Darren Elkins (born May 16, 1984) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

signed to 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 ...

where he fights 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, th ...

division. Elkins is known for his toughness and comeback victories.

Background

Elkins was born in Hobart, Indiana and competed four years 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 s ...

for Portage High School. Elkins placed seventh in the state of Indiana as a freshman, qualified for the state competition as a sophomore, placed third as a junior, and was a State Champion as a high school senior. Darren also won multiple freestyle state championships as a youth. Elkins then went to college for two years and wrestled at University of Wisconsin Parkside, but did not finish his education at the university nor earn a degree.

Mixed martial arts career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Elkins made his UFC debut on the preliminary card of UFC on Versus 1, where he defeated Duane Ludwig via TKO after Ludwig suffered a serious ankle injury after being taken down by Elkins in the first round. His next bout took place on the preliminary card of UFC on Versus 2 against

Charles Oliveira Charles Oliveira da Silvahttp://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2014_Results/12-12-14MMA.pdf (born October 17, 1989) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner. He currently com ...

. Elkins took Oliveira down early, but his opponent quickly attempted a triangle choke. Oliveira then transitioned to an armbar, which forced Elkins to submit. Elkins was expected to face touted prospect

Edson Barboza Edson Barboza Jr. (born January 21, 1986) is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has formerly competed at lig ...

on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123, but Elkins was forced from the card with an injury and replaced by Mike Lullo. Elkins made his Featherweight debut against world ranked Michihiro Omigawa on June 11, 2011, at

UFC 131 ''UFC 131: dos Santos vs. Carwin'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on 11 June 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Background Brock Lesnar was originally scheduled to fa ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Elkins won a unanimous decision over Zhang Tiequan on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136. After several failed guillotine attempts from Zhang, Elkins was able to dominate him from top position including at several points mounting him and pounding away with strikes. Elkins defeated TUF 14 winner Diego Brandão on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146. Elkins utilized his top game with ground and pound to win the second and third rounds, earning him the unanimous decision victory. Elkins fought fellow featherweight prospect Steven Siler on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154. After dominating the fight for three rounds, Elkins was awarded the unanimous decision victory, moving him to 4–0 at featherweight and 5-1 overall in the UFC. Elkins faced

Antonio Carvalho Antonio Carvalho (born May 30, 1979) is a retired Canadian mixed martial artist. A professional from 2002 until 2013, he fought in the UFC and Shooto. Mixed martial arts career Early career Carvalho made his professional MMA debut in September ...

on March 16, 2013, at UFC 158. Elkins won via first-round TKO stoppage after landing strikes that rocked Carvalho followed by a knockdown, prompting the referee to intervene. After taking virtually no damage in the fight against Carvalho, Elkins made a quick return and faced

Chad Mendes Chad Edward Mendes (born May 1, 1985)Archived
from the ...

on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7, replacing an injured Clay Guida. He lost the fight by 1st-round TKO. Elkins faced Hatsu Hioki on August 28, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 27. After getting hurt by a body kick late in the first round, Elkins rallied in the last two rounds and won the fight via unanimous decision. Elkins faced

Jeremy Stephens Jeremy Stephens (born May 26, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Lightweight division of Professional Fighters League (PFL). A professional since 2005, he spent 15 years and competed in 33 bouts in the ...

on January 25, 2014, at

UFC on Fox 10 ''UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Thomson'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 10'') was a mixed martial arts event held on January 25, 2014, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Background The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between former ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Elkins was briefly linked to a matchup with Tatsuya Kawajiri on September 20, 2014, at

UFC Fight Night 52 ''UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Nelson'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 52'') was a mixed martial arts event held on September 20, 2014, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Background The event was the third time that the organization hoste ...

, but the bout never materialized as Kawajiri was sidelined indefinitely with a detached retina. Elkins faced Lucas Martins on October 25, 2014, at UFC 179. Elkins won the fight via split decision. The scorecards were 30–27, 30–27, 27–30. Elkins faced Hacran Dias on December 20, 2014, at

UFC Fight Night 58 ''UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 58'') was a mixed martial arts event held at the Ginásio José Corrêa in Barueri, Brazil on December 20, 2014. Background The event was the second that the UFC has hos ...

. Fighting in Brazil for his second straight fight, he lost the fight via unanimous decision, 29-28 across the scorecards. For a third consecutive fight, Elkins appeared on an international card where he faced

Robert Whiteford Robert Whiteford (born 12 April 1983) is a Scottish mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bellator MMA having spent a period of time in limbo due to contractual issues with ACB. Whiteford competed in Featherweight division of Absolute ...

on October 24, 2015, at

UFC Fight Night 76 ''UFC Fight Night: Holohan vs. Smolka'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 76'') was a mixed martial arts event held on October 24, 2015, at 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland. Background The event was the third that the organization has hosted in Dublin, ...

. He won the fight via a dominating 30-27 unanimous decision, almost finishing Whiteford on one occasion. Elkins next faced Chas Skelly on March 5, 2016, at UFC 196. He won the fight by a dominating unanimous decision, 30–26, 30–27, 29–27. Elkins faced Godofredo Pepey on July 23, 2016, at UFC on Fox 20. He won the fight via dominating unanimous decision, 30–26, 29–27, 29–27. Elkins faced Mirsad Bektić on March 4, 2017, at UFC 209. After being dominated the first two and a half rounds, Elkins rallied back in the third round and won by knockout due to punches and a head kick. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history. He was awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Elkins faced Dennis Bermudez on July 22, 2017, at

UFC on Fox 25 ''UFC on Fox: Weidman vs. Gastelum'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 25'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship held on July 22, 2017 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Background ...

. He won the back-and-forth fight via split decision, 29–28, 29–28, 28–29. Elkins faced Michael Johnson on January 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs. Choi. He won the fight via rear-naked choke submission in round two. The trademark "Damage" weathered a first round storm to complete the comeback and was awarded a ''Performance of the Night'' bonus. Elkins faced Alexander Volkanovski on July 14, 2018, at

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. ...

. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Elkins faced Ricardo Lamas on November 17, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 140. He lost the fight via TKO in the third round. Elkins faced Ryan Hall on July 13, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 13. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Elkins faced

Nate Landwehr Nathan Wade Landwehr (born June 7, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional mixed martial artist since 2012, he is also a former M-1 Global Feat ...

on May 16, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Harris. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Return to winning

Elkins faced

Luiz Eduardo Garagorri Luiz Eduardo Garagorri (born May 28, 1989) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division. He competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Son of a Brazilian father and an Uruguayan mother, Gara ...

on November 7, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira. He won the fight via a submission in round three. Elkins faced

Darrick Minner Darrick Minner (born April 28, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Born in Auburn, Nebraska and raised in Nebraska City, Minner wrestled at Nebra ...

on July 24, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw. He won the bout via TKO. This fight earned him the ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. Elkins faced Cub Swanson on December 18, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus. He lost the bout via TKO in round one. Elkins faced

Tristan Connelly Tristan Connelly (born December 12, 1985) is a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter who formerly competed in the featherweight division of the UFC and had previously won the Cage Sports Lightweight Championship, Unified MMA Lightweight Champions ...

on April 30, 2022 at

UFC on ESPN 35 ''UFC on ESPN: Font vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 35'' and ''UFC Vegas 53'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on April 30, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada ...

. He won the bout via unanimous decision. Elkins faced Jonathan Pearce on December 3, 2022, at UFC on ESPN 42. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

Championships and accomplishments

(Three times) ** Most fights in the UFC Featherweight division (25) **Most decision wins in the UFC Featherweight division (11) ** Most unanimous decision wins in the UFC Featherweight division (9) ** Most takedowns landed in the UFC Featherweight division (54) **Most submission attempts in the UFC Featherweight division (22) * MMAJunkie.com **2017 Comeback of the Year vs. Mirsad Bektić

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 27–11 , Jonathan Pearce , Decision (unanimous) , UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, Argentina , , - , Loss , align=center, 24–6 , Alexander Volkanovski , 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 ...

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Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a census-designated place (CDP), as well as a suburb in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 32,473 at the 2020 United States Census. Uniondale is home to Hofstra University's nort ...

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, Ireland , , - , Loss , align=center, 18–5 , Hacran Dias , Decision (unanimous) , UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Barueri, Brazil , , - , Win , align=center, 18–4 , Lucas Martins , Decision (split) , UFC 179 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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, TKO (punches) , UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Melendez , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:08 ,

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elkins, Darren American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Indiana Lightweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 1984 births Living people American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Hobart, Indiana People from Lake County, Indiana Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers Amateur wrestlers

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Return to winning

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links