Rivera's first sanctioned fight was in 2001, when he was 29 years old against Branden Lee Hinkle in Chester, West Virginia. Lee Hinkle, who had been fighting professionally for three years, also had the legendary Mark Coleman in his corner. Rivera landed a solid straight right hand early, that knocked out Lee Hinkle's mouthpiece and caused him to stumble, but then responded using his wrestling, picking up and slamming Rivera. Lee Hinkle then proceeded to land many punches that caused referee Din Thomas to stop the fight, making Lee Hinkle the winner by TKO. Rivera's first fight in the UFC was a unanimous decision victory over David Loiseau at UFC 44. He then followed up with back-to-back submission losses to Lee Murray at UFC 46 and Rich Franklin at UFC 50 before rebounding with a unanimous decision win over Dennis Hallman at UFC 55. Rivera was defeated by Chris Leben by technical knockout before appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 4 as a Middleweight contestant. Although Rivera was not successful in achieving a slot in the middleweight finals, he appeared on the live card of The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale, defeating Edwin DeWees by technical knockout in the first round. Jorge then was defeated by Terry Martin by KO via an uppercut at UFC 67, fourteen seconds into round one. Jorge broke his jaw from the knockout punch and did not compete until UFC 80, where he knocked out heavy favorite Kendall Grove in the first round. He went 4–3 after the upset, with wins over Eric Schafer, Nate Quarry, Nissen Osterneck and submission artist Rob Kimmons, with his only losses since coming from top level opponents Martin Kampmann, Michael Bisping, and Costas Philippou. Rivera was scheduled to face Alessio Sakara on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118, but was forced off the card with an arm injury and replaced by Gerald Harris. Rivera/Sakara was expected to take place on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122. The fight was scrapped the day of the fight due to a 'flu like illness from Sakara. On February 27, 2011 at UFC 127 Rivera lost to Michael Bisping by way of TKO at 1:54 in the 2nd round. Weeks before he was set to fight Bisping, Rivera made some videos mocking and insulting Bisping and his family. The bout between Rivera and Sakara had been rescheduled again for August 6, 2011 at UFC 133. Before Rivera's fight against Sakara, Rivera mentioned that he may retire from the sport after his next fight due to his age. Rivera instead faced Costas Philippou. He lost the fight via split decision. Rivera faced Eric Schafer on January 20, 2012 at. After a dominant first round from Schafer due to takedowns and ground control, Rivera turned the fight around in the second round and won by TKO due to punches. Following the fight, Rivera retired from mixed martial arts competition.
Personal life
Rivera has four children, a son and four daughters, Elijah, Janessa, Marianna, Johanna, and Alanna Rivera. On August 5, 2008, his oldest daughter Janessa Marie died unexpectedly from a reaction to prescription medication.
