Louis Taylor (born May 12, 1979) is an

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, incorp ...

currently competing 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 the ...

division of the

Professional Fighters League 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 ...

. A professional competitor since 2007, Taylor has also formerly competed for

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *'' Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *'' Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *''Marvel Strike Force'', ...

and Bellator. He is the first PFL Middleweight Tournament champion.

Background

Born and raised in the heart of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's South Side, Taylor learned to defend himself from a young age. After being arrested at around age 16 for fighting a group of four gang members attacking him (and breaking an assailant's collarbone), Taylor was introduced to a

high school wrestling Scholastic wrestling, also known in the United States as folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practiced at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially collegiate wrestling wi ...

coach and former Olympic alternate Ken Binge, by his pastor. Taylor, a sophomore at the time, later moved in with an uncle so that he could attend the school and compete. Highly talented, Taylor was a two-time state qualifier, and became the first competitor from a Chicago public school to compete in the state tournament. He later went on to wrestle for

Lassen Community College Lassen Community College is a Public college, public community college in Susanville, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges System. The college is located in Susanville in the high mountain lake country of northeastern Ca ...

Susanville, California Susanville (formerly known as Rooptown) is a town in and the county seat of Lassen County, California, United States. Susanville is located on the Susan River in the southern part of the county, at an elevation of . Its population is 16,728 a ...

. At-then junior college powerhouse Lassen, Taylor was introduced to MMA and wrestled for two seasons before transferring to

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

. Competing at 174 lbs. under legendary former UFC champion and EIU coach Matt Hughes, Taylor excelled. Later, Taylor returned to Chicago to coach his former high school team, before transitioning to MMA at the age of 28.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Taylor had three amateur fights before making his professional debut in 2007 as a

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

. Taylor compiled a record of 4-0 before debuting for

The Ultimate Fighter

Taylor was at the tryouts for

The Ultimate Fighter 13 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team Lesnar vs. Team dos Santos'' is the thirteenth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on November 4, 2010, ...

on November 4, 2010. He did not make the final cast to get onto the show which debuted on March 30, 2011.

Strikeforce

Taylor made his Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on November 7, 2009 against

Nate Moore Nathan Gregory Moore (born April 8, 1983) is a retired American mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional from 2006 until 2013, he competed for Strikeforce (mixed martial arts), Strikeforce. Background Born and raised in Indianap ...

and was defeated via submission due to punches in the second round. He would make his next appearance for the promotion in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor on August 13, 2010 against former WEC Welterweight Champion

Joe Riggs Joseph Jonathan Riggs (born September 23, 1982) is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2001, Riggs formerly com ...

and was defeated via submission due to punches in the third round.

Combat USA

Taylor fought Jason Louck on May 14, 2011 to determine the Middleweight Combat USA State Champion of Illinois. Taylor won the fight by submission (strikes) and was then supposed to face the Middleweight Combat USA State Champion of Wisconsin,

Herbert Goodman Herbert Goodman (born August 31, 1977) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and former NFL running back for the Green Bay Packers. A professional competitor from 2007 until 2011, Goodman competed for Bellator, M-1 Global and ...

. Unfortunately, Taylor Combat USA would not release Taylor from his contract.

Bellator Fighting Championships

Taylor first fought for Bellator at

Bellator 14 2010 in Bellator MMA was the second installment of the Bellator Fighting Championships (Bellator FC)-produced series. It started on April 8, 2010 and ended June 24, 2010. Tournaments were held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and m ...

on April 15, 2010 and won by KO due to a head kick in the first round over Ryan Sturdy. Taylor fought for the promotion again on December 14, 2012 at

Bellator 84 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 ...

against UFC veteran

Joe Vedepo Jody David VeDepo is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, he has formerly competed for the UFC and Bellator. Background Born and raised in the smal ...

. Taylor defeated Vedepo via first-round knockout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After an injury forced

Costas Philippou Constantinos Philippou ( gr, Κωνσταντίνος Φιλίππου, born November 29, 1979) is a retired Greek-Cypriot mixed martial artist. He formerly fought for the UFC's Middleweight division. Early life Philippou was born in Limassol o ...

out of his bout with Uriah Hall, it was announced on January 2, 2015, that Taylor had signed on to face Hall on short notice at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver on January 18, 2015. However, on January 11, it was announced that Taylor pulled out of the fight due to a

pulled muscle A strain is an acute or chronic soft tissue injury that occurs to a muscle, tendon, or both. The equivalent injury to a ligament is a sprain. Generally, the muscle or tendon overstretches and partially tears, under more physical stress tha ...

in his back and had his contract terminated as result.

World Series of Fighting

On March 12, 2016, Taylor made his

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

debut at WSOF 29 against

Cory Devela Cory Devela (born August 5, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who last competed in 2016. Background Devela began wrestling in elementary school and continued through middle and high school. After graduating, Devela attended Yakima Vall ...

. He won via guillotine choke submission in 29 seconds of the first round. On July 30, 2016, Taylor faced undefeated fighter

Phil Hawes Phillip Nicholas Fitzgerald Hawes (born January 8, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Hawes started out as a standout wrestler, winning a national ...

at WSOF 32. He won via guillotine choke submission in the second round.

Professional Fighters League

Taylor faced Anderson Goncalves at PFL 3 in Washington D.C. on July 5, 2018. He won the fight via TKO in the third round. In the fall of 2018, Taylor entered the PFL Middleweight tournament. At PFL 10 on October 20, 2018, he defeated Rex Harris by unanimous decision in the quarterfinal round. He then fought

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

to a technical draw in the semifinal round; Taylor advanced to the finals by having won the first round. Taylor faced Abuspiyan Magomedov in the finals at PFL 11 on December 31, 2018. He won the fight via knockout just 33 seconds into the first round, winning the PFL Middleweight Championship and earning the $1 million cash prize. For the second season of PFL, Taylor was expected to drop down to welterweight and face Chris Curtis on May 9, 2019. However just a week before the second season's start, Taylor announced that he had withdrawn from the tournament.

Personal life

Taylor is married and has children.

Championships and accomplishments

**Fastest Submission in WSOF History (0:29) vs.

**2018 Middleweight Tournament champion

Mixed martial arts record

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Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

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Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–3 , Brian Houston , Submission (guillotine choke) , APFC 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:14 ,

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves a ...

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Villa Park, Illinois Villa Park is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, within the Chicago metropolitan area. The population as of the 2020 Census is 21,113. Villa Park is a western suburb of Chicago. History When Ovaltine established its facto ...

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Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...

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Perry Filkins Perry Filkins (born April 3, 1988) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator's Middleweight division. Background Filkins is originally from Millington, Michigan and came from a dysfunctional home. His father was ...

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References

External links

* *
Louis Taylor
on MMAviewers.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Louis 1979 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Middleweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Sportspeople from Chicago Mixed martial artists from Illinois African-American mixed martial artists American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

The Ultimate Fighter

Strikeforce

Combat USA

Bellator Fighting Championships

Ultimate Fighting Championship

World Series of Fighting

Professional Fighters League

Personal life

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links