Ross Pearson is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional mixed martial artist

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

 from Sunderland. He is the lightweight division winner of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom is the ninth installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series The Ultimate Fighter. It began production in January 2009, and began airing on Spike on April 1, 2009. The season featured Lightweight fighters ...

and is a member of Team Rough House

Team Rough House

Team Rough House is a Mixed martial arts team from the East Midlands, England. Based in Nottingham and Leicester, the team is known for producing well respected welterweight fighters...

.

Background

Pearson enrolled in the City of Sunderland

City of Sunderland

The City of Sunderland is a local government district of Tyne and Wear, in North East England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough...

 college to study how to be a bricklayer. Ross then began training in taekwondo

Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...

, judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

 and boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

. He turned professional in December 2004.

The Ultimate Fighter

Pearson appeared on The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom. He defeated A.J. Wenn by knockout in an elimination match earning him a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 to compete on the show. Pearson inarguably controlled the first round against Wenn, leading Dana White

Dana White

Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...

 and other observers of the fight at ringside to predict that Wenn wouldn't come out of his corner for the second round. Pearson finished the fight early in the second round. Pearson had his second fight against Team United States fighter Richie Whitson. Pearson defeated Whitson via a first round armbar submission.

Pearson won his semi-final fight against Jason Dent

Jason Dent

Jason William Dent is an American mixed martial artist. The Lightweight competitor has held several regional championships, most recently he won the IFBL Welterweight Championship. He runs the GriffonRawl MMA Academy in Mentor, Ohio, and previously hosted an MMA oriented radio talk show on WWGK...

 via unanimous decision. The win put Pearson into the finals against his team-mate Andre Winner

Andre Winner

Andre Winner is an English professional mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, reaching the final. Winner is also a member of Team Rough House. He holds notable wins over Jeff Lawson, Rolando Delgado and Rafaello...

.

Pearson had a professional record of 8–3 when he entered The Ultimate Fighter house. One of those losses was a decision loss to Abdul Mohammed on the now-defunct Cage Gladiators show in Liverpool. The decision was extremely controversial and Pearson's managers openly accused the promotion's judges of being biased towards Mohammed, who was fighting out of the Wolfslair and was thus the hometown fighter. The promoter's decision to remove the fight from a subsequent television broadcast of the event it took place on was also seen as a suspicious act. Pearson's camp refused to allow any more of their fighters to compete on Cage Gladiators events.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Pearson fought Andre Winner

Andre Winner

Andre Winner is an English professional mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, reaching the final. Winner is also a member of Team Rough House. He holds notable wins over Jeff Lawson, Rolando Delgado and Rafaello...

 on 20 June at the The Ultimate Finale 9

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale, also referred to as The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 20, 2009. Featured were finals from The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs...

 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

. Pearson won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28 from each judge), along with the six figure contract.

At UFC 105

UFC 105

UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England at the Manchester Evening News Arena...

, Pearson had his professional UFC debut against Aaron Riley

Aaron Riley

Aaron Matthew Riley is an American mixed martial arts fighter who currently teaches MMA at Warrior Gym in Alexandria, Virginia. He competes in the Lightweight Division.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:...

. Pearson went on to demolish Riley in his second appearance (including The Ultimate Finale 9

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale

The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom Finale, also referred to as The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 20, 2009. Featured were finals from The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs...

) in the UFC. Pearson never looked troubled by the offense of Riley and was able to demonstrate varied strikes throughout the fight. After the fight was paused in the second round following a flying knee to the head of Riley; doctors viewed the cuts on Riley's face and came to the conclusion that he was unable to continue.

Pearson defeated Dennis Siver

Dennis Siver

Dennis D. Siver ; born January 13, 1979) is a Russian-German mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of July 2011, Siver is ranked as the #8 lightweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly...

 by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) on 31 March 2010 at UFC Fight Night 21. The bout was entertaining all three rounds with both fighters showing interesting stand-up skills. The bout received Fight of the Night honours, giving both fighters an extra $30,000.

Pearson was submitted by Cole Miller

Cole Miller

Jeremiah Cole Miller is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing in the lightweight division in the UFC. His nickname "Magrinho" means "skinny" in Portuguese....

 via second round rear-naked choke on 15 September 2010 at UFC Fight Night 22

UFC Fight Night 22

UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares, also known as UFC Fight Night 22 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on September 15, 2010 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas...

.

Pearson faced Spencer Fisher

Spencer Fisher

Spencer William Fisher is an American mixed martial artist from Brevard, North Carolina. He currently fights in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion. He holds notable victories over Thiago Alves, Matt Wiman, Sam Stout, Jeremy Stephens, and Caol Uno...

 on 27 February 2011 at UFC 127

UFC 127

UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in North America...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Pearson was defeated by Edson Barboza via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 28-29) at UFC 134

UFC 134

UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

 in a bout that earned Fight of the Night honors.

Pearson is expected to face Junior Assunção

Junior Assuncao

Cleuder F. "Junior" Assunção is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He competes in the lightweight and featherweight divisions.-Biography:Originally from Northeastern Brazil, Junior grew up in Miami, and now resides in Atlanta...

 on December 30, 2011 at UFC 141

UFC 141

UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on December 30, 2011, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...

.

Mixed martial arts

Mixed martial arts

Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  Ultimate Fighting Championship
  The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
  
  
  • The Ultimate Fighter 9 Tournament Winner (Lightweight)
  • Fight of the Night (Two times)

Mixed martial arts record

Including 3 fights on The Ultimate Fighter, Ross Pearson's record is 15-5 but because one of the fights was an elimination match, the UFC has his record at 14-5.
The other 2 fights on the show count as exhibition matches, so his professional record is officially 12-5.
|-
|Loss
|align=center|12-5
|Edson Barboza
|Decision (split)
| UFC 134

UFC 134

UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 27, 2011 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...

|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

|
|-
|Win
|align=center|12-4
|Spencer Fisher

Spencer Fisher

Spencer William Fisher is an American mixed martial artist from Brevard, North Carolina. He currently fights in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion. He holds notable victories over Thiago Alves, Matt Wiman, Sam Stout, Jeremy Stephens, and Caol Uno...

| Decision (unanimous)
|UFC 127

UFC 127

UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Sunday, 27 February 2011 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Due to the time zone difference it aired live on Saturday, 26 February in North America...

|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Sydney, Australia
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|11–4
|Cole Miller

Cole Miller

Jeremiah Cole Miller is an American mixed martial artist, currently competing in the lightweight division in the UFC. His nickname "Magrinho" means "skinny" in Portuguese....

|Submission (rear-naked choke)
|UFC Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|1:49
|Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
|Win
|align=center|11–3
|Dennis Siver

Dennis Siver

Dennis D. Siver ; born January 13, 1979) is a Russian-German mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of July 2011, Siver is ranked as the #8 lightweight fighter in the world by MMAWeekly...

|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi

UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi

UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi, also referred to as UFC Fight Night 21 was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 31, 2010 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, This was the third time the UFC held an event in Charlotte, but the first since...

|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
|Win
|align=center|10–3
|Aaron Riley

Aaron Riley

Aaron Matthew Riley is an American mixed martial arts fighter who currently teaches MMA at Warrior Gym in Alexandria, Virginia. He competes in the Lightweight Division.-Ultimate Fighting Championship:...

|TKO (doctor stoppage)
|UFC 105

UFC 105

UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on November 14, 2009 in Manchester, England at the Manchester Evening News Arena...

|
|align=center|2
|align=center|4:38
|Manchester, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|9–3
|Andre Winner

Andre Winner

Andre Winner is an English professional mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom, reaching the final. Winner is also a member of Team Rough House. He holds notable wins over Jeff Lawson, Rolando Delgado and Rafaello...

|Decision (unanimous)
|The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

|
|-
|Win
|align=center|8–3
|Ian Jones
|Submission (rear-naked choke)
|Ultimate Force: Nemesis
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|3:33
|Doncaster, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|7–3
|Abdul Mohamed

Abdul Mohamed

Abdul Mohamed is an Afghan-English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the lightweight and welterweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2003, Mohamed has starred in the domestic organisations, winning the Cage Rage British Lightweight Championship, as well as competing...

|Decision (unanimous)
|Cage Gladiators 9: Beatdown
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Liverpool, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|7–2
|Cedric Celerier
|Submission (punches)
|MMA Total Combat 24
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:35
|London, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|6–2
|Aidan Marron
|Submission (armbar)
|Ultimate Force: Punishment
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|4:34
|Doncaster, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|5–2
|Sami Berik

Sami Berik

Sami Berik is a Turkish professional mixed martial artist who is a Cage Rage veteran, and has competed in the Cage Rage Contenders series. Berik has fought current Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters Dan Hardy, Terry Etim, and Ross Pearson...

|Submission (triangle choke)
|Strike and Submit 6
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|0:37
|Gateshead, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|4–2
|Mark Spencer 
|TKO (punches)
|MMA Total Combat 23
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|3:44
|Cornwall, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|3–2
|Steve Tetley
|Submission (armbar)
|CWFC: Enter The Rough House 5
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|4:46
|Nottingham, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|2–2
|Gavin Bradley
|KO (punch)
|MMA Total Combat 22
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:05
|Cornwall, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|1–2
|Curt Warburton
|TKO (doctor stoppage)
|MMA Total Combat 21
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|5:00
|Cornwall, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|1–1
|Will Burke
|Decision
|MMA Total Combat 21
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Cornwall, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|0–1
|Chris Hughes
|Submission (choke)
|HOP 1: Fight Night 1
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|2:33
|Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

| Professional Debut