Jessin Ayari (born May 31, 1992) is a Tunisian-German professional

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 ...

. He was the formal Superior Fighting Championship Welterweight Champion. and competed in

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

division of

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 ...

(UFC).

Background

Ayari started playing football when he was young, and played for TSV 1904 Feucht youth team as a defensive midfielder in Germany. He started training in MMA at the age of fifteen after becoming frustrated with his football teammates who did not pull their weight and give as much as him. Ayari soon transitioned to MMA and completed his first MMA fight two years later. Since MMA gyms are hard to find in Germany, Ayari goes to different gyms to train in each specific combat sport discipline. A typical day for his training starts with strength and conditioning training at Power Athletics. In the evening, he either does

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

training at West End,

BJJ 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 ...

training at Fight Gym, MMA sparring with Hammers Team or

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

training at Johannis Grizzlys.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Ayari made his professional MMA debut on October 17, 2009 at

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany, and he was the former Superior Fighting Championship Welterweight Champion. He had a six fight win streak with a victory win over former UFC fighter Mickael Lebout at GMC 8 in

Castrop-Rauxel Castrop-Rauxel (), often simply referred to as Castrop by locals, is a former coal mining city in the eastern part of the Ruhr Area in Germany. Geography Castrop-Rauxel is located in Germany between Dortmund to the southeast, Bochum to the sou ...

on April 16, 2016, with professional MMA record of 15-3 prior being signed by UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Ayari was expected to make his UFC debut against Emil Meek on September 3, 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. However, Meek was pulled from the fight due to a

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 ...

conflict where receiving medical treatment of the fight against

Rousimar Palhares Rousimar Christian Palhares (;, born February 20, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the UFC, World Series of Fighting, and KSW. His nickname ''Toquinho'' (), Portuguese f ...

prior to signing with the UFC and he was replaced by

Jim Wallhead Jim Wallhead (born 14 March 1984) is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. He has competed for BAMMA, Bellator, and M-1 Challenge and the UFC . Wallhead is a member of Team Rough House and Le ...

. Ayari won his first UFC fight via split decision. He next faced

Darren Till Darren Till (born 24 December 1992) is an English professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai fighter. He currently competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 13, 2022, he is # ...

on May 28, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira. After three rounds of fighting, the judges handed down the win to Till via unanimous decision. Ayari faced

Stevie Ray Lash Steven Huffman (born August 22, 1958) is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray is best known for his seven-year tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 200 ...

in a lightweight bout on October 27, 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 138 ''UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 138'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on October 27, 2018 at Avenir Centre in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. ...

He lost the fight by controversial decision. Returning from an extended hiatus, Ayari faced Luigi Vendramini on October 4, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 16. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one. It was announced that after his loss to Vendramini, he was released from the UFC.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

* Superior Fighting Championship ** Superior Fighting Championship Welterweight Champion (one time) vs. Kerim Engizek

Amateur Sambo Competition

* Bavarian Combat Sambo Championship ** Bavarian Combat Sambo Champion

Personal life

Ayari comes from a family of athletes; his cousin

Khaled Ayari Khaled Ayari (born 17 January 1990) is a Tunisian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Luxembourg National Division club Hostert. Career Ayari played for French club Orléans one season. On 12 September 2017, he signed with Bulg ...

was a footballer for

Lokomotiv Plovdiv PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv ( bg, ПФК Локомотив Пловдив), commonly known as Loko Plovdiv, is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv. Lokomotiv's home ground is the Lokomotiv Stadium which is situated in Lauta Park ...

in the

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

, and another cousin Hassine Ayari and uncle Omrane Ayari represented Tunisia in Greco-Roman wrestling in the Olympics. He worked as an automotive mechanic engineer prior to fighting professionally.

Mixed martial arts record

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, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Moncton, New Brunswick Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 16–4 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Stockholm, Sweden , , - , Win , align=center, 16–3 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 15–3 , Mickaël Lebout , Decision (unanimous) , German MMA Championship 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 14–3 , Twan van Buuren , TKO (punches) , Respect FC: Caged 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:50 ,

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 13–3 , Stanislav Futera , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Innferno Fighting Championship , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:22 ,

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Austria , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Juan Manuel Suarez , Decision (Unanimous) , Ansgar Fighting Leag4e 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Telde Telde is a town and a municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, overseas (Atlantic) insular Spain. It is the second most populous municipality on the island, with a population of (2013).

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Ramon Boixader , Submission (guillotine choke) , Ansgar Fighting League 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:56 ,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Spain , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 , Roman Kapranov , Decision (unanimous) , Rhein Neckar Championship: Martial Arts Gala , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) ( pfl, Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, af ...

, Germany , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 , Abusupiyan Magomedov , TKO (punches) , German MMA Championship 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:49 , Herne, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 , Kerim Engizek , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part V , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:56 , Manz, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Aleksandar Rajacic , Decision (unanimous) , Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part IV , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Düren, Germany , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–2 , Alan Johnston , KO (punches) , On Top 5 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:52 ,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 , Matthias Merkle , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:09 ,

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Sebastian Baron , TKO (retirement) , Respect Fighting Championship 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Volker Dietz , TKO (broken hand) , Respect Fighting Championship 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 , Essen, Germany , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Ruben Crawford , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Outsider Cup: Cage Fight Night 9 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:59 ,

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Wahid Beisel , Submission (armbar) , Outsider Cup 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:58 ,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Arsan Tepsaev , Submission (triangle choke) , Outsider Cup 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:36 ,

, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Frank van Lessiel , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Outsider Cup 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:06 , Koblenz, Germany , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Tobias Hollubetz , Submission (armbar) , Fighting Masters Championship , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:43 ,

, Germany , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayari, Jessin 1992 births Living people Welterweight mixed martial artists German male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Sportspeople from Nuremberg German practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu German sambo practitioners German people of Tunisian descent Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters