Emmanuel Sanchez (born August 11, 1990) is an 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 ...

currently competing in

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 ...

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 ...

division. A professional competitor since 2011, Sanchez has also formerly competed for the

Resurrection Fighting Alliance Legacy Fighting Alliance is an American mixed martial arts promotion, created as a result of the ''Legacy Fighting Championship'' and ''Resurrection Fighting Alliance'' merger in early 2017. History Resurrection Fighting Alliance On October 11, ...

Background

Born and raised in a lower-middle-class family of

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

immigrants, Sanchez wrestled as a kid but did not continue to the high school level in the sport. He became interested in

MMA 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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

and

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 ...

while attending high school. After a successful amateur career, Sanchez began his professional career in 2011, starting his professional career at 4–0.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Sanchez began his professional MMA career in November 2011. He compiled a record of 8–1 before signing with

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

. During this time, Sanchez mainly competed in the lightweight division, before moving down to featherweight. He also competed once as a welterweight, in which he suffered his first professional loss against current

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 ...

competitor Lewis Gonzalez.

Bellator MMA

Sanchez made his promotional debut against Stephen Banaszak at

Bellator 128 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 ...

on October 10, 2014. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission at 2:18 in the first round. In his second fight for the promotion, Sanchez faced Alejandro Villalobos at

Bellator 135 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on March 27, 2015. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. Stepping in for an injured

Goiti Yamauchi is a Japanese-born Brazilian mixed martial artist who currently competes in the Welterweight division for Bellator MMA. As of December 13, 2022, he is #5 in the Bellator Welterweight Rankings. Background Yamauchi was born in Anjō, Aichi to ...

, Sanchez faced former Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran at

Bellator 139 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on June 26, 2015. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Sanchez next faced Henry Corrales at Bellator 143 on September 25, 2015. He won the fight via split decision. In his highest profile fight to date, Sanchez faced UFC veteran

Justin Lawrence Justin Ray Lawrence (born May 15, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Lawrence has also formerly competed for the UFC ...

on November 6, 2015 at Bellator 145. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. As the last fight of his prevailing contract, Sanchez next faced Daniel Pineda on the main card at

Bellator 149 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickboxi ...

on February 19, 2016. He won the fight by split decision. As the first fight of his new, multi-year contract with Bellator, Sanchez faced

Daniel Weichel Daniel Weichel (born November 22, 1984) is a German mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, he has also competed in M-1 Global and Shooto. As of November 22, 2022, he i ...

at Bellator 159 on July 22, 2016. He lost via split decision. Sanchez returned the following January and faced

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 ...

at Bellator 170. He won the fight via majority decision. One point was taken from Sanchez in the second round due to two illegal knee strikes. Sanchez faced former

Bellator bantamweight champion Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

Marcos Galvao Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

, who moved up to the featherweight division, at Bellator 175 on March 31, 2017. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Sanchez faced Daniel Straus at Bellator 184 on October 6, 2017. He won the fight via triangle choke submission in the third round. Sanchez faced

Sam Sicilia Samuel Travis Sicilia (born February 1, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently competes in the featherweight division for Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2007, Sicilia formerly competed for the UFC, an ...

at Bellator 198 on April 28, 2018. He won the fight by submission due to an arm triangle from the back position in the 1st round. Sanchez faced Bellator Featherweight Champion

Patrício Freire Patricio in Spanish, or Patrício in Portuguese, is a male given name equivalent to Patrick in English. The Spanish name is pronounced with the stress on the same first i as Portuguese, but an accent is not needed because this follows normal rul ...

at Bellator 209 on November 16, 2018. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Sanchez faced

at Bellator 218 on March 22, 2019. He won the bout via unanimous decision.

Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix

Sanchez next faced prospect

Tywan Claxton Tywan Claxton (born November 25, 1992 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American mixed martial artist and former amateur wrestler. He most notably competed in Bellator MMA at featherweight. Early life Claxton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, where he went ...

in the opening round of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix on September 7, 2019 at Bellator 226. He won the fight via submission in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Sanchez was initially expected to face

in a rematch in February 2020. However, the date got pushed back and they were next expected to face at Bellator 241 on March 13, 2020. Eventually the whole event was cancelled due to the prevailing

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 bout was rescheduled and took place at Bellator 252 on November 12. Sanchez won the bout via unanimous decision. In the semifinals, Sanchez faced

for the Bellator Featherweight World Championship at

Bellator 255 Bellator 255: Pitbull vs. Sanchez 2 was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on April 2, 2021 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The event was Bellator's first of the year following a four-month break ...

on April 2. This was a rematch of their November 2018 bout which saw Freire win by unanimous decision. He lost the fight via technical submission in round one.

Post Grand Prix

Sanchez faced

Mads Burnell Mads Burnell (born March 6, 1994) is a Danish mixed martial artist who competes in featherweight division of Bellator MMA. Professional mixed martial artist since 2013, Burnell has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Ca ...

Bellator 263 Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 31, 2021, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The event marked Bellator's first outside of the Mohegan Sun bubble and the first B ...

on July 31, 2021. He lost the very close bout via unanimous decision. Sanchez faced

Jeremy Kennedy Jeremy Michael Fitz-Kennedy (born September 16, 1992) is a Canadian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. In addition to competing for Bellator, Kennedy has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting ...

on December 3, 2021 at

Bellator 272 Bellator 272: Pettis vs. Horiguchi was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on December 3, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background Sergio Pettis made his first defence of the Bell ...

. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. Sanchez faced

Yancy Medeiros Yancy Medeiros Jr. (born September 7, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2007, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforc ...

on April 23, 2022 at

Bellator 279 ''Bellator 279: Cyborg vs. Blencowe 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA held on April 23, 2022, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Background The main event featured Bellator Women's Fea ...

. Sanchez lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

**Tied (with

) for second most submission victories in Bellator Featherweight division (four)

Mixed martial arts record

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Patrício Pitbull Patrício Freire (born July 7, 1987, in Natal, Brazil), known professionally by his ring name Patrício Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator MMA where he is the current three-time Bellator Featherweight Ch ...

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Marcos Galvão Marcos Galvão (born 23 June 1981) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2003, Galvão peaked at a global ranking ...

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Henry Corrales Henry Corrales (born August 11, 1986), is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional since 2011, he has also competed for King of the Cage, where he is the former Featherweig ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Emmanuel Living people 1990 births American male mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists American mixed martial artists of Mexican descent Sportspeople from Milwaukee Mixed martial artists from Wisconsin Mixed martial artists utilizing karate Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American male karateka American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Bellator MMA

Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix

Post Grand Prix

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References