Juan Antonio Banuelos (born September 23, 1979) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former

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 competed in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

division.

Mixed martial arts career

Banuelos made his professional mixed martial arts debut in June 2001, knocking out Daniel Garlets at IFC Warriors Challenge 13. Following the impressive win, Banuelos would compile a record of 3–1 before signing with

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

in 2002.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Banuelos is perhaps best known for being a longtime competitor for

, making his debut at WEC 5: Halloween Havoc. He fought a record 14 times under the promotion, compiling a record of 9–5. His 9 WEC wins are also a promotional record, which he shares with

Urijah Faber Urijah Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Male ...

and

Poppies Martinez Poppies Martinez (born August 19, 1983) is a Native American professional mixed martial artist of the Tachi Yokuts tribe currently competing in the Lightweight division of Bellator. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also formerly co ...

. Banuelos was defeated by

Eddie Wineland Edward Alan Wineland Jr. (born June 26, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2003 until 2022, Wineland was the in ...

for the first ever

WEC Bantamweight Championship This is a list of World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions at each weight class. In December 2006 World Extreme Cagefighting was bought by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC, to concentrate on the four smaller weight classes under th ...

WEC 20 ''WEC 20: Cinco de Mayhem'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on May 5, 2006 at Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. ''WEC 20s main event was a heavyweight bout between Brian Olsen a ...

. After the Wineland bout, Banuelos defeated

Cole Escovedo Coleman Ruben Escovedo (born August 30, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist from Fresno, California. He was the inaugural WEC Featherweight Champion. Mixed martial arts career Health issues Escovedo was forced into a well documen ...

, Mike French and Justin Robbins while dropping contests against

Charlie Valencia Carlos Enrique "Charlie" Valencia (born October 31, 1974) is an American mixed martial artist. He has fought for the WEC and UFC in their Bantamweight divisions, and is the former King of the Cage Bantamweight Champion. He is one of only two m ...

and a controversial decision to

Manny Tapia Manuel Alcaraz Tapia (born March 14, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter currently competing in the Bantamweight division. He has formerly competed for the WEC, King of the Cage, and Tachi Palace Fights. He is the forme ...

WEC 32 ''WEC 32: New Mexico'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) that took place on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. For the first time under Zuffa ownership, the show was held in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and no ...

. Banuelos defeated

Scott Jorgensen Scott Roger Jorgensen (born September 17, 1982) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, Jorgensen has formerly competed for the UFC, WEC, and ShoXC. Backgroun ...

via

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

WEC 41 ''WEC 41: Brown vs. Faber 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on June 7, 2009 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. It was the most successful show in the WEC's history. Background Featherweight champion ...

in a fight that many, including WEC general manager Reed Harris has speculated is a candidate for fight of the year. Banuelos improved to 8–4 in the WEC after defeating

Kenji Osawa Kenji Osawa (born November 4, 1976) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist from Tokyo. He debuted in MMA over a decade ago, and trains and fights out of Wajitsu Keishukai, where he teaches once a week. MMA career Osawa's fight record is 21 ...

via unanimous decision on November 18, 2009, at

WEC 44 ''WEC 44: Brown vs. Aldo'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting. It took place on November 18, 2009 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Anthony Pettis was originally slated to face Rob McCul ...

. Banuelos was scheduled to face

Damacio Page Damacio James Page (born September 30, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing for Legacy Fighting Championship in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Page has also formerly competed ...

on April 24, 2010, at

WEC 48 '' UFC Presents: Aldo vs. Faber'', also referred to as ''WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on April 24, 2010 at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California. This was WEC's first ...

, but Page was forced off the card with an injury. Banuelos instead faced Jorgensen in a rematch of their bout from

which Banuelos won via split decision. Banuelos lost the rematch by unanimous decision. Banuelos faced Chad George on September 30, 2010, at

WEC 51 ''WEC 51: Aldo vs. Gamburyan'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting that took place on September 30, 2010 at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the only event that the WEC hosted in Colorado. Backg ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010,

merged with the

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 ...

. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC. Banuelos made his promotional debut against the former WEC

Champion Miguel Torres on February 5, 2011, at

UFC 126 ''UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort'' was a mixed martial arts pay-per-view event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 5, 2011 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Former Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor B ...

. Banuelos struggled with the height and reach advantage of Torres and was unable to mount any significant offense until the latter half of the final round. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Legacy Fighting Championship

After going 2–1 outside 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 ...

, Banuelos signed with

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

based promotion

Legacy FC In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

. He faced

Josh Sampo Joshua Ashley Sampo (born July 24, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship's flyweight division. Mixed martial arts career Early career Sampo started his professional career in 2009 ...

in his flyweight debut at Legacy FC 14 on September 14, 2012. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. In his second fight within the promotion, Banuelos faced Rafael de Freitas at Legacy FC 18 on March 1, 2013. After three hard fought rounds, the bout was ruled a split draw. Banuelos faced Alptekin Ozkilic at Legacy FC 20 on May 31, 2013. He lost the fight via first round TKO, dropping his third straight fight in the process.

Championships and accomplishments

**WEC North American Bantamweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 20–11–1 ,

Joby Sanchez David Joby Sanchez (born June 24, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division of the Legacy Fighting Alliance. A professional mixed martial artist since 2011, Sanchez has also competed in the U ...

, TKO (corner stoppage) , Tachi Palace Fights 20 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:41 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, ,

Alp Ozkilic Alp Ozkilic, full name Alptekin Özkılıç (born March 27, 1986) is a Turkish-American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, who formerly competed as a Flyweight (MMA), Flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born and ra ...

, TKO (punches) , Legacy Fighting Championship 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Corpus Christi, Texas Corpus Christi (; Ecclesiastical Latin: "'' Body of Christ"'') is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patrici ...

, United States , , - , Draw , align=center, 20–9–1 , Rafael De Freitas , Draw (split) , Legacy Fighting Championship 18 , , 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 , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–9 , Joshua Sampo , Decision (unanimous) , Legacy Fighting Championships 14 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–8 , Bibiano Fernandes , TKO (punches) , Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:21 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 20–7 ,

Masakazu Imanari is a Japanese former professional wrestler and current mixed martial artist currently competing in the Bantamweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional competitor since 2000, he is a veteran of ONE Championship, DEEP, ZST, Pa ...

, Decision (split) , Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 19–7 ,

Hideo Tokoro Hideo Tokoro (born August 22, 1977) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who last competed in the Bantamweight division. A professional competitor since 2000, Tokoro has also formerly competed for Vale Tudo Japan, ZST, Shooto, Rings and K-1 Hero' ...

, Decision (split) , Dream 17 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–7 , Miguel Torres , Decision (unanimous) ,