Michael Lee Graves (born January 8, 1991) is an 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 most recently competed 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 th ...

division of Titan FC, where he is the former Welterweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2013, he formerly competed for the

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 ...

and was also a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians.

Background

Born and raised in Maumee, Ohio, he graduated from Maumee High School (Ohio) where he competed in

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 ...

. Graves began training in mixed martial arts in 2009 and began competing as an amateur in 2010.

Mixed martial arts career

Graves made his professional mixed martial arts debut in February 2013. He compiled a record of 4–0, competing for various regional promotions in Florida where he finished all of his opponents before trying out for

The Ultimate Fighter ''The Ultimate Fighter'' is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts (MMA) competition produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pilgrim Media Group currently airing on ESPN+. It previously aired for fourteen s ...

in late 2014.

The Ultimate Fighter

In February 2015, it was announced that Graves was one of the fighters selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians. In his first fight on the show, Graves faced

Kamaru Usman Kamarudeen Usman (born May 11, 1987) is a Nigerian and American professional mixed martial artist, former freestyle wrestler and retired folkstyle wrestler. He currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Champions ...

. He lost the closely contested bout via majority decision. In his second fight on the show, Graves faced off against Jason Jackson. After nearly being finished in the fight's opening moments (when he was dropped by a groin strike and subsequent follow up punches), he won the fight via submission in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Graves made his official debut for the promotion on July 12, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale where he faced fellow castmate

Vicente Luque Vicente Luque (born November 27, 1991) is an American and Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Luque currently competes in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of October 3, 2022, he is #9 in the UF ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Graves was expected to face Danny Roberts on December 10, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 80 ''UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 80'') was a mixed martial arts event held on December 10, 2015, at Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Background The event w ...

. However, Graves was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by

Nathan Coy Nathan David Coy (born July 24, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor since 2008, he has also competed for Bellator, the MFC, and Strikeforce. ...

. Graves next faced Randy Brown on April 16, 2016, at

UFC on Fox 19 ''UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 19'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 16, 2016, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Background The event was the second that the organization has hosted in the Tampa Bay A ...

. He won the fight via submission in the second round. Graves next faced

Bojan Veličković Bojan Veličković ( sr, Бојан Величковић; born December 18, 1988) is a Serbian mixed martial artist and sambist currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he has competed for the UFC, ...

on July 30, 2016, at

UFC 201 ''UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 30, 2016, at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Background This was the third event that the organization has hosted in Atl ...

. The bout was declared a majority draw (30-27, 28-28, 28-28). Graves was expected to face

Sérgio Moraes Sérgio Ricardo de Moraes (born July 23, 1982) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the welterweight and middleweight division's for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was a competitor on '' The Ultimat ...

on November 19, 2016, at

UFC Fight Night 100 ''UFC Fight Night: Bader vs. Nogueira 2'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 100'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on November 19, 2016, at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil Background ...

. However, Graves was removed from the fight on October 3 after he was arrested on a misdemeanor

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

charge and was replaced by

Zak Ottow Zachary Ottow (born ) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, he has also competed for King of the Cage. Background ...

. In turn, he was released from the promotion in April 2017.

Post-UFC career

After the release from UFC, Graves signed with Fight Nights Global, where he suffered his first professional career loss against Nikolay Aleksakhin in his promotional debut at Fight Nights Global 74. After the bout Graves fought to a draw with Murat Khasanov at Fight Nights Global 87.

Titan FC

After the brief stint in the Russian promotion, Graves signed with

Titan FC Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

again where he faced Gegg Ellis at Titan FC 51 on December 28, 2018. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Next he faced

Jared Gooden Jared Alexander Gooden (born December 5, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional mixed martial artist since 2015, Gooden most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bac ...

for the interim Titan Welterweight Championship at Titan FC 52 on March 15, 2019. Graves won the fight via unanimous decision, becoming the Titan FC interim Welterweight Champion as was subsequently promoted to undisputed Welterweight Champion as Uros Jurisic was stripped of the title. Graves was expected to make his first title defense against Kamal Magomedov at Titan FC 57, but withdrew from the bout due to an injury. Magomedov fought Italo Goncalves for the interim Welterweight Championship instead and won the title via submission. Graves was scheduled to face Magomedov in a title unification bout at Titan FC 59 on February 28, 2020, but Magomed withdrew from the bout. Graves then headlined Titan FC 59 against

Yuri Villefort Yuri Villefort (born March 23, 1991) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2009, he has competed for the UFC and Strikeforce. He is the younger brother of fellow mixed ma ...

. Graves successfully defended his title by knocking out Villefort in the fourth round. Graves faced Oton Jasse at Titan FC 65 on November 22, 2020. At weigh-ins, Graves missed weight by 2 pounds and was therefore stripped of the title. He won the bout via guillotine choke in the first round. In October 2021, news about Graves

tweeting Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

threats to mixed martial arts reporter Amy Kaplan and UFC president

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 ...

emerged. Simultaneously, Titan FC COO Lex McMahon revealed that Graves had not been under contract with the organization for a while.

Championships and accomplishments

Titan Fighting Championship Titan Fighting Championship (Titan FC) is an American mixed martial arts promotion based out of Pompano Beach, Florida. Their shows were originally run in and near Kansas City and have since expanded to include venues all over North America and e ...

* Titan FC Interim Welterweight Championship (One time; former) * Titan FC Welterweight Championship (One time; former) **One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 10–1–2 , Oton Jasse , Submission (guillotine choke) , Titan FC 65: Graves vs. Jasse , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:17 ,

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Dominican Republic , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , Titan FC 59: Graves vs. Villefort , , align=center, 4 , align=center, 4:40 , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–1–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Titan FC 53: Bad Blood , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–1–2 , Gregg Ellis , Decision (unanimous) , Titan FC 51: The Battle of Kazakhstan , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Almaty, Kazakhstan , , - , Draw , align=center, 6–1–2 , Murat Khasanov , Draw (majority) , Fight Nights Global 87: Khachatryan vs. Queally , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Rostov-on-Don, Russia , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1–1 , Nikolay Aleksakhin , TKO (punches) , Fight Nights Global 74: Aleksakhin vs. Graves , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:06 ,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, Russia , , - , Draw , align=center, 6–0–1 ,

, Draw (majority) ,

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

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Randy Brown , Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:31 ,

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians 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 Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Rafael Souza , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Titan FC 31 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:37 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Rico Farrington , TKO (punches) , MTC - In the Beginning , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Danny Finz , TKO (punches) , Fight Time 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:26 , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Nicolas Ryske , KO (punches) , Fight Time 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:48 , Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States , , -

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

, - , Win , align=center, 1–1 , Jason Jackson , Submission (rear-naked choke) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians , (airdate) , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:01 ,

Coconut Creek, Florida Coconut Creek is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. Situated north of Miami, it had a population of 57,833 in 2020. It is part of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city seceded from ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 0–1 ,

, Decision (majority) , The Ultimate Fighter: American Top Team vs. Blackzilians , (airdate) , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Boca Raton, Florida, United States , , -

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Michael 1991 births American male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Living people Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio People from Coconut Creek, Florida People from Maumee, Ohio Mixed martial artists from Ohio Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters