Johnny Bedford

Background

Bedford was born and raised in Woodville, Ohio. At the age of five, Bedford began wrestling year round. He and his family would travel all over the Midwest so Bedford could compete in various wrestling tournaments. He went on to wrestle for Woodmore High School, where his father was the head wrestling coach. Bedford was a three-time state qualifier, placed in the state tournament twice, and during his senior year finished third in the state tournament with a record of 51-1. After graduating from Woodmore he enrolled at Cleveland State University. At Cleveland State, Bedford was on the wrestling team for a year and a half before he was removed from the school (as well as the wrestling squad) before later making the transition to a career in mixed martial arts.

Amateur career

Bedford began fighting in 2003 because he was a self-proclaimed "tough guy" that just wanted to prove how tough he was. Bedford proclaims his first six amateur fights took place in a barn where the promoter just asked the audience who wanted to fight and then would match them up by who was closest to one another's weight. With no commission in Ohio at the time, the fights were not sanctioned.

Turning pro

After a successful amateur career, Bedford took a year and half off from fighting before being offered his professional fight in 2006 for $200. With no income, Bedford took the fight on short notice and lost via submission in the first round. Bedford began fighting more frequently and by the end of 2009 Bedford held a 13–8–1 record.

Bellator

Bedford was invited to fight for Bellator in 2010. The fight took place at Bellator 19 in Grand Prairie, Texas on May 20, 2010. Bedford fought and defeated Jared Lopez via third-round TKO.

Post-Bellator

At King of Kombat 9: Resurrection, Bedford fought future UFC fighter, Edwin Figueroa. Bedford lost the fight via TKO in the opening of the second round, handing Bedford his only knockout loss in his career. Four months later he bounced back with a first round submission over WEC veteran Frank Gomez.

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2011, Bedford had signed with the UFC to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. In the first episode, Bedford fought Carson Beebe to gain entry into the Ultimate Fighter house. Bedford defeated Beebe in the first round via submission (neck crank). He was selected as a part of Team Mayhem.

Bedford then fought Josh Ferguson in the third episode and won by unanimous decision after using his superior size to take down and control Ferguson.

In the semi-finals Bedford pleaded for the fight against Team Mayhem teammate, John Dodson. The coaches and Dana White agreed with the fight, and matched the two up. After a closely contested first round, Bedford lost after being knocked unconscious one minute into round two. When asked if he knew where he was immediately after the fight, Bedford replied, "I'm in Ohio"; his homestate.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Though he did not win the show, Bedford signed an exclusive contract with the UFC. He officially made his UFC debut on December 3, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale against Ultimate Fighter castmate Louis Gaudinot. Bedford dominated the entirety of the fight and won in the third round via TKO after hitting several knees to Gaudinot's body.

Bedford was expected to face Eddie Wineland on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2, replacing Demetrious Johnson who had been pulled from the bout to be a participant in the UFC's inaugural Flyweight tournament. However, Wineland himself was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Mitch Gagnon. On January 25, 2012, the UFC announced the bout was cancelled due to Gagnon's alleged visa issues. Bedford received his show-money of $8,000 dollars, despite the cancellation.

Bedford was expected to face Nick Denis at UFC on Fox 3 on May 5, 2012. However, Bedford was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Roland Delorme.

After nearly a year off due to various injuries, Bedford returned on December 15, 2012 to face Marcos Vinicius at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale. He won the fight via KO in the second round.

Bedford was expected to face Erik Perez on April 27, 2013 at UFC 159. However, Perez pulled out of the bout just days before the event citing an injury and was replaced by Bryan Caraway. He lost the back-and-forth fight via submission in the third round.

Bedford was expected to face Hugo Viana on September 4, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 28. However, Bedford pulled out of the bout citing an injury and was replaced by Wilson Reis.

Bedford faced Rani Yahya on April 11, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 39. The bout ended in a No Contest as an accidental clash of heads rendered Yahya unable to protect himself, forcing a referee stoppage at 0:39 of round 1. Bedford argued vociferously that the accidental clash of heads should have been ruled a TKO victory in his favor.

A rematch with Yahya was expected to take place on June 28, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 44. However, Yahya was forced out of the bout and replaced by Cody Gibson. For the second time in a row, his fight ended under somewhat controversial circumstances as Bedford was dropped by punches from Gibson and the fight was stopped by the referee just as Bedford appeared to be regaining consciousness, resulting in a first-round TKO loss.

The rescheduled rematch with Rani Yahya eventually took place on September 13, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 51. Yahya won via submission in the second round, and Bedford was subsequently released from the promotion shortly after.

Grappling

On September 30, 2012, Johnny Bedford competed in a no gi super fight against Jimmy Flick (Flick Brother's MMA) at the American Grappling Federation's Dallas Fall Classic. Johnny won the match by points.

Championships and accomplishments