James Te Huna (born 29 September 1981) is best known for competing in 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 ...

who has been called a pioneer of New Zealand mixed martial artists. He was the first Australian-based fighter to win a UFC fight on Australian soil, and the first person to headline a UFC fight in New Zealand. He was born in Darfield,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

, New Zealand, and is of Maori descent. James has morphed into a highly respected Rugby League Contact Wrestling Coach who has already worked alongside several NRL clubs. James also founde
New Wave Engage
that provides Support Programs to vulnerable teens in Out-Of-Home Care (foster teenagers).

Mixed martial arts career

Early career and background

Te Huna racked up victories on the local circuit, in Australia, as well as suffering a submission loss (via shoulder dislocation) to

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 ...

season one middleweight champion

Hector Lombard In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

. Te Huna defeated veteran journeyman Antony Rea whilst competing for the Cage Fighting Championship promotion. He became the Cage Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight World Champion at CFC 10 by defeating

Anthony Perosh Anthony Perosh (born 5 October 1972) is a retired Australian professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Perosh was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and ...

by first-round KO. Te Huna was later sanctioned by the promotion for illegally stomping on Perosh after the referee had stopped the bout. Cage Fighting Championship promoter Luke Pezzutti issued the following statement concerning Te Huna's behaviour, "To Anthony Perosh and the supporters/ Fans of Cage Fighting Championship, we apologize and do not condone nor tolerate the un-sportsman like actions of James Te-Huna at the CFC 10 August 21 event where the referee Ivan Walton stepped in to stop the fight between James and Anthony, and as a result of his actions that evening he has been fined 20% of his fight purse and has offered to write a letter of apology to Anthony Perosh, CFC officials and the supporters of CFC. CFC officials will amend rules, regulations to further prevent this type of behavior from our athletes." A formal letter of apology was duly issued on Te Huna's behalf. Te Huna escaped serious injuries after a twenty-foot shop glass panel fell on top of him while walking to training alongside a Sydney mall.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Te Huna then signed a contract with the

and made his debut at

UFC 110 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 ...

against

Igor Pokrajac Igor Pokrajac (born 2 January 1979) is a Croatian mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 20 ...

. Te Huna was victorious via a controversial TKO stoppage. The referee stopped the bout when he hit Pokrajac with nine consecutive punches, which he did with his broken arm. His next fight was scheduled to be at

UFC 120 ''UFC 120: Bisping vs. Akiyama'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 16, 2010, at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The card featured six televised MMA bouts, as well as four un-aired preli ...

against UFC newcomer Tom Blackledge, but Te Huna withdrew from the fight due to injury and was replaced by

James McSweeney James Adam McSweeney (born 24 October 1980) is a British kickboxer and retired mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, McSweeney is well known for being a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights'' ...

. Te Huna made his return on 27 February 2011 at

UFC 127 ''UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in Nort ...

against

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. Gustafsson currently competes in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA ...

, where was defeated by first-round submission due to a rear-naked choke. He donated his fight purse to the

Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

victims, and the UFC matched his donation. He faced Ricardo Romero on 24 September 2011 at

UFC 135 ''UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 24, 2011 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Background The Ultimate Fighting Championship had its first ever event in Den ...

and won by KO due to punches 47 seconds into the first round. Te Huna next faced

Aaron Rosa Aaron Isaac Rosa (born May 28, 1983) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2013, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, ShoXC, and Strikeforce. Background Born and raised in the borde ...

on 3 March 2012 at

UFC on FX 2 ''UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann'' (also known as ''UFC on FX 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held live by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday March 3, 2012 at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Background ...

. He won by TKO in the first round. He was expected to face UFC veteran

Brandon Vera Brandon Michael Vera (born October 10, 1977), or also known by his ring name as The Truth, is a Filipino-American (of Italian heritage) retired mixed martial artist where he was the inaugural ONE Heavyweight Champion and the 2005 WEC Heavyweigh ...

on 11 July 2012 at

UFC on Fuel TV 4 The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor (company), End ...

. However, Vera was tapped to fight

Maurício Rua Maurício Milani Rua (; born 25 November 1981), also known as Shogun, is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and former model. He competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former ...

UFC on Fox 4 ''UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 4'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background Chad Griggs was expected to fac ...

and was replaced by returning veteran

Joey Beltran José Felipe Beltran (born December 9, 1981) is an American bare-knuckle fighter and mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, Strikeforce, and King of the Cage. He currently compet ...

. Te Huna knocked Beltran down once and had him rocked throughout the first round. Despite breaking bones in his left hand and left foot and having his endurance tested, Te Huna won the fight via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–27). Te Huna fought

Ryan Jimmo Ryan Jimmo (November 27, 1981 – June 26, 2016) was a Canadian mixed martial artist who competed in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He mostly fought in Canada and competed on the eighth season of ''The Ult ...

on 16 February 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald. He survived an early scare in round one after getting hit with a head kick. Te Huna then rebounded by controlling rounds two and three with his wrestling, winning via unanimous decision (29–27, 29–28, 29–28). He next faced

Glover Teixeira Glover Lucas Teixeira (; born 28 October 1979) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion ...

UFC 160 ''UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot 2'' was a mixed martial arts event held on May 25, 2013, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The main event was a rematch between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez and Ant� ...

on 25 May 2013, coming in as an injury replacement for

Ryan Bader Arizona State Sun Devils Ryan DuWayne Bader (born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA where he is the current Bellator Heavyweight Champion, the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion, a ...

. He lost the fight via submission due to a guillotine choke in the first round. Te Huna faced

on 7 December 2013 at

UFC Fight Night 33 ''UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 33'') was a mixed martial arts event held on 6 December 2013, at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The event was broadcast live on Fox Spo ...

. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Following those two consecutive losses, Te Huna announced that he would drop down to

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 ...

for his future fights. He made his middleweight debut and faced

Nate Marquardt Nathan Joel Marquardt (born April 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the middleweight and welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 1999, he is a former Strikeforce W ...

in his home country of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 28 June 2014 at UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt. He lost the fight via first round armbar. After being sidelined for all of 2015 due to a litany of injuries, Te Huna returned to face

Steve Bossé Steve Bossé (born July 29, 1981) is a Canadian professional boxer currently competing in the heavyweight division. Bossé is a former mixed martial artist in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC and was also known as an infamous hockey enf ...

on 20 March 2016 at

UFC Fight Night 85 ''UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 85'') was a mixed martial arts event held on March 20, 2016, at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Background The event was the second that th ...

. Te-Huna lost the bout via KO in the first round. On 24 May 2016 Te Huna announced on both his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

accounts that he would be retiring from mixed martial arts.

Championships and accomplishments

** Most Significant Strikes thrown in

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 ...

History - 2012 ** First New Zealander to compete in the

** First New Zealander to Win a fight in the

** Fight of the Night (One time) *Cage Fighting Championships **CFC Light Heavyweight World Championship (One time) **CFC Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion

Mixed martial arts record

, Loss , align=center, 16–9 ,

, KO (punch) , UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Mir , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:52 ,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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, Submission (armbar) , UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:34 ,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–7 ,

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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 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–5 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fuel TV: Barão vs. McDonald , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, United Kingdom , , - , Win , align=center, 15–5 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–5 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:08 ,

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 13–5 , Ricardo Romero , KO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:47 ,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 12–5 ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:27 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 12–4 ,

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, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:26 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 ,

, KO (punches) , CFC 10: Light Heavyweight Grand Prix Finals , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:21 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 10–4 , Priscus Fogagnolo , TKO (punches) , CFC 9: Fighters Paradise , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:37 ,

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 9–4 , Antony Rea , TKO (punches) , CFC 8: Light Heavyweight Grand Prix , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:52 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 8–4 , David Gibb , TKO (punches) , XFC: Return of the Hulk , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–4 , Sam Brown , Decision (unanimous) , EFG: Weapons of Mass Destruction , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

, Australia , Return to

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 ...

. , - , Loss , align=center, 6–4 ,

, TKO (shoulder injury) , Warriors Realm 8 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:50 ,

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 6–3 , Takahiro Oba , TKO (corner stoppage) , X-plosion , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Australia , Return to

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 ...

. , - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 , James Lee , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KOTC: Gunfather , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 ,

Sunshine Coast, Queensland The Sunshine Coast is a peri-urban region in South East Queensland, Australia. It is the district defined in 1967 as "the area contained in the Shires of Landsborough, Maroochy and Noosa, but excluding Bribie Island". Located north of the ce ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 5–2 , Edwin Aguilar , TKO (punches) , Kumite 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–2 , Adrian Leatuna , TKO (punches) , Kumite 1 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, N/A ,

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–2 , Matt Knight , DQ (fence grabbing) , KOTC: Australia , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:01 ,

, Australia ,

debut. , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Kym Robinson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , XFC 6: Ultimate Fighting Returns , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:19 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Rocky Huni , Submission (rear-naked choke) , XFC 5: When Worlds Collide , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Matt Knight , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Xtreme Fight Club 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:20 ,

, Australia , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Api Hemara , Submission (armbar) , Spartan Reality Fight 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:20 ,