Manuel Alcaraz Tapia (born March 14, 1981) is an American professional

mixed martial arts 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, inc ...

fighter currently competing in the

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from Ba ...

division. He has formerly competed for the WEC,

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 ...

, and

Tachi Palace Fights Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) was an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which hosted events at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Matchmaker for TPF was former fighter Richard Goodman. Regarded as a regional promotion, ...

. He is the former King of the Cage Flyweight Champion.

Background

Tapia is from

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. After the death of his parents, Tapia used football,

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

, and

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 ...

as outlets for his anger. He attended

Don Lugo High School __NOTOC__ Don Antonio Lugo High School is one of the four high schools of the Chino Valley Unified School District (California), Chino Valley Unified School District located in Chino, California, Chino, California, United States. The mascot is the ...

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino is adjacent to Chino ...

and

Chaffey College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

. Tapia was originally introduced to mixed martial arts a year out of high school.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Tapia made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2003 for

and compiled a record of 4-0-1 before winning the King of the Cage Flyweight Championship. He later signed with the WEC and was stripped of his title.

World Extreme Cagefighting

Tapia made his WEC debut at WEC 27 on May 12, 2007 in a

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

bout against Brandon Foxworth and won via TKO in the second round. Tapia then fought at

WEC 32 ''WEC 32: New Mexico'' was a mixed martial arts (MMA) event held by World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) that took place on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. For the first time under Zuffa ownership, the show was held in Rio Rancho, New Mexico and no ...

on February 13, 2008 against

Antonio Banuelos Juan Antonio Banuelos (born September 23, 1979) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the Bantamweight division. Mixed martial arts career Banuelos made his professional mixed martial arts debut in June 2001, knocking out Da ...

and won via split decision. This brought Tapia's career record to 10-0-1. At ''

WEC 37 ''WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on December 3, 2008 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event aired live on the Versus Network. Background Former IFL stando ...

'', Tapia suffered a second-round TKO loss in a title fight with the WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres and lost via unanimous decision to

Akitoshi Tamura Akitoshi Tamura (born May 31, 1980) is a Japanese mixed martial artist. He competed almost exclusively in the Shooto organization, before making his debut in 2008 at the WEC 37. In 2007, he was the lightweight champion of Shooto. He was once rank ...

WEC 40 ''WEC 40: Torres vs. Mizugaki'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on April 5, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The event aired live on the Versus Network. Background This was the first WEC event to ...

. Tapia then fought

Eddie Wineland Edward Alan Wineland Jr. (born June 26, 1984) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2003 until 2022, Wineland was the in ...

on October 10, 2009 on the

undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

WEC 43 ''WEC 43: Cerrone vs. Henderson'' was a mixed martial arts event held by World Extreme Cagefighting on October 10, 2009 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. Background The event was scheduled to take place on September 2, 2009 at the Covel ...

, losing via unanimous decision. Tapia was then released from the WEC after this loss and it was announced on November 17, 2009 that he has signed with

. He debuted on their February 4 event in

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 2 ...

, facing current

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 ...

fighter Michael McDonald and lost via TKO in the first round.

Personal life

Aside from fighting, Tapia currently works in Law Enforcement.

Championships and accomplishments

** KOTC Flyweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 12–4–1 , Pete Sabala , Decision (unanimous) , SCMMA 1 - Inland Empire Strikes , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4–1 , Bobby Sanchez , Decision (unanimous) , Respect in the Cage 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 Polyte ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4–1 , Michael McDonald , TKO (punches) , TPF 3: Champions Collide , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:31 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–3–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–1–1 , Miguel Torres , TKO (punches and elbows) , WEC 37: Torres vs. Tapia , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:02 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0–1 ,

, Decision (split) , WEC 32: Condit vs. Prater , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Rio Rancho, New Mexico Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, New Mexico, Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into north ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0–1 , Brandon Foxworth , TKO (punches) , WEC 27 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:17 , Las Vegas, Nevada, United States ,

bout. , - , Win , align=center, 8–0–1 , Richard Montano , TKO (knee & punches) , KOTC: Destroyer , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:24 ,

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 the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0–1 , Shad Smith , Decision (unanimous) , KOTC: Rapid Fire , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0–1 , Ed Newalu , Decision (unanimous) , KOTC 63: Final Conflict , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0–1 , Gregory Vivian , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , KOTC 58: Prime Time , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:25 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0–1 , Richard Goodman , TKO (punches) , KOTC: Mortal Sins , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:07 ,

Primm, Nevada Primm (formerly known as State Line) is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States, primarily notable for its position straddling Interstate 15 where it crosses the state border between California and Nevada. It sits on I ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0–1 , Ed Newalu , Decision (unanimous) , KOTC 41: Relentless , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0–1 , Michael Welty , KO (punch) , KOTC 37: Unfinished Business , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:07 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Draw , align=center, 1–0–1 , Chad Washburn , Draw (split) , KOTC 33: After Shock , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , San Jacinto, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Manuel Sawyze , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KOTC 31: King of the Cage 31 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:07 , San Jacinto, California, United States ,

References

External links