Matthew James Bessette[1] (born December 28, 1984) is a retired American mixed martial artist.

The doctors gave him 50% chance of survival, but became more optimistic after the initial treatments, which reduced significantly the leukemic cells.

Bessette also developed asthma at an early age, although that never prevented him from competing in sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, and football.

While still in the university, he was introduced to mixed martial arts at the age of 22 and graduated in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Bessette faced Anthony Kaponis on October 9, 2010 at Reality Fighting: Eruption for the vacant lightweight title.

[5] Bessette was set to make his first title defense against Joe Proctor on October 8, 2011 at Reality Fighting: Gonzaga vs. Porter.

[8] Bessette faced The Ultimate Fighter 12 competitor Paul Barrow on November 16, 2012 at Bellator 81.

[15] Bessette made his promotional debut on June 12, 2015 in the co-main event of CES MMA 29 against Khama Worthy.

[21] Bessette won the featherweight belt with a heel hook submission victory in the second round.

Bessette successfully defended his title with a TKO win over Kevin Croom at CES MMA 41.

[22] At CES MMA 44, Bessette was scheduled to fight Jeremy Spoon but he was replaced with Rey Trujillo.

[24] On June 22, 2017, it was announced that Bessette would headline the July 11 premiere event of the Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series against Kurt Holobaugh.

Bessette won the fight via knockout in the third round, claiming the championship for the second time in his career.