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Nik Lentz
| Nik Lentz | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 13, 1984 El Paso, Texas, United States |
| Other names | The Carny |
| Residence | Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Weight | 156 lb (70.8 kg; 11.1 st) |
| Division | Lightweight (155 lb) |
| Fighting out of | Eden Prairie, Minnesota |
| Team | Minnesota Martial Arts Academy |
| Rank | NCAA Division I Wrestling |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 29 |
| Wins | 21 |
| By knockout | 6 |
| By submission | 9 |
| By decision | 6 |
| Losses | 5 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 2 |
| Draws | 2 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Nik Lentz (born August 13, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist. Lentz is currently signed under the Ultimate Fighting Championships promotion, fighting in the lightweight division.
Contents |
Background
Lentz was born in Texas but grew up in Minnesota, attending Bloomington Jefferson High School. After graduating in 2003, he attended the University of Minnesota. He has only one semester left before he graduates with a degree in Pre-Med for biology.
Besides being enrolled in school and fighting MMA, he ran an online store that sold video games and rare collectibles.
Mixed martial arts career
Training background
He wrestled all throughout his years in high school and after graduating in 2003, he was awarded a scholarship to wrestle for the University of Minnesota. In 2005, Lentz decided he would go ahead and starting training in MMA. He began training at Minnesota Martial Arts alongside former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk and former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight Paul Bradley.
Early career
Lentz made his professional debut in 2005 against Anthony White. The fight ended after Lentz knocked out White sometime during the first round. His next fight ended in the same way as the first with Lentz earning himself his second consecutive KO win. His third fight showed off Lentz’s power in his hands after he forced his opponent to submit to punches.
Lentz went 4–0 after securing a rear naked choke submission win over Kenneth Allen. His first loss came out the hands of Sherron Leggett from a razor thin split decision. Lentz bounced back with a knock out win over Chris Powers. On a card held by Ultimate Combat Sports, Lentz submitted Jake Hoyer using a rear naked choke.
On August 2006, Lentz took his second loss from Brian Green who submitted him using an armbar in the first round. Lentz won his next three fights, all with first round knockouts; one of the three against Bellator lightweight, Carey Vanier.
Lentz had a grueling back-and-forth battle with Mark Moreno before the fight ended in disappointment when the cage-side doctors ruled Lentz unable to continue. After the loss to Moreno, Lentz obtained a 7–0–1 record with a victory over UFC veteran, Drew Fickett. He was signed by the UFC and entered with a 16–3–1 record.
UFC career
In August 2009, it was announced Lentz had been signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championships, he would be debuting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 103. He replaced an injured Dan Lauzon and fought Rafaello Oliveira, winning via unanimous decision with scores of 29–28, 29–28, and 30–27.
Again being the underdog, Lentz faced Thiago Tavares at UFC Fight Night 20, with the fight ending in a rare majority draw.[1]
At UFC Fight Night 21 in North Carolina, Lentz moved his UFC record to 2–0–1 by defeating TUF 5 alumnus, Rob Emerson via unanimous decision.
In his fourth appearance for the UFC, Lentz defeated Andre Winner at UFC 118, via unanimous decision (30–27 (twice) and 29–28). The match was shown on Spike TV before the Pay-Per-View event. Lentz scored multiple take-downs throughout the fight but was not able to capitalize on them. The fight was criticized for lack of action.[2][3][4]
Lentz defeated Tyson Griffin on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123 via split decision.[5]
At UFC Fight Night 24, Lentz fought and defeated division II national wrestling champion, Waylon Lowe.[6] After Lowe won the first and second rounds convincingly, Lentz came back in the third and scored an impressive come from behind submission win.[7] Shortly after the fight finished Dana White posted on his Twitter account, “Lentz vs. Lowe was a SICK fight!!! Seattle is going crazy.”[8]
Lentz faced Charles Oliveira on June 26, 2011 at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry.[9] The fight ended in the second round after Oliveira hit Lentz with an illegal knee which went unnoticed by the referee and submitted the dazed Lentz via rear naked choke. However, after reviewing the incident, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission overturned the result and declared it a no contest.[10] The back and forth action earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors.
Lentz was defeated by Mark Bocek on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140 via unanimous decision.[11] Lentz was taken down all three rounds and controlled despite threatening Bocek twice with a guillotine choke in rounds 1 and 2.
Lentz lost to Evan Dunham due to doctor stoppage because of a large cut under his left eye on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2, having replaced an injured Paul Sass.[12]
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 29 matches | 21 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 6 | 2 |
| By submission | 9 | 1 |
| By decision | 6 | 2 |
| Draws | 2 | |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 21-5-2 (1) | Evan Dunham | TKO (doctor stoppage) | UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis | January 28, 2012 | 2 | 5:00 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | Fight of the Night |
| Loss | 21-4-2 (1) | Mark Bocek | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 140 | December 10, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| NC | 21-3-2 (1) | Charles Oliveira | NC (illegal knee) | UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry | June 26, 2011 | 2 | 1:48 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | Fight of the Night. Original loss via submission (Rear Naked Choke), result overturned to No Contest. |
| Win | 21-3-2 | Waylon Lowe | Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis | March 26, 2011 | 3 | 2:24 | Seattle, Washington, United States | |
| Win | 20-3-2 | Tyson Griffin | Decision (split) | UFC 123 | November 20, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States | |
| Win | 19-3-2 | Andre Winner | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 118 | August 28, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States | |
| Win | 18-3-2 | Rob Emerson | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi | March 31, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Charlotte, North Carolina, United States | |
| Draw | 17-3-2 | Thiago Tavares | Draw (majority) | UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz | January 11, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Fairfax, Virginia, United States | |
| Win | 17-3-1 | Rafaello Oliveira | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 103 | September 19, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Dallas, Texas, United States | |
| Win | 16-3-1 | Nick Walker | TKO (punches) | EC 127 – Extreme Challenge 127 | May 30, 2009 | 1 | 2:15 | Rochester, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 15-3-1 | Drew Fickett | Decision (unanimous) | EB: Beatdown at 4 Bears | March 21, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 14-3-1 | Sam Rouch | Decision (unanimous) | SNMMA: Beatdown 4 at Bears | October 11, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 13-3-1 | Dan Loman | Submission (guillotine choke) | Brutaal Fight Night | September 5, 2008 | 1 | 4:13 | Maplewood, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 12-3-1 | Travis Pierzinski | Submission (rear naked choke) | Brutaal Fight Night | May 21, 2008 | 2 | 3:45 | Maplewood, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 11-3-1 | Scott Bickerstaff | TKO (punches) | Xtreme Fighting Organization 22 | February 23, 2008 | 1 | 3:49 | Crystal Lake, Illinois, United States | |
| Draw | 10-3-1 | Kyle Jensen | Draw | CFX 7: Brutal | November 29, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 10-3 | Gabe Wallbridge | Submission (rear naked choke) | EFX: Myth in Maplewood | September 19, 2007 | 1 | N/A | Maplewood, Minnesota, United States | |
| Loss | 9-3 | Mark Moreno | TKO (doctor stoppage) | X-1: Extreme Fighting 2 | March 17, 2007 | 1 | 5:00 | Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |
| Win | 9-2 | Duran Barlow | KO | EFX: Fury | December 7, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 8-2 | Vern Jefferson | TKO | EFX | September 6, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 7-2 | Carey Vanier | TKO | EFX | September 6, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |
| Loss | 6-2 | Brian Green | Submission (armbar) | EFX | August 2, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 6-1 | Chris Powers | KO | EFX: Fury | July 24, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Andover, Minnesota, United States | |
| Loss | 5-1 | Sherron Leggett | Decision (split) | Twin Cities Throwdown | April 8, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Burnsville, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 5-0 | Kenneth Allen | Submission (rear naked choke) | EFX: Fury | February 1, 2006 | 1 | N/A | Burnsville, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 4-0 | Derek Abram | Submission (strikes) | EFX | December 5, 2005 | 1 | N/A | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |
| Win | 3-0 | Nick Melton | KO | XKK: Lamar | October 10, 2005 | 1 | N/A | Fort Dodge, Iowa, United States | |
| Win | 2-0 | Anthony White | KO | XKK: Trials | August 27, 2005 | 1 | N/A | Des Moines, Iowa, United States | |
| Win | 1-0 | Jake Hoyer | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UCS – Throwdown at the T-Bar | July 30, 2005 | 1 | N/A | Ellsworth, Minnesota, United States |
References
- ^ “UFC Fight Night 20 recap”. mmajunkie. January 12, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/17522/ufc-fight-night-20-recap.mma.
- ^ “Nik Lentz vs. Tyson Griffin targeted for UFC 123″. mmajunkie.com. September 9, 2010. http://mmajunkie.com/news/20577/nik-lentz-vs-tyson-griffin-targeted-for-ufc-123.mma.
- ^ “Dan Hardy criticises Nik Lentz for his win at all cost style against Andre Winner, accuses him of cheating”. MMABay. http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2010/09/07/dan-hardy-criticises-nik-lentz-for-his-win-at-all-cost-style-against-andre-winner-accuses-him-of-cheating.
- ^ Steve Cofield. “Lentz takes slow-paced fight against Winner at UFC 118″. Yahoo!. http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Lentz-takes-slow-paced-fight-against-Winner-at-U?urn=mma-265816.
- ^ “Lentz vs. Griffin headed to UFC 123″. mmaweekly.com. September 9, 2010. http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=12547&zoneid=13.
- ^ “Lightweights Nik Lentz and Waylon Lowe meet at UFN 24″. mmadiehards.com. 2011-02-17. http://mmadiehards.com/features/lightweights-nik-lentz-and-waylon-lowe-meet-at-ufn-24/.
- ^ “UFC Fight Night 24 play by play and live results”. MMAjunkie. http://mmajunkie.com/news/22984/ufc-fight-night-24-play-by-play-and-live-results.mma.
- ^ http://twitter.com/#!/danawhite/status/51777716256636928
- ^ “Oliveira vs. Lentz on June 26th”. ufc.com. 2011-04-27. http://au.ufc.com/news/tuf-13-finale-uvs4-fight-card-updates.
- ^ “PSAC: UFC on Versus 4′s Oliveira vs. Lentz overturned, declared a no-contest”. mmajunkie.com. June 29, 2011. http://mmajunkie.com/news/24211/psac-ufc-on-versus-4s-oliveira-vs-lentz-declared-a-no-contest.mma.
- ^ “Nik Lentz vs Mark Bocek fight slated for Dec. 10 in Toronto”. mmamania.com. 2011-09-12. http://www.mmamania.com/2011/9/12/2421650/ufc-140-nik-lentz-vs-mark-bocek-fight-slated-for-dec-10-in-toronto.
- ^ “Evan Dunham vs Nik Lentz announced for UFC on Fox 2 with Paul Sass scratched”. mmamania.com. December 26, 2011. http://www.mmamania.com/2011/12/26/2663004/evan-dunham-vs-nik-lentz-fight-ufc-on-fox-2-paul-sass-hurt-mma.
External links
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