Joseph Jonathan Riggs was born on September 23,1982 and is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
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Joseph Jonathan Riggs was born on September 23,1982 and is an American professional bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
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Joe Riggs followed in the footsteps of his hero, Randy Couture, and became an All-American twice, at Glendale Community College, where he studied to get a Criminal Justice degree.
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Joe Riggs made his WEC debut at WEC 9 against Alex Stiebling, in what was his debut at Light Heavyweight.
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Joe Riggs lost via triangle choke submission in the second round.
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Joe Riggs put on a very impressive performance by stopping Kimmons early in the 1st round, earning him the WEC world title, which he held for the next 2 years.
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Joe Riggs was originally supposed to face the winner of the upcoming title fight.
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When Joe Riggs was contacted to take Parisyan's place he jumped at the chance, despite having fought at UFC 55 just a month earlier.
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However, Joe Riggs did not make the required weight and the fight was declared a non-title event, due to Hughes allowing Joe Riggs to fight him.
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Joe Riggs then moved up to Middleweight to face The Ultimate Fighter alumnus Mike Swick.
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Joe Riggs then fought The Ultimate Fighter 2's Jason Von Flue, submitting him with a triangle choke.
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Joe Riggs lost the fight due to knockout from a hook followed by a knee in 1:45 of the first round.
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Joe Riggs lost to Cory Devela via submission in his Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce: At The Dome.
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Joe Riggs was to return to action on Strikeforce: Melendez vs Thomson, facing Jiujitsu specialist Luke Stewart.
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Joe Riggs stepped in as a late replacement for Shonie Carter, who was injured in training.
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Joe Riggs lost to Kazuo Misaki at Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion via controversial stoppage on September 20,2008.
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Joe Riggs won his next fight at Strikeforce: Destruction on November 21,2008, against Luke Stewart by TKO in 2nd round 2:05.
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Joe Riggs broke his hand throwing the first punch of the bout, but managed to rally in the second round, breaking Stewart's nose in the process.
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Joe Riggs next fought on the Strikeforce: Lawler vs Shields card from the Scottrade Center in St Louis, MO on June 6,2009, against Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni in a three-round welterweight bout that won him the interim Strike Force Welter Weight title and that was broadcast live on the Showtime cable network.
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About a month later, on January 10,2011, Joe Riggs signed with Bellator to fight in its Middleweight division.
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Joe Riggs made his Bellator debut against Season 2 Middleweight Tournament Finalist Bryan Baker at Bellator 43.
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Three months after his knockout loss to Baker at Bellator 43, In a rematch from their bout in 2004 Joe Riggs fought The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner and fellow UFC veteran Kendall Grove.
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On May 6,2013, it was announced that Joe Riggs would be featured as a participant on Bellator's reality TV show Fight Master: Bellator MMA, competing as a Welterweight.
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Joe Riggs made it to the tournament finals with Mike Bronzoulis.
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Joe Riggs was set to face Mike Bronzoulis in the Fight Master Finale on September 7,2013 at Bellator 98.
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Joe Riggs won the fight via unanimous decision to become the first winner of Fight Master.
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However, Joe Riggs was forced to pull out of the fight after accidentally shooting himself in the hand and leg while cleaning a pistol at his home.
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Joe Riggs made his eventual return against Ben Saunders at UFC on Fox: dos Santos vs Miocic on December 13,2014 at US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
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Joe Riggs was expected to face Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout on August 8,2015 at UFC Fight Night 73.
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Joe Riggs won the bout via disqualification after Stallings landed an illegal upkick, which rendered Joe Riggs unable to continue.
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Joe Riggs faced Chris Camozzi on February 21,2016 at UFC Fight Night 83.
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Joe Riggs lost the fight via TKO in the first round due a series of knees by Camozzi, which broke the right forearm of Riggs.
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Joe Riggs recently started competing in Bare Knuckle Boxing matches under the UK based BKB promotion.
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Joe Riggs won a championship fight against Christian “Fat Boy“ Evans, an experienced bare knuckle fighter who had been featured in the documentary "Bare Knuckle Fight Club" from Channel 4 news, by unanimous decision at BKB 4.
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Joe Riggs was deducted 1 point in the first round for shooting for a take-down and taking his opponent to the mat, and was warned again in the same round after throwing an illegal elbow.
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Joe Riggs made his sophomore appearance in the promotion against Heriberto Tovar at BKFC 4 on February 2,2019.
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Joe Riggs then faced Walber Brito de Barros at BKFC 6 on June 22,2019.
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Joe Riggs was expected to headline BKFC 10 against fellow UFC veteran Hector Lombard in February 2020.
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Joe Riggs then faced Hector Lombard for the inaugural BKFC Cruiserweight Championship at BKFC 18 on June 26,2021.
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Joe Riggs faced Melvin Guillard at BKFC Fight Night: Montana on October 9,2021.
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Joe Riggs has a daughter named Jadin who is 3 years younger than his son.
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