David Rickels (born January 5, 1989) is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle fighter who is currently competing in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
[1] Rickels compiled an amateur record of 8-1, and made his professional mixed martial arts debut in February 2010.
[3] Rickels next fought Strikeforce veteran Richard Bouphanouvong on May 7, 2011, at Bellator 43 where he won by triangle choke in round 2.
The bout was back-and-forth but in the end, Amoussou won the fight via controversial split decision, giving Rickels his first professional loss.
Rickels was picked to enter the Lightweight Season 8 Tournament where he defeated Lloyd Woodard in the quarterfinals at Bellator 87 via unanimous decision.
However, the loss was overturned to a No-Contest after Guillard tested positive for a non-performance-enhancing banned substance.
[12] After an injury to Derek Anderson, Rickels stepped in as a replacement to face Adam Piccolotti at Bellator 189 on December 1, 2017.
On January 23, 2020, news surfaced that Rickels had signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
He was expected to make his promotional debut on March 14, 2020 with opponent to be determined, but the event was cancelled.