Jared Alexander Gooden[5] (born December 5, 1993) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
When Jared was 16 years old, he came across Matt Hughes and BJ Penn while flipping channels at his dad's house.
A few years later, Jared saw a MMA fight poster come up on his Facebook feed and emailed the address that appeared on it.
He would get a reply from the promoter, David Oblas, asking for his gym, length of training time and MMA record, all of which Jared did not have.
[2] Gooden made his MMA debut at NFC 76, where he submitted Bobby Tucker via rear-naked choke in the second round.
Winning his next 7 bouts, culminating his one and only outing with Legacy Fighting Alliance at LFA 59, where he faced Steven Newell and went on to defeat him via unanimous decision.
[10] Gooden, as a replacement for Mounir Lazzez, faced Niklas Stolze on July 31, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: Hall vs.
[19] He won the bout after dropping Millender in the second round with a leg kick and finishing him with ground and pound.
[22] Gooden faced Demarques Jackson in the Quarter-finals of the Welterweight Grand Prix on February 18, 2023, at United Fight League 1, winning the bout in the second round via TKO stoppage.
[23] Gooden stepped in on three days notice to face Carlston Harris, replacing Abubakar Nurmagomedov, on March 11, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 221.