Francisco Rivera Jr. (born October 8, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist who last competed in XMMA.
Rivera graduated from Buena Park High School where he excelled in football[3] eventually playing for Orange Coast College, until his foot was broken.
[6] Rivera was expected to drop to Bantamweight and face Takeya Mizugaki on March 3, 2011, at UFC Live: Sanchez vs.
[7] However, Rivera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Reuben Duran.
[11] Rivera was expected to replace Edwin Figueroa against Ken Stone on June 22, 2012, at UFC on FX 4.
However, Rivera later failed his post-fight drug test for an over-the-counter stimulant and the win was overturned to a No Contest.
[39] Rivera received a four-year USADA suspension for testing positive for a banned substance clenbuterol, collected from an out of competition sample on July 23, 2016.
[41] Rivera was given a license to compete in California, and was scheduled to fight Trevin Jones at LXF 6 on March 20, 2020, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Semifinals, he faced fellow UFC vet Nohelin Hernandez, who he defeated via unanimous decision.
In the finals, Rivera faced David Martinez, to whom he lost in the second round after being dropped by a head kick and finished on the ground.
Rivera lost the bout via submission in the third round due to an arm triangle choke.
The bout ended in a no contest after Rivera was poked in the eye in the second round and was unable to continue.
The fight was declared a no contest in the second round after Rivera was rendered unable to continue due to an unintentional eyepoke.
[52] Rivera faced Albert Morales at UNF 21 on November 30, 2024 and lost by technical knockout via ground punches.