. "singing spring") is a concept-based martial art, a form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu, and a close-quarters system of self-defense. It is a martial ...

and Taekwondo. Saffiedine grew up in

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). In French, ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and also played basketball in his youth. Inspired by the Japanese comic book '' Tough'', he finally took up

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

at age 16, and in 2005 received a black belt (martial arts), black belt in Shihaishinkai, a style of knockdown karate that includes Strike (attack), striking, Throw (grappling), throws and ground fighting. He also has an amateur kickboxing record of 12–1–1 and later began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai, and then Wrestling when he emigrated to the United States. Early in his career he worked a number of jobs including in a restaurant, a cinema, as a gardener, and a security guard. He received his nickname, "Sponge", from one of his coaches because he learns quickly. He is also known to switch stances frequently.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Saffiedine made his professional mixed martial arts debut in March 2007, beating his opponent Guillaume Janvier with a kimura lock, kimura submission. He went on to fight a further three times that year, all in promotions in his native Belgium and France. In January 2008, he relocated to the United States and began training with Team Quest. His first fight since his trans-Atlantic move came in June that year at ''Ultimate Cage Wars 12'' in Canada, where he defeated his opponent Rich Bondoc with an armbar submission. In 2009, he had two fights in the United States and won both.

DREAM

From there, Saffiedine went to Japan to compete in DREAM. His first fight came against Seichi Ikemoto at ''Dream 10, DREAM 10: Welterweight Grand Prix 2009 Final''. The bout was not part of the Welterweight Grand Prix, but was a reserve bout. Saffiedine went on to win a unanimous decision. His next opponent under the promotion's banner was Yoon Dong-Sik, which took place at ''Dream 12, DREAM 12''. He replaced former List of WEC champions#Middleweight Championship, WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho in the match on short notice, and lost by way of split decision. Saffiedine normally competes as a

(170 lbs.), but since he was replacing Filho, he fought as a Middleweight (185 lbs.).

Strikeforce

He then returned to the United States to compete at ''Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi'', where he defeated James Terry (fighter), James Terry by way of unanimous decision. He used effective striking to keep his opponent off balance, going as far as to open a cut under Terry's left eye that was bleeding profusely by early in the third round. Though his opponent, an experienced Wrestling, wrestler, did attempt some takedowns, Saffiedine shrugged off most of them or got to his feet quickly when the action did hit the mat. All three judges scored the fight 30–27 in favor of Saffiedine. Saffiedine was next scheduled to face off against Nate Moore on 21 May 2010 at ShoMMA, Strikeforce Challengers: Lindland vs. Casey. The opening round provided some back-and-forth action with Moore pushing forward with a wrestling attack, then responding well when Saffiedine began to take control with his strikes. That changed in the second, as Moore returned to his takedown-heavy strategy, but Saffiedine stood tall in the face of the attack and delivered powerful punches while remaining on his feet. A well placed punch by Saffiedine ended the fight by knockout at 1:21 of the second round – his first career knockout win. He then faced grappler Brock Larson on 11 September 2010 at ''Shark Fights 13'', on loan from

. After a minute-long feeling-out period, Larson shot out of the gate with punches and was dropped by a side-stepping Saffiedine's first strike. From there, Saffiedine continued to outstrike Larson and was also able to defend against takedowns for all three rounds. All judges scored the fight 30–27 in favour of Saffiedine as he won via unanimous decision. Saffiedine's next fight was against Tyron Woodley at ShoMMA, Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine. He and Woodley squared off in the main event. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Saffiedine was supposed to face Evangelista Santos at ''Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson'' but the fight was cancelled. Saffiedine fought Scott Smith (fighter), Scott Smith at ''Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson''. He was the replacement for Paul Daley, who was the original opponent for Saffiedine. He defeated Smith via unanimous decision. Saffiedine fought Tyler Stinson to a split decision victory at ''Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine''. Saffiedine defeated Roger Bowling (fighter), Roger Bowling via unanimous decision at ''Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman''. In the last ever bout in Strikeforce history, Saffiedine utilized powerful leg kicks to win a 5-round unanimous decision against Nate Marquardt at ''Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine'' to become the final Strikeforce Welterweight Champion.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

It was announced shortly after the final Strikeforce event that Saffiedine would be amongst the promotion's former fighters brought over to the UFC. Saffiedine was expected to face former Elite Xtreme Combat#List of champions, EliteXC Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler on 27 July 2013 at UFC on Fox 8. However, Saffiedine was forced out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Siyar Bahadurzada. Bahadurzada also suffered an injury and was then replaced by Bobby Voelker. Saffiedine was expected to face Jake Ellenberger on 4 January 2014 at UFC Fight Night 34. However, in late November, Ellenberger pulled out of the bout citing a hamstring injury and was replaced by Hyun Gyu Lim. Saffiedine won via unanimous decision. The win also earned Saffiedine his first ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. A fight with Jake Ellenberger was rebooked for UFC 172. However, Saffiedine had to pull out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury suffered in training. Saffiedine faced Rory MacDonald (fighter), Rory MacDonald on 4 October 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. After being out-struck the first two rounds, Saffiedine was finished for the first time in his career via TKO in the third round, as he was dropped by an uppercut and follow up punches leading to the stoppage. A bout with Matt Brown (fighter), Matt Brown was expected to take place on 14 February 2015 at UFC Fight Night 60. However, it was announced on 1 January 2015 that Saffiedine had pulled out of the bout, citing a groin injury. After an extended hiatus spent rehabbing a litany of injuries, Saffiedine returned to face Jake Ellenberger on 30 January 2016 at UFC on Fox 18. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Saffiedine faced Rick Story on 29 May 2016 at UFC Fight Night 88. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. A pairing with Matt Brown (fighter), Matt Brown was rescheduled, and was expected to take place on 30 December 2016 at UFC 207. However, Brown was pulled from the fight on 11 November in favor of a matchup with Donald Cerrone three weeks earlier at UFC 206. Saffiedine instead faced Dong Hyun Kim. Kim was awarded a split decision victory. Saffiedine faced Rafael dos Anjos on 17 June 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On 26 November 2019, it was reported that Saffiedine was released by UFC.

Championships and accomplishments

**List of Strikeforce champions#Welterweight Championship, Strikeforce Welterweight Championship (One time, Last) **Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine, Fought the last fight in Strikeforce History *

**List of UFC bonus award recipients, Fight of the Night (One time) **List of UFC bonus award recipients, Performance of the Night (One time) *MMAJunkie.com **2014 January Fight of the Month vs. Hyun Gyu LimMMAjunkie’s ‘Fight of the Month’ for January 2014
MMAjunkie (8 February 2014). Retrieved on 2017-06-17. **2016 December Knockout of the Month vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 16–7 , Rafael dos Anjos , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Kallang, Singapore , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–6 , Dong Hyun Kim , Decision (split) , UFC 207 , , align=center, 3 , align=center , 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–5 , Rick Story , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–4 , Jake Ellenberger , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Bader , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Newark, New Jersey, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–4 , Rory MacDonald (fighter), Rory MacDonald , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:28 , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 15–3 , Hyun Gyu Lim , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs. Lim , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay, Singapore , , - , Win , align=center, 14–3 , Nate Marquardt , Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–3 , Roger Bowling (fighter), Roger Bowling , Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Diego, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Tyler Stinson , Decision (split) , Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Scott Smith (fighter), Scott Smith , Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Tyron Woodley , Decision (unanimous) , 2011 in Strikeforce#Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine, Strikeforce Challengers: Woodley vs. Saffiedine , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Nashville, Tennessee, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Brock Larson , Decision (unanimous) , 2010 in Shark Fights#Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs Prangley, Shark Fights 13: Jardine vs Prangley , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Amarillo, Texas, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Nate Moore , KO (punch) , 2010 in Strikeforce#Strikeforce Challengers: Lindland vs. Casey, Strikeforce Challengers: Lindland vs. Casey , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:21 , Portland, Oregon, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , James Terry (fighter), James Terry , Decision (unanimous) , 2010 in Strikeforce#Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi, Strikeforce Challengers: Kaufman vs. Hashi , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Jose, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Yoon Dong-Sik , Decision (split) , Dream 12, DREAM 12 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Osaka, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Seichi Ikemoto , Decision (unanimous) , Dream 10, DREAM 10 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Saitama, Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Mike Arellano , Submission (americana) , War Gods 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:44 , Alpine, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Scott Rose , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Long Beach Fight Night 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:58 , Long Beach, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Rich Bondoc , Submission (armbar) , Ultimate Cage Wars 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:18 , Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Raymond Jarman , Decision (unanimous) , Shooto Belgium: Encounter the Braves , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Charleroi, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Sebastian Grandin , Submission (armbar) , Xtreme Gladiators 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 , Paris, France , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Kamil Uygun , Decision (unanimous) , Night of the Gladiators , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Brakel, Belgium, Brakel, Belgium , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Guillaume Janvier , Submission (kimura) , Shooto Belgium: Consecration , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:15 , Charleroi, Belgium ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saffiedine, Tarec 1986 births Living people Martial artists from Brussels Belgian male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Belgian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Belgian male karateka Belgian male taekwondo practitioners Belgian Wing Chun practitioners Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing Wing Chun Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Belgian male Muay Thai practitioners Belgian people of Lebanese descent Sportspeople of Lebanese descent Belgian expatriates in the United States Sportspeople from Temecula, California Strikeforce (mixed martial arts) champions Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 21st-century Belgian sportsmen