Gustavo Lopez (fighter)

Gustavo Hernandez Lopez[1] (born June 27, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Gustavo Lopez
BornGustavo Hernandez Lopez[1]
(1985-06-27) June 27, 1985
Wapato, Washington, United States
NationalityAmerican
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
DivisionBantamweight
Reach67.0 in (170 cm)[2]
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofLas Vegas, Nevada
TeamYakima MMA (until 2015)[3]
Xtreme Couture (2015–present)[3]
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Las Vegas
RankBrown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu[4]
Years active2012–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total17
Wins12
By knockout5
By submission6
By decision1
Losses5
By knockout2
By decision3
UniversityYakima Valley College[5]
Menlo College[5]
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Background

Lopez was raised in Wapato, Washington, alongside with two brothers.[5] An impressive wrestling career began his freshman year in 2004 at Wapato High School, where Lopez recalled friends “tricked” him into trying out for the team.[5] Four seasons, three state appearances and two medals at Mat Classic initially led to a full athletic scholarship to Stanford University.[3] Nevertheless, Gustavo didn't want to leave his recently-widowed mother and move to California, so he resorted to turn the offer down and attend local Yakima Valley College.[3] In there he qualified for the NJCAA tournament twice and earned an associate’s degree in business accounting.[5]

While in the community college, Gustavo began training at Yakima MMA under the guidance of the late Rich Guerin, and eventually a friend asked Lopez to corner a fight. When one of the fighters dropped out on the day of the event, Lopez agreed to step in, got a mouthpiece molded on the spot in boiling water, and knocked out his opponent in seven seconds. He won eight amateur fights and then turned pro as a sophomore in 2009 when it became impossible to find challengers, but MMA wasn't yet Lopez's top priority as he became a nationally ranked NAIA wrestler at 141 pounds and earned a bachelor's degree in finance at Menlo College in 2014.[5][3] Then Lopez got an offer to live with Bryan Caraway and Miesha Tate — two accomplished UFC fighters who also trained at Yakima MMA — in Las Vegas, so he bought a one-way flight and his career took off.[5]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Starting his professional career in 2012, Lopez started out with Cagesport, where he went 2–1, before fighting for Bellator MMA at Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup against Sean Cantor, who he beat by first round rear-naked choke.[6]

After this, he signed with Combate Americas, where he would mostly fight for the next 4 years. During this run, he fought for the Bantamweight title 3 times, losing the first two times to John Castañeda and José Alday, before winning on the third time in a rematch against José Alday at Combate 33 via TKO in the first round. He then defended the title against Joey Ruquet at Combate 42 on August 23, 2019. He won the fight via KOing Ruquet in a first round.[7]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

On June 11, 2020, news broke that Lopez had signed with the UFC and would be replacing Ray Borg on short notice against Merab Dvalishvili on June 13, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Eye vs. Calvillo.[8] However, Combate Americas' CEO Campbell McLaren claimed they were not given a right to match UFC's offer and Lopez is still under the contract matching period.[9] However, the contract dispute was eventually sorted out and Lopez was allowed to join the UFC.[9][10] He lost the bout via unanimous decision.[11]

Lopez faced Anthony Birchak, replacing Felipe Colares, on November 7, 2020 at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira.[12] He won the fight via a submission in round one.[13]

Lopez is scheduled to face Adrian Yanez on March 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 188.[14]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
17 matches 12 wins 5 losses
By knockout 5 2
By submission 6 0
By decision 1 3
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 12–5 Anthony Birchak Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira November 7, 2020 1 2:43 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 11–5 Merab Dvalishvili Decision (unanimous) UFC on ESPN: Eye vs. Calvillo June 13, 2020 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Catchweight (140 lb) bout.
Win 11–4 Joey Ruquet Submission (arm-triangle choke) Combate 42 August 23, 2019 1 1:45 Lake Tahoe, Nevada, United States Defended CAMMA Bantamweight Championship.
Win 10–4 José Alday TKO (punches) Combate 33 March 29, 2019 1 2:19 Tucson, Arizona, United States Won the vacant CAMMA Bantamweight Championship
Win 9–4 Vicente Marquez Submission (shoulder choke) Combate 29 December 7, 2018 1 0:50 Fresno, California, United States Featherweight bout.
Loss 8–4 José Alday Decision (split) Combate 24 September 14, 2018 3 5:00 Phoenix, Arizona, United States For the vacant CAMMA Bantamweight Championship.
Loss 8–3 Andre Ewell KO KOTC: Energetic Pursuit February 24, 2018 1 4:44 Ontario California, United States Featherweight bout.
Win 8–2 Chris Dempsey Submission (armbar) ExciteFight: Conquest of the Cage June 10, 2017 1 1:19 Airway Heights, Washington, Washington
Win 7–2 Steve Swanson Submission (guillotine choke) Combate Americas 10 January 19, 2017 1 2:34 Mexico City, Mexico
Loss 6–2 John Castañeda TKO (punches) Combate Americas 9: Empire Rising October 14, 2016 4 2:24 Verona, New York, United States For the vacant CAMMA Bantamweight Championship. Castañeda missed weight.
Win 6–1 Saul Elizondo TKO (punches) Combate 7 May 9, 2016 2 4:07 Los Angeles, California, United States
Win 5–1 Joey Ruquet Submission (rear-naked choke) Combate Americas: Road to the Championship 2 December 16, 2015 2 4:06 Hollywood, California, United States Featherweight bout.
Win 4–1 Mauricio Diaz Decision (unanimous) Combate Americas: Road to the Championship 1 September 17, 2015 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 3–1 Sean Cantor Submission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup October 18, 2014 1 4:39 Whitney, Nevada, United States
Win 2–1 Dylan Atkinson TKO (punches) CageSport 25 July 6, 2013 2 1:12 Tacoma, Washington, United States Bantamweight debut.
Loss 1–1 Kasey White Decision (unanimous) CageSport 24 April 27, 2013 3 5:00 Tacoma, Washington, United States Featherweight bout.
Win 1–0 Jorey Taylor TKO (punches) CageSport 20 July 14, 2012 1 1:47 Tacoma, Washington, United States Catchweight (140 lb) bout.

[15]

See also

References
  1. Mixed martial arts show results Date: June 13, 2020
  2. "Stats | UFC". ufcstats.com. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  3. Alberto Pérez (April 17, 2017). "Gustavo López, peleador de MMA, se repuso a la pérdida de su padre usando el deporte". dailypress.com.
  4. Ryan Dorfman. "Gustavo Lopez: Combate's Champion". mymmanews.com.
  5. "Wapato's Lopez thankful for MMA success, community support". Yakima herald. 2020-02-01. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  6. "Bellator MMA 'Monster Energy Cup' results from Oct. 18 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas". mmamania. 2014-08-18. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  7. "Combate Tahoe: Gustavo Lopez unleashes hellacious first-round KO on Joey Ruquet to retain bantamweight title". sportingnews. 2019-08-24. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  8. Nolan King and John Morgan (2020-06-11). "Ray Borg out of UFC on ESPN 10, Dvalisvhili now fights Combate Americas champ Lopez (UPDATE)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  9. Amy Kaplan (June 11, 2020). "Campbell McLaren says Gustavo Lopez is still under contract with Combate Americas". fansided.com.
  10. Riley Kontek (January 25, 2021). Shootin' the Shit Ep. 39: Gustavo Lopez – via YouTube.
  11. Bitter, Shawn (2020-06-13). "UFC on ESPN 10 Results: Merab Dvalishvili's Pace Too Much for Gustavo Lopez". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-06-14.
  12. DNA, MMA (2020-11-04). "Anthony Birchak keert terug in de UFC, treft Gustavo Lopez aanstaande zaterdag in Las Vegas". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
  13. Evanoff, Josh (2020-11-07). "UFC Vegas 13 Results: Gustavo Lopez Finishes Anthony Birchak". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  14. DNA, MMA (2020-12-08). "Adrian Yanez treft Gustavo Lopez tijdens UFC evenement op 20 maart 2021". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  15. Sherdog.com. "Gustavo Lopez". Sherdog. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
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