Abdul Razak Alhassan (born August 11, 1985) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

who competes 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 the ...

division of the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. A professional since 2013, he formerly fought in Bellator and

Legacy Fighting Championship Legacy Fighting Alliance is an American mixed martial arts promotion, created as a result of the ''Legacy Fighting Championship'' and ''Resurrection Fighting Alliance'' merger in early 2017. History Resurrection Fighting Alliance On October 11, ...

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After training and competing in

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, 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 Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

for 22 years and earning his black belt, Alhassan transitioned to

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

. He made his professional debut in 2013, winning via TKO in just 25 seconds. Alhassan then compiled an overall record of 6–0 before being signed by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Alhassan made his promotional debut at UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 against

Charlie Ward Charlie Ward Jr. (born October 12, 1970) is a former American professional basketball player. Ward was an exceptional football player as well, winning the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, and College Football National Championship while quart ...

on November 19, 2016. He won via knockout 53 seconds into the first round and was awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Alhassan then lost a split decision to

Omari Akhmedov Omari Akhmedov (born October 12, 1987) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). He previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ba ...

at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira on May 28, 2017. Alhassan faced

Sabah Homasi Sabah Homasi (born October 19, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2009, he has also competed for the UFC, Titan FC, and Strikeforce. As o ...

on December 2, 2017, at

UFC 218 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, winning by TKO in the first round; some felt referee Herb Dean had stopped the fight prematurely. Due to the controversial stoppage in the first fight, a rematch with Homasi was held on January 20, 2018, at

UFC 220 ''UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on January 20, 2018, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between curren ...

. Alhassan indisputably knocked him out in the first round. The win earned him the

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

bonus Alhassan was expected to face

Muslim Salikhov Muslim Magomedovich Salikhov (born June 9, 1984), is a Russian mixed martial artist and Sanda fighter who currently competes in welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A multiple time Wushu Sanda wor ...

on April 14, 2018, at

UFC on Fox 29 ''UFC on Fox: Poirier vs. Gaethje'' (also known as ''UFC on FOX 29'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 14, 2018, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Background After pr ...

. He was replaced by

Ricky Rainey Ricky Rainey (born June 29, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2011, Rainey has previously competed for Bellator and in the UFC's Welterweight division. Mixed martial arts career Early career After compi ...

due to injury. Alhassan knocked out

Niko Price Nicholas Gordon Price (born September 29, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and raised in Cape Coral, Florida, Price attended Marine ...

in 43 seconds on September 8, 2018, at

UFC 228 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

. Alhassan faced

Mounir Lazzez Mounir Lazzez (born November 16, 1987) is a Tunisian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional fighter since 2012, he is the first fighter that was born and raised in an A ...

on July 16, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige. At the weigh-ins, Alhassan weighed in at 174 pounds, 3 pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit. He was fined 20% of his purse which went to his opponent Lazzez and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight was named Fight of the Night bonus; however, Alhassan was disqualified for bonus due to missing weight, as a result a third

bonus was awarded and Lazzez took home an extra $50,000 from the fight. Alhassan faced

Khaos Williams Kalinn "Khaos" Williams (born March 30, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Williams got his first taste of knockouts in 2008 when he floored anoth ...

on November 14, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos. At the weigh-ins, Alhassan weighed in at 172.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Alhassan was fined 20 percent of his purse, which went to his opponent Williams. He was defeated via first-round knockout. Alhassan faced Jacob Malkoun in a return to middleweight on April 17, 2021, at

UFC on ESPN 22 ''UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 22'' and ''UFC Vegas 24'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 17, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpr ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Alhassan was scheduled to face

Antônio Braga Neto Antônio Braga Neto (born October 29, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and grappler. He competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a gold medalist in both the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and Pan American Champi ...

on August 21, 2021, at

UFC on ESPN 29 ''UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 29'' and ''UFC Vegas 34'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 21, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterp ...

. However, Neto was pulled from the event for undisclosed reasons and Alhassan was scheduled to face

Alessio Di Chirico Alessio Di Chirico (born December 12, 1989) is an Italian former mixed martial artist who competed in Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Di Chirico was born in Rome, Italy. He attended University of Fo ...

instead. Alhassan won the fight via knockout seventeen seconds into round one. This win earned him the ''

'' award. Alhassan was scheduled to face

Joaquin Buckley Joaquin Yuconri Buckley (born April 27, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2014, he has also formerly competed for Bellator MM ...

on January 15, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 32 ''UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Chikadze'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 32 '' and ''UFC Vegas 46'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 15, 2022 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpri ...

. However, the pairing was cancelled after Alhassan withdrew for undisclosed reasons and the pair was rescheduled to

UFC Fight Night 201 ''UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Hill'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 201'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 59'' and ''UFC Vegas 48'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 19, 2022, at the UFC ...

. Alhassan lost the fight via split decision. Alhassan was scheduled to face

Jamie Pickett Jamie Russell Pickett (born August 29, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Pickett lived with his grandparents growing up in Chinquapin, North Carol ...

on July 9, 2022 at

UFC on ESPN 39 ''UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Fiziev'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 39'' and ''UFC Vegas 58'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 9, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, ...

. However, Alhassan pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Denis Tiuliulin. Alhassan faced Claudio Ribeiro on January 14, 2023,

UFC Fight Night 217 ''UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 217'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 75'' and ''UFC Vegas 67'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 14, 2023, at the ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the second round.

Personal life

Alhassan and his wife have a son and a daughter.

Rape indictments and acquittal

Alhassan was indicted on September 24, 2018, in

Tarrant County, Texas Tarrant County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, it had a population of 2,110,640. It is Texas' third-most populous county and the 15th-most populous in the United States. Its county seat is Fort Worth. Tarrant County, one of 2 ...

, on charges related to the alleged rapes of two women in one night in March 2018. He pleaded not guilty. The trial began on March 5, 2020. Alhassan's attorney argued that the two women consented to having sex with Alhassan, and that the allegations of sexual assault were fabricated. After deliberation, the jury found Alhassan not guilty on sexual assault charges.

Championships and awards

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Performance of the night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

(Three times)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 12–5 , Claudio Ribeiro , KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Imavov , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:28 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–5 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Hill , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 ,

, KO (head kick) , UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:17 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 , Jacob Malkoun , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Gastelum , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Kattar vs. Ige , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 ,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:47 , Boston, Massachusetts, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:21 ,

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:53 ,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Jos Eichelberger , TKO (punches) , Legacy FC 61 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Ken Jackson , TKO (punches) , Rage in the Cage 47: Night of Champions , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:40 ,

Shawnee, Oklahoma Shawnee ( sac, Shânîheki) is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 in 2010, a 4.9 percent increase from the figure of 28,692 in 2000. The city is part of the Oklahoma Cit ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Bryce Shepard-Mejia , KO (punch) , Bellator 143 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 ,

Hidalgo, Texas Hidalgo is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. The population was 11,198 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 14,183. History The area that is now Hidalgo was first settled by Spanish colonists led by José d ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Matt McKeon , TKO (punches) , Rocks Xtreme MMA 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:47 ,

Harker Heights, Texas Harker Heights is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, 33,097 people resided in the city, up from a population of 17,308 in 2000. This makes Harker Heights the third-largest city in Bell County, after Killeen and T ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Matt Jones , TKO (punches) ,

Bellator 111 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:23 ,

Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (33. ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Kolby Adams , TKO (punches) , Xtreme Knockout 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 ,

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alhassan, Abdul Razak 1985 births Welterweight mixed martial artists Living people Ghanaian male mixed martial artists Ghanaian Muay Thai practitioners Ghanaian male judoka American male mixed martial artists American Muay Thai practitioners American male judoka Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Ghanaian emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from Accra Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters