Nik Lentz

Background

Lentz was born in El Paso, Texas but grew up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, attending Bloomington Jefferson High School. In high school he wrestled, and was a state champion in Minnesota. After graduating in 2003, he was awarded a scholarship to wrestle for the University of Minnesota. In 2005, he started training in MMA. He trained in Chinese martial arts with Luis Quiroz, switched to Team Bison, and then switched to Minnesota Martial Arts Academy alongside former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, former UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk and former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight Paul Bradley.

Early career

Lentz made his professional debut in 2005 against Anthony White. The fight ended after Lentz knocked out White sometime during the first round. His next fight ended in the same way as the first with Lentz earning himself his second consecutive KO win. His third fight showed off Lentz's power in his hands after he forced his opponent to submit to punches.

Lentz went 4–0 after securing a rear naked choke submission win over Kenneth Allen. His first loss came out the hands of Sherron Leggett from a razor thin split decision. Lentz bounced back with a knock out win over Chris Powers. On a card held by Ultimate Combat Sports, Lentz submitted Jake Hoyer using a rear naked choke.

On August 2006, Lentz took his second loss from Brian Green who submitted him using an armbar in the first round. Lentz won his next three fights, all with first round knockouts; one of the three was against Bellator lightweight, Carey Vanier.

Lentz had a grueling back-and-forth battle with Mark Moreno before the fight ended in disappointment when the cage-side doctors ruled Lentz unable to continue. After the loss to Moreno, Lentz went on to compile a 7–0–1 record in his next 8 fights including a victory over UFC veteran, Drew Fickett. He was then signed by the UFC and entered with a 16–3–1 record.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In August 2009, it was announced Lentz had been signed with the UFC, and he would make his debut at UFC 103. He replaced an injured Dan Lauzon and upset Rafaello Oliveira, winning via unanimous decision with scores of 29–28, 29–28, and 30–27.

Again being the underdog, Lentz faced Thiago Tavares on January 11, 2010 at UFC Fight Night 20, with the fight ending in a rare majority draw.

Lentz moved his UFC record to 2–0–1 by defeating TUF 5 alummus, Rob Emerson on March 21, 2010 at UFC Fight Night 21, via unanimous decision.

In his fourth UFC appearance, Lentz defeated Andre Winner on August 28, 2010 at UFC 118 via unanimous decision (30–27 (twice) and 29–28). The match was shown on Spike TV before the Pay-Per-View event. Lentz scored multiple take-downs throughout the fight but was not able to capitalize on them. The fight was criticized for lack of action.

Lentz got a huge victory over Tyson Griffin on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123 via split decision.

At UFC Fight Night 24, Lentz fought and defeated division II national wrestling champion, Waylon Lowe. After Lowe won the first and second rounds convincingly, Lentz came back in the third and scored an impressive come from behind submission win.

Lentz faced Charles Oliveira on June 26, 2011 at UFC Live: Kongo vs. Barry. The fight ended in the second round after Oliveira hit Lentz with an illegal knee which went unnoticed by the referee and submitted the dazed Lentz via rear naked choke. However, after reviewing the incident, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission overturned the result and declared it a no contest. The back and forth action earned both fighters Fight of the Night honors.

Lentz was defeated by Mark Bocek on December 10, 2011 at UFC 140 via unanimous decision. Lentz was taken down all three rounds and controlled despite threatening Bocek twice with a guillotine choke in rounds 1 and 2.

Lentz faced Evan Dunham on January 28, 2012 at UFC on Fox 2, where he replaced an injured Paul Sass. Lentz lost via TKO, due to doctor stoppage because of a large cut under his left eye. The fight earned both participants Fight of the Night honors.

Lentz made his featherweight debut against Eiji Mitsuoka on August 11, 2012 at UFC 150. Lentz controlled the entirety of the fight and won the fight via TKO in the first round.

In his second fight at featherweight, Lentz faced Diego Nunes on January 19, 2013 at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping. He won the fight via unanimous decision in what is arguably the biggest victory of his career.

Lentz went back to Brazil for the second fight in a row and faced Hacran Dias on May 18, 2013 at UFC on FX 8, replacing an injured Manvel Gamburyan He won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.

Lentz was briefly linked to a bout with Dennis Bermudez on November 6, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 31. However, Lentz was pulled from the pairing with Bermudez and instead faced Chad Mendes on December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Lentz faced Manvel Gamburyan on May 10, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 40. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Lentz was expected to face Charles Oliveira in a rematch on September 5, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 50. At the event weigh in, Oliveira came in over the 146 pound featherweight limit at 150 pounds. Subsequently, he was initially forced to surrender 20 percent of his purse to Lentz and the bout was changed to a catchweight affair. Subsequently, Oliveira pulled out of the bout entirely after falling ill the day of the event.

Lentz was expected to face Thiago Tavares in a rematch on February 14, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 60. However, Tavares pulled out of the bout citing injury in late January and was replaced by promotional newcomer Levan Makashvili. Subsequently, for the second fight in a row, Lentz had a fight cancelled at the weigh ins as the pairing was scrapped as Lentz was stricken with flu-like symptoms.

Lentz finally faced Charles Oliveira in a rematch on May 30, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 67. Following a back-and-forth first two rounds, Lentz lost the fight via guillotine submission in the third round. Despite the loss, Lentz was awarded a Fight of the Night bonus award.

Lentz faced Danny Castillo in a lightweight bout on December 19, 2015 at UFC on Fox 17. He won the fight by split decision.

Lentz was expected to face Mairbek Taisumov on September 10, 2016 at UFC 203. However, Taisumov was removed from the event during the week before the event for alleged visa issues and was replaced by promotional newcomer Michael McBride. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Lentz faced Islam Makhachev on February 11, 2017 at UFC 208. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Lentz is expected to face Will Brooks on October 7, 2017 at UFC 216.

Mixed martial arts