Jesse Juarez
Born	(1981-05-08)May 8, 1981 (age 44) Torrance, California, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	171 lb (78 kg; 12 st 3 lb)
Division	Welterweight Middleweight
Reach	77 in (196 cm)[1]
Fighting out of	Torrance, California, U.S.
Team	Bodyshop Fitness Team
Wrestling	NAIAWrestling
Years active	2006–2016
Mixed martial arts record
Total	34
Wins	23
By knockout	6
By submission	8
By decision	8
Unknown	1
Losses	11
By knockout	3
By submission	6
By decision	2
Other information
University	Montana State University–Northern Golden West College
Notable school	North Torrance High School
Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog
Medal record Collegiate Wrestling RepresentingMontana State–Northern NAIA Championships 2005 Sioux City 184 lb

Jesse Juarez (born May 8, 1981) is an American formermixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Juarez has also formerly competed forAbsolute Championship Berkut,Strikeforce,Bellator MMA,Maximum Fighting Championship, andShark Fights. He holds a win at Welterweight over former UFC Middleweight championRobert Whittaker.

Originally fromTorrance, California, Juarez is of French, Italian, andTongan descent. Juarez attendedNorth Torrance High School where he competed inwrestling, football, and track and field, earning High School All-American honors for wrestling after being the California state runner-up. Juarez later continued his wrestling career atGolden West College where he was a JUCO All-American and California JC state champion before transferring toMontana State University-Northern. Juarez was a two-time NAIA All-American and was a 2005 NAIA National Champion at Montana State University-Northern. Juarez had been introduced tomixed martial arts while wrestling in high school and later transitioned intomixed martial arts after college.^[2]

Juarez started his professional career in 2006. He fought mainly for California-based promotions asStrikeforce,Gladiator Challenge andInvincible.

He facedLuke Stewart on September 20, 2008, atStrikeforce: At The Mansion II. He lost via submission due to an armbar in the first round.^[3]

Juarez made his promotional debut againstMikey Gomez on April 10, 2009, atBellator 2. He won via TKO in the first round.^[4]

Juarez next faced Deray Davis on May 15, 2009, atBellator 7–8. Once again he won via TKO in round one.^[5]

Juarez did a rematch againstMikey Gomez on June 5, 2009, atBellator 10. He won via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).^[6]

Juarez made his promotional debut inMFC against Joe Christopher on December 4, 2009, atMFC 23. He won via unanimous decision.^[7]

Juarez faced Nathan Gunn on February 26, 2010, atMFC 24. He won via knockout with a head kick at 11 seconds of round one.^[8]

Juarez made his promotional debut in Cage Fighting Championship against Justin Murray on April 16, 2010, atCFC 13 for the welterweight title. Juarez defeated Murray via majority decision (49–47, 48–48, 48–47) after five rounds and became the CFC welterweight title holder.^[9]

Juarez facedDouglas Lima on November 12, 2010, atMFC 27 for theMFC Welterweight Championship. He lost via submission due to a triangle armbar in the third round.^[10]

Juarez defended his CFC Welterweight Championship against Manuel Rodriguez on August 26, 2011, atCFC 18. He defeated Rodriguez via unanimous decision (50–45, 50–45, 49–47) after five rounds to retain his belt.^[11]

Juarez defended the CFC Championship againstRobert Whittaker on May 18, 2012, atCFC 21. He defeated Whittaker via unanimous decision (49–46, 48–47, 48–47) after five rounds to retain the title.^[12]

In 2013, Juarez returned toBellator MMA.^[13] He facedJordan Smith on February 21, 2013, atBellator 90. He won via split decision (30–27, 29–28, 28–29) after a hard-fought match.^[14]

Juarez facedJoe Williams on November 2, 2013, atBellator 106. He won via submission due to a guillotine choke in the very first round.^[15]

Juarez was scheduled to faceAndrey Koreshkov in the quarterfinal match ofBellator season ten welterweight tournament on March 14, 2014, atBellator 112. However, after the removal of other tournament competitors citing injuries, the tournament line-up was shifted and Juarez instead facedAdam McDonough.^[16][17] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Juarez facedRon Keslar on September 19, 2014, atBellator 125.^[18] He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Juarez was expected to faceBrennan Ward atBellator 134 on February 27, 2015.^[19] However, Ward was moved up to the main card to faceCurtis Millender after Millender's opponent,Michael Page, pulled out of the fight due to a cut over his left eye.^[20][21] Juarez was removed from the fight card as a result.^[22]

Juarez facedRicky Rainey atBellator 137 on May 15, 2015.^[23] He lost the fight via knockout in the second round.

In June 2015, it was revealed that Juarez and 7 other fighters were released from the promotion.^[24]

Juarez faced Beslan Isaev on May 6, 2016, atACB 35. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.

• National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics^[25]
  • NAIAAll-Americanout ofMontana State University–Northern (2004, 2005)
  • NAIA National Championship 184 lb: Championout ofMontana State University–Northern (2005)
  • NAIA National Championship 174 lb: 5th placeout ofMontana State University–Northern (2004)^[26]
  • NAIA North Region Championship 174 lb: Championout ofMontana State University–Northern (2004)^[26]
• California Community College Athletic Association
  • CCCAA State Championship 184 lb: Championout ofGolden West College (2001)^[27]
• National High School Coaches Association^[28]
  • NHSCAAll-Americanout ofNorth Torrance High School (2000)
  • NHSCA Senior Nationals 171 lb: 7th placeout ofNorth Torrance High School (2000)

• Cage Fighting Championship
  • CFC Welterweight Championship (One time)^[9]
  • Two successful title defenses^[11][12]
• Invincible
  • Invincible Middleweight Championship (One time)^[29]
  • Invincible Welterweight Championship (One time)^[30]

• 1981 births
• Living people
• Montana State University–Northern alumni
• American male sport wrestlers
• American male mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists from California
• Welterweight mixed martial artists
• Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling
• Martial artists from Torrance, California

• Use mdy dates from June 2020
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata