Matthew James Bessette (born December 28, 1984) is a retired 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, incorp ...

currently competing in

CES MMA CES MMA (Classic Entertainment & Sports) is a mixed martial arts promotional firm based out of Providence, Rhode Island founded by boxing promoter Jimmy Burchfield Sr. It promoted the first sanctioned professional mixed martial event in the stat ...

where he is the reigning Featherweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also competed for

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

and 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

Bessette was born in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. He was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

on August 13, 1988 at the age of three and was hospitalized for it. The doctors gave him 50% chance of survival, but became more optimistic after the initial treatments, which reduced significantly the leukemic cells. Bessette also developed

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

at an early age, although that never prevented him from competing in sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, and football. After graduating from Stafford High School in 2003, Bessette attended the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

. While still in the university, he was introduced to

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 ...

at the age of 22 and graduated in 2007 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree. In June 2016, Bessette opened Ascension Athletics in Bristol, Connecticut.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Bessette started his professional career in 2007. He fought mainly for Connecticut-based promotion ''Reality Fighting''. Bessette faced Anthony Kaponis on October 9, 2010 at ''Reality Fighting: Eruption'' for the vacant lightweight title. He defeated Kaponis via split decision in a five-round bout. Bessette was set to make his first title defense against

Joe Proctor Joseph Edward Proctor (born August 10, 1985) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2008, Proctor was also a competitor o ...

on October 8, 2011 at ''Reality Fighting: Gonzaga vs. Porter''. He lost his title via unanimous decision after five rounds.

Bellator MMA

In 2012, Bessette signed with

. Bessette made his promotional debut against

Saul Almeida Saul Almeida (born June 4, 1992) is a Brazilian-American professional boxer and mixed martial artist. A professional mixed martial artist since 2008, Almeida has fought in Bellator, World Series of Fighting, Absolute Championship Berkut, and CE ...

on March 30, 2012 at

Bellator 63 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 ...

. He won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28). Bessette faced ''

The Ultimate Fighter 12 ''The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck'' is the twelfth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. The UFC and Spike TV held open tryouts on April 1, 2010, in Charlot ...

'' competitor Paul Barrow on November 16, 2012 at

Bellator 81 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 ...

. He won via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27). Bessette faced Nick Piedmont on September 7, 2013 at

Bellator 98 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 ...

. He won via knockout early in the first round. Bessette faced Diego Nunes in the quarterfinal match of Bellator Season Ten Featherweight Tournament on February 28, 2014 at

Bellator 110 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision. Bessette faced

Daniel Weichel Daniel Weichel (born November 22, 1984) is a German mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2002, he has also competed in M-1 Global and Shooto. As of November 22, 2022, he i ...

in the tournament semifinals at

Bellator 114 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight ...

on March 28, 2014. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Bessette faced

Scott Cleve Scott Cleve (born July 22, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in Bellator's Featherweight division and the MFC. Background Cleve was born in Long Beach, California and raised in Escondido, California, attending Escondido H ...

on September 5, 2014 at

Bellator 123 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweigh ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Bessette faced Josh LaBerge at

Bellator 134 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on February 27, 2015. He won the fight due to a doctor stoppage between the second and third rounds. After a two fight stint with

, Bessette returned to Bellator and faced

Kevin Roddy Kevin Roddy is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Featherweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Roddy has also formerly competed for Strikeforce and M-1 Global. Background Born and ra ...

Bellator 144 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on October 23, 2015. He won via submission with a heel hook in the first round. Bessette faced Keith Richardson at

Bellator 153 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickbox ...

on April 22, 2016. He won in the second round due to a doctor stoppage.

CES MMA

Bessette made his promotional debut on June 12, 2015 in the co-main event of CES MMA 29 against

Khama Worthy Khama Worthy (born October 15, 1986) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2012, he has fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), King of the Cage and CES MMA. Backgr ...

. He won via knockout in the second round. He returned for CES MMA 30 on August 14, 2015 against Lenny Wheeler. He lost via knockout in the first round, making it the first time in his career that he was knocked out. After a return to Bellator, Bessette returned to CES MMA on March 11, 2016 to face Taurean Bogguess at CES MMA 33. He won via submission with a triangle choke in the first round. He was originally scheduled to fight Tito Jones, but Jones backed out three days before the event due to injury. Bessette returned to CES MMA on June 10, 2016 to face Jairo Soares at CES MMA 36, but Soares was pulled the day before the fight for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Soares's replacement was Ran Weathers, whom Bessette defeated via submission in the first round. Featherweight Champion At CES MMA 37: Summer Gold, Bessette was set to take on Stephen Cerventes for the vacant CES Featherweight Championship, but he was replaced by Joe Pingitore. Bessette won the featherweight belt with a heel hook submission victory in the second round. Bessette successfully defended his title with a TKO win over

Kevin Croom Kevin Michael Croom (born July 15, 1987) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2009, he has fought in the UFC, Bellator, Titan FC, the RFA, the LFA, and CES MMA. Mixed martia ...

at CES MMA 41. At CES MMA 44, Bessette was scheduled to fight Jeremy Spoon but he was replaced with Rey Trujillo. Bessette again successfully defended his championship with a TKO victory.

Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series

On June 22, 2017, it was announced that Bessette would headline the July 11 premiere event of the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series against Kurt Holobaugh. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Five days after the fight, it was announced that Kurt Holobaugh used an illegal method of hydrating with an IV, the fight would be declared a no contest.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In his UFC debut, Bessette replaced

Arnold Allen Arnold Billy Allen (born 22 January 1994) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 8, 2022, he is #4 in the UFC featherweig ...

against

Enrique Barzola Enrique Johnatan Barzola Acosta (born 28 April 1989) is a Peruvian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of Bellator MMA. He was the lightweight winner on The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America 2. and he competed in the ...

UFC 220 ''UFC 220: Miocic vs. Ngannou'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on January 20, 2018, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Background A UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between curren ...

on January 20, 2018. at

on January 20, 2018 . He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Bessette faced

Steven Peterson Steven Timothy Peterson (born May 29, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist. Peterson currently competes in the Featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2010, Peterson ha ...

on July 6, 2018 at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale. He lost the fight via split decision.

Post-UFC career

After being released from the UFC, Bessette returned to

, facing Tim Dooling in his promotional return at CES MMA 55 on March 29, 2019. Bessette won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision. He then faced Charles Cheeks III for the vacant CES Featherweight Championship at CES MMA 60 on January 24, 2020. Bessette won the fight via knockout in the third round, claiming the championship for the second time in his career. After four years away from Bellator MMA, Bessette returned to face

Jeremy Kennedy Jeremy Michael Fitz-Kennedy (born September 16, 1992) is a Canadian mixed martial artist, currently competing in the Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. In addition to competing for Bellator, Kennedy has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting ...

at Bellator 253 on November 19, 2020. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Bessette was initially scheduled to fight for the vacant CES lightweight championship bout on September 17, 2021 at CES 64 against Bruce Boyington. However, Boyington withdrew from the bout and was replaced by Ryan Dela Cruz. He won the bout and the title via reverse triangle in the third round. After the bout, Bessette announced his retirement from MMA.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

**CES MMA Featherweight Championship (Two times) ***Two successful title defenses (first reign) **CES MMA Lightweight Championship (One time) *Reality Fighting **RF Lightweight Championship (One time) *Global Fight League **GFL Lightweight Championship (One time)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 25–10 (1) , Ryan Dela Cruz , Submission (reverse triangle choke) , CES MMA 64: Bessette vs. Dela Cruz , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:48 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 24–10 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 253 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 24–9 (1) , Charles Cheeks III , KO (punch) , CES MMA 60: Bessette vs. Cheeks , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:01 ,

Lincoln, Rhode Island Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical are ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 23–9 (1) , Tim Dooling , Decision (unanimous) , CES MMA 55: Wells vs De Jesus , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 22–9 (1) ,

, Decision (split) , The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Finale , , 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 Vegas ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 22–8 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Boston, Massachusetts, United States , , - , NC , align=center, 22–7 (1) , Kurt Holobaugh , NC (overturned) , Dana White's Contender Series 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:59 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 22–7 , Rey Trujillo , TKO (doctor stoppage) , CES MMA 44: Bessette vs. Trujillo , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 21–7 ,

, TKO (punches) , CES MMA 41: Bessette vs. Croom , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 0:32 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 20–7 , Joe Pingitore , Submission (heel hook) , CES MMA 37: Summer Gold , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:38 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 19–7 , Ran Weathers , Submission (guillotine choke) , CES MMA 36: Andrews vs. Muro , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:50 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 18–7 , Keith Richardson , TKO (doctor stoppage) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:14 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 17–7 , Taurean Bogguess , Submission (triangle choke) , CES MMA 33: Soukhamthath vs. Nordby , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:41 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 16–7 ,

, Submission (heel hook) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:47 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 15–7 , Lenny Wheeler , KO (punches) , CES MMA 30: Felix vs. Lane , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:39 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–6 ,

, KO (punch) , CES MMA 29: O'Neil vs. Steele , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:42 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–6 , Josh LaBerge , TKO (doctor stoppage) ,

, , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–6 ,

, Decision (unanimous) ,