Tristan Connelly (born December 12, 1985) is a Canadian

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 who formerly competed in the

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, t ...

division of 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 had previously won the Cage Sports Lightweight Championship, Unified MMA Lightweight Championship, as well as the Rise FC Lightweight Championship.

Background

Born and raised in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

, Connelly began competing in mixed martial arts in 2010. He holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Adam Ryan. Connelly runs a gym, called Pinnacle Combat Academy, in suburban Richmond. Connelly spent much of his childhood skateboarding and playing hockey, which he credits with preparing him to take hard hits. After taking a BJJ class, Connelly fell in love with the sport and the wider world of mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Connelly competed in smaller promotions, earning himself a record of 13–6. During that span, he managed to capture lightweight championships in three different promotions: Rise FC, CageSport, Unified MMA.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Replacing Sergey Khandozhko on 5 days notice, Connelly made his promotional debut on September 14, 2019, against

Michel Pereira Michel Pereira (born 6 October 1993) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he formerly competed for 300 Sparta, Akhmat Fight Club, ...

at UFC Fight Night 158. At the weigh-ins, Pereira missed weight by a pound and forfeited 20 percent of his purse to Connelly. Despite a flashy start from Pereira he quickly gassed allowing Connelly to dominate the remainder of the fight and winning via unanimous decision. The bout was awarded a '' Fight of the Night'' bonus, but due to Pereira's weight miss, his bonus was forfeited to Connelly. Connelly was scheduled to make his sophomore appearance in the organization against

Alex da Silva Coelho Alex da Silva Coelho (born February 4, 1996) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division. A professional since 2014, he most notably competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mixed martial arts car ...

on April 11, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Harris. However, the event was initially rescheduled and eventually cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and the bout was scrapped. Connelly spent the next year on the sidelines recovering from a disc injury in his neck that he acquired in a car crash in 2019 before his UFC debut. In his sophomore appearance in the UFC, Connelly faced Pat Sabatini at

UFC 261 ''UFC 261: Usman vs. Masvidal 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 24, 2021 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Background The promotio ...

on April 24, 2021. He lost the fight via unanimous decision after being knocked down early in the fight. Connelly was then scheduled to face

Makwan Amirkhani Makwan Amirkhani ( fa, ماکوان امیرخوانی; born November 8, 1988) is an Iranian-born Finnish mixed martial artist

on October 30, 2021 at UFC 267. However, Connelly withdrew in early September due to a neck injury and was replaced by

Lerone Murphy Lerone Murphy (born July 22, 1991) is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Murphy, who was born and raised in Old Trafford, went to St Edward's Primary Sch ...

. Connelly faced

Darren Elkins Darren Elkins (born May 16, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship where he fights in the Featherweight division. Elkins is known for his toughness and comeback victories. Background Elkins was bor ...

on April 30, 2022 at UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera. He lost the bout via unanimous decision. On June 9, 2022 it was announced that Connelly was released from the UFC.

Post UFC

Connelly faced Xavier Nash on October 12, 2022 at BFL 74. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

** Fight of the Night (One Time) vs.

*Rise Fighting Championship **Rise FC Lightweight Championship (one time; former) *CageSport MMA **CS Lightweight Championship (one time; former) ***One successful title defense *Unified MMA **Unified MMA Lightweight Championship (one time; former) * MMAjunkie.com **2019 Upset of the Year vs.

Sherdog Sherdog is an American website devoted to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It also has many forums and discussion pages on the many topics of MMA like records, promotions, etc. The site is a member of the CraveOnline network and provides MM ...

**2019 Upset of the Year vs.

Mixed martial arts record

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Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 13–6 , D'Juan Owens , TKO (punches) , Rise FC 4 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 1:56 , : Victoria, British Columbia, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 12–6 , Zach Juusola , Submission (guillotine) , Final Fight Championship 36 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:46 ,

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Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

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

Shane Campbell Shane Darryl Campbell is a Canadian Welterweight Muay Thai kickboxer, 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 ...

, Submission (kneebar) , Unified MMA 31 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:54 ,

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 9–5 , Lenny Wheeler , Submission (rear naked choke) , Elite 1 MMA , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:47 , Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 8–5 , Garret Nybakken , Submission (rear naked choke) , Unified MMA 30 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:47 ,

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 7–5 , Adam Assenza , Submission (rear naked choke) , Fight Night 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:11 ,

Medicine Hat, Alberta Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are withi ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 6–5 , Ash Mashreghi , TKO (punches) , BFL 45 Ascension , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:24 ,

Coquitlam, British Columbia Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–5 , Mario Pereira , Decision (unanimous) , BFL 39: Halloween Hell , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 5–4 , Shawn Albrecht , TKO (punches) , BFL 37: Gladiator , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:21 ,

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 4–4 , Jonathan Dubois , Submission (rear naked choke) , AFC 18: Mayhem , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:48 ,

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–4 , Myles Merola , Decision (unanimous) , AFC 13: Natural Selection , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 3–3 , Corey Houston , Submission (rear naked choke) , AFC 11: Takeover , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 2–3 , Matt Trudeau , TKO (shoulder injury) , Armageddon FC 7 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Colwood, British Columbia Colwood is a city located on Vancouver Island to the southwest of Victoria, capital of British Columbia, Canada. Colwood was incorporated in 1985 and has a population of approximately 17,000 people. Colwood lies within the boundaries of the Greate ...

, Canada , , - , Win , align=center, 2–2 , Upneet Rai , Submission (rear naked choke) , Armageddon FC 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:30 ,

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–2 , Dan Ring , Decision (unanimous) , Armageddon FC 4 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348 ...

, Canada , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 , Takahiro Kajita , Decision (unanimous) , Deep: Cage Impact in Nagoya , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 , , - , Win , align=center, 1-0 , Jimmy Phan , Submission (rear naked choke) , Armageddon FC , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:26 ,

, Canada ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Connelly, Tristan Canadian male mixed martial artists Living people Sportspeople from British Columbia 1985 births Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Canadian male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers Canadian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu