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

RFA RFA may refer to: Government and private organizations * Radio Free Asia, a private news broadcaster and publisher in East Asia, funded in part by the U.S. government * Renewable Fuels Agency, a former UK renewable fuel regulatory agency * Ren ...

CES MMA CES MMA (Classic Entertainment & Sports) is a mixed martial arts promotional firm based out of Providence, Rhode Island founded by boxing promoter Jimmy Burchfield Sr. It promoted the first sanctioned professional mixed martial event in the stat ...

and was a

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia.

Background

Spicely was raised primarily by his grandmother in New York state. Prior to his career in MMA, Spicely was a professional wrestler, and was also a talented skateboarder. Trained as a professional wrestler by

Biff Busick Christopher Girard (born December 21, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a coach at their Performance Center. Previously he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Oney Lorcan. He is a former NXT Tag Tea ...

, he competed for Beyond Wrestling often teaming with Chuck O'Neil and Matt Riddle.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Spicely compiled an amateur record of 2–1 before turning professional in 2013, competing exclusively for

in his native Rhode Island. He compiled an undefeated record of 8–0 before being added as one of the 16 Light Heavyweight fighters invited to the cast

The Ultimate Fighter 23 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

. He won his entry fight against Kenneth Bergh via first round submission. Next up, he defeated Elias Urbina via unanimous decision. In the semifinals, he was eliminated from the competition by eventual season winner

Andrew Sanchez Andrew William Sanchez (born April 8, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

by knockout in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Spicely made his promotional debut against Sam Alvey on July 13, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 91. He lost the fight via submission in first round. Spicely next faced

Thiago Santos Thiago Santos de Lima (born January 7, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), competing in the light heavyweight division. Prior to signing with the PFL, Santos competed for the Ult ...

on September 24, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 95. In a large upset, he won the fight by submission in the first round. This fight earned him the ''Performance of the Night'' award. Spicely faced

Alessio Di Chirico Alessio Di Chirico (born December 12, 1989) is an Italian former mixed martial artist who competed in Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Di Chirico was born in Rome, Italy. He attended University of Fo ...

on January 28, 2017 at UFC on Fox 23. He won the fight via submission in the first round. Spicely faced

Antônio Carlos Júnior Antônio Carlos Coelho de Figueiredo Barbosa Júnior (born 16 March 1990), also known as Antônio Carlos Jr. and professionally by his ring name Cara de Sapato (as well as its English translation Shoeface), is a Brazilian mixed martial artist wh ...

on June 3, 2017 at UFC 212. He lost the fight by submission due to a rear-naked choke in the second round. Spicely fought Gerald Meerschaert on December 1, 2017 at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale. He lost the bout via TKO in the second round. Spicely faced Darren Stewart on May 27, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130. He lost the fight via technical knock out in the second round. On August 14, 2018, it was announced that Spicely was released from UFC.

Post-UFC career

Spicely was expected to face Stephen Regman at CES 54 on January 19, 2019. Regman withdrew from the bout and was replaced by Leo Pla. Spicely won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Return to UFC

On the heels of two first round finishes on the regional circuit, Spicely was re-signed by the promotion for four fights and tabbed as a short notice replacement against promotional newcomer

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 June 22, 2019 at

UFC Fight Night 154 ''UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. The Korean Zombie'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 154'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 12'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on June 22, 2019, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena i ...

. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. This fight earned him the ''Fight of the Night'' award. Spicely was scheduled to face Brendan Allen on October 18, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 6. However, Spicely was forced to withdraw from the event for undisclosed reason. Spicely was scheduled to face Punahele Soriano on March 28, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Rozenstruik. However, Soriano was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons and replaced by Roman Kopylov. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was eventually postponed . Spicely was scheduled to face Markus Perez on August 1, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan. However, Spicely was removed from the fight (and subsequently released from the promotion) on the day of the event's weigh-in for health issues related to his weight cut.

Taura MMA

In late August 2020, Spicely signed with Taura MMA and scheduled to make his debut on November 22, 2020. However, due to hardships with COVID-19 restrictions the event was postponed.

Other regional circuit

Spicely next faced Rinat Fakhretdinov at UAE Warriors 15 on January 15, 2021. He lost the fight via first-minute knockout. Spicely faced Marcin Naruszczka at OKTAGON 24 on May 29, 2021. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round. Spicely faced Zdenek Polivka at OKTAGON 28 on September 25, 2021. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.

Awards and recognition

Mixed martial arts

* Ultimate Fighting Championship ** Fight of the Night (One time) **

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 ...

(One time) vs Thiago Santos

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 12–8 , Zdenek Polivka , TKO (punches) , OKTAGON 28 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:22 , Prague, Czech Republic , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–7 , Marcin Naruszczka , TKO (punches) , OKTAGON 24 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:25 ,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, Czech Republic , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–6 , Rinat Fakhretdinov , KO (punch) , UAE Warriors 15 & EFC 32 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:55 ,

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, United Arab Emirates , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–5 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Korean Zombie , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–4 ,

Caio Magalhães Caio Magalhães (born December 14, 1987) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of the Professional Fighters League. A professional competitor since 2009, he has also competed for ...

, TKO (punches) , CES 55 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:00 ,

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 , Leo Pla , TKO (punches) , CES 54 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:53 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 , Darren Stewart , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:47 , Liverpool, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3 , Gerald Meerschaert , TKO (body kick) , The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion Finale , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:18 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC 212 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:49 , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , UFC on Fox: Shevchenko vs. Peña , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 , Denver, Colorado, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC Fight Night: Cyborg vs. Lansberg , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:58 , Brasília, Brazil , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 , Sam Alvey , Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:43 , Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Aaron Johnson , Decision (unanimous) , CES MMA 31 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Harley Beekman , Submission (armbar) , CES MMA 29 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4;40 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Kevin Haley , Submission (heel hook) , CES MMA 27 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Nuri Shakur , TKO (punches and elbows) , CES MMA 25 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:34 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , David Jordan , Submission (guillotine choke) , CES MMA 23 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:38 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Tyler Rose , TKO (injury) , CES MMA 20 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5;00 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Tunde Odumuso , Submission (rear-naked choke) , CES MMA New Blood , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:41 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Kemran Lachinov , Decision (unanimous) , CES MMA Undisputed , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5;00 , Lincoln, Rhode Island, United States ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 ,

, KO (punches) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:47 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Elias Urbina , Decision (unanimous) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Kenneth Bergh , Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: Team Joanna vs. Team Cláudia , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spicely, Eric Living people American male mixed martial artists American male professional wrestlers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Rhode Island 1986 births Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters