Andrew Brandon Craig (born January 15, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, he has also competed for

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

Background

Craig is from Houston, Texas, and grew up playing mainly football, but dabbled with a bunch of other sports too. He started football in the third grade, and played as running back. He graduated

Stratford High School (Houston) Stratford High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is one of four high schools in the Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD), the district's westernmost secondary school (serving grades 9 through 1 ...

before going to college at the University of Texas where he earned a degree in corporate communications. Craig began learning

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

from his cousin – Travis Tooke – who was already a black belt in the martial art. Without any other martial art background, Craig started training mixed martial arts as a college freshman. After graduating college, Craig began his career as a professional MMA fighter.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Craig made his professional debut in May 2010 for USA MMA winning his first fight via unanimous decision. His second fight was held at

Bellator 27 2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010 and ended June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and m ...

against Rodrigo Pinheiro. Craig won the fight after the cageside doctor ruled Pinheiro unable to continue. Craig won two fights under the International Xtreme Fight Association banner before signing with the Texas-based promotion Legacy Fighting Championships.

Legacy Fighting Championships

Craig made his Legacy Fighting Championships debut on April 9, 2011, against William Bush for the Legacy Fighting middleweight title. In the fifth and final round, Craig won the fight via TKO. Craig was set to make his first title defense at Legacy Fighting 8 against Bellator and WEC veteran,

Eric Schambari Eric Schambari (born April 22, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Schambari has most notably fought in World Extreme Cagefighting and was a s ...

. However, Schambari weighed in past the middleweight limit and the fight became a three round non-title fight. Craig won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Craig made his UFC debut on short notice as an injury replacement for Jared Hamman against Australian

Kyle Noke Kyle Noke (born 18 March 1980) is an Australian retired mixed martial artist who competed as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2002, Noke has also fought for EliteXC. Background Noke, origina ...

on March 3, 2012, at

UFC on FX 2 ''UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann'' (also known as ''UFC on FX 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held live by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday March 3, 2012 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Background ...

. Despite losing the first round, Craig came back to dominate the second and third rounds, winning via unanimous decision. Craig defeated

Rafael Natal Rafael Natal Diniz Franca () is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2005 until 2017, he is best known for his 17-fight stint competing for the UFC. Mixed martial arts career Background Natal started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ...

on July 11, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. After being rocked and controlled for the majority of the second round, Craig landed a head kick to capture a comeback

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

victory. In his third fight for the promotion, Craig faced Ronny Markes on January 19, 2013, at

UFC on FX 7 The year 2013 is the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with ''UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping''. 2013 also saw the introduction of the wome ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. It was the first loss of his professional career. Craig defeated former WEC Middleweight Champion Chris Leben via split decision on July 6, 2013, at UFC 162. Craig took on English fighter

Luke Barnatt Luke Barnatt (born 13 April 1988) is an English mixed martial artist, and entrepreneur, who fought as a Middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was a member of FX's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen, and has als ...

in his next outing on October 26, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 30. He lost the fight via submission in the second round. Despite the loss on his record, the fight also earned Craig his first ''Fight of the Night'' bonus award. Craig was expected to face Chris Camozzi on April 11, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 39. However, the fight was cancelled on the day of the weigh-ins as Craig was ruled out with an illness. Craig faced Cezar Ferreira on June 28, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Craig was expected to face

Edgar Garcia Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...

in a welterweight bout on July 15, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 71. However, Garcia was forced from the bout with injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Lyman Good. Craig lost the fight via TKO in the second round and was subsequently released from the promotion following the loss.

Personal life

Craig works as a manager at Onnit.

Championships and accomplishments

*Legacy Fighting Championship **Legacy FC Middleweight Championship (One time) * Ultimate Fighting Championship ** Fight of the Night (One time) vs.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 9–4 , Lyman Good , KO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:37 , San Diego, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Cezar Ferreira , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Antonio, Texas, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Munoz , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:12 , Manchester, England , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Chris Leben , Decision (split) , UFC 162 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 , Ronny Markes , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , São Paulo, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, KO (head kick) , UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:52 , San Jose, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Legacy FC 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , William Bush , TKO (punches) , Legacy FC 6 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 2:47 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Jon Kirk , Submission (triangle choke) , IXFA 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:04 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Josh Foster , Decision (unanimous) , IXFA 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Rodrigo Pinheiro , TKO (doctor stoppage) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:53 , San Antonio, Texas, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Antuan Williams , Decision (unanimous) , USA MMA 12 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Kinder, Louisiana, United States ,

References

External links

* * * *
Instructor Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Andrew 1986 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Texas Middleweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Houston Moody College of Communication alumni