Brandon Logan Bender (born February 5, 1987) is an Italian-American

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

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 ...

and

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

divisions. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Bender has fought in multiple promotions, including

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

and

Bellator Fighting Championships 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. ...

Mixed martial arts career

FRUIT

Bender has trained in various martial arts. He began training in

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

from the age of seven. Bender also wrestled in high school and later, achieved a black belt in

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 ...

. As of 2012, Bender trains at Aguirre Fighting Systems and Millennia MMA, alongside the likes of

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 ...

Georgi Karakhanyan Georgi Karakhanyan is a Russian-born Armenian-American professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Lightweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2006, Karakhanyan has also formerly competed for the ...

and

Darrell Montague Darrell Montague (born November 3, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Montague, originally from Chino, California, grew up around the sport ...

. Bender also spends time working at the UFC gym.

Early career

Bender began his professional career in the King of the Cage promotion in August 2006, claiming a unanimous decision victory after two rounds. He followed this up with a further win in December 2007, which was via triangle choke. Bender then joined the U.S. Navy Reserves, temporarily postponing his MMA career. Soon after, Bender changed his mind and wanted to return to MMA. He returned in March 2009 and won his next five fights via first round submission. In March 2011, Bender then signed with Bellator Fighting Championships to face Josh Herrick at

Bellator 35 2011 in Bellator MMA was the fourth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in multiple weight classes, including three of the original tournament classes: Welterweight, Lightweight and Feather ...

. Bender was taken down early on in the fight, but was able to stand back up and land a takedown of his own. Bender was able to secure a guillotine choke at 3:42 of the first round. In February 2012, Bender fought Marlin Weiker at SCC 4. Throughout the fight, Bender attempted several guillotine chokes and other submission techniques, but was unable to finish the fight with any of them. After multiple attempts, Bender seemed to fatigue and appeared to be trailing on the scorecards according to some in attendance. Midway through the final round, however, Bender was finally able to complete a submission attempt, as he caught Weiker in a triangle choke. In late-2011/early-2012, Bender started to gain more attention, as he was regarded as a promising prospect in the Featherweight division. He was named the #3 prospect in the division by Bloody Elbow and was featured on Sherdog.com's prospect watch feature. Despite this, in mid-2012, Bender announced plans to drop to the Bantamweight division. He signed with

Tachi Palace Fights Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which hosted events at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Matchmaker for TPF was former fighter Richard Goodman. Regarded as a regional promotion, ...

to fight at TPF 14 at bantamweight against Rolando Velasco. However, for unknown reasons, the bout never took place.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–2 , Joshua Jones , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 238 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–1 , Mario Navarro , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

Bellator 116 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 Heavyweigh ...

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Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

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

Travis Marx Travis Marx (born October 25, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in Bellator's bantamweight division. Background Marx was born and raised in Roosevelt, Utah. He was a three-time state wrestling champion at Union Hi ...

, TKO (knee to the body & punches) ,

Bellator 100 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:28 ,

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Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

, United States ,

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Geovanni Araujo , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Gladiator Challenge: Star Wars , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:10 ,

San Jacinto, California San Jacinto ( ; ; Spanish for " St. Hyacinth") is a city in Riverside County, California. It is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, to its north. The mountains associated with the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Marlin Weikel , Submission (triangle choke) , Superior Cage Combat 4: Grove vs. Silva , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:30 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Josh Herrick , Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:42 ,

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 2 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Mike Palo , Submission (triangle choke) , MEZ Sports: Pandemonium 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:11 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Isaac Gutierrez , Submission (guillotine choke) , BAMMA USA: Badbeat 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:50 ,

Commerce, California Commerce is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 12,823 at the 2010 census, up from 12,568 at the 2000 census. It is usually referred to as the City of Commerce to distinguish it from the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Jesse Newell , Submission (rear-naked choke) , CA Fight Syndicate: Throwdown at the Showdown 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:16 ,

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Tony Lopez , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Fight Circuit MMA: Victorious , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:36 , Adelanto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Ryan Rother , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Colosseo Championship Fighting , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:25 ,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Brian Whiteaker , Decision (unanimous) , KOTC: Rapid Fire , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bender, Brandon Living people Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists 1987 births People from Rancho Cucamonga, California