Gustavo Lopez (fighter)

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Gustavo Lopez
BornGustavo Hernandez Lopez [1]
(1989-06-27) June 27, 1989 (age 35)
Wapato, Washington, United States
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) [2]
Weight135 lb (61 kg; 9 st 9 lb)
Division Bantamweight
Reach67.0 in (170 cm) [3] [2]
Stance Orthodox
Fighting out ofLas Vegas, Nevada
TeamYakima MMA (until 2015) [4]
Xtreme Couture (2015–present) [4]
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu Las Vegas
RankBrown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu [5] [2]
Years active2012–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total25
Wins16
By knockout7
By submission8
By decision1
Losses8
By knockout5
By decision3
Draws1
Other information
University Yakima Valley College [6]
Menlo College [6]
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Gustavo Hernandez Lopez [1] (born June 27, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. A professional since 2012, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is the current Bantamweight Champion in the Czech fighting promotion Real Fight Arena (RFA).

Contents

Background

Lopez was raised in Wapato, Washington, along with two brothers. [6] As a freshman in 2004, Lopez started his wrestling career at Wapato High School after his friends “tricked” him into trying out for the team. [6] Four seasons, three state appearances and two medals at Mat Classic initially led to a full athletic scholarship to Stanford University. [4] 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. [4] While competing there, he qualified for the NJCAA tournament twice while earning an associate’s degree in business accounting. [6]

While in community college, Gustavo began training at Yakima MMA and after a friend asked Lopez to corner a fight and a fighter on the card dropped out on the day of the event, Lopez agreed to step in and knocked out his opponent in seven seconds. He won his next eight amateur fights, turning pro in 2009 after it became difficult to find challengers. During the same time period, he became a nationally ranked NAIA wrestler at 141 pounds and earned his bachelor's degree in finance at Menlo College in 2014. [6] [4]

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. [7]

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. [8]

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. [9] 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. [10] However, the contract dispute was eventually sorted out and Lopez was allowed to join the UFC. [10] [11] He lost the bout via unanimous decision. [12]

Lopez faced Anthony Birchak, replacing Felipe Colares, on November 7, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira. [13] He won the fight via a submission in round one. [14]

Lopez faced Adrian Yañez on March 20, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 21. [15] He lost the fight via knockout in round three. [16]

Lopez faced Alateng Heili on September 18, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 192. [17] The fight ended up with a draw. [18]

After the draw, it was announced that Lopez was no longer on the UFC roster. [19]

Post UFC

In his first bout after his UFC release, Lopez faced Filip Macek on December 30, 2022, at Oktagon 38 for the Interim OKMMA Bantamweight Championship, winning the bout and the title via guillotine choke at the end of the first round. [20]

He would face reigning champion Jonas Mågård on April 15, 2023 at Okatgon 41, losing the bout in the second round via TKO stoppage. [21]

He would attempt to rebound against Beno Adamia on October 7, 2023 at Oktagon 47, however he would end up losing the bout via unanimous decision. [22]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
25 matches16 wins8 losses
By knockout74
By submission80
By decision14
Draws1
Res.RecordOpponentMethodEventDateRoundTimeLocationNotes
Win16–8–1Petr StřížSubmission (guillotine choke)Real Fight Arena 23May 30, 202513:12 Ostrava, Czech RepublicWon the vacant RFA Bantamweight Championship.
Win15–8–1Šimon BruknarTKO (punches)Professional Muaythai League 15May 3, 202533:14 Žilina, SlovakiaCatchweight (139 lb) bout.
Win14–8–1Denis TripšanskýTKO (leg injury)Professional Muaythai League 13January 25, 202530:37 Hlohovec, SlovakiaReturn to Featherweight.
Loss13–8–1Beno AdamiaDecision (unanimous) Oktagon 47 October 7, 202335:00 Bratislava, SlovakiaCatchweight (139.7 lb) bout; Lopez missed weight.
Loss13–7–1Jonas MågårdTKO (punches) Oktagon 41 April 15, 202320:31 Liberec, Czech RepublicFor the Oktagon Bantamweight Championship.
Win13–6–1Filip MacekSubmission (guillotine choke)Oktagon 38December 30, 202214:44 Prague, Czech RepublicWon the interim Oktagon Bantamweight Championship.
Draw12–6–1 Alateng Heili Draw (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Spann September 18, 202135:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesAlateng was deducted one point in round 3 due to repeatedly grabbing the cage.
Loss12–6 Adrian Yañez KO (punch) UFC on ESPN: Brunson vs. Holland March 20, 202130:27 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win12–5 Anthony Birchak Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Teixeira November 7, 202012:43 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss11–5 Merab Dvalishvili Decision (unanimous) UFC on ESPN: Eye vs. Calvillo June 13, 202035:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United StatesCatchweight (140 lb) bout.
Win11–4Joey RuquetKO (punch)Combate 42August 23, 201911:45 Lake Tahoe, Nevada, United StatesDefended the CAMMA Bantamweight Championship.
Win10–4José AldayTKO (punches)Combate 33March 29, 201912:19 Tucson, Arizona, United StatesWon the CAMMA Bantamweight Championship
Win9–4Vicente MarquezSubmission (shoulder choke)Combate 29December 7, 201810:50 Fresno, California, United StatesFeatherweight bout.
Loss8–4José AldayDecision (split)Combate 24September 14, 201835:00 Phoenix, Arizona, United StatesFor the vacant CAMMA Bantamweight Championship.
Loss8–3 Andre Ewell KO (punch)KOTC: Energetic PursuitFebruary 24, 201814:44 Ontario, California, United States
Win8–2Chris DempseySubmission (armbar)ExciteFight: Conquest of the CageJune 10, 201711:19 Airway Heights, Washington, Washington
Win7–2Steve SwansonSubmission (guillotine choke)Combate Americas 10January 19, 201712:34 Mexico City, Mexico
Loss6–2 John Castañeda TKO (punches)Combate Americas 9October 14, 201642:24 Verona, New York, United StatesFor the vacant Combate Bantamweight Championship. Castañeda missed weight (137.5 lb) and was ineligible to win the title.
Win6–1Saul ElizondoTKO (punches)Combate 7May 9, 201624:07 Los Angeles, California, United States
Win5–1Joey RuquetSubmission (rear-naked choke)Combate Americas: Road to the Championship 2December 16, 201524:06 Hollywood, California, United StatesFeatherweight bout.
Win4–1Mauricio DiazDecision (unanimous)Combate Americas: Road to the Championship 1September 17, 201535:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win3–1Sean CantorSubmission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 2014 Monster Energy Cup October 18, 201414:39 Whitney, Nevada, United States
Win2–1Dylan AtkinsonTKO (punches)CageSport 25July 6, 201321:12 Tacoma, Washington, United StatesBantamweight debut.
Loss1–1Kasey WhiteDecision (unanimous)CageSport 24April 27, 201335:00 Tacoma, Washington, United StatesFeatherweight debut.
Win1–0Jorey TaylorTKO (punches)CageSport 20July 14, 201211:47 Tacoma, Washington, United StatesCatchweight (140 lb) bout.

[23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Mixed martial arts show results Date: June 13, 2020
  2. 1 2 3 "Gustavo Lopez | UFC". UFC.com. June 11, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  3. "Stats | UFC". ufcstats.com. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Alberto Pérez (April 17, 2017). "Gustavo López, peleador de MMA, se repuso a la pérdida de su padre usando el deporte". dailypress.com.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. Ryan Dorfman. "Gustavo Lopez: Combate's Champion". mymmanews.com.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Wapato's Lopez thankful for MMA success, community support". Yakima herald. February 1, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  7. "Bellator MMA 'Monster Energy Cup' results from Oct. 18 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas". mmamania. August 18, 2014. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  8. "Combate Tahoe: Gustavo Lopez unleashes hellacious first-round KO on Joey Ruquet to retain bantamweight title". sportingnews. August 24, 2019. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  9. Nolan King and John Morgan (June 11, 2020). "Ray Borg out of UFC on ESPN 10, Dvalisvhili now fights Combate Americas champ Lopez (UPDATE)". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  10. 1 2 Amy Kaplan (June 11, 2020). "Campbell McLaren says Gustavo Lopez is still under contract with Combate Americas". fansided.com.
  11. Riley Kontek (January 25, 2021). Shootin' the Shit Ep. 39: Gustavo Lopez via YouTube.
  12. Bitter, Shawn (June 13, 2020). "UFC on ESPN 10 Results: Merab Dvalishvili's Pace Too Much for Gustavo Lopez". Cageside Press. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  13. DNA, MMA (November 4, 2020). "Anthony Birchak keert terug in de UFC, treft Gustavo Lopez aanstaande zaterdag in Las Vegas". MMA DNA. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  14. Evanoff, Josh (November 7, 2020). "UFC Vegas 13 Results: Gustavo Lopez Finishes Anthony Birchak". Cageside Press. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  15. Dorff, Marcel (December 8, 2020). "Adrian Yanez treft Gustavo Lopez tijdens UFC evenement op 20 maart 2021". MMA DNA. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  16. Behunin, Alex (March 20, 2021). "UFC Vegas 22 Results: Adrian Yanez KO's Gustavo Lopez In Third Round". Cageside Press. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  17. Boussenaf, Jamal (July 21, 2021). "Gustavo Lopez en Heili Alateng treffen elkaar op 18 september". MMA DNA. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  18. Behunin, Alex (September 18, 2021). "UFC Vegas 37 Results: Gustavo Lopez vs. Heili Alateng Ends In A Draw". Cageside Press. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  19. Tabuena, Anton (February 10, 2022). "Report: 11 more fighters removed from UFC roster". Bloody Elbow. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  20. Head, Simon (December 30, 2022). "Oktagon 38 results: Gustavo Lopez crowned interim bantamweight champion on spectacular night in Prague". Fighters Only. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
  21. Head, Simon (April 18, 2023). "Oktagon 41: Jonas Magard unifies bantamweight titles with TKO finish in Liberec". Fighters Only. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  22. Staff (October 7, 2023). "Oktagon 47: Vemola vs. Langer Full Results". Cageside Press. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  23. Sherdog.com. "Gustavo Lopez". Sherdog. Retrieved August 7, 2020.