James Irvin

James Irvin
Born	September 12, 1978 (1978-09-12) (age 31) Auckland, New Zealand
Other names	The Sandman
Nationality	New Zealand
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Division	205 & 185
Style	Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling
Fighting out of	Sacramento, California
MMA record
Total	20
Wins	14
By knockout	10
By submission	2
Losses	5
Draws	0
No contests	1

James Lee Irvin^[1] (born September 12, 1978) is an New Zealand mixed martial artist who currently competes as a Light Heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former World Extreme Cagefighting heavyweight champion.

Mixed martial arts career

This section requires expansion.

On April 2, 2008, Irvin fought Houston Alexander as the opening fight on the televised portion of UFC Fight Night: Kenny Florian vs Joe Lauzon. Irvin led off with a superman punch to the jaw that knocked Alexander down. He followed with three more punches to Alexander's head that appeared to render him temporarily unconscious,^[2] and Steve Mazzagatti rushed in to stop the fight. Alexander immediately got to his feet and protested the quick stoppage. The 8-second knockout tied the record of fastest knockout in UFC history. ,^[3] before being broken by Todd Duffee. The victory was officially ruled as a TKO due to strikes,^[4][5][6] although some sources list it as a KO.^[7][8] This has generated some controversy as some fans felt that the fight was stopped prematurely.^[9]

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.^[10]

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.^[11] UFC: Silva vs Irvin was intentionally scheduled for July 19, 2008 in order to conflict with the pay-per-view broadcast of Affliction: Banned.^[12] 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 knockout.^[13][14] Afterwards, Irvin tested positive for methadone and oxymorphone.^[15]

Irvin was scheduled to return at UFC 98 against Drew McFedries, making his debut as a middleweight.^[16] However, he was unable to fight because of a torn meniscus.^[17] Irvin recently injured his knee, forcing him out of a planned middleweight fight against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102. This is the second straight event James Irvin has backed out of due to the same injury.

Personal life

Irvin is married.^[11]

Mixed martial arts record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	14–5	Anderson Silva	KO (Punches)	UFC: Silva vs Irvin	02008-07-19 July 19, 2008	1	1:01	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	14–4	Houston Alexander	TKO (Superman Punch)[1]	UFC Fight Night 13	02008-04-02 April 2, 2008	1	0:08	Broomfield, Colorado, United States
Win	13–4	Luiz Cane	DQ (Knee to the Head on the Ground)	UFC 79 – Nemesis	02007-12-29 December 29, 2007	1	1:51	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	12–4	Thiago Silva	TKO (Knee Injury)	UFC 71 – Liddell vs. Jackson	02007-05-26 May 26, 2007	1	1:06	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	12–3	Hector Ramirez	TKO	UFC 65 – Bad Intentions	02006-11-18 November 18, 2006	2	2:36	Sacramento, California, United States
Win	11–3	Gary LaFranchi	Submission (Armbar)	Valor Fighting – Showdown at Cache Creek II	02006-09-15 September 15, 2006	1	1:47	Brooks, California, United States
zNC	10–3	Bobby Southworth	No Contest (Both fighters fell from the cage)	Strikeforce: Revenge	02006-06-09 June 9, 2006	1	0:17	San Jose, California, United States
Win	10–3	William Hill	Decision (Unanimous)	IFC – Caged Combat	02006-04-01 April 1, 2006	3	5:00	Sacramento, California, United States
Loss	9–3	Lodune Sincaid	Decision (Unanimous)	WEC 19 – Undisputed	02006-03-17 March 17, 2006	3	5:00	Lemoore, California, United States
Loss	9–2	Stephan Bonnar	Submission (Kimura)	UFC Ultimate Fight Night 3	02006-01-16 January 16, 2006	1	4:30	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	9–1	Terry Martin	KO (Flying Knee)	UFC 54 – Boiling Point	02005-08-20 August 20, 2005	2	0:09	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	8–1	Doug Marshall	KO (Knee)	WEC 15 – Judgment Day	02005-05-19 May 19, 2005	2	0:45	Lemoore, California, United States
Loss	7–1	Mike Kyle	KO (Punch)	UFC 51 – Super Saturday	02005-02-05 February 5, 2005	1	1:55	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	7–0	Houssain Oushani	KO	WEC 12 – Halloween Fury 3	02004-10-21 October 21, 2004	1	2:27	Lemoore, California, United States	Defended WEC Heavyweight Championship
Win	6–0	Jody Poff	TKO	WEC 11 – Evolution	02004-08-20 August 20, 2004	1	1:44	Lemoore, California, United States	Became First WEC Heavyweight Champion
Win	5–0	Bo Cantrell	KO	GC 24 – Gladiator Challenge 24	02004-03-20 March 20, 2004	1	2:39	Hopland, California, United States
Win	4–0	Scott Smith	KO	GC 22 – Gladiator Challenge 22	02004-02-12 February 12, 2004	1	2:21	Colusa, California, United States
Win	3–0	Pete Werve	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	GC 20 – Gladiator Challenge 20	02003-11-13 November 13, 2003	1	5:00	Colusa, California, United States
Win	2–0	Allen Scoville	Submission (Armbar)	GC 18 – Gladiator Challenge 18	02003-08-21 August 21, 2003	1	2:42	Colusa, California, United States
Win	1–0	Bo Cantrell	TKO (Strikes)	GC 16 – Gladiator Challenge 16	02003-06-01 June 1, 2003	1	2:54	Colusa, California, United States

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for James Irvin from Sherdog