Rafa Garcia Jr. is an American-Mexican MMA fighter. Nicknamed “Gifted”, he currently competes in the lightweight division at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Rafa Garcia was born on August 5, 1994 in Brawley, California, United States. However, he grew up in El Centro, California, United States. He has been residing in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico since 2013. He made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad on March 13, 2021 as a replacement for Don Madge against Nasrat Haqparast. However, he lost his debut fight by unanimous decision in Round 3. Since then, he has continued to fight in the UFC, showing his MMA skills to the fans. Before UFC, he competed in Combate Americas (now Combate Global), where he was a former 1-time Combate Americas Lightweight Champion. He defeated Erick Gonzalez at Combate 44 on September 20, 2019 to become the champion.
Garcia currently has a MMA record of 19. He won 16 fights (1 by knockout, 9 by submission and 6 by decision) and has lost 3 fights by decision. His last fight was against Clay Guida at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen on April 15, 2023, which he won by unanimous decision in Round 3.
What happened to Rafa Garcia at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Strickland?
Rafa Garcia faced Maheshate at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Strickland on December 17, 2022. During the fight, he got a cut on his head. However, an elbow from Maheshate opened the cut on Garcia’s head and it started bleeding.
Despite this, “Gifted” still managed to beat his opponent via unanimous decision at 5 minus during Round 3. The medical team managed to stop the bleeding after almost two hours. The blow from the Chinese MMA fighter cut an artery in Garcia’s head. He was informed that he had lost 20% of his blood during the fight.
Rafa Garcia Combate Americas Career Highlights
Before coming to the UFC, Rafa Garcia competed at Combate Americas. Here are his career highlights:
January 19, 2017
Rafa Garcia faced Raul Najera Ocampo in his debut at Combate Americas- Combate 10. He defeated Ocampo via submission through a heel hook in 1 minute 04 seconds during Round 1.
September 20, 2019
Rafa Garcia faced Erick Gonzalez at Combate Americas - Garcia vs Gonzalez. This was a fight for the Combate Americas Lightweight Championship. He defeated Gonzalez by unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 5. Rafa Garcia also became the Combate Americas Lightweight Champion.
February 21, 2020
Rafa Garcia defended his championship against Humberto Bardenay at Combate Americas 55 - Garcia vs Bardenay. He successfully retained it by defeating Bardenay by unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 3. He remained the champion till he vacated the title on June 13, 2020.
Rafa Garcia UFC Career Highlights
Rafa Garcia has fought quite a number of times in the UFC till now. Here are some of his career highlights till now.
March 13, 2021
Rafa Garcia made his UFC debut as a replacement for Don Madge against Nasrat Haqparast at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad. However, he was defeated by Haqparast by unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 3.
November 20, 2021
Rafa Garcia faced Natan Levy at UFC Fight Night: Vieira vs Tate. He defeated Levy by unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 3.
April 16, 2022
Rafa Garcia faced Jesse Ronson at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad. He defeated Ronson by submission from a rear naked choke in 4 minutes 50 seconds during Round 2.
December 17, 2022
Rafa Garcia faced Maheshate at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs Strickland. He defeated Maheshate by unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 3. However, he lost 20% of his blood from a cut artery on his head during the fight.
April 15, 2023
Rafa Garcia faced Clay Guida at UFC Fight Night: Holloway vs Allen. He defeated Guida via unanimous decision in 5 minutes during Round 3.
FAQs
A. Rafa Garcia is currently 28 years old.
A. Rafa Garcia’s nickname is “Gifted.”
A. Rafa Garcia is 5’7” in height and weighs 155 lbs.
A. Rafa Garcia is a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
A. Rafa Garcia’s last opponent was Clay Guida.
