Ricardo Lamas

Ricardo Alejandro Lamas (born May 21, 1982) is an American former professional mixed martial artist who competed in Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Lamas' father is Cuban and his mother is Mexican.

The flags of these two countries are often displayed on his clothing during his fights.

His father was the leader of a Cuban resistance movement under Castro regime, eventually managing to hide in the Brazilian embassy in Cuba before escaping to the United States.

Ricardo is the youngest of six brothers.

He went to Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois.

During his collegiate wrestling career (2001–2005), he racked up over 100 wins.

He was also a two-time CCIW Champion, and was named the CCIW's "Most Outstanding Wrestler" during the 2003–04 season.

Lamas returned to Elmhurst after graduation to serve as the assistant men's wrestling coach.

Lamas graduated with a degree in exercise science from Elmhurst College in 2005, where he was a member of the men's wrestling team and earned All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championships at 157 lbs.

Lamas won the ISCF North Central Regional Title on April 26, 2008, in Loves Park, Illinois, US when he defeated Cal Ferry via Guillotine Choke at 4:50 of round 4.

Lamas made his WEC debut on March 1, 2009, at WEC 39 against IFL and WEC veteran Bart Palaszewski.

Lamas took the fight with 4 days notice as he replaced an injured Rich Crunkilton.

Lamas controlled Palaszewski with superior wrestling and scored with excellent ground-and-pound to win a unanimous decision.

Lamas faced Danny Castillo on August 9, 2009, at WEC 42.

Lamas suffered his first defeat as Castillo won the fight via second-round TKO.

Lamas next faced James Krause on November 18, 2009, at WEC 44.

Lamas won the fight via unanimous decision.

Lamas then faced Bendy Casimir on March 6, 2010, at WEC 47.

He won the fight in stunning fashion by defeating Casimir via flying knee KO in the first round.

Lamas defeated Dave Jansen via unanimous decision on August 18, 2010, at WEC 50.

Lamas was expected to face Maciej Jewtuszko on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53, but Jewtuszko had to withdraw as he suffered a broken hand during training.

Lamas instead faced Iuri Alcântara and lost via KO in the first round.

In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

In his UFC debut, Lamas faced returning UFC veteran Matt Grice in a featherweight bout on June 26, 2011, at UFC on Versus 4.

Lamas defeated Grice via TKO in the first round.

Lamas faced Cub Swanson on November 12, 2011, at UFC on Fox 1.

Lamas won via second round submission after applying an arm-triangle choke, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Lamas was expected to face Dustin Poirier on February 4, 2012, at UFC 143, replacing an injured Erik Koch However, Lamas ended up injured as well and was replaced by Max Holloway.

For his third UFC fight at featherweight, Lamas faced Hatsu Hioki on June 22, 2012, at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida.

He defeated the heavily favored Hioki via unanimous decision.

Lamas was briefly linked to a December 2012 bout with Frankie Edgar, however the pairing was scrapped after Edgar was tabbed as a replacement for the injured Erik Koch and face José Aldo at UFC 153.

Lamas faced Erik Koch on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox 6.

Lamas won via TKO in the second round.

Lamas was expected to face Chan Sung Jung on July 6, 2013, at UFC 162.

However, on June 14, it was announced that Jung had been pulled from the Lamas bout and would replace an injured Anthony Pettis to face José Aldo on August 3, 2013, at UFC 163.

As a result, Lamas was pulled from the event.

The title fight against José Aldo eventually took place on February 1, 2014, as the co-main event of UFC 169.

It was revealed during the UFC countdown show that Lamas received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu during his training camp leading up to the bout.