Joey Beltran was born on December 9,1981 and is an American bare-knuckle fighter and mixed martial artist.
45 Facts About Joey Beltran
1.
2.
Joey Beltran competed in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship where he was the former BKFC Heavyweight Champion.
3.
Joey Beltran began boxing when he was 10 years old, and was involved in street fighting from a young age.
4.
Joey Beltran began wrestling in middle school and was talented, but was initially not allowed to compete outside of practice because of poor grades and was eventually kicked out from the junior high.
5.
Joey Beltran continued wrestling at Carlsbad High School during his sophomore year and picked up his grades, going on to compete on the varsity team as a Heavyweight for all three years and became involved in Greco-Roman Wrestling.
6.
Joey Beltran made his professional debut on February 10,2007, at Strikeforce: Young Guns and lost via unanimous decision.
7.
Joey Beltran made his Bellator debut at Bellator 5 on May 1,2009, against former UFC fighter Sherman Pendergarst.
8.
Joey Beltran made his UFC debut at UFC 109 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Rolles Gracie.
9.
Joey Beltran was stepping in as a last minute replacement for Gracie's original opponent, Mostapha Al-turk.
10.
Joey Beltran returned to action on May 8,2010, at UFC 113.
11.
Joey Beltran was originally set to fight Chad Corvin, but after Corvin's paperwork was not approved by the Quebec Athletic Commission he was pulled from the card and replaced by Tim Hague.
12.
Joey Beltran defeated Hague after three rounds, taking the unanimous decision.
13.
Joey Beltran next faced Matt Mitrione on September 25,2010, at UFC 119.
14.
Joey Beltran then fought highly regarded kickboxer Pat Barry at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 on January 22,2011, in Fort Hood, Texas.
15.
Barry has since expressed his bewilderment at the level of punishment that Joey Beltran was able to absorb.
16.
Joey Beltran was expected to face promotional newcomer Dave Herman on June 11,2011, at UFC 131.
17.
However, after Herman was shuffled to the main card, Joey Beltran instead faced another UFC newcomer in Aaron Rosa.
18.
Joey Beltran fought Stipe Miocic on October 8,2011, at UFC 136, losing via unanimous decision.
19.
Joey Beltran faced former Strikeforce heavyweight Lavar Johnson on January 28,2012, at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis, where he was knocked out for the first time in his career in the first round.
20.
Joey Beltran officially made his Light heavyweight debut on April 28,2012, at C3 Fights in Oklahoma, where he defeated Anton Talamantes via unanimous decision.
21.
Joey Beltran made his return to the UFC replacing Brandon Vera against Australian James Te Huna on July 11,2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 4.
22.
Joey Beltran was expected to face Anthony Perosh on December 15,2012, at UFC on FX 6.
23.
On January 10,2013, it was announced that Joey Beltran had failed his post fight drug test, testing positive for nandrolone.
24.
Joey Beltran was suspended for 9 months, retroactive to December 14,2012.
25.
On October 30,2013, it was announced that Joey Beltran had signed with Bellator MMA.
26.
Joey Beltran faced former UFC Light heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson on November 15,2013, in the main event at Bellator 108.
27.
Joey Beltran lost the fight via TKO in the first round.
28.
Joey Beltran faced Vladimir Matyushenko at Bellator 116 on April 11,2014, winning by third round submission, his first submission win since 2007.
29.
Joey Beltran challenged Emanuel Newton for the Bellator Light heavyweight Championship at Bellator 124 on September 12,2014.
30.
Joey Beltran lost the fight via knockout in the third round.
31.
Joey Beltran made his Middleweight debut against Brian Rogers on April 10,2015, at Bellator 136.
32.
Joey Beltran next faced Kendall Grove at Bellator 143 on September 25,2015.
33.
Joey Beltran lost the fight via TKO in the third round.
34.
On September 21,2016, it was announced that Joey Beltran would be facing Alessio Sakara in the co-main event of Bellator 168 on December 10,2016.
35.
Joey Beltran would take yet another fight in the Russian circuit against Dmitry Tebekin at S-70 event on August 14,2019, winning the fight via unanimous decision.
36.
Joey Beltran won the brutal back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.
37.
At BKFC 9 Joey Beltran won a unanimous decision victory over Chase Sherman, becoming the BKFC World Heavyweight Champion, as well as the National Police Gazette Heavyweight American Champion.
38.
Joey Beltran was expected to defend his title against Mark Godbeer at BKFC 12 on April 11,2020.
39.
On October 10,2020, at BKFC 13, Joey Beltran became the first man to defend the BKFC World Heavyweight title by defeating former University of Alabama football linebacker Marcel Stamps via fourth round TKO.
40.
The outcome of this bout resulted in Joey Beltran retaining the Police Gazette Heavyweight World Championship, a title that had not been in the ring since 1899.
41.
Joey Beltran lost by unanimous decision, ending his reign as champion.
42.
Joey Beltran then faced Frank Tate at BKFC Fight Night: Ft.
43.
Joey Beltran was knocked out just 23 seconds into the bout.
44.
Joey Beltran then headlined BKFC 33 on November 18,2022, against Houston Alexander in a rematch of their MMA bout in 2010.
45.
Joey Beltran is married to the BKFC Women's Strawweight Champion Britain Hart.