Jacob Allen O'Brien (born September 25, 1984) is an American retired professional

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

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

division. A professional competitor from 2005 until 2012, he fought 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 ...

, WEC, and

DREAM A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5 to 20 minutes, al ...

Background

Born and raised in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

, O'Brien attended

Franklin Central High School Franklin Central High School (FCHS) is a public four-year high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is the only high school in the Franklin Township Community School Corporation. Demographics The demographic breakdown of the 2,503 s ...

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 ...

, football, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. In wrestling, O'Brien was a three-time State Champion as a sophomore, junior, and senior, compiling an overall record of 152-9. O'Brien also earned four letters in football and one in track and field. O'Brien continued wrestling at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

, and after redshirting his freshman year, posted a record of 14-18 in his sophomore season as the starting Heavyweight. However, this would be O'Brien's only year of wrestling at Purdue.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

O'Brien made his professional

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 strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

debut in 2005 and compiled a professional record of 7-0 which included a 14-second

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

win in the WEC, before being signed by the

Ultimate Fighting Championship

O'Brien made his

debut at

UFC Fight Night 6 ''UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Parisyan'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 6'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 17, 2006. The event took place at the Red Rock Resort Spa and Casino in Las Veg ...

on August 17, 2006, against Kristof Midoux and won via

TKO TKO may refer to: Sports * Technical knockout, a professional fighting term * Total Knock Out, a professional wrestling move Music Artists * TKO (band), a rock band from Seattle, Washington * TKO, a pop group led by Katie White Albums * ''TKO ...

in the second round. O'Brien followed this up with a unanimous decision victory at UFC 65 before facing

Heath Herring Heath Herring (born March 2, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Rizin. While perhaps best known for competing in PRIDE, he has also formerly competed for the UFC and K-1. B ...

at UFC Fight Night 8 on January 25, 2007. O'Brien picked up perhaps the biggest victory of his career, defeating the

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

veteran via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27). In his next appearance, O'Brien faced former UFC Heavyweight Champion

Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski (born 4 February 1979) is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist, actor and former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and h ...

and was handed his first professional loss via

in the second round. In his next fight, O'Brien was paired with future UFC Heavyweight Champion

Cain Velasquez Caín Ramirez Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist, currently appearing for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He is widely known for his time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, ...

at UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008, and was defeated again via

, in the first round. After two consecutive losses, O'Brien dropped down to the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

division and faced

Christian Wellisch Christian Wellisch (born September 13, 1975) is a Hungarian-American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2001 until 2009, he competed for the UFC, WEC, and King of the Cage. Mixed martial arts career Wellisc ...

, who was also making his

debut, at UFC 94 on January 31, 2009. O'Brien won via split decision. In his next appearance at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009, O'Brien faced future

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classe ...

Jon Jones Jonathan Dwight Jones (born July 19, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which he has competed in the light heavyweight division. He is a former two-time UFC ...

. O'Brien was defeated via guillotine choke submission in the second round.

Post-UFC

After his departure from the

, O'Brien won two fights in independent promotions before being signed by the Japanese promotion

DREAM

O'Brien was expected to make his debut with the DREAM promotion on July 10 in a Light Heavyweight bout against former Strikeforce and DREAM Champion

Gegard Mousasi Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator m ...

Dream 15 ''Dream 15'' was a mixed martial arts event held by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream. The event took place on July 10, 2010 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event aired live in North America ...

. O'Brien failed to make weight, weighing in at 212 lbs therefore was given a 10% purse deduction as well as a yellow card at the start of the fight. O'Brien lost via guillotine choke submission in the first round.Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O'Brien in the Works for DREAM.15
/ref>

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 15–4 , Miodrag Petkovic , Decision (unanimous) , Flawless FC 1: The Beginning , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 14–4 , James Shaw , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Indy MMA , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:06 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 13–4 ,

, Submission (standing guillotine choke) ,

DREAM 15 ''Dream 15'' was a mixed martial arts event held by Fighting and Entertainment Group's mixed martial arts promotion Dream. The event took place on July 10, 2010 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event aired live in North America ...

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:31 , Saitama, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 13–3 , Toni Valtonen , Decision (unanimous) , Fight Festival 27 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...

, Finland , , - , Win , align=center, 12–3 , Dave Hess , Submission (kimura) , MMA Big Show: Triple Threat , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:24 ,

Florence, Indiana Florence is an unincorporated census-designated place in York Township, Switzerland County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The Belterra Casino Resort & Spa is located just outside town. History The community was laid out in 1817 under the name ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–3 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC 100 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:43 ,

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, 11–2 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC 94 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:02 ,

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–1 ,

, TKO (punches) , UFC 82 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:17 ,

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 ,

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

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is no ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Josh Schockman , Decision (unanimous) , UFC 65: Bad Intentions , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Kristof Midoux , TKO (referee stoppage) , UFC Fight Night: Sanchez vs. Parisyan , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:52 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Pat Harmon , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFL: United Fight League , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:46 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Antoine Hayes , TKO (punches) , LOF: Legends of Fighting 6 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Jay White , KO (punch) , WEC 19 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:14 ,

Lemoore, California Lemoore (formerly, La Tache and Lee Moore's) is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Lemoore is located west-southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford-Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 25 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Johnathan Ivey , TKO (punches) , LOF: Legends of Fighting 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Anthony Ferguson , TKO (punches) , LOF: Revolution , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Plainfield, Indiana Plainfield is a town in Guilford, Liberty, and Washington townships, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 27,631 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 35,287. History In 1822 a tract of land whi ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Paul Bowers , TKO (punches) , IFC: Integrated Fighting Classic 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Chris Clark , TKO (referee stoppage) , MT: Madtown Throwdown 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County, Wisconsin, Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin b ...

, United States ,

References

External links

Official Site of Irish Jake
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Jake American male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Indianapolis 1984 births Living people Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing collegiate wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters American male sport wrestlers