Jesse Taylor (born January 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) and 10th Planet Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt fighter who last competed in the Welterweight division.
[3] Taylor later won The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption Welterweight Tournament,[3] and has also fought for top promotions such as UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, MFC, AFC, Impact FC, Shark Fights, Cage Warriors and Absolute Championship Berkut.
After the birth of his son, it became harder for Taylor to concentrate on Wrestling and school while adjusting to the family life.
[citation needed] After realizing there was no money in Wrestling after college (a sentiment echoed by many former collegiate wrestlers, including Matt Hughes, Randy Couture, and Bobby Lashley), Taylor tried to think of a way to still compete and make a living for him and his son.
[2] An old Wrestling friend of his invited him for a Team Quest workout, where Taylor was able to spar with fighters such as Dan Henderson, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and Jason Miller.
A few years later Jesse got the chance to be on the seventh season of the hit reality television series The Ultimate Fighter [6] In the second episode Jesse Taylor won his entry match against Nick Rossborough by rear naked choke.
Later, in the July fight promo footage for UFC: Silva vs. Irvin, White recounted a conversation he had with Taylor:[7] He told me, "I'm in AA now.
[12] Taylor upset the more experienced Fickett, winning by TKO due to strikes in 1 minutes and 42 seconds.
Taylor then won his sixth straight fight since being released from the UFC after defeating Rubén Darío at Total Combat 33.
However, Diaz missed a pre-fight drug test mandated by the California State Athletic Commission and was denied a license to compete.
[30] Before taking another fight with the MFC, Taylor fought former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante.
[14] Taylor fought Bellator Middleweight champion Hector Lombard on September 3, 2011, in the main event at the Australian Fighting Championships.
[33] Taylor replaced an injured Paulo Filho at KSW XVII and faced Mamed Khalidov.
[38] Just two months removed from winning the Cage Warriors middleweight title, Taylor fought The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner, Kendall Grove.
Taylor fought, and defeated, "The White Tyson" John Phillips via submission early in the first round.
[41] A few weeks after his first successful Cage Warriors title defense, it was announced Taylor had signed an exclusive deal with the World Series of Fighting.
[45] In the Middleweight tournament final, Taylor faced David Branch at World Series of Fighting 10 on June 21, 2014.
[49] Taylor had an upcoming fight against fellow UFC veteran Maiquel Falcao for Argentinian mma promotion Arena Tour on April 18, 2015.
In episode 3, Taylor faced former training partner Mehdi Baghdad and won by unanimous decision to advance to the quarter-finals.
[60][61] Taylor faced James Krause in the semi-finals and won via submission in the third round to advance to the finals.
[65] However on September 13, it was announced that Taylor was pulled from the card after being notified by USADA of a potential doping violation.
[66] On October 13, USADA officially suspended Taylor one year for testing positive for anti-estrogen agent clomiphene.
[68] Taylor went 2-1 on the regional scene, losing via first-round guillotine choke against Mukhamed Berkhamov at ACA 100 and then rebounding against fellow UFC vet Seth Baczynski at NWFA 1: Retribution and Daniel McWilliams at J Street Fights 2, submitting both with a rear-naked choke.
He was booked against reigning champion Christian Leroy Duncan at Cage Warriors 148 for the CWFC Middleweight Championship on December 31, 2022, however he was involved in a hit and run the day before the event and had to pull out of the bout.
[71] Before becoming a professional fighter, Taylor worked various jobs, including construction and personal training.