Chris Camozzi

Christopher Allen Camozzi (born November 20, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Camozzi mostly fought in local promotions, as well as the Maximum Fighting Championship, appearing on HDNet Fights on more than one occasion. Camozzi was also a competitor in Spike TV's eleventh season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2010.^[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Background

Camozzi is from Alameda, California and played on the wrestling and rugby teams in high school. He then continued his rugby career at Fort Lewis College but soon dropped out and headed back home to train in Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A coach of his, who had fought in some of the earlier UFC events asked Camozzi if he was interested in fighting. Camozzi soon began his career in mixed martial arts.

Early career

Camozzi fought former Ultimate Fighter competitor Jesse Taylor for the King of Champions Middleweight title.^[3] After three rounds, the judges declared Taylor the winner, giving him the title.

The Ultimate Fighter

Camozzi then signed to take part in the eleventh season of the Ultimate Fighter. Camozzi's preliminary fight to get into the house was against Victor O'Donnell. After three hard-fought rounds between the two of them, Camozzi was declared the winner. However, the damage to both competitors was noticeable, with O'Donnell walking away with a severely fractured orbital bone and Camozzi entering the house with a broken jaw.

This damage to Camozzi proved to be the end of his run on the show, as during the third episode of the season, Dana White informed Camozzi that he had to withdraw from the competition due to his injury. Seth Baczynski stepped in as Camozzi's replacement.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Though Camozzi was removed from the show, he fought at the The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz Finale against James Hammortree.^[4] Camozzi won a unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 30–27).

Camozzi's next fight was at UFC 121 against UFC newcomer Dongi Yang.^[5] Yang began the fight with a successful takedown, followed by ground-and-pound. After standing up, Camozzi was able to keep Yang at bay with kicks, before engaging in the clinch. However, Yang's thick neck and shoulders prevented effective attacks. Later, Camozzi was able to effectively time the advance of Yang. In the third, Yang began to tire and swing wildly, to no avail. Camozzi was declared the winner via split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28).

Camozzi faced off against Kyle Noke on February 27, 2011 at UFC 127.^[6] He lost the fight via rear naked choke in the first round and was subsequently released from the promotion.^[7]

Shark Fights

Following his release from the UFC, Camozzi faced Joey Villaseñor at Shark Fights 15. The fight was initially ruled a draw, but was subsequently overturned and counted as a split decision win for Camozzi by the New Mexico Athletic Commission when it was revealed one of the judges scores was added incorrectly.^[8]

Return to the UFC

It was announced on Monday, 12 September that Camozzi had re-signed with the UFC.^[9] He faced UFC newcomer Francis Carmont on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137. After a back and forth fight, Camozzi lost via unanimous decision.

In his next fight, Camozzi defeated Dustin Jacoby via third round guillotine choke on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2.^[10]

Camozzi faced Nick Catone on June 22, 2012 at UFC on FX 4.^[11] In the third round, Camozzi struck Catone with a knee to the head opening a giant cut, causing the doctor to step in and force a TKO (doctor stoppage) at 1:51 of round 3.

Camozzi was expected to face Buddy Roberts on August 11, 2012 at UFC 150.^[12] However, Camozzi was injured and pulled out of the bout.^[13]

Camozzi fought Luiz Cané on October 13, 2012 at UFC 153.^[14] He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Camozzi next faced Nick Ring on March 16, 2013 at UFC 158.^[15] He won the fight via split decision.

Camozzi was expected to face Cezar Ferreira on May 18, 2013 at UFC on FX 8, replacing an injured C.B. Dollaway.^[16] However on April 7, Ferreira pulled out of the fight as well, citing an injury and was replaced by Rafael Natal.^[17] Then in early May, Camozzi was pulled from the matchup with Natal in favor of a matchup with Ronaldo Souza after Souza's scheduled opponent Constantinos Philippou pulled out of the bout with an injury.^[18] He lost the fight via technical submission due to an arm-triangle choke in the first round.

Camozzi next faced Lorenz Larkin on November 6, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 31.^[19] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Victor O'Donnell	Decision (Unanimous)	The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz		3	5:00	Las Vegas, Nevada	Elimination bout

See also

• List of current UFC fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

• Professional MMA record for Chris Camozzi from Sherdog