Jared Alexander Gooden (born December 5, 1993) 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, 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. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Gooden most notably competed for 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

When Jared was 15 years old, he came across Matt Hughes and BJ Penn while flipping channels at his dad's house. He fell in love with the sport after watching the fight. A few year later, Jared saw a MMA fight poster come up on his Facebook feed and emailed the address that appeared on it. He would get a reply from the promoter, David Oblas, asking for his gym, length of training time and MMA record, all of which Jared did not have. David then sent him to a nearby gym run by Phillipe Gentry instead. He walked into Coach Phillipe’s gym and started training at 17 years old on June 2nd of 2011.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Gooden made his MMA debut at NFC 76, where he submitted Bobby Tucker via rear-naked choke in the second round. Gooden would win his next 5 bouts, before losing to

Dave Vitkay Dave Vitkay (born May 22, 1980) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, he has formerly competed for Bellator MMA. Background Born and raised in the suburbs of ...

at NFC 86 for the NFC Welterweight Championship via unanimous decision. Rebounding with a win via unanimous decision at NFC 89 against Micah Miller, he would lose to Julien Williams at NFC 94 via unanimous decision. Winning his next 7 bouts, culminating his one and only outing with

Legacy Fighting Alliance Legacy Fighting Alliance is an American mixed martial arts promotion, created as a result of the ''Legacy Fighting Championship'' and ''Resurrection Fighting Alliance'' merger in early 2017. History Resurrection Fighting Alliance On October 11, ...

at LFA 59, where he faced Steven Newell and went on to defeat him via unanimous decision. He would then fight at Titan FC 53: Bad Blood, where he faced

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Gr ...

for the interim Titan FC Welterweight Championship, however he lost the bout via unanimous decision. After defeating Will Santiago Jr via TKO in the first round at Jackson Wink Fight Night 5., he would return to

Titan FC Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

at Titan FC 55 against Bruno Oliveira, losing again but this time by TKO in the first round. He would win the next three bouts; tapping out Marcel Stamps in the second round via guillotine at Island Fights 60, Jay Jackson via rear-naked choke in the first at Empire FC 5 and finally Trent McCown via TKO in the 2nd round at Titan FC 62.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Gooden made his UFC debut against

Alan Jouban Alan Michael Joubanhttp://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2016_Results/07-07-16MMA.pdf (born November 25, 1982) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division. A profess ...

on November 21, 2020 at

UFC 255 ''UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on November 21, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Gooden faced

Abubakar Nurmagomedov Abubakar Magomedovich Nurmagomedov (born November 13, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist, who is currently competing in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a three-time Combat Sambo World Championship bron ...

on March 27, 2021 at

UFC 260 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 ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Gooden, as a replacement for

Mounir Lazzez Mounir Lazzez (born November 16, 1987) is a Tunisian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional fighter since 2012, he is the first fighter that was born and raised in an A ...

, faced

Niklas Stolze Niklas Stolze (born December 28, 1992) is a German mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2014, he most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Stolze began his caree ...

on July 30, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Hall vs. Strickland. He won the fight via knockout in round one. Gooden faced Randy Brown on October 6, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 194. At the weight-ins, Jared Gooden weighted 174 pounds, three pounds over the limit of non-championship welterweight bouts. The bout proceeded to a catchweight bout. Gooden was fined 20% of his purse and it went to his opponent Randy Brown. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On January 12, 2022, it was announced that Gooden's contract was not renewed.

Post-UFC

Gooden made his first appearance post-release at iKON FC 1 on January 21, 2022 against Aaron Highbaugh for the iKON FC middleweight title. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Gooden faced

Curtis Millender Curtis Marquir Millender (born December 1, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2013, Millender has formerly competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellato ...

on April 2, 2022 at XMMA 4. He won the bout after dropping Millender in the second round with a leg kick and finishing him with ground and pound. Gooden faced

Impa Kasanganay Impa Armond Kasanganay (born January 17, 1994) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Light heavyweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). He formerly competed in the Welterweight and Middleweight divisions of Ultimat ...

at XMMA 5 on July 23, 2022. He lost the fight by a first-round TKO stoppage. Gooden returned in October to face Doug Usher at NFC 150 for the NFC Middleweight Championship, winning the bout in the second round after Usher was unable to continue due to injury.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

*National Fighting Championship **NFC Welterweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defence **NFC Middleweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 21–8 , Doug Usher , TKO (injury) , NFC 150 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:55 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 12–2 , Cody Wilson , TKO (superman punch) , 864 Fighting Championship 7 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:24 , Greenville, South Carolina, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 , Ladarious Jackson , KO (flying knee) , NFC 108 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:07 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Amir Dadovic , Decision (unanimous) , NFC 84 , , align=Center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Tanner Saraceno , TKO (punches) , NFC 83 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:45 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gooden, Jared 1993 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu