Lloyd Woodard (born November 12, 1984) is an American professional

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 ...

, currently competing in

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 ...

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division. A professional competitor since 2005, Woodard has also formerly competed for Bellator and

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

Background

Woodard was born in Memphis, the third youngest in a family of nine children. At the age of two, his parents divorced resulting in him and his siblings moving in and out of relatives' homes in different regions of the country. While living in South Memphis, Woodard quickly learned to defend himself, being biracial, poor, and having a

speech impediment Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...

until high school. Woodard also participated 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 ...

for three years, excelling at the sport for Hellgate High School in Montana, where he graduated from. Woodard frequented a local

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

gym and also competed in a few amateur mixed martial arts fights before becoming a professional. Woodard stated in a Bellator interview that when he was growing up he went through a "bad kid" phase. His best friend at the time got into an altercation with a former

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

basketball player and he and the rest of his friends came to get Woodard, the "tough kid" on the block. They avenged their friend by going to the kid's house and beating him up badly. Woodward said this was the "breaking point" of his life. Although Woodard did not actually participate in the fight, he was convicted of felony burglary and violated his probation after getting in more altercations. After revoking his probation he ended up in a prison boot camp. He added, "I'm glad it happened because I could control my feelings a lot better and have more control of my life."

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Woodard's first amateur MMA match was on March 19, 2005, and he quickly amassed a 4-1 record. Woodard made his professional MMA debut on October 11, 2008 and has made a name for himself by being a "scrappy fighter" with "unorthodox" submission skills. Before signing with Bellator, Woodard amassed a perfect 10-0 record.

Bellator

Lloyd Woodard is currently signed to Bellator, competing in their Lightweight division. Woodard made his Bellator debut at Bellator 36 on March 12, 2011, where he defeated

Carey Vanier Carey D. Vanier Sr. (born August 3, 1981) is a Guyanese-American mixed martial arts fighter. He previously fought for Bellator Fighting Championships in the lightweight division. He also took part in the season two tournament held by Bellator. ...

via TKO. Woodard lost for the first time in his career by decision to future Bellator Lightweight Champion

Michael Chandler Michael Chandler (born April 24, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2009, Chandler first gained n ...

as a Lightweight semifinalist in the Bellator Season Tournament. In the quarter finals of Bellator's Season 6 Lightweight Tournament, Woodard faced

Patricky Freire Patricky Freire (born January 21, 1986), known professionally by his ring name Patricky Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division, where he is a former Bellator Lightweight World Champi ...

Bellator 62 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 i ...

. Woodard defeated Freire via submission in a back-and-forth fight. On April 20, 2012, Woodard faced

Rick Hawn Rick Hawn (born September 15, 1976) is a former Olympic judoka and professional mixed martial artist. A professional MMA fighter from 2009 - 2015, Hawn most notably competed for Bellator MMA, where he won the Bellator Season 6 Lightweight Tourn ...

in the semifinals. Woodard lost the bout via

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the second round. Woodard then participated in the Bellator Season 8 Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinals on January 31, 2013 at

Bellator 87 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 ...

against

David Rickels David Rickels (born January 5, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle fighter who is currently competing in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional since 2010, he is a 23-fight veteran of the Bellat ...

. Woodard lost via unanimous decision.

Post-Bellator

Woodard faced Dave Courchaine at ICF: Intense Cage Fighting 8 on March 22, 2013. Woodard lost via split decision, his third loss in a row. Woodard rebounded with a first-round TKO victory against Jerome Jones at KOTC: Unleashed on February 13, 2014. Woodard is currently signed to

Titan Fighting Championship 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 ...

. He made his debut for the organization against Kurt Holobaugh in a Titan FC Featherweight title eliminator bout on August 22, 2014 at Titan FC 29. He lost via TKO in just 15 seconds of round one. Woodard was expected to face Danny White at GCMMA: Magic City Mayhem 4 on October 14, 2014. However, the bout was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Mixed martial arts record

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Alonzo Martinez Alonzo Martinez (born April 22, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter. Alonzo has fought twice for Bellator Fighting Championships as a lightweight and once with Strikeforce as a welterweight (though it was contested at a ...

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Ryan Healy Ryan Healy (born July 20, 1983) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who has competed for many promotions including Strikeforce, WEC, Shine Fights, and Full Contact Fighting Federation. He is also the twin brother of mixed-m ...

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Amateur mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Billy Hederson , align=center, N/A , Fightforce: Missoula Mayhem 3 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Jeremy Jones , Submission (armbar) , Full Contact Fighting Federation: Rumble at the Roseland 22 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodard, Lloyd American male mixed martial artists Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling 1984 births Living people