Marion Elizabeth Reneau-Perez (born June 20, 1977) is a retired 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 ...

who competed as a

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 MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

in 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 ...

Mixed martial arts career

Reneau began her professional mixed martial arts career in 2010. After winning several professional fights she attempted to try out for The Ultimate Fighter 18. However, she was allegedly told by UFC brass that she was too old to be a contestant on the show, but to keep pressing on and to win a couple of more fights. On the heels of her submission victory over Maureen Riordan in July 2014 at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 16, she was signed by the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Reneau faced Alexis Dufresne on January 3, 2015 at

UFC 182 ''UFC 182: Jones vs. Cormier'' was a mixed martial arts event held on January 3, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event was headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship bout between the champion at that ...

. Reneau won the fight via unanimous decision. At the post fight press conference, Dana White made a point to mention the ''TUF'' snub and publicly praised her performance. Reneau faced

Jéssica Andrade Jéssica Fernanda da Costa Andrade (born September 25, 1991) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Andrade is currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where she competes in the women's Flyweight division and is a ...

on February 22, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 61 ''UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 61'') was a mixed martial arts event held on February 22, 2015, at the Ginásio Gigantinho in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Background The event was the first that the UFC has hosted ...

in Brazil. Reneau won the fight via first round submission, earning a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Reneau faced

Holly Holm Holly Rene Holm (born October 17, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion, and a former professional boxer. She was a multiple-time wor ...

on July 15, 2015 at

UFC Fight Night 71 ''UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 71'') was a mixed martial arts event held on July 15, 2015, at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California. Background The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout b ...

. She lost the fight by unanimous decision. Reneau faced

Ashlee Evans-Smith Ashlee Nicole Evans-Smith (born July 9, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's women's flyweight and bantamweight divisions. She has her own podcast called Sex & Violence with Rebel Girl. Mix ...

on February 21, 2016 at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy. She lost the fight by a close split decision. The judges' decision was controversial as 16 of the 17 media sources scoring the fight scored it for Reneau. She planned to appeal the decision with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. However, the appeal was denied by the PSAC. Reneau faced

Milana Dudieva Milana Dudieva (russian: Милана Дудиева; born August 4, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts career Dudieva made h ...

on November 19, 2016 at

UFC Fight Night 99 ''UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 99'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on 19 November 2016 at The SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland Backgr ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. She won the bout by TKO in the third round. Reneau then faced Bethe Correia on March 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum. The back-and-forth fight saw strong moments from both women, 2 of the 3 Judges gave the first two rounds to Correia (10-9) and gave the third round to Reneau (10-8) ultimately causing the fight to end in a majority draw. After the fight, Reneau disagreed with the result and said “I believe she won the first round; maybe she might’ve edged me out a little bit. I think I definitely won the second – and for sure I won the third round." Reneau was expected to face former UFC Women's Featherweight Champion

Germaine de Randamie Germaine Martha de Randamie (born April 24, 1984) is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. Undefeated in sanctioned kickboxing bouts, she competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and was the first UFC Women's Featherwe ...

on September 2, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Struve vs. Volkov, however, De Randamie pulled out of the fight on August 25 citing injury and was replaced by

Talita Bernardo Talita de Oliveira Neves Bernardo (born March 4, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist (MMA) who competed in the Bantamweight division in the UFC. Background Talita started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at the age of 22, after she took ...

Reneau won the fight via TKO in the closing seconds of the third round. Reneau was scheduled to face former

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

bantamweight champion

Tonya Evinger Tonya Evinger (born June 4, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2006, Evinger has previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), EliteXC, Raging Wolf and Invicta Fighting Champi ...

at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros on February 18, 2018. However, on January 9, 2018, it was announced that Evinger was forced to pull out from the fight due to injury, resulting Reneau being pulled from the event and rescheduled to face

Sara McMann Sara McMann (born September 24, 1980) is an American female mixed martial artist who competed in the bantamweight division. McMann is a former Olympic wrestler and received a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and was a ...

on February 24, 2018 at

UFC on Fox 28 ''UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 28'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on February 24, 2018, at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, United States. Background The even ...

. After being dominated the first round, she rallied back in the second round by knocking McMann down and then submitting her. Reneau faced

Cat Zingano Cathilee Deborah "Cat" Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

UFC Fight Night 133 ''UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Ivanov'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 133'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on July 14, 2018 at CenturyLink Arena in Boise, Idaho, United States. ...

on July 14, 2018. She lost the fight by unanimous decision. Reneau faced

Yana Kunitskaya Iana "Yana" Kunitskaya (born November 11, 1989) is a Russian mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of September 19, 2022, she is #6 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings. ...

on March 9, 2019 at

UFC Fight Night 146 ''UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 146'' or ''UFC on ESPN+ 4'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on March 9, 2019 at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, ...

. She lost the fight by unanimous decision. Reneau was scheduled to face

Irene Aldana Irene Robles Aldana (born March 26, 1988) is a Mexican professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Women’s Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of May 23, 2022, she is #4 in the UFC women ...

on September 21, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 17. However, Reneau pulled out of the bout on September 11 for undisclosed reasons. She was replaced by Vanessa Melo. Reneau was scheduled to face

Ketlen Vieira Ketlen Vieira da Silva (born August 26, 1991) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of January 17, 2023, she is ranked #4 in the UFC women's bantam ...

on May 9, 2020 at

UFC 250 ''UFC 250: Nunes vs. Spencer'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 6, 2020 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ...

. However, on April 9,

Dana White Dana Frederick White Jr. (born July 28, 1969) is an American businessman who serves as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a global mixed martial arts organization. In August 2019, White's net worth was estimated at $500 milli ...

, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date. Instead Reneau faced

Raquel Pennington Raquel Len Pennington (born September 5, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in Ultimate Fighting Championship women's featherweight division. She has previously fought for Invicta Fighting Championships. As of May 23, 2022, ...

on June 20, 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Volkov. She lost the fight via unanimous decision. The bout with Vieira was rescheduled and was expected to take place on September 27, 2020 at

UFC 253 ''UFC 253: Adesanya vs. Costa'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on September 27, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event was origi ...

. However, Reneau was pull from the bout, citing undisloced injury and she was replaced by

Sijara Eubanks Sijara Jihan Eubanks (born April 27, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the women's bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Eubanks was born and raised in Springf ...

The bout between Reneau and

Macy Chiasson Macy Chiasson (born July 27, 1991) is an American mixed martial artist (MMA). She was the Women's Featherweight winner of '' The Ultimate Fighter 28'' and currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ...

was originally scheduled for UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov. However, during the week leading up to the fight, Reneau was pulled from the card after testing positive for COVID-19. The bout was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane. However, yet again the bout was cancelled due to Reneau testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

and the bout eventually took place on March 20, 2021 at

UFC on ESPN 21 ''UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 21'' and ''UFC Vegas 22'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 20, 2021 at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, N ...

. Reneau lost the fight via unanimous decision. Reneau faced Miesha Tate on July 17, 2021 at UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés, losing by TKO in the third round. This was the first time Reneau had been finished in her career. Reneau had announced her retirement before the bout, and confirmed as such after the fight.

Personal life

Reneau grew up in

Porterville, California Porterville is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Tulare County, California, United States. It is part of the Visalia-Porterville metropolitan statistical area. Since its incorporation in 1902, the city's population has grown as it annexed n ...

. She is a graduate of California State University Long Beach with a degree in sports medicine, where she was a member of the track and field team, being named the Big West Women's Track & Field Athlete of the Year. She began training for the Olympics after college, however she was injured during a meet and later she became pregnant with her son and stopped her track career. She is currently married to Armando Perez Jr. She has recently resigned as a physical education teacher at Farmersville High School where she taught for 17 years.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 9–8–1 , Miesha Tate , TKO (punches) , UFC on ESPN: Makhachev vs. Moisés , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:53 ,

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 Vega ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–7–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–6–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Volkov , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–5–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. dos Santos , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had a population of 647,610 in 2020. It is located in ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–4–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs. Ivanov , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–3–1 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , UFC on Fox: Emmett vs. Stephens , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:40 , Orlando, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–3–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:54 ,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

, Netherlands , , - , Draw , align=center, 7–3–1 , Bethe Correia , Draw (majority) , UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Fortaleza, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 7–3 ,

, TKO (punches and elbows) , UFC Fight Night: Mousasi vs. Hall 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:03 ,

, Northern Ireland , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–3 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 ,

, Submission (triangle choke) , UFC Fight Night: Bigfoot vs. Mir , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:54 ,

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fif ...

, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Alexis Dufresne , Decision (unanimous) ,

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

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Maureen Riordon , Submission (armbar) , RFA 16 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:15 ,

Broomfield, Colorado Broomfield is a consolidated city and county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. Broomfield has a consolidated government which operates under Article XX, Sections 10-13 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado. The Broomfield populati ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Leslie Rodriguez , TKO (punches) , Tachi Palace Fights 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:24 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–1 , Lydia Reyes , KO (punch) , TWC 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:10 ,

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

Julia Avila Julia Aide Shumate Avila (born May 11, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Previously she has competed in Invicta FC, HD MMA, XKO MMA, Total Warrior Combat and King of the Cage ( ...

, Decision (unanimous) , TWC 13 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Chantalle Castellanos , TKO (punches) , TWC 13 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 1:38 ,

, United States ,

References

External links