Ryan Jensen

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2 Early Career
3 UFC
4 Mixed martial arts record
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Profile

Ryan Jensen (born September 20, 1977) is an American professional mixed martial artist training out of MidAmerica Martial Arts.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178 cm) tall and fights in the middleweight (185 lbs.) division.

Jensen is a veteran of the Strikeforce promotion and currently fights as a middleweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Early Career

Ryan Jensen made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Extreme Challenge 4 on February 22, 1997. He submitted Travis Fulton with a triangle choke in 1:40 of round 1.

It was another five years and four months before Jensen returned to fighting but it did not take him much longer to pick up another victory as he stopped Brian Robinson with strikes in just 20 seconds.

After two more victories, Jensen entered a one night, eight man tournament held by Extreme Challenge. He submitted Neal Rowe in the opening round but was eliminated in the semi finals by Brock Larson who forced him to submit to strikes in 1:39 of round 1.

Jensen got back on track with a TKO of Danny Anderson two weeks later.

2006 was a flawless year for Jensen as he choked out future TUF 5 competitor, Marlon Sims and Rob Kimmons, and stopped BJ Lacy in the first round.

By the end of May, 2007, Jensen had improved his recorded to a very healthy 11-1.

UFC

The impressive start to his career earned Jensen a contract with the UFC. He was signed to make his debut at UFC 74 against TUF 4 middleweight winner, Travis Lutter. An injury forced Lutter out though and he was replaced by Thales Leites. Jensen showed some good striking and good defense early but ultimately succumbed to an armbar submission defeat 3:47 into the fight.

Just two months later, Jensen filled in on short notice for Marvin Eastman at UFC 77. He faced another highly decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu practioner in Demian Maia. The end was even quicker for Jensen this time around as he had no answers for the sublime ground game of Maia and was tapped out in just 2:40 of round 1.

This second UFC loss led to a brief hiatus from the organization. The break didn't begin well as he took a fight for the Strikeforce promotion in March, 2008. He faced off against Joey Villasenor at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le and was knocked stiff in 4:45 of round 1.

Jensen halted his three fight win streak in his next bout as he stopped Mitch Whitesel in the first frame of their bout and then Aaron Praschak a month after that.

The two fight win streak plus a little bit of luck earned Jensen a recall to the UFC. In Omaha, Nebraska, at UFC Fight Night 15, Jensen - an Omaha resident - was called in to replace Jeremy Horn against Wilson Gouveia. Jensen looked good in the first round and was controlling the bout heading into the second frame. He got sloppy however and was submitted with an armbar in 2:04 of round 2.

At UFC Fight Night 18, Jensen hoped to get his first UFC victory when he was set to face off against Steve Steinbeiss on the show's undercard. On the day before the event, Jensen was pulled from the card due to him testing positive for Aderall.

The bout with Steinbeiss has been rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 19 in August.