With 42 wins on his MMA record, UFC vet and former WEC middleweight champ Joe “Diesel” Riggs has finished 21 opponents by knockout and 16 by submission. In MMA fights he’s won, he’s only gone to decision four times. He’s an old school scrapper who had his first recorded pro MMA fight back in 2001. Riggs wrapped up his third stint in the UFC last year after going 1-3, and his last MMA fight was a first round TKO over Cody McKenzie at Z Promotions: Fight Night Medicine Hat 2 last October. Some of “Diesel’s” most notable mixed martial arts victories include wins over Nick Diaz, Chris Lytle, Kendall Grove and Herb Dean (yes, that Herb Dean).
Riggs recently decided to ditch the MMA gloves to go the bare knuckle boxing route and traveled to London where he challenged Christian Evans for the BKB Light Heavyweight Title. You can see Riggs’s MMA instincts take over after getting popped with a jab early in the fight and he takes Evans down. He also pops Evans with an elbow strike at one point. However, once he reeled it in, Riggs showed off his boxing prowess, and despite getting cut early in the fight, he stood toe-to-toe with the bare knuckle boxing champion, knocking him down and practically had him out on his feet at one point. The bout went the distance and the MMA veteran was awarded the unanimous decision to claim the light heavyweight bare knuckle boxing crown.
Guess who else fought on this card? Another UFC vet, and the last guy Riggs beat inside the MMA cage — Cody McKenzie. He fought Jimmy Sweeney for the BKB Middleweight Title and… he didn’t fare so well. Take a look.
Maybe Cody should have softened Sweeney up with some of his MMA skills first like Joe did in his fight?
Since McKenzie left the UFC in 2013, he’s gone 2-6 in the MMA cage. And now this. Where does The Ultimate Fighter 12 veteran go from here? Eleven of Cody’s first 12 MMA wins all came by guillotine choke, and 14 of his 16 wins have been by submission. If your school is in need of a grappling coach, it might be worth a shot reaching out.