Darren Erdley Stewart (born 30 December 1990) is an English mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2013, he competed 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 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 ...

and Cage Warriors.

Background

Stewart was born in Poplar, East London, England. His father was from Jamaica and his mother was from St Vincent. Encouraged by his mum, Stewart started MMA training at 13 for self-defence due to the crime rate was high in London with the youth during that time. His friend Regan Lawrence was at The MMA Clinic at that time and invited him to try on MMA, even though his initial thought was "I’m not doing that crap, cage fighting. I’ve seen the blood on TV. No way", but he eventually found MMA full contact striking exciting, and thrived where he competed in the UK and abroad. Stewart works as a full-time prison officer for the

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...

in London Bridge.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Stewart fought most of the fights in England and picked up seven consecutive wins with five by knockout before signed by UFC. He was the former Killacam light heavy weight champion in England.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Light heavyweight

Stewart made his promotional debut on 17 September 2016, at UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Nogueira 2 against Francimar Barroso at

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, Brazil. Stewart was initially declared the winner of the fight via TKO, but the decision was overturned by Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA (CABMMA), after an appeal from Borroso, as a result from an accidental head butt prior Stewart rained down a series of heavy punches. The bout was finally declared as no contest. Calling for a rematch when UFC would return to London, Stewart was displeased with the CABMMA decision and commented "The entire situation stinks. I put a lot of time and money into this fight, won the fight, and his mates at the Brazilian MMA Commission overturned the decision. Fighting a Brazilian in Brazil is something that every fighter should think very strongly about. Had I lost and made an appeal to the Brazil commission, I doubt it would be overturned because I’m not from Brazil.” The match with Francimar Barroso was rescheduled on 18 March 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Middleweight

After losing to Barroso in March 2017, Stewart announced he would compete in the middleweight division. Stewart faced

Karl Roberson Karl William Roberson (born October 4, 1990) is an American former kickboxer and mixed martial artist who competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Early life and education Raised in Neptune Township, New Jers ...

on 11 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. Stewart faced promotional newcomer Julian Marquez on 16 December 2017 at

UFC on Fox 26 ''UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 26'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on December 16, 2017, at the Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Background The e ...

. He lost the back-and-forth bout via submission in the second round. Even though he lost the fight, he was awarded a '' Fight of the Night'' bonus award. Stewart faced

Eric Spicely Eric Benjamin Spicely (born September 29, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler competing in the middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championsh ...

on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130. He won the fight via technical knock out in the second round. The win earned him his first ''

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 ...

'' award. Stewart faced Charles Byrd on 8 September 2018 at UFC 228. He won the fight via technical knockout. Stewart faced promotional newcomer

Edmen Shahbazyan Edmen Shahbazyan (born November 20, 1997) is an American mixed martial artist competing in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Edmen Shahbazyan fights out of Glendale, California. His older brother, ...

on 30 November 2018 at The Ultimate Fighter 28 Finale. He lost the fight via split decision. Stewart faced Bevon Lewis on 8 June 2019 at

UFC 238 ''UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on June 8, 2019 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined by a UFC Bantamweight Champi ...

. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Stewart faced

Deron Winn Deron Andrew Winn (born June 13, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler. A professional mixed martial artist since 2017, he formerly competed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator MMA, fighting in th ...

on 18 October 2019 at

UFC on ESPN 6 ''UFC on ESPN: Reyes vs. Weidman'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 6'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 18, 2019 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background A light ...

. At the weigh-in, Winn weighed in at 188.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the middleweight non-title fight limit of 186. The bout was held at catchweight and winn was fined 20% of his purse which went to their opponents Stewart. He won the fight via split decision. Stewart was scheduled to face Marvin Vettori on 21 March 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the UFC bout was moved to Cage Warriors 113 main event in which he faced

Bartosz Fabiński Bartosz Ryszard Fabiński (born 26 April 1986) is a Polish mixed martial artist who fights in the Middleweight division. He has formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Fabiński was born in Warsaw, Poland. He ...

instead. Stewart lost the fight via unanimous decision. Stewart faced Maki Pitolo on 8 August 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 174 ''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Oleinik'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 174'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 32'' and ''UFC Vegas 6'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 8, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in En ...

. He won the fight via a guillotine choke in round one. This win earned him the ''

'' award. Stewart faced Kevin Holland on 19 September 2020 at

UFC Fight Night 178 ''UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 178'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 36'' and ''UFC Vegas 11'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 19, 2020 at th ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Stewart faced Eryk Anders on 13 March 2021 at UFC Fight Night 187. Due to an illegal knee thrown by Anders in round one, the fight was declared a no contest. Stewart rematched Eryk Anders on June 12, 2021 at

UFC 263 ''UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 12, 2021, at the Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, United States. Background The event was the second ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Stewart faced Dustin Jacoby on August 28, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 30 ''UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 30'' and ''UFC Vegas 35'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on August 28, 2021, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpri ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in round one. On August 31, 2021, it was announced that Stewart was released by UFC.

Return to Cage Warriors

Stewart faced Mick Stanton at Cage Warriors 141 on July 22, 2022. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. Stewart faced Guilherme Cadena on December 31, 2022 at Cage Warriors 148, winning the bout via TKO stoppage in the first round due to elbows and punches on the ground. Stewart returned to Cage Warriors on May 6, 2023 at Cage Warriors 154, taking on Leon Aliu and winning the bout via unanimous decision. Stewart faced Matthew Bonner on July 1, 2023 at Cage Warriors 156, winning the bout via unanimous decision. Stewart faced Antonio Zovak on November 25, 2023 at Cage Warriors 164, winning the bout via first round TKO stoppage.

Personal life

Stewart's moniker "The Dentist" refers to his opponents, whereby "He (his opponent) is just another patient who's gonna get drilled". Stewart is an avid dancer and was a student of

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and

street dance Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, locking, house dance, waacking etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created organically from a culture, ...

for

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

. He was also a

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...

dancing champion. Stewart lives in Barking, London with his fiancée Katherine, an Ecuadorian, and his sons Marlon and Tyler.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Julian Marquez **

(Two times) * Killacam Promotions ** Killacam Promotions Light Heavyweight Champion (One time) ***One successful title defence

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–9 (2) , Antonio Zovak , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 164 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:43 ,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

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, Italy , , - , Win , align=center, 13–9 (2) , Guilherme Cadena , TKO (elbow and punches) , Cage Warriors 148 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:07 ,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–8 (2) , Dustin Jacoby , TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Chikadze , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:04 ,

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 ...

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Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the la ...

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Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 (1) ,

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

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, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:47 ,

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, England , , - , NC , align=center, 7–0 (1) , Francimar Barroso , NC (overturned) , UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Nogueira 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 ,

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Boubacar Balde , TKO (punches) , Cage Warriors 77 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:28 ,

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, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Grégory Pierre , Decision (unanimous) , Killacam Fight Night 9 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Darren Living people 1990 births English male mixed martial artists Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Poplar, London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Martial artists from London English people of Jamaican descent English people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent English male taekwondo practitioners English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters