A professional in mixed martial arts since 2001, Phan has competed for the UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, World Victory Road, and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team GSP vs.
By the age of 16, he had earned a second degree black belt in Việt Quyền Đạo, a Vietnamese combat martial art.
Phan then began studying Brazilian jiu-jitsu in the year 2000 earning his black belt [2] He is also a professional boxer with a record of 3-8-1.
[3] Phan made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Jason Maxwell in October 2001, and won due to a second-round TKO.
In 2009, he took part in the Sengoku Raiden Championship's Featherweight Grand Prix where he defeated Hideki Kadowaki in the opening round.
On the debut episode, Phan defeated Mike Budnik via TKO after a liver shot and follow-up punches.
The first round was closely contested until the final seconds where Phan got a takedown, ground and pounded, and then applied a kimura.
Phan was expected to face Matt Grice on October 8, 2011, at UFC 136, replacing an injured Josh Grispi.
[22] Phan faced Dennis Siver on December 8, 2012, at UFC on Fox 5, replacing an injured Eddie Yagin.
[23] Nam went into the fight with a passive posture, and proceeded to be dominated through the entire three rounds in both stand up and ground games, ultimately losing by unanimous decision.
He proudly displays both the American and South Vietnamese flags on his gi as a symbol of his pride in the freedom of his current home and of his lost homeland.
Phan owns and runs the Madu Academy, where he teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as boxing and Muay Thai.
In 2005, Phan co-founded Ma Du Entertainment, a business to promote mixed martial arts fighters.
There has been wide speculation of Nam Phan having traumatic brain damage evident in his slurred speech and aggressive change in interviews and articles.