James Vick

James William Vick (born February 23, 1987) is an American former mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight and lightweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Background Vick was born to a modest Texan family on February 23, 1987. He grew up in Olney, Texas with his five siblings. Mixed martial arts piqued his interest initially when he saw The Ultimate Fighter 1 around the time he graduated from high school.

The Ultimate Fighter Vick was one of 32 lightweight fighters announced by the UFC to participate in the first live season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.

Vick won his way into the house when he defeated Dakota Cochrane by split decision after one round. He was then chosen to be part of Team Cruz as Cruz's fifth pick and ninth overall.

For the first official fight of the show, he was chosen to fight Team Faber's third pick Daron Cruickshank. After a rough first part of the round, Vick landed a knee on Cruickshank as he shot in for a takedown, and won the fight by knockout in the first round.

His quarter-final fight came against Team Faber's Joe Proctor. Vick was able to dominate the fight, out-striking Proctor on the feet and successfully defending all of Proctor's take down attempts. Vick won the fight by unanimous decision, earning his way into the semi-final round.

Vick was selected to fight Team Faber fighter and eventual show winner, Michael Chiesa, in the semi-final round. Vick lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Vick was scheduled to face castmate Vinc Pichel on June 1, 2012, at The Ultimate Fighter: Live Finale. However, due to his TKO loss in the semifinals, Vick was unable to compete at the event and Pichel was pulled from the card as well.

In his official debut, Vick faced Ramsey Nijem on August 17, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 26. He won the fight via submission at just 58 seconds into the first round.

Vick was expected to face promotional newcomer Valmir Lazaro on August 2, 2014, at UFC 176. However, after UFC 176 was cancelled, Vick/Lazaro was rescheduled and eventually took place on August 23, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 49. He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.

Vick faced Nick Hein on November 22, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 57. Vick won the fight by unanimous decision.

Vick faced Jake Matthews on May 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 65. Vick won the fight via submission in the first round. The win also earned Vick his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

Vick next faced Glaico França on April 23, 2016, at UFC 197. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Vick was expected to face Evan Dunham on June 4, 2016, at UFC 199, filling in for an injured Leonardo Santos. In turn, Dunham pulled out for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Beneil Dariush. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Vick was scheduled to face Johnny Case on February 4, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 104. However On January 19, Case pulled out the fight citing injury and was replaced by Abel Trujillo. Vick won by submission via submission in the third round.

Vick faced Polo Reyes on May 13, 2017, at UFC 211. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. After the bout with Reyes, Vick signed a new, four-fight contract with UFC.

Vick faced Joseph Duffy on November 4, 2017, at UFC 217. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.

Vick faced Francisco Trinaldo on February 18, 2018, at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Vick was scheduled to face Paul Felder on July 14, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 133. However, Vick was pulled from that fight in favor of a main event bout with Justin Gaethje on August 25, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 135. He lost the fight via KO in the first round.

Vick faced Paul Felder on February 17, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 1. He lost via unanimous decision.

Vick faced Dan Hooker on July 20, 2019, at UFC on ESPN 4. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. Subsequently, Vick announced he will be moving up to the welterweight division.

Vick faced Niko Price on October 12, 2019, at UFC on ESPN+ 19. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Following this fight, Vick's contract expired and the UFC elected not to renew it, making him a free agent.

Post-UFC career Following his release from the UFC, Vick fought André Fialho at XMMA event on January 30, 2021. Vick lost the fight by second-round technical knockout. Vick announced his retirement after the loss, stating:

.... One of my main reasons for still fighting was to prove to my son that you can’t just give up when things get hard in life. But this is not the way to teach him that. This is not like failing a test or losing a basketball or football game. This is combat sports and this shit can be permanent. One of the last punches he landed i knew something was seriously wrong. I’m glad the ref stepped in because lord knows I would have been too tough and dumb to do that. My orbital is broke on my right side, the fracture went all the way through to the other side causing a bilateral break, plus my jaw is completely displaced so tomorrow they are finally doing surgery to fix it..... Following retirement from mixed martial arts after a decade in the sport, Vick returned to boxing in 2022. He faced Simon Alejandro Heredia Cortes on March 26, 2022, and won the bout via second-round technical knockout. Nearly two months later on May 5, 2022, Vick stepped into the ring with Robert Lartigue and won the fight again via second-round technical knockout. Vick last fought Rodrigo Octavio Gonzalez on September 24, 2022, losing the fight via decision.

Karate Combat On October 29, 2022, Vick would debut with Karate Combat, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Jorge Perez.

Returning to the promotion on April 1st, 2023, Vick secured his first Karate Combat win via unanimous decision against opponent Gabriele Cera.

Vick most recently faced Rafael Alves at Karate Combat 47 on June 29, 2024, suffering a KO loss via head kick.

Vick’s record with the promotion stands at 1-2-0.

Personal life James and his wife Ada have a son, James Jr (born 2018).

Championships and accomplishments Ultimate Fighting Championship Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Jake Matthews The Ultimate Fighter Semi Finalist UFC.com Awards 2015: Ranked #7 Upset of the Year

Mixed martial arts record Loss

André Fialho TKO (punches) XMMA: Vick vs Fialho

West Palm Beach, Florida, United States Loss

Niko Price KO (upkick) UFC Fight Night: Joanna vs. Waterson

Tampa, Florida, United States Loss

Dan Hooker KO (punch) UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards

San Antonio, Texas, United States Loss

Paul Felder Decision (unanimous) UFC on ESPN: Ngannou vs. Velasquez

Phoenix, Arizona, United States Loss

Justin Gaethje KO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Gaethje vs. Vick

Lincoln, Nebraska, United States Win

Francisco Trinaldo Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Medeiros

Austin, Texas, United States Win

Joseph Duffy TKO (punches) UFC 217

New York City, New York, United States Win

Polo Reyes TKO (punches) UFC 211

Dallas, Texas, United States Win

Abel Trujillo Submission (D'Arce choke) UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie

Houston, Texas, United States Loss

Beneil Dariush KO (punch) UFC 199

Inglewood, California, United States Win

Glaico França Decision (unanimous) UFC 197

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Win

Jake Matthews Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Miocic vs. Hunt

Adelaide, Australia Win

Nick Hein Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Edgar vs. Swanson

Austin, Texas, United States Win

Valmir Lazaro Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. dos Anjos

Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States Win

Ramsey Nijem Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen

Boston, Massachusetts, United States Win

Chris Pecero Decision (unanimous) Back Alley Promotions

Arlington, Texas, United States Win

Mike Salazar TKO (punches) STFC 16 - All or Nothing

McAllen, Texas, United States Win

Jimmy Taylor Submission (armbar) Xtreme Knockout 11

Arlington, Texas, United States Win

Cody Carrillo Submission (rear-naked choke) Undisputed MMA 1

Amarillo, Texas, United States Mixed martial arts exhibition record Loss

Michael Chiesa TKO (punches)

(Live airdate)

Win

Joe Proctor Decision (unanimous) (Live airdate)

Win

Daron Cruickshank KO (knee) (Live airdate)

Win

Dakota Cochrane Decision (split) (Live airdate)

Professional boxing record

Professional kickboxing record Win

Jeremiah Truhler Decision (unanimous)

West Palm Beach, Florida, United States Karate Combat Record Loss

Rafael Alves KO (switch kick) Karate Combat 47

Orlando, Florida, United States Win

Gabriele Cera Decision (unanimous) Karate Combat 38

Miami, Florida, United States Loss

Jorge Perez Decision (unanimous) Karate Combat 36

Orlando, Florida, United States