35 Facts About Sam Oropeza

Sam Oropeza was born on June 17,1985 and is a former American mixed martial artist, coach, manager, boxer, and politician who most notably competed in Bellator's middleweight and welterweight divisions.

Sam Oropeza competed professionally as a boxer where he competed as a cruiserweight and was undefeated in 2 fights.

Sam Oropeza was a candidate for a at-large seat on Philadelphia City Council in 2023.

Sam Oropeza was born in Briarcliffe, Pennsylvania, as the youngest of six children.

At the age of 10, Sam Oropeza lost his father to liver failure.

Sam Oropeza rattled off 2 amateur finishes for New Breed Fighters in late 2008 before turning pro in 2009.

Sam Oropeza made his professional debut on June 6,2009, against Mitch Filer at World Cage Fighting Alliance in Atlantic City, New Jersey and defeated him via rear naked choke in the first round.

Sam Oropeza bounced back on the biggest stage of his career up to that point by submitting Don Carlo-Clauss in front of 11,287 fans at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva.

In 2010 Sam Oropeza was selected to do a taping for the MTV show Bully Beatdown.

Sam Oropeza made the bully tap out 5 times in round 1 and stopped the fight with a TKO in round 2, earning the bully's victims $10,000.

Sam Oropeza appeared on Kevin Smith's show, Comic Book Men, on AMC.

Sam Oropeza was seen portraying Jay from the Jay and Silent Bob duo in a staged fight between the 2 cult heroes.

Sam Oropeza was defeated via submission due to a scarf hold armlock in the third round.

Sam Oropeza won via submission due to a triangle choke in the second round.

Sam Oropeza faced Richard Rigmaden on October 13,2012, at XFE: Cage Wars 18.

Sam Oropeza won via submission due to an armbar early in the first round.

In February 2013, it was announced that Sam Oropeza has signed a long-term contract with Bellator.

Sam Oropeza returned to the Bellator cage 2 years after he debuted to face Shedrick Goodridge on April 4,2013, at Bellator 95.

On September 20,2013, at Matrix Fights 8, in front of a home town crowd in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sam Oropeza defeated Brett Oteri via TKO in the first round.

Sam Oropeza faced Chip Moraza-Pollard on November 15,2013, at Bellator 108.

Sam Oropeza was expected to face Fight Master winner Joe Riggs in the quarterfinal match of Bellator season ten welterweight tournament on March 14,2014, at Bellator 112.

Sam Oropeza was unable to make weight for the rescheduled semi-final bout of the Bellator Season 10 Welterweight Tournament against Andrey Koreshkov.

Sam Oropeza made his middleweight return against Gary Tapusoa on October 24,2014, at Bellator 130.

Sam Oropeza won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Sam Oropeza was very open about his desire to fight in the UFC and hoped to sign a contract with the UFC before the end of 2015.

Sam Oropeza fought on January 17,2015, for Global Proving Ground and defeated Timothy Woods in the first round in the main event at Global Proving Ground 17.

Sam Oropeza next signed a multi-fight deal with Caged Fury Fighting Championships a contract which includes a UFC clause allowing him to leave CFFC if the UFC offers him a fight.

Sam Oropeza then transitioned from mixed martial arts to professional boxing.

Sam Oropeza has not been in the cage since Halloween 2015 however he has recently teased a return.

Sam Oropeza officially announced he will return to the cage on May 18,2018, at Art Of War 7 at the 2300 Arena in south Philadelphia, PA.

Sam Oropeza made his return to professional combat sports on March 11,2017, after a lengthy hiatus and knocked out his opponent Joe Parkinson in 35 seconds.

Sam Oropeza has plans to continue his fighting career as a boxer.

Sam Oropeza returned to the squared circle on May 12,2017, for King's Promotions.

Sam Oropeza scored knockdowns in the 1st and 4th rounds on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Sam Oropeza was nominated by Republicans for a special election to the Pennsylvania Senate's 5th district in 2022.