Evan Dunham (born December 18, 1981) is an American professional mixed martial artist competing in the lightweight division.
[8] In an amateur bout in 2006 (a year before his professional debut), Dunham fought fellow future UFC lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard.
He won his fight over Team Alpha Male's Dustin Akbari via rear-naked choke submission and remained undefeated.
[9] He showed quick and accurate striking skills and displayed some excellent submission defense against the seasoned grappler.
[12] Dunham faced Xtreme Couture standout and ex-training partner Tyson Griffin, on June 12, 2010, at UFC 115.
[13] Dunham was dominant in all three rounds, taking Griffin's back on numerous occasions and effectively countering strikes.
Instead, Melvin Guillard, who had been set to fight Yves Edwards on the preliminary card, took on Dunham in the main event.
[19] Dunham lost via TKO in the first round after getting continuously hit by combinations from the much faster Guillard.
[25] Dunham was expected to face Edson Barboza on May 26, 2012, at UFC 146,[26] but was forced from the event with another injury and replaced by returning veteran Jamie Varner.
[33] Dunham was expected to face Mark Bocek on April 16, 2014, at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale.
[44] In turn, Dunham pulled out of that pairing on May 5 for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Beneil Dariush.
[45] Dunham was scheduled to face Abel Trujillo on September 17, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 94.
[46] However, Trujillo pulled out of the fight on September 5, citing an undisclosed injury and was replaced by former WSOF Featherweight Champion and promotional newcomer Ricky Glenn.
[49] The bout with Trujillo was rescheduled and was expected to take place on February 4, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 104.
[61] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that the event was postponed to a future date and the matchup was later scrapped.
[62] Dunham faced Herbert Burns on June 6, 2020, at UFC 250 in a 150 lb catchweight bout.