Francisco Rivera Jr. (born October 8, 1981) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

who last competed in XMMA. A professional since 2008, he has also competed for the WEC and

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, ...

. Rivera is known for his heavy hands and wild fighting style.

Background

Rivera graduated from

Buena Park High School Buena Park High School (BPHS) is a public high school located at 8833 Academy Drive in Buena Park, Orange County, California, USA. History Buena Park High School opened its doors with 508 students on September 11, 1956, as the third school in t ...

where he excelled in football eventually playing for Orange Coast College, until his foot was broken.

Mixed martial arts career

World Extreme Cagefighting

Rivera made his WEC debut replacing an injured

Josh Grispi Josh Richard Grispi (born October 14, 1988) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2006 until 2014, he has competed for the UFC and WEC. Background Grispi, a talented hockey player, was kicked ...

against

Erik Koch Erik Jon Koch (born October 4, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the WEC. Background Koch wa ...

WEC 52 ''WEC 52: Faber vs. Mizugaki'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on November 11, 2010 at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. Background Urijah Faber made his bantamweight debut against Japanese striker Takeya Mi ...

. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On October 28, 2010,

World Extreme Cagefighting World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) was an American mixed martial arts, mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion founded in 2001. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC ...

merged with 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 ...

. As part of the merger, most WEC fighters were transferred into the UFC. Rivera was expected to drop to Bantamweight and face

Takeya Mizugaki (born December 16, 1983) is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist who most notably competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor from 2005 to 2020, Mizugaki also competed for Absolute ...

on March 3, 2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann. However, Rivera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer

Reuben Duran Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Rúben in European Portuguese; Rubens in Brazilian Portugue ...

. Rivera faced

on June 4, 2011 at

The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos'' is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, ...

. He lost the fight via submission in the third round and was subsequently released from the promotion.

Return to the UFC

Following two emphatic first round stoppages on the regional circuit, Rivera was re-signed by the UFC to face Alex Soto on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: The Korean Zombie vs. Poirier, replacing Azamat Gashimov who was removed from the bout. Rivera won the fight via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27). Rivera was expected to replace

Edwin Figueroa Edwin Richard Figueroa (born July 31, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the bantamweight division of the UFC. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, Figueroa fought in regional promotions in his home stat ...

against Ken Stone on June 22, 2012 at

UFC on FX 4 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

. However, Rivera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by

Dustin Pague Dustin William Pague (born August 5, 1987) is a former American mixed martial artist who most recently fought in the Bantamweight division of the UFC. He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller, and h ...

. Rivera faced

Roland Delorme Roland Camille Roger Delorme (born December 18, 1983) is a Canadian mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bispi ...

on July 21, 2012 at

UFC 149 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

. Rivera defeated Delorme via first-round KO. However, Rivera later failed his post-fight drug test for an over-the-counter stimulant and the win was overturned to a No Contest. After being clipped twice in the first round, Rivera rallied to defeat

on February 2, 2013 at

UFC 156 ''UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar '' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 2, 2013, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada. Background A bout between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida was brie ...

in the second round, staggering him before getting a TKO stoppage. Rivera was expected to face

Hugo Viana Hugo Miguel Ferreira Gomes Viana (; born 15 January 1983) is a Portuguese retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. After starting out at Sporting CP he moved abroad at the age of 19, going on to have unassuming spell ...

on April 20, 2013 at

UFC on Fox 7 The year 2013 is the 21st year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2013 started with ''UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping''. 2013 also saw the introduction of the wome ...

. However, Rivera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by

T.J. Dillashaw Tyler Jeffrey Dillashaw (born February 7, 1986) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. Dillashaw competed on ...

. Rivera was expected to face

George Roop George H. Roop (born November 10, 1981) is a retired mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir'', winning his preliminary and first round fights. He fought as a bantamweight in th ...

on October 19, 2013 at

UFC 166 ''UFC 166: Velasquez vs. dos Santos III'' was a mixed martial arts event held on October 19, 2013, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Background The main event was a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between the current champion Cain Vela ...

. However, the pairing was shifted to November 6, 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 31 ''UFC: Fight for the Troops 3'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 31'') was a mixed martial arts event held on November 6, 2013, at Fort Campbell in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The event was broadcast live on Fox Sports 1. Background The event was th ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Rivera was expected to face

Raphael Assunção Raphael Oliveira Assunção (born 19 July 1982) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born in Recife in Northeast Brazil, Assunção moved to Unite ...

UFC 170 ''UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann'' was a mixed martial arts held on February 22, 2014, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was released on DVD on May 27, 2014. The DVD was distributed by ''Anchor Bay Entertainment''. Ba ...

. However, Rivera was forced out of the bout due to injury. Rivera faced

on May 24, 2014 at

UFC 173 ''UFC 173: Barão vs. Dillashaw'' was a mixed martial arts event held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 24, 2014. Background A Middleweight Championship bout between then champion Chris Weidman and number one contender V ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Rivera faced

Urijah Faber Urijah Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who is signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competed as a bantamweight and formerly competed as a featherweight. He is also the founder of Team Alpha Male ...

on December 6, 2014 at

UFC 181 ''UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler II'' was a mixed martial arts event held on December 6, 2014, at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background UFC 181 was the organization's 300th event and was expected to be headlined by a Middlew ...

. Rivera lost the fight via second round submission. However, the ending was controversial as Faber stunned Rivera with an eyepoke during a standup exchange. The eyepoke went unnoticed by the referee, but immediately preceded the fight ending submission. Rivera's management team indicated that they planned to appeal the result in hopes that it would be changed to a no contest, and hoped that the UFC could schedule a rematch with Faber. Ultimately, the NSAC upheld the result of a submission victory for Faber. Rivera faced

Alex Caceres Alex Caceres (born June 20, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the featherweight division of the UFC. A professional MMA competitor since 2008, Caceres mostly competed in his regional circuit, before signing with the Ultim ...

on June 6, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 68 ''UFC Fight Night: Boetsch vs. Henderson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 68'') was a mixed martial arts event held on June 6, 2015, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Background The event was expected to be headlined by a l ...

. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. Rivera faced

John Lineker John Lineker (born June 12, 1990), is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently signed to ONE Championship, where he is the former ONE Bantamweight World Champion. Lineker formerly competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting ...

on September 5, 2015 at

UFC 191 ''UFC 191: Johnson vs. Dodson 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on September 5, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background Initially, a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Daniel Cormie ...

. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. The wild slugfest earned both participants ''Fight of the Night'' honors. Rivera faced

Brad Pickett Brad Pickett (born 24 September 1978) is an English former mixed martial artist. He is a former Cage Rage British Featherweight Champion. He competed as a bantamweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship; Dana White stated that Pickett was ...

on February 27, 2016 at

UFC Fight Night 84 ''UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 84'') was a mixed martial arts event held on 27 February 2016 at The O2 Arena in London, England. Background The event was the eighth that the promotion hosted in London a ...

. He lost the back-and-forth fight via split decision. Rivera next faced

Érik Pérez Érik Gregorio Pérez Ruvalcaba (born November 19, 1989) is a Mexican mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Bellator MMA promotion. A professional competitor since 2008, he has competed for Shark Fights, BAMMA, U ...

on July 30, 2016 at

UFC 201 ''UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 30, 2016, at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Background This was the third event that the organization has hosted in Atl ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Rivera received a four-year

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

suspension for testing positive for a banned substance

clenbuterol Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonl ...

, collected from an out of competition sample on July 23, 2016. He was subsequently released from the promotion.

Post-UFC career

Rivera was given a license to compete in California, and was scheduled to fight Trevin Jones at LXF 6 on March 20, 2020, but the event was cancelled 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 ...

. Rivera then faced Ryan Lilley at XMMA 8 on January 30, 2021. He won the fight via first-round knockout. Rivera faced Adam Martinez in the first bout of the one night bantamweight tournament at Combate Global: Bantamweight Tournament on May 29, 2021. He won the bout via KO in the first round of a one round bout. In the Semifinals, he faced fellow UFC vet Nohelin Hernandez, who he defeated via unanimous decision. In the finals, Rivera faced David Martinez, to whom he lost in the second round after being dropped by a head kick and finished on the ground. Rivera faced John Dodson on April 2, 2022 at XMMA 4. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. Rivera faced

Teruto Ishihara Teruto Ishihara (born July 23, 1991) is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist who previously competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he has formerly competed for S ...

on August 20, 2022 at UNF 2. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Rivera faced fellow UFC veteran

Cody Gibson Cody Michael Gibson (born September 11, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and last competed in Eagle FC. Background Born in Blackwell, Oklahoma, in ...

at Up Next Fighting 3: Rivera vs. Gibson for the inaugural UNF Bantamweight Championship. Rivera lost the bout via submission in the third round due to an arm triangle choke.

Championships and achievements

** Fight of the Night (One time) *

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

**2012 All-Violence First Team **2013 All-Violence Third Team

Mixed martial arts record

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, Submission (arm-triangle choke) , UNF 3: Rivera vs. Gibson , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:42 ,

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Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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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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Fairfax, Virginia The City of Fairfax ( ), colloquially known as Fairfax City, Downtown Fairfax, Old Town Fairfax, Fairfax Courthouse, FFX, or simply Fairfax, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth ...

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Adam Martinez , KO (punch) , Combate Global: Bantamweight Tournament , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:39 ,

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References

External links

*
Official UFC Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Francisco Bantamweight mixed martial artists American male mixed martial artists American sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in mixed martial arts Mixed martial artists from California Sportspeople from Whittier, California Living people 1981 births People from Buena Park, California Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters