Justin Willis (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2012, he has formerly competed for the

World Series of Fighting The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is an American mixed martial arts league founded by venture capitalist Donn Davis in 2017 and launched in 2018, following the acquisition and restructuring of the former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) promot ...

and 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 ...

Background

Born and raised in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, Willis played football through high school and the collegiate level as a lineman at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, graduating with a degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. At the collegiate level, Willis was All-Conference.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Willis made his amateur debut in 2009, a second-round loss, before competing again as an amateur bout on the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons 2 against Steve Dickey. Willis won via unanimous decision . After going professional in 2012, he amassed a record of 4–1 before being signed by the

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 ...

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Willis made his promotional debut on July 16, 2017 against James Mulheron at UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio. He won via unanimous decision. He then faced

Allen Crowder Allen Crowder (born November 8, 1989) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Allen Crowder's nickname "Pretty Boy" comes from his amateur care ...

UFC 218 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 ...

on December 2, 2017 and won via knockout in the first round. He faced

Chase Sherman Chase Sherman (born November 16, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist and former bare-knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor since 2014, he has competed for the UFC and Titan FC. Background Born and raised in D'Ibervill ...

on April 21, 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 128 ''UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 128'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on April 21, 2018, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Backgroun ...

and won by unanimous decision. He faced

Mark Hunt Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the wi ...

on December 2, 2018 at

UFC Fight Night 142 ''UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 142'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on 2 December 2018 at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Sou ...

and won by unanimous decision. Willis faced

Curtis Blaydes Curtis Lionell Blaydes (born February 18, 1991) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2014, Blaydes formerly competed ...

on March 23, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 148. Blaydes continually took Willis down and controlled him and also scored a knockdown in the second round. Willis lost the fight via unanimous decision. Willis spent a good amount of the pre-fight press time taunting Blaydes, who responded in kind in his post-fight interview, referring to Willis as "Big Titty". On May 24, 2019, it was reported that Willis was released from UFC.

Professional Fighters League

On February 11, 2020, news surfaced that Willis had signed with the PFL and was expected to compete in the PFL 2021 heavyweight season. Willis was expected to make his debut against Denis Goltsov at PFL 3 on May 6, 2021, but was removed from the fight prior to weigh-ins.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 8–2 ,

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

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Tuivasa , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:33 ,

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , James Mulheron , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Nelson vs. Ponzinibbio , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, 4–1 , Julian Coutinho , TKO (punches) , WSOF 31 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:30 ,

Mashantucket, Connecticut Mashantucket is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northeast part of the town of Ledyard, New London County, Connecticut, United States. It consists of land held by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe. The Foxwoods Resort Casino Foxwoods Resort ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Rizvan Kuniev , Decision (unanimous) , Inoki Genome Fight 4 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Yusuke Kawaguchi , TKO (punches) , Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 ,

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , James Kirby , TKO (punches) , Global Knockout: The Return , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Jackson, California Jackson (formerly, Botilleas, Botilleas Spring, Bottileas, Bottle Spring, and Botellas) is a city in and the county seat of Amador County, California. Its population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census. The city is acc ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 , Henry Solis , TKO (elbows) , ROF 43: Bad Blood , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:32 ,

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populati ...

, United States ,

References

External links

Justin Willis
at PFL * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Justin 1987 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California San Jose State Spartans football players Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters