Joe Williams (born July 22, 1985) 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 ...

who competes in Bellator's

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 the ...

division.

Background

Williams has an extensive background in

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 ...

. He started to train when he was eight years old and during his juvenility he earned many state and national titles along with many other honors.Fighter case files: who is Joe Williams?
Themmacorner.com (September 14, 2012)

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Williams started his professional career in 2011. He fought mainly for California-based promotion ''Respect in the Cage''. With a record of 7–0 and victories over

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

veteran Eddie Mendez and WEC veteran Fernando Gonzalez, he signed with Bellator.

Bellator MMA

Williams made his debut on August 24, 2012 at

Bellator 73 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

against fellow newcomer

Andy Uhrich Andy Uhrich is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of Bellator MMA. A professional competitor since 2007, he also competed for Strikeforce, Titan FC, and was a contestant on Fight Master: Bel ...

. Williams had his first defeat via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). Williams faced Rod Montoya on October 5, 2012 at

Bellator 75 2012 in Bellator MMA was the sixth installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships, which began on March 9, 2012. The sixth season of Bellator was originally scheduled to begin on March 2, 2012. However, the debut was pushed back a week so ...

. He won via submission in the very first round. Williams faced

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 ...

veteran Jamie Yager on January 17, 2013 at

Bellator 85 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five Mixed martial arts weight classes, weight classes and all of the ch ...

. He won via TKO in the first round.

Fight Master: Bellator MMA

On May 6, 2013, it was announced that Williams would be featured as a participant on

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 ...

reality TV show Fight Master. In the second episode, Joe lost in the entry round via unanimous decision against Cole Williams. Williams received another chance after the medical suspension of

due to a cut over his eye during his fight against Dom O'Grady in the entry round.

Frank Shamrock Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez III; December 8, 1972) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship (later renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship) and ...

picked Williams to fill the last spot of the team. In the fifth episode, Williams is shown facing Ismael Gonzalez in the round of 16 of the tournament. He completely dominated Gonzalez on the ground in round one and finished the fight via submission due to an arm-triangle choke in round two. In the quarterfinals, Williams faced Eric Bradley and lost via majority decision after two rounds.

Post Fight Master

Williams faced

Jesse Juarez Jesse Juarez (born May 8, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut. A professional competitor since 2006, Juarez has also formerly competed for Strikeforce, ...

on November 2, 2013 at

Bellator 106 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

. He lost via submission due to a guillotine choke early in the first round.Eddie Alvarez edges Michael Chandler, regains lightweight title at Bellator 106
by Brian Knapp (Sherdog.com) on November 2, 2013

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed Martial Arts

*Respect in the Cage **RITC middleweight title (one time) **Three successful title defenses

Adult Citrus Industry

* Recipient of "Golden Grapefruit" award

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:57 ,

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Jamie Yager , TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:02 ,

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 , Rod Montoya , Submission (rear-naked choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:17 ,

Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 7–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tunica Resorts, Mississippi Tunica Resorts, formerly known as Robinsonville until 2005,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Vince Alaalatoa , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:58 ,

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

, United States , Defended RITC middleweight title , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Ben Martin , KO (punch) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:55 ,

, United States , Defended RITC middleweight title , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Fernando Gonzalez , Decision (split) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , Defended RITC middleweight title , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Eddie Mendez , Decision (unanimous) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , Won RITC middleweight title , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Tony Gianopoulos Jr. , TKO (punches) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:57 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Daniel Mancha , TKO (punches) , KOTC: Empire , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:06 ,

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Tony Dalton , Submission (rear-naked choke) , RITC - Respect in the Cage , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:59 ,

, United States ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Joe 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Orange, California American male sport wrestlers American Muay Thai practitioners American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists from California