James Irvin

James Lee Irvin (born September 12, 1978) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist, who was a professional competitor from 2003 to 2012, Irvin is the former WEC Heavyweight Champion and has also competed in the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator and KSW.

Irvin was born in Huntington Beach and attended Del Oro High School in Loomis, California, where he played football.

Irvin's football career continued at Azusa Pacific University, which he attended on an athletic scholarship.

Irvin was first introduced to MMA when he saw a match in person, and was very interested.

He immediately started Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and began training to become a fighter.

After losing to Mike Kyle in his UFC debut, Irvin returned to the promotion at UFC 54 against boxing specialist and former collegiate wrestler Terry Martin.

The much shorter Martin dominated Irvin in round one, but as soon as the bell sounded to start the second round, Irvin came out and landed a flying knee that rendered Martin unconscious.

Commentator Joe Rogan called the KO the "best flying knee" he had ever seen.

Irvin defeated Hector Ramirez at UFC 65 via TKO in the second round after dropping Ramirez with a stiff jab, following with a kick to the body, and finishing the fight on the ground with elbows.

Both fighters were awarded Fight of the Night awards.

Irvin faced UFC newcomer Thiago Silva on May 26, 2007 at UFC 71.

He lost after injuring his knee during one of Silva's takedowns in the first round.

Irvin won a disqualification victory over the formerly undefeated Luiz Cané at UFC 79 after he was illegally kneed in the head by Cané.

On April 2, 2008, Irvin fought Houston Alexander as the opening fight on the main card of UFC Fight Night: Kenny Florian vs Joe Lauzon, knocking Alexander out with a superman punch in 8 seconds.

The 8-second knockout tied the record of fastest knockout in UFC history until UFC 102, where Todd Duffee broke the record with a 7-second KO.

Irvin was supposed to fight Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London, England but he sustained a foot injury that forced him to pull out and Evans was removed from the card as well.

When the UFC's middleweight champion Anderson Silva was to make his light-heavyweight division debut, Irvin became his opponent after four other fighters had already declined.

UFC: Silva vs Irvin was intentionally scheduled for July 19, 2008 in order to conflict with the pay-per-view broadcast of Affliction: Banned.

Despite Irvin being the larger fighter, he was regarded as a significant underdog.

At about one minute into the first round, Silva caught a kick dealt by Irvin and knocked him down with a straight right hand.

Silva then followed with a barrage of punches ending the fight by KO.

Afterwards, Irvin tested positive for methadone and oxymorphone.

Irvin subsequently admitted to taking the drugs, stating that he had begun taking painkillers legally as treatment for injuries, and had then become addicted to them.

Irvin was scheduled to return at UFC 98 against Drew McFedries, making his debut as a middleweight.

However, he was unable to fight because of a torn meniscus.

Irvin injured his knee, forcing him out of a planned middleweight fight against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102.

This would be second straight event Irvin has backed out of due to the same injury.

Irvin then confirmed he would return on one of the UFC's three shows in March, and was later added to the card at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones where he made his debut as a middleweight against Alessio Sakara.

Irvin was defeated in the first round after receiving a punch straight in the eye.

He covered up and the referee called timeout, assuming an eye poke had occurred.

The replay showed that Sakara delivered a legal punch to Irvin's eye, and the fight ended in a TKO victory for Sakara.

Irvin then returned to light heavyweight and faced Igor Pokrajac on August 1, 2010 at UFC on Versus 2.

Midway through the first round, Irvin was taken down and was hit by Pokrajac's shoulder as he hit the floor.

While visibly hurt, Irvin rolled over and was submitted by a rear naked choke.

Irvin was released from the UFC following his loss to Pokrajac, his third straight loss with the promotion.

President Dana White was complimentary of Irvin, saying he expects to see Irvin back in the UFC someday.

After his release from the UFC, Irvin went on to face and defeat Angel DeAnda in Roseville, California on October 2, 2010 at a Rebel Fights event by way of KO to Win Rebel Fight Heavyweight Championship.

Irvin next faced Jorge Oliveira on December 2, 2010 at "Tachi Palace Fights 7: Deck the Halls".

Irvin was defeated by Oliveira in the first round by triangle choke.

James Irvin next fought Mike Crisman at Gladiator Challenge Young Guns 4 on January 29, 2011 with special guest Ken Shamrock serving as the referee.