Martin Richard Day (born November 10, 1988) is a Japanese-born 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 ...

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

division. He formerly competed 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 ...

Background

The son of missionaries, Martin was born in

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan while his parents were stationed there and his family moved to Hawaii when he was 9 months old. He has eight other siblings. He started training in Taekwondo when he was 13 and started competing around the same time. After starting boxing around the age of 15 and accumulated quite a bit of amateur kickboxing fights, he decided to try MMA. Currently, Day is a 4th degree Dan Black Belt in ITF Taekwondo.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Starting his career in 2015, Day earned an impressive record of 6–1, before he was invited on

Dana White's Contender Series Dana White's Contender Series, formerly named Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series, is an American mixed martial arts promotion. In May 2017, the UFC announced White would hold the competition weekly on UFC Fight Pass (It has since been move ...

. Day's lone loss in the road prior to DWTNCS came in March 2017 when he suffered defeat to Bellator MMA and LFA veteran Nohelin Hernandez. Day's first shot under the ZUFFA lights came against Jaime Alvarez on Dana White's Contender Series 6 in August 2017. Day came out early with very solid leg kicks but was unable to get the judges’ decision at the end of the bout. After the defeat, Day continued to win on the Hawaiian and California regional scenes. Day won all three of his following bouts, two of them by finishes. The final of the three was against the undefeated Brady Huang. Huang was 8-0 going into the matchup with all eight bouts ending by finish and seven of those eight ending in the first round. The two battled URCC 34: Destiny in August 2018 as the co-main event to former UFC veteran

Tyson Griffin Tyson Lee Griffin (born April 20, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. He competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, the RFA, and the World Series of Fighting. Background Griffin was a standout w ...

. Day made quick work of the undefeated star, knocking out Huang in the second round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Day made his UFC debut on November 24, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 against

Liu Pingyuan Liu Pingyuan (born February 13, 1993) is a Chinese mixed martial artist (MMA). He currently competes in the bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts career Early career Liu started his professiona ...

. He lost the fight via split decision. Martin Day faced

Davey Grant David "Davey" Jeremy Grant (born 18 December 1985) is an English mixed martial artist. He was one of the cast members for TUF 18 The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate, UFC TV series program, and he competes in Bantamweight division o ...

on July 11, 2020, at

UFC 251 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 ...

. He lost the fight via knockout in the third round. Day fought Anderson dos Santos on November 28, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark. He lost the fight via first round guillotine choke. Day faced

Timur Valiev Timur Arsenovich Valiev (born January 19, 1990) is a Russian mixed martial artist who competes in the bantamweight division. Valiev previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Professional Fighters League (PFL). Background ...

on February 6, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Volkov. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. On February 18, 2021, it was announced that Day had been released from the UFC.

Post UFC

In his first appearance after leaving the UFC, Day faced Ramon Taveras on April 30, 2022 at Combat Night Pro:Jacksonville. He lost the bout via guillotine choke in the first round.

Championships and accomplishments

Universal Reality Combat Championship Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) is the first and only professional mixed martial arts promotion based in the Philippines. Its inaugural event was held at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque, Philippines on November 23, 20 ...

**URCC Bantamweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 8–7 , Ramon Taveras , Submission (guillotine choke) , Combat Night Pro: Jacksonville , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:40 ,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–6 ,

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

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, 8–5 , Anderson dos Santos , Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC on ESPN: Smith vs. Clark , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:35 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–4 ,

, KO (punch) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:38 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–3 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Ngannou 2 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Brady Huang , TKO , URCC 34 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:10 , Richmond, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–2 , Shojin Miki , Decision (unanimous) , Destiny MMA: Fight Night 5 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–2 , Richard Barnard , Submission (guillotine choke) , Destiny MMA: Fight Night 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:55 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 , Jaime Alvarez , Decision (split) , Dana White's Contender Series 6 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Shojin Miki , KO (punches) , Mid-Pacific Championships 3 , , align=Center, 1 , align=center, 4:31 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 4–1 , Nohelin Hernandez , TKO (punches) , Global Knockout 9 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, N/A ,

Jackson, California Jackson (formerly, Botilleas, Botilleas Spring, Bottileas, Bottle Spring, and Botellas) is a city in and the county seat of Amador County, California. Its population was 4,651 at the 2010 census, up from 3,989 at the 2000 census. The city is acc ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Richard Parra III , Decision (split) , Tachi Palace Fights 28 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Lemoore, California, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Anthony Torres , TKO (punches) , WFC 17 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:55 ,

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jeffery Oher , TKO (punches) , Destiny MMA: Trinity Sport Combat , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:50 ,

Kapolei, Hawaii Kapolei () is a planned community in Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi, United States, on the island of Oʻahu. It is colloquially known as the "second city" of Oʻahu, in relation to Honolulu. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Dylan Morgan , Decision (split) , Destiny MMA: Na Koa 8 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Martin 1988 births Living people American male mixed martial artists Japanese male mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing taekwondo Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male taekwondo practitioners Japanese male taekwondo practitioners