Jared Hess (born November 13, 1983, inOklahoma City, Oklahoma) is a retired Americanmixed martial artist. He is most known for his stint fighting forBellator Fighting Championships in their middleweight division. He was runner up in the middleweight tournament after losing toHector Lombard.

Hess grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and attendWestern Heights High School, Oklahoma City. While in high school, Hess was a standout football player and wrestler. His freshman year, his wrestling team went 2–8 but Hess was state champion for his weight. Hess had his first child in 2002 during his senior year.

After high school, Hess attendedUniversity of Central Oklahoma and graduated in 2007 with a degree inIndustrial Safety andCriminal Justice. He also wrestled and was an All-American his senior year. During a trip to Las Vegas to attend his best friends get wedding he backed out of bungee jumping from the top ofThe Strat.^[1]

Hess entered the Bellator middleweight tournament on April 17, 2009. His first fight was against Daniel Tabera, Hess won the fight after taking Tabera down and applying a rear naked choke submission early in round one.

Hess then fought in the next round of the middleweight tournament against Yosmany Cabezas atBellator 9. Hess won the fight via technical knockout in the third round.

In the finals of the middleweight tournament at the main event of Bellator 12, Hess lost to Cuban fighter Hector Lombard. The fight ended in a TKO doctor stoppage due to multiple cuts, which occurred from elbows delivered on the ground by Lombard. This fight earned the Bazzie Award for Bloodbath of the Year.^[2]

Hess returned for the second season tournament in April 2010, hoping to get a rematch with Lombard and win the middleweight title. His first fight was against former IFL middleweight champion Ryan McGivern, whom he defeated via submission.

Hess lost his semi-final bout againstAlexander Shlemenko on May 27. Despite controlling the first two rounds, Hess was on the receiving end of a flying knee from Shlemenko midway through the third round. As a result of the strike, Hess fell awkwardly on his left leg and severelydislocated his knee, causing the referee to stop the bout. His knee required surgery and kept him out of action for six months.^[3]

AtBellator 42, Hess returned from his knee injury atBellator 20 eleven months prior. He fought Chris Bell on the undercard. Bell missed weight, and the fight was changed to a catchweight bout of 190 lbs.^[4] Hess dictated the pace of the fight, and won via triangle choke submission early in round one. The win earned Hess a spot in theBellator Season Five Middleweight tournament.

Hess' first fight in the Bellator Season Five Middleweight tournament took place on September 17, 2011, atBellator 50 againstBryan Baker. Though he controlled round 1 with dominant ground control and effective striking, Hess lost the fight in the third round via TKO.

Hess foughtBrett Cooper on the undercard ofBellator 58 on November 19, 2011. Hess lost the fight via unanimous decision. Hess was released from the promotion after the loss.

• Bellator profile
• Professional MMA record for Jared Hess fromSherdog
• Central Oklahoma wrestling profile

• American male mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists from Oklahoma
• Middleweight mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling
• 1983 births
• Living people
• University of Central Oklahoma alumni
• Central Oklahoma Bronchos wrestlers

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