Francisco Derek Campos (born April 1, 1988) is an American professionalmixed martial artist currently competing in theFeatherweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, Campos has competed forBellator MMA,Shark Fights andKing of the Cage, and is the formerKing of the Cage Light Welterweight Champion.

Originally fromLubbock, Texas, Campos competed inhigh school football and first began training inboxing andwrestling at the age of 19.^[1]

After a 2–0 amateur career, Campos started his professional career in 2009, fighting exclusively for Texas and Louisiana-based promotions.

In 2012, with a record of 9–2, Campos signed withBellator.^[2]

Campos made his promotional debut againstRich Clementi on May 25, 2012, atBellator 70. He lost via submission due to a guillotine choke in the first round.^[3]

Campos facedBrandon Girtz on June 19, 2013, atBellator 96. He won via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).^[4]

Campos faced Martin Stapleton on November 8, 2013, atBellator 107. Once again he won via unanimous decision.^[5]

Campos was expected to rematchBrandon Girtz in the quarterfinal match ofBellator Season Ten Lightweight Tournament on March 21, 2014, atBellator 113.^[6] However, his opponent was changed and he faced Tim Welch. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Campos facedPatricky Freire in the semifinals atBellator 117 and lost the bout via TKO in the second round.

Campos faced Estevan Payan on September 26, 2014, atBellator 126.^[7] He won the fight via knockout just 31 seconds into the first round.

Stepping in for a recently retiredJohn Gunderson, Campos was expected to faceAlexander Sarnavskiy atBellator 128 on October 10, 2014.^[8] However, an injury forced Campos out of the bout.Dakota Cochrane stepped in as a replacement.^[9]

Campos faced formerBellator Lightweight ChampionMichael Chandler on June 19, 2015, atBellator 138.^[10] He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

Campos finally rematchedBrandon Girtz atBellator 146 on November 20, 2015. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Campos next facedMelvin Guillard on February 19, 2016, atBellator 149.^[11] He won the fight via a flurry of punches in the second round, resulting in a TKO victory.

Campos faced up-and-coming Djamil Chan atBellator 161 on September 16, 2016. In the first round, Campos was almost finished by a series of punches after absorbing a punch on the feet. However, he survived the onslaught and went on to win the fight via unanimous decision.^[12]

Campos facedDerek Anderson atBellator 170 on January 21, 2017. He won the fight via unanimous decision.^[13]

Campos was expected to facePatricky Freire atBellator 181 on July 14, 2017. The pair previously met atBellator 117 on April 18, 2014, in the quarter-final round of theBellator season ten lightweight tournament, in which Campos was defeated via second-round TKO.^[14] The rematch was originally scheduled to take place atBellator 167 on December 3, 2016, however an injury forced Freire out of the bout.^[15] During theBellator 180 fight card, it was revealed by the promotion that Campos would instead faceBrandon Girtz in a third fight at the event.^[16] Campos won the rubber match by TKO via doctor stoppage at the end of the second round due to cut on Girtz's forehead caused by a Campos knee.^[17]

Campos faced Patricky Freire in a rematch atBellator 194 on February 16, 2018.^[18] He lost the fight via TKO in round one.^[19]

In his next fight, Campos moved down to Featherweight and facedSam Sicilia atBellator 212 on December 14, 2018. He lost the back-and-forth fight by split decision.

Campos next facedPedro Carvalho atBellator: Birmingham on May 4, 2019. He lost the bout by way of first round knockout.

In the opening round of the Featherweight Grand Prix, Campos faced former two-time Bellator Featherweight world championDaniel Straus atBellator 226 on September 7, 2019. Campos went on to defeat Straus in a dominant unanimous decision win, with the judges scores reading 30–26, 30–25, 30–25.^[20]

In the quarterfinals, Campos facedA.J. McKee atBellator 236 on December 21, 2019.^[21][22] He lost the bout via third round submission.

Campos was expected to faceRoger Huerta atBellator 246 on September 12, 2020.^[23] However, he ultimately faced Keoni Diggs at the event. At the weigh-ins, Diggs weighed in at 157 pounds, 1 pound over the non-title lightweight limit of 156 pounds. The bout proceeded at a catchweight with a percentage of Diggs' purse going to Campos.^[24] He lost the bout via a rear-naked choke submission in the third round.^[25]

On October 27, 2020, it was announced that Campos had been released from Bellator.^[26]

After almost a decade in Bellator, Campos was scheduled to faceKyle Bochniak at XMMA² on July 30, 2021.^[27] However, Campos withdrew from the bout due to an injury and was replaced byMarcus Brimage.^[28]

Campos facedDiego Brandão at Peak Fighting 29 on June 10, 2023, losing the bout via unanimous decision.^[29]

Campos was scheduled to make his debut against formerUFC fighterMichael Trizano in a lightweight bout atBKFC 61 on May 11, 2024.^[30] However, in early May 2024, the bout was removed for unknown reasons.^[31]

Campos is scheduled to face Jake Heffernan on June 21, 2025 atBKFC 76.^[32]

• King of the Cage
  • KOTC Light Welterweight Championship (One time)^[33]

• List of current mixed martial arts champions
• List of male mixed martial artists

• 1988 births
• Living people
• American male mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists from Texas
• Lightweight mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing
• Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling
• Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata