Josh Emmett


Joshua James Emmett is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the featherweight division with Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he has also competed for King of the Cage. As of June 30, 2020, he is #7 in the UFC featherweight rankings.

Background

Emmett was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1985. He studied psychology in college with the intentions of going into law enforcement and earned his Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree at Menlo College. Emmett wrestled for 14 years; beginning at El Camino Fundamental High School and continuing through his college years. Emmett wrestled his first two seasons at the junior college level before transferring to NAIA Menlo. After his collegiate career was over, he joined Urijah Faber's Ultimate Fitness to continue his desire in competing in combat sports. Emmett is also an accomplished Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappler, he won a world championship in the blue belt no-gi division.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

2011

After compiling an amateur record of 2–0, Emmett started his professional MMA career on October 8, 2011 and made his debut in Capitol Fighting Championship as a Featherweight. He broke his hand in first round and continued with the fight and managed to earn his first win by unanimous decision.
Emmett had a surgery on his broken hand and had a 10 month lay off from competing. He returned to training to prepare for his next fight and broke the same hand on his last sparring session prior to the fight event which forced him to take another long break before returning to the cage.

2013

After his first professional win, he made a move to compete in West Coast Fighting Championship and made his debut on August 3 2013 against Mike Ryan, winning via guillotine choke in the first round.
On November 16 2013, he faced Noah Schnable and defeated him in 45 seconds on round one with TKO.

2014

Emmett's third opponent with West Coast Fighting Championship was Adin Duenas on February 15, 2014. He managed to secured a win via unanimous decision.
Two months after the fight with Duenas, Emmettt faced Tramain Smith on West Coast Fighting Championship 9. He won the fight via TKO on round one.
On September 13, 2014, Emmett was up against Tony Rios and judges awarded a win with unanimous decision in favour of Emmett.
Emmett faced Brandon Ricetti on November 15, 2014 on West Coast Fighting Championship 12 in a five round fight for the lightweight title belt. On the fifth round Emmett loaded with punches, pressing Recetti to falling forward when Emmett hit Ricetti with a knee and Ricetti was KO. The fight was ruled a No Decision at first as Ricetti was grounded when he got kneed. However, the decision was overturned after review of the incident and a win was awarded to Emmett via unanimous technical decision. Emmett was crowned WFC Lightweight Champion.

2015

After the secured the championship belt, Emmett didn't return to compete until almost one year later on October 3, 2015 at KOTC promotion, facing Rocky Johnson, Emmet showed off his submission skils and won the fight via arm-triangle choke.

2016

Emmett returned to fight in West Coast Fighting Championship promotion in Sacramento, CA, USA on Jan 23, 2016 against Christos Giagos, a former UFC fighter. Emmett secured a win via TKO at 2:21 of round 3 and also won the ISCF - International Sport Combat Federation Pro California Lightweight Title..

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After garnering a 9–0 record as a professional, Emmett signed with the UFC.

2016

Emmett made his promotional debut as a short notice replacement on May 8, 2016 against Jon Tuck at UFC Fight Night 87, where he replaced an injured Nick Hein, Emmett suffered a compound fracture on his left right finger from catching Tuck's spinning back kick and the referee halted the fight briefly prior to restarting. Emmett secured a win with split decision.
Emmett was expected to face Jeremy Kennedy on August 27, 2016 at UFC on Fox 21. However, Emmett was forced out of the event due to injury.
On December 17, 2016, Emmett faced Scott Holtzman at UFC on Fox 22. The three round fight was a back and forth battle and judges awarded the win to Emmett via unanimous decision.

2017

Emmett faced promotional newcomer Desmond Green on April 8, 2017 at UFC 210. Emmett was out pointed by Green's striking and lost via split decision of 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27.
Emmett faced Felipe Arantes in a featherweight bout on October 21, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 118. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Emmett dedicated this win to his friend's son who has heart condition at age 11 and has gone through an experimental surgery.
Emmett faced Ricardo Lamas on December 16, 2017 at. At the weigh ins, Emmett weighed in at 148.5 pounds, 2.5 pounds over the featherweight upper limit of 146 pounds and the bout proceeded at a catchweight. Emmett forfeited 30% of his purse to Lamas. He won the fight via knockout in the first round.

2018

Emmett faced Jeremy Stephens at UFC on Fox 28, which took place on February 24, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. Despite hurting Stephens in the first round, he lost the fight by knockout in the second round. As a result, Emmett was sidelined for the remainder of 2018 after undergoing successful surgery to correct facial injuries sustained during the Stephens fight.

2019

Emmett faced Michael Johnson on March 30, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 2. He won the fight via knockout in the third round.
Emmett faced Mirsad Bektić on July 13, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 155. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

2020

Emmett was expected to face Arnold Allen on January 25, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 166. However Emmett was pulled from the event for an undisclosed reason, which was later disclosed to be an injury.
Emmett was expected to face Edson Barboza on May 2, 2020 at. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout was cancelled.
With one fight left on his contract, Emmett signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. As the first fight of new prevailing contract, Emmett faced Shane Burgos on June 20, 2020 at. He won the bout via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award. Emmett is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of 2020 recovering from a litany of injuries to his left leg sustained in the fight, including an ACL tear.

Championships and awards

Emmett married his wife Vanessa.

Mixed martial arts record