James Moontasri ( th, เจมส์ มูลทาศรี; born April 10, 1988) is a retired German-born

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 competes in the

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. Moontasri has competed in RFA and is currently signed with 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 ...

. James was also a silver medalist at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

in taekwondo, 2007 USA Tae Kwon Do Male Athlete of the Year, and 2x USA Tae Kwon Do National Champion. He holds the rank of Brown Belt in Jiu Jitsu from Franklin Aguirre and Brandon Bender (James received his Blue Belt and Purple Belt from John Machado.)

Early life

Moontasri was born in

Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

to a Korean American mother and a Thai American military father.

Mixed martial arts career

Resurrection Fighting Alliance

With a 4–1 mixed martial arts record, Moontasri made his RFA debut on August 16, 2013, facing R.J. Clifford at RFA 9: Munhoz vs. Curran. He won the bout via third round TKO. In his next fight, he faced Rick Reger at RFA 12: Ortega vs. Koch on January 24, 2014, submitting Reger via a rear-naked choke in the second round. For his third appearance with the promotion, Moontasri faced Jordan Rinaldi at RFA 15: Casey vs. Sanchez on June 6, 2014. He won the bout via second round KO, and just a couple weeks later, it was announced that Moontasri had signed with the

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After his win over Rinaldi, Moontasri was picked up by the UFC and faced fellow promotional newcomer Joe Ellenberger at UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens on June 28, 2014. Despite hurting Ellenberger in the first round, he would rally in the second and third rounds and Moontasri lost via split decision. 8 of 11 media outlets scored the bout for Moontasri, while 3 scored a draw. He was then scheduled to face Jake Lindsey at UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch on February 14, 2015. However, Lindsey pulled out of the bout because of an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer

Cody Pfister Cody Carson Pfister (born August 7, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, he has competed for the UFC, Bellator, Shark Fights, King of the Cage, and the Resurrec ...

. Moontasri was dominate in the fight, finishing Pfister with a rear-naked choke in the second round. Moontasri faced Kevin Lee on July 15, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 71 ''UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 71'') was a mixed martial arts event held on July 15, 2015, at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. Background The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout b ...

. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. Moontasri was expected to face

Brendan O'Reilly Brendan O'Reilly (14 May 1929 – 1 April 2001) was an Irish Selected Olympic high jumper, broadcaster, journalist, actor, singer and songwriter (best known for the 'Ballad of Michael Collins' and the Olympic song, 'Let the Nations Play'. He i ...

in a welterweight bout on November 15, 2015 at

UFC 193 ''UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm'' was a mixed martial arts event held on 14 November 2015, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the most attended UFC event in the history of the company at the time, with 56,214 people filling th ...

, filling in for an injured

William Macário William Francisco da Silva Macário (born July 1, 1991) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing as a welterweight. A professional competitor since 2010, he has formerly competed for the UFC and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fi ...

. Subsequently, O'Reilly pulled out of the fight in the week leading up to the event citing injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Anton Zafir. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Moontasri next faced

Alex Oliveira Alex de Oliveira (born February 21, 1988) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Born and raised in Três Rios, Rio de Janeiro, Oliveir ...

on July 23, 2016 at

UFC on Fox 20 ''UFC on Fox: Holm vs. Shevchenko'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 20'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 23, 2016, at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined b ...

. He lost the one-sided fight via unanimous decision. Moontasri was expected to face

Alex Morono Alexander Quincy Morono (born August 16, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights as a welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2010, Morono has also fought for Legacy ...

on October 15, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 97. However, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely. In turn, the pairing was quickly rescheduled and eventually took place on December 17, 2016 at

UFC on Fox 22 ''UFC on Fox: VanZant vs. Waterson'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 22'') was a mixed martial arts event promoted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship and held on December 17, 2016, at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. Background After pr ...

. Moontasri lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

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Jordan Rinaldi Jordan Rinaldi (born September 25, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the welterweight Complete Devastation champion. Rinaldi competed in featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Rinaldi was b ...

, KO (punch) , RFA 15: Casey vs. Sanchez , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:14 , Culver City, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Rick Reger , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , RFA 12: Ortega vs. Koch , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:28 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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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 Pol ...

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San Jacinto, California San Jacinto ( ; ; Spanish for " St. Hyacinth") is a city in Riverside County, California. It is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, to its north. The mountains associated with ...

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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 ce ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moontasri, James 1988 births American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Frankfurt Mixed martial artists from California Living people Lightweight mixed martial artists American male mixed martial artists American male taekwondo practitioners American Muay Thai practitioners American sportspeople of Korean descent American sportspeople of Thai descent American expatriate sportspeople in Germany Taekwondo practitioners at the 2007 Pan American Games Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Pan American Games medalists in taekwondo Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters