Joe Riggs

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1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC
4 Strikeforce
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Joe "Diesel" Riggs (born September 23, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of Arizona Combat Sports.

He stands 6 ft. (183 cm) tall and fights in the welterweight division (170 lbs.).

Riggs is a former WEC middleweight champion, UFC veteran and currently fights as a welterweight for Strikeforce.

Early Career

Joe Riggs made his professional mixed martial arts debut on September 26, 2001 as a heavyweight for the Rage in the Cage promotion. He defeated his opponent, Ryan Roath by submission due to strikes in the first round.

Two victories in the same manner followed before Riggs suffered his first professional victory in March of 2002 when he was defeated by unanimous decision by Homer Moore.

Riggs rebounded from the loss with five straight victories in the Rage in the Cage organization before losing again - this time by knockout - to Wesley "Cabbage" Correira at the inaugural Rumble on the Rock event.

A month after that defeat, Riggs forced prominent MMA referee, Herb Dean to submit to strikes in 52 seconds of the first round.

The quick victory was folled by an even quicker defeat when he was submitted by extreme journeyman, Travis Fulton in March of 2003.

He went four wins and one no contest in his next five fights before losing again, this time to PRIDE veteran, Alex Stiebling at WEC 9 in January, 2004.

Following the loss Riggs began to focus on cutting down to a more suitable weight for his frame. After knocking out a light heavyweight in Chris Kiever in 49 seconds at an IFC event, Riggs picked up the Rage in the Cage middleweight title with a 28 second KO of John Renken in March of 2004.

Riggs extended his win streak to five wins with three more (T)KO stoppages in his next three bouts which included future TUF 3 middleweight winner, Kendall Grove.

UFC

Midway through 2004, Riggs signed a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and was scheduled to make his debut at UFC 49. He faced grizzled Canadian fighter, Joe Doerksen at the event and impressively defeated Doerksen by making him submit to elbow strikes in the second round.

After two first round wins outside of the UFC, Riggs returned at UFC 52 against wily, Ivan Salaverry. Salaverry capitalized on Riggs' aggression as he forced Riggs to submit to a triangle choke in the first round.

A month after the defeat, Riggs defeated Rob Kimmons via submission (punches) at WEC 15 to gain the vacant WEC middleweight title.

At UFC 55, Riggs faced Chris Lytle in his welterweight debut. Riggs became the first person to stop Lytle as he opened a nasty gash on Lytle's face following an elbow strike from his back.

When Karo Parisyan had to pull out of his title bout against champion, Matt Hughes at UFC 56 Riggs was called in on short notice as a replacement. Riggs was unable to make the welterweight limit on short notice though and the bout was changed to a non-title affair. Riggs didn't provide much offense in the bout anyway though as he was submitted with a kimura by Hughes shortly into the first round.

Three months later at UFC 57, Riggs was scheduled to face Nick Diaz. The day prior to the event at the weigh-ins the two almost came to blows when Diaz got in Riggs' face and said, "You gonna make weight this time, motherfucker?". The fight was tight one that saw Riggs walk away with a disputed unanimous decision victory. Later that night at the hospital, Riggs and Diaz got into a fight which Riggs went on to label as "the most technical streetfight ever".

Riggs returned to middleweight for his next bout as he faced TUF 1's Mike Swick at UFC 60. Swick blitzed Riggs, hurting him with strikes and then submitting him with a guillotine choke in 2:19 of round 1.

At UFC Fight Night 6, Riggs submitted TUF 2's Jason Von Flue with a triangle choke in a welterweight bout.

Riggs got main event duties at UFC Fight Night 7 when he faced TUF 1's Diego Sanchez in a welterweight bout. Sanchez floored Riggs with a punch early and then knocked him stiff with a knee while he was getting to his feet giving him the knockout victory at 1:45 of round 1.

Following the loss, Riggs was released from his UFC contract.

Strikeforce

Seven months after leaving the UFC, Riggs scored a triangle choke submission win over Dan Chambers in a middleweight bout at an HCF event held in Canada.

Riggs then signed with the California based, Strikeforce promotion, making his debut at Strikeforce: Playboy Mansion - the first MMA event to be held at the famed Playboy Mansion. At the event Riggs knocked out UFC veteran, Eugene Jackson in the first round.

In February of 2008, Riggs faced Cory Devela at Strikeforce: Strikeforce at the Dome. Just over a minute into the first round Devela executed a judo throw that aggravated a pre-existing back injury of Riggs which forced Riggs to submit giving Devela the victory.

Fully recovered, Riggs submitted Matt Dempsey with a rear naked choke at a Rage in the Cage event in July of 2008.

Returning to Strikeforce, Riggs faced 2006 PRIDE Welterweight tournament champion, Kazuo Misaki at Strikeforce: Playboy Mansion II. Riggs dropped Misaki in the second round but was then dropped and stopped almost immediately following Misaki returning to his feet.

At Strikeforce: Destruction two months later, Riggs dropped back to welterweight and got back on track with a knockout win over grappler, Luke Stewart in the second round.

Riggs kicked off 2009 with a unanimous decision win over UFC and PRIDE veteran, Phil Baroni at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields. Prior to and after the bout Riggs voiced his desire to face Jake Shields who he was originally scheduled to face at the event.