Joseph Christopher Stevenson was born on June 15,1982 and is a retired American mixed martial artist fighting out of Hesperia, California.
44 Facts About Joe Stevenson
2.
Joe Stevenson fought most of his career as a Lightweight and made his Featherweight debut at UFC Live: Kongo vs Barry.
3.
Joe Stevenson is the former King of the Cage Lightweight Champion.
4.
Joe Stevenson moved to Las Vegas in 2004, and began training at Marc Laimon's Cobra Kai in Las Vegas.
5.
In March 2008, Joe Stevenson opened his own school in his hometown of Victorville, California.
6.
On November 8,2008, Joe Stevenson earned his Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Robert Drysdale.
7.
Joe Stevenson was one of the more experienced fighters participating in The Ultimate Fighter 2.
8.
On November 5,2005, Joe Stevenson defeated Luke Cummo by unanimous decision, winning The Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight tournament and earning a six-figure contract with the UFC, UFC president Dana White said "that was Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin, only on the ground".
9.
On July 8,2006, at UFC 61, Joe Stevenson won his 155-pound debut against Yves Edwards.
10.
Joe Stevenson returned to the Octagon at UFC 65, defeating Japanese fighter Dokonjonosuke Mishima by guillotine choke in the first round.
11.
At UFC 74, Joe Stevenson defeated Kurt Pellegrino by unanimous decision.
12.
At UFC 86, Joe Stevenson returned to the Octagon and defeated Gleison Tibau by guillotine choke submission after pulling guard.
13.
At UFC 91 on November 15,2008, Joe Stevenson was set to face top-contender Kenny Florian in a highly anticipated bout.
14.
Florian forced Joe Stevenson, who had just attained his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, to submit to a rear naked choke just 4:03 into the first round.
15.
Joe Stevenson returned at UFC 95 in the main event against debuting lightweight Diego Sanchez, and lost via unanimous decision.
16.
Joe Stevenson defeated The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner Nate Diaz by unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale.
17.
Joe Stevenson showed superior wrestling and controlled the majority of the fight.
18.
Joe Stevenson secured the crucifix position and landed elbows, forcing Fisher to submit.
19.
Joe Stevenson went on to face top 10 contender George Sotiropoulos on February 21,2010, at UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia.
20.
Joe Stevenson lost a very one sided fight by unanimous decision, but was awarded Fight of the Night honors.
21.
Joe Stevenson was expected to face former Pride Lightweight Champion Takanori Gomi on August 1,2010 at UFC Live on Versus: 2.
22.
However, Joe Stevenson pulled out of the bout with an injury and was replaced by Tyson Griffin.
23.
Joe Stevenson faced fellow TUF winner Mac Danzig on December 11,2010 at UFC 124.
24.
Joe Stevenson lost via a left hook KO as Danzig was moving back toward the cage.
25.
Joe Stevenson suffered his third consecutive loss after falling short via unanimous decision to Danny Castillo on March 3,2011 at UFC Live: Sanchez vs Kampmann.
26.
Joe Stevenson was defeated by Javier Vazquez via unanimous decision in his featherweight debut on June 26,2011 at UFC on Versus 4.
27.
Joe Stevenson became the fourth The Ultimate Fighter winner to be released from the UFC.
28.
Joe Stevenson signed a new contract with the Resurrection Fighting Alliance.
29.
Joe Stevenson fought Dakota Cochrane at Lightweight in the main event of RFA 3: Stevenson vs Cochrane on Saturday, June 30,2012 at the Viaero Event Center in Kearney, Nebraska.
30.
Joe Stevenson was rocked early in the first round by a knee from Cochrane, yet Joe Stevenson managed to take Cochrane down to control him throughout the round.
31.
Joe Stevenson escaped the attempt, but Cochrane was able to quickly take Joe Stevenson's back a second time and finished via submission due to a rear-naked choke.
32.
Joe Stevenson next fought Dominique Robinson at Sugar Shane Promotions on January 30,2015.
33.
Joe Stevenson faced Daniel McWilliams and won the fight via TKO in the first round.
34.
Joe Stevenson made a quick return to the cage, facing Gabriel Miglioli at Tru-Form Entertainment on August 26,2016.
35.
Joe Stevenson is a contestant of The Ultimate Fighter season 25, consisting of fighters that have been competing in previous The Ultimate Fighter seasons.
36.
In February 2017, it was revealed that Joe Stevenson would compete again on the UFC's reality show in the 25th season on The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption.
37.
Joe Stevenson was defeated by Justin Edwards in the opening round of fights by unanimous decision.
38.
Joe Stevenson was defeated by Hayder Hassan by knockout in the first round in the wildcard bout.
39.
Joe Stevenson is the only son of Carolina Smith of Victorville, California.
40.
Joe Stevenson has one older sister, Monica; a younger sister, Reye; and a step sister, Jessica.
41.
Joe Stevenson graduated in the class of 2000 from Silverado High School in Victorville, California.
42.
Joe Stevenson put his life on hold when his maternal grandfather suddenly became ill in 1999.
43.
Joe Stevenson was up a few weight divisions due to his last-minute change of schedule with King of the Cage, and because of his friend, teammate and two-time Community College All-American at 184, UFC fighter, Phillip Miller.
44.
Joe Stevenson has struggled with alcoholism his whole adulthood, but claims to have been sober since 2014.