Brandon Bender

Brandon Logan Bender (born February 5, 1987) is an Italian-American[2] mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bender has fought in multiple promotions, including King of the Cage and Bellator Fighting Championships.

Brandon Bender
BornBrandon Logan Bender[1]
(1987-02-05) February 5, 1987[1]
ResidenceRancho Cucamonga, California, United States
NationalityAmerican
Height5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
DivisionBantamweight (2012-present)
Featherweight (2006-2012)
Fighting out ofRancho Cucamonga, California, United States
TeamAguirre Fighting Systems/ Millennia_MMA_Gym
RankBlack belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Years active2015–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total13
Wins12
By submission11
By decision1
Losses1
By knockout1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mixed martial arts career

Background

Bender has trained in various martial arts. He began training in Tae Kwon Do from the age of seven. Bender also wrestled in high school and later, achieved a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[3] As of 2012, Bender trains at Aguirre Fighting Systems[4] and Millennia MMA,[1] alongside the likes of Charlie Valencia, Georgi Karakhanyan and Darrell Montague.[2] Bender also spends time working at the UFC gym.[3]

Early career

Bender began his professional career in the King of the Cage promotion in August 2006, claiming a unanimous decision victory after two rounds.[4] He followed this up with a further win in December 2007, which was via triangle choke. Bender then joined the U.S. Navy Reserves, temporarily postponing his MMA career.[3] Soon after, Bender changed his mind and wanted to return to MMA. He returned in March 2009 and won his next five fights via first round submission.[4]

In March 2011, Bender then signed with Bellator Fighting Championships to face Josh Herrick at Bellator 35. Bender was taken down early on in the fight, but was able to stand back up and land a takedown of his own. Bender was able to secure a guillotine choke at 3:42 of the first round.[5]

In February 2012, Bender fought Marlin Weiker at SCC 4. Throughout the fight, Bender attempted several guillotine chokes and other submission techniques, but was unable to finish the fight with any of them. After multiple attempts, Bender seemed to fatigue and appeared to be trailing on the scorecards according to some in attendance.[6] Midway through the final round, however, Bender was finally able to complete a submission attempt, as he caught Weiker in a triangle choke.[6]

In late-2011/early-2012, Bender started to gain more attention, as he was regarded as a promising prospect in the Featherweight division. He was named the #3 prospect in the division by Bloody Elbow[2] and was featured on Sherdog.com's prospect watch feature.[3] Despite this, in mid-2012, Bender announced plans to drop to the Bantamweight division. He signed with Tachi Palace Fights to fight at TPF 14 at bantamweight against Rolando Velasco.[7] However, for unknown reasons, the bout never took place.[7]

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
13 matches 12 wins 1 loss
By knockout 0 1
By submission 11 0
By decision 1 0
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 12–1 Mario Navarro Submission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 116 April 11, 2014 2 4:15 Temecula, California, United States
Loss 11–1 Travis Marx TKO (knee to the body & punches) Bellator 100 September 20, 2013 2 4:28 Phoenix, Arizona, United States Bellator Season 9 Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal.
Win 11–0 Jared Papazian Submission (rear-naked choke) National Fight Alliance: Valley Invasion 3 May 11, 2013 1 2:01 Woodland Hills, California, United States Bantamweight debut.
Win 10–0 Geovanni Araujo Submission (arm-triangle choke) Gladiator Challenge: Star Wars April 29, 2012 1 1:10 San Jacinto, California, United States
Win 9–0 Marlin Weikel Submission (triangle choke) Superior Cage Combat 4: Grove vs. Silva February 6, 2012 3 2:30 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 8–0 Josh Herrick Submission (guillotine choke) Bellator 35 March 5, 2011 1 3:42 Lemoore, California, United States
Win 7–0 Mike Palo Submission (triangle choke) MEZ Sports: Pandemonium 3 November 19, 2010 1 2:11 Los Angeles, California, United States
Win 6–0 Isaac Gutierrez Submission (guillotine choke) BAMMA USA: Badbeat 1 September 24, 2010 1 1:50 Commerce, California, United States
Win 5–0 Jesse Newell Submission (rear-naked choke) CA Fight Syndicate: Throwdown at the Showdown 3 January 16, 2010 1 1:16 Santa Barbara, California, United States
Win 4–0 Tony Lopez Submission (rear-naked choke) Fight Circuit MMA: Victorious June 7, 2009 1 1:36 Adelanto, California, United States
Win 3–0 Ryan Rother Submission (rear-naked choke) Colosseo Championship Fighting March 6, 2009 1 0:25 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Win 2–0 Hugo Sandoval Submission (triangle choke) KOTC: Final Chapter December 2, 2007 1 1:37 San Jacinto, California, United States
Win 1–0 Brian Whiteaker Decision (unanimous) KOTC: Rapid Fire August 4, 2006 2 5:00 San Jacinto, California, United States
gollark: I complained about that. It was ignored.
gollark: What's reverse engineering then? Ridgewingometry? ND experiments? Measuring what hatched when?
gollark: "Hacking and scripts"
gollark: If TJ09 were stupid, or there was misconfiguration, it would be.
gollark: If the EATW people somehow got DC's code for hatching handling, then that'd be bad, but deduction via observation being banned is too loose.

References
  1. "Brandon Bender". tapology.com. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. "2012 World MMA Featherweight Scouting Report: #3 - Brandon Bender". bloodyelbow.com. December 27, 2011.
  3. "Sherdog Prospect Watch: Brandon Bender". sherdog.com. April 27, 2012.
  4. "Brandon Bender". sherdog.com. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  5. "Controversy creeps as 170 tourney kicks off Bellator season 4". sherdog.com. March 6, 2011.
  6. "Jay Silva chokes out Kendall Grove; John Gunderson taps Justin Buchholz". sherdog.com. February 17, 2012.
  7. "TPF 14: Rolando Velasco vs. Brandon Bender". tapology.com. Retrieved October 4, 2012.
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