Benji Russell Radach (born April 5, 1979) is an American professional

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, incorpo ...

currently competing in the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Global. ...

. A professional competitor since 2001, Radach has also formerly competed for the UFC, the WEC, Strikeforce, and the

Los Angeles Anacondas The Los Angeles Anacondas were an International Fight League team based in Los Angeles, California. The Anacondas were the first IFL team to have gone through not just one coach but two. Originally coached by three time King of Pancrase and former ...

of the IFL.

Mixed martial arts

Early career

Radach made his professional MMA debut in 2001 and compiled an undefeated record of 10-0 before being signed by the UFC to compete as a

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 th ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Radach made his UFC debut against

Steve Berger Stephen Richard Berger (born May 20, 1973) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. Berger is probably best known for fighting in the UFC, most notably participating in the first mixed ...

UFC 37 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 ...

on May 10, 2002. Radach originally was declared the winner via TKO 27 seconds into the first round, but the decision was later overturned when replay showed that Radach had the fence in his hand as he finished the final blows that ended the fight via TKO. Radach next fought against Nick Serra on June 22, 2002, at

UFC 37.5 ''UFC 37.5: As Real As It Gets'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Bellagio (hotel and casino), Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 22, 2002. Background The fight card was headline ...

. Radach won via unanimous decision. Radach then made his next appearance against future

UFC Lightweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Sean Sherk Sean Keith Sherk (born August 5, 1973) is a retired American mixed martial artist and former UFC Lightweight Champion. Sherk competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was one of the first combatants to have been a championship competito ...

UFC 39 ''UFC 39: The Warriors Return'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 27, 2002, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event was broadcast live on pay per view in the United States ...

on September 27, 2002. Radach lost in the first round via TKO from a referee stoppage due to a cut.

Post-UFC

Radach returned to the regional circuit where he went 4-1 before facing former WEC Middleweight Champion

Chris Leben Christian Cyrus Leben (born July 21, 1980) is an American former mixed martial artist, referee, and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2002 until 2013, he most notably competed in the UFC in the Middleweight division, compili ...

under the SportFight 4 on June 26, 2004. Radach lost via TKO in the third round after breaking his jaw, and as a result, he was kept away from active competition for three years.

International Fight League

Radach returned to MMA in 2007 after signing a contract to compete for the

of the IFL, coached by

Bas Rutten Sebastiaan "Bas" Rutten (; born 24 February 1965) is a Dutch-American actor, former mixed martial artist, kickboxer and professional wrestler. He was a UFC Heavyweight Champion, a three-time King of Pancrase world champion, and finished his ca ...

. He made his first appearance against Ryan McGivern on February 2, 2007, at IFL: Houston. Radach won via TKO in the second round. Radach then faced Brian Foster at IFL: Los Angeles on March 17, 2007. Radach won via guillotine choke submission in the first round. Radach then fought Bristol Marunde at IFL: Everett on June 1, 2007, and won via TKO in the first round. Radach made his next appearance against

Gerald Harris Gerald Harris (born November 19, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist and current high school science teacher, who most recently fought in Bellator. He was a cast member of Spike TV's ''The Ultimate Fighter 7'' and has also compet ...

at the IFL 2007 semifinals on August 2, 2007. Radach won via TKO in the first round. Radach next fought Brent Beauparlant at the IFL World Grand Prix Semifinals on November 3, 2007, and won via knockout in the first round. Undefeated in the promotion, he next fought for the inaugural IFL Middleweight Championship against

Matt Horwich Matthew Peter Horwich (born October 2, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Horwich has fought in BAMMA, Strikeforce, Bellator, the UFC, and for ...

at the IFL World Grand Prix Finals on December 29, 2007. Radach lost via knockout in the second round.

EliteXC

Radach signed a three-fight deal with EliteXC in 2008 and won his first bout against top-ranked middleweight

Murilo Rua Murilo Milani Rua (; born May 22, 1980), also known as Ninja, is a retired Brazilian mixed martial artist who fought in Pride Fighting Championships. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He is ...

at EliteXC: Heat on October 4, 2008. He finished the fight via TKO in the second round.

Strikeforce

After

EliteXC Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on Decemb ...

's demise, Radach then moved on to Strikeforce where he lost by a controversial knockout to Scott Smith. He was winning the fight striking until he was knocked out by a straight right from Smith in the final round. Radach has suffered many injuries throughout his career, including a broken jaw, a herniated disc, neck surgery, ACL replacement, and a broken collarbone, amongst others. Radach would suffer another problem in February 2010 when he caught a staph infection after surgery on a torn pectoral muscle that was suffered in training. Radach fought

Ovince St. Preux Ovince Saint Preux (born April 8, 1983) is a Haitian-American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, Saint Preux has also formerly competed for Strikef ...

for Strikeforce on December 4, 2010. Radach lost to St. Preux via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25). Radach was expected to return from a three-year hiatus and face Dmitry Samoilov at Tyumen Fight 2 on December 22, 2013. However, in the weeks leading up to the fight, the event was cancelled.

Bellator MMA

Over four years after his last fight, Radach made his Bellator debut against undefeated Ben Reiter at Bellator 137 on May 15, 2015, replacing an injured A.J. Matthews. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Outside MMA

Radach has been a 4-year 01 journeyman electrician since he was 23 and worked as a chaser in the woods logging and also commercial fishing in Petersburg, Alaska and Brystol Bay Alaska to pay for school and MMA training. In 2006 Radach foiled an armed robbery attempt in Vancouver, Washington, by physically disarming a gunman who was trying to hold up the restaurant that Radach was patronizing. In 2008, he was named the corporate director of instructor's training for LA Boxing. His responsibilities primarily involve training and preparing potential LA Boxing instructors for lessons of various experience levels.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 21–7 (1) , Ben Reiter , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 137 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Decision (unanimous) , Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 21–5 (1) , Scott Smith , KO (punch) , Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:24 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 21–4 (1) ,

, TKO (punches) , EliteXC: Heat , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:31 , Sunrise, Florida, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 20–4 (1) ,

, KO (punch) , IFL: World Grand Prix Finals , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:58 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 20–3 (1) , Brent Beauparlant , KO (punch) , IFL: World Grand Prix Semifinals , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 19–3 (1) ,

, TKO (punches) , IFL: 2007 Semifinals , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:03 , East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 18–3 (1) , Bristol Marunde , TKO (punches) , IFL: Everett , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:28 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–3 (1) , Brian Foster , Submission (guillotine choke) , IFL: Los Angeles , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–3 (1) , Ryan McGivern , TKO (punches) , IFL: Houston , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:22 , Houston, Texas, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–3 (1) ,

, TKO (jaw injury) , SF 4: Fight For Freedom , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:43 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–2 (1) , Danny Lafever , KO (punch) , Ultimate Ring Challenge 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:55 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–1 (1) , Gustavo Machado , KO (punches) , KOTC 28: More Punishment , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:31 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–1 (1) , Steve Van Fleet , KO (punches) , IFC WC 18: Big Valley Brawl , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:21 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–1 (1) , Joel Blanton , KO (punches) , UFCF: Seattle , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 (1) , Chris Irvine , KO (punches) , Ultimate Ring Challenge 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:02 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–1 (1) ,

, TKO (cut) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:16 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 (1) , Nick Serra , Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 10–0 (1) ,

, No Contest (overturned by state commission) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:27 , Bossier City, Louisiana, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

Shannon Ritch Shannon Grey Ritch (born September 27, 1970) is an American professional mixed martial artist, boxer, grappler, professional wrestler and kickboxer. In mixed martial arts competition he is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion and th ...

, TKO (punches) , MFC 3: Canadian Pride , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:18 ,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Eric Davila , Decision (unanimous) , Rumble in the Rockies , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:00 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Oscar Verdusco , KO (punch) , UFCF: Olympia Ring Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Willy Solorio , TKO (punches) , IFC: Warriors Challenge 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:23 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Royden Demotta , TKO (punches and knees) ,

WEC 2 ''WEC 2: Clash of the Titans'' was a mixed martial arts event held on October 4, 2001, at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. ''WEC 2s main event was a fight between Gan McGee and Ron Faircloth. Results ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Eric Perez , KO (punch) , PPKA: Muckelshoot , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 , Auburn, Washington, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Dennis Asche , Decision (unanimous) , DesertBrawl 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Bend, Oregon, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Oz Preciado , KO (punch) , UFCF: Everett Extreme Challenge 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Eric Lucas , KO (punch) , Rumble in the Ring 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:09 , Auburn, Washington, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Clayton Purvis , TKO (punches) , UFCF: Road To Victory , , align=center, 3 , align=center, N/A ,

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References

External links

*
Archived UFC Profile

IFL Page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radach, Benji American male mixed martial artists 1979 births Living people Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Washington (state) People from Castle Rock, Washington Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters