Kris Eric Johannes McCray (born September 24, 1981) 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 ...

. He was the runner-up of '' The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz''.

Background

McCray was born in Germany to Calvin and Barbara McCray as the middle child in between his two brothers, Dominic and Thomas. He is of African American, Austrian and Mexican descent. Since his father was in the Army and stationed in Germany, McCray lived there, as well as Alabama, for most of his early childhood. He eventually moved to

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C.. Bounded by the Occoquan and Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the 2020 census. Woodbridge o ...

, where he graduated from high school at Woodbridge High School in 1998. McCray attended college at George Mason University, while he was teaching high school wrestling in his spare time. McCray entered the U.S. Army Reserve at age 21, and spent six years in the service.

Mixed martial arts career

Beginning at age 7, McCray began learning

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

and Karate. In high school, McCray was a part of the wrestling team. During his time in the service, McCray began learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and upon returning home, he joined Team Gold Medal Grappling, a

Lloyd Irvin Lloyd Irvin Jr. is a mixed martial arts (MMA) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt practitioner and coach. The founder of Team Lloyd Irvin, the first non-Brazilian team to take a world team title, he is the head coach to several champion grappler ...

affiliate. McCray obtained a perfect 10–0 amateur record before turning pro. His pro career has mainly consisted of fights for the Virginia based promotion, Ultimate Warrior Challenge.

''The Ultimate Fighter''

McCray was selected as a contestant for the eleventh season of the ''Ultimate Fighter''. Before he could move into the house, McCray had to win his entry fight against Cleburn Walker, where he won via a verbal submission after injuring Walker's shoulder. He was selected third and fifth overall by Team Punishment, led by

Tito Ortiz Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz (; born January 23, 1975) is an American mixed martial artist and politician. He is currently signed to the Combate Americas promotion. Ortiz is best known for his stints with the Ultimate Fighting Championship ...

. For his second fight he was chosen to fight Josh Bryant. The fight was back and forth and after three rounds, Bryant was awarded the decision. McCray was then selected as one of the season's wildcards. He then faced Kyacey Uscola in a second chance to get into the quarter finals. In the second round, having controlled a large portion of the fight, McCray was able to submit Uscola with an

americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and advanced to the quarter finals. McCray would then face good friend

Kyle Noke Kyle Noke (born 18 March 1980) is an Australian retired mixed martial artist who competed as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2002, Noke has also fought for EliteXC. Background Noke, origina ...

. McCray arguably controlled the fight after succeeding in multiple takedown attempts that Noke had little answer to. Noke's submission attempts were also effectively neutralised and McCray pulled off the victory with a unanimous decision after three rounds. That win advanced McCray into the semi-finals where he would have a rematch with Josh Bryant who had defeated him earlier in the competition. After winning by unanimous decision, McCray moved on to face

Court McGee Courtney Scott "Court" McGee (born December 12, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2007, McGee mostly fought in local prom ...

in the finals to determine the next Ultimate Fighter. McCray set the new record for total fights competed in during a season, having fought five times in total. Dana White commented during the final episode that McCray had fought "literally every Tuesday" since he got in the house. This advanced him to the

TUF 11 finale ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz'' (also known as ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Franklin'' for the final episode of the season) is the eleventh installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced rea ...

where he faced Team Liddell fighter,

in the main event.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

At the finale, McCray lost to McGee via second round submission by way of a

rear-naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keikog ...

. McCray was out-wrestled in the first and second round eventually giving up his back in the second round. McCray signed a four-fight deal with the UFC. His first fight on the contract took place at

UFC 122 ''UFC 122: Marquardt vs. Okami'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 13, 2010 at König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. This event aired on the same day, via tape delay, on Spike TV in the ...

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. McCray faced UFC newcomer

Carlos Eduardo Rocha Carlos Eduardo Rocha (born July 12, 1984), also known as Carlos Eduardo Rocha, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. Early life Born an orphan in Cabedelo, Brazil he worked as a dish washer, often sleeping outside, on the street, and on beache ...

, and lost by kneebar submission in the first round. He moved his camp from Team Gold Medal Grappling in

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, to

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on March 26, 2011, at

UFC Fight Night 24 ''UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 24'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 26, 2011 at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. Background The event did not lea ...

. The fight was closely contested throughout. However, Hathaway walked away the winner via split decision. Following the loss to Hathaway, McCray was released from the organization.

Bellator Fighting Championship

McCray signed with Bellator and made his debut on April 13, 2012 at Bellator 65. He faced Ailton Barbosa and won the bout via split decision.

Personal life

McCray became a father to a daughter at age 15. According to his

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, McCray is married.

Mixed martial arts record

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Danillo Villefort Danillo Villefort (born August 5, 1983) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Villefort has fought for the UFC, WEC, IFL, World Series of Fighting, and Professional Fighters League fighting in their Middleweight division. Biograph ...

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John Hathaway John Lawrence Hathaway (born 1 July 1987) is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the welterweight division. Mixed martial arts career Background and early career Formerly an open-side flanker for local rugby team Hove RFC, Hatha ...

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References

External links