Ricardo Lamas

Personal life

Lamas' father is Cuban and his mother is Mexican. The flags of these two countries are often displayed on his clothing during his fights. Lamas went to Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois.

College wrestling

Lamas graduated with a degree in exercise science from Elmhurst College in 2005, where he was a member of the men's wrestling team and earned All-American honors at the NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championships at 157 lbs. During his collegiate wrestling career (2001–2005), he racked up over 100 wins. He was also a two-time CCIW Champion, and was named the CCIW's "Most Outstanding Wrestler" during the 2003-04 season. Lamas returned to Elmhurst after graduation to serve as the assistant men's wrestling coach.

ISCF - International Sport Combat Federation

Lamas won the ISCF North Central Regional Title on April 26, 2008 in Loves Park, Illinois, USA when he defeated Cal Ferry via Guillotine Choke at 4:50 of round 4.

World Extreme Cagefighting

On March 1, 2009, Lamas made his WEC debut on March 1, 2009 at WEC 39 against IFL and WEC veteran Bart Palaszewski. Lamas took the fight with 4 days notice as he replaced an injured Rich Crunkilton. Lamas controlled Palaszewski with superior wrestling and scored with excellent ground-and-pound to win a unanimous decision.

Lamas faced Danny Castillo at on August 9, 2009 at WEC 42. Lamas suffered his first defeat as Castillo won the fight via second-round TKO.

Lamas next faced James Krause on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44. Lamas won the fight via unanimous decision.

Lamas then faced Bendy Casimir on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47. He won the fight in stunning fashion by defeating Casimir via flying knee KO in the first round.

Lamas defeated Dave Jansen via unanimous decision on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50.

Lamas was expected to face Maciej Jewtuszko on December 16, 2010 at WEC 53, but Jewtuszko had to withdraw as he suffered a broken hand during training. Lamas instead faced Iuri Alcântara and lost via KO in the first round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.

In his UFC debut, Lamas faced returning UFC veteran Matt Grice in a featherweight bout on June 26, 2011 at UFC on Versus 4. Lamas defeated Grice via TKO in the first round.

Lamas faced Cub Swanson on November 12, 2011 at UFC on Fox 1. Lamas won via second round submission after applying an arm-triangle choke, earning Submission of the Night honors.

Lamas was expected to face Dustin Poirier on February 4, 2012 at UFC 143, replacing an injured Erik Koch However, Lamas ended up injured as well and was replaced by Max Holloway.

For his third UFC fight at featherweight, Lamas faced Hatsu Hioki on June 22, 2012 at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida. He defeated the heavily favored Hioki via unanimous decision.

Lamas was briefly linked to a December 2012 bout with Frankie Edgar, however the pairing was scrapped after Edgar was tabbed as a replacement for the injured Erik Koch and face José Aldo at UFC 153.

Lamas faced Erik Koch on January 26, 2013 at UFC on Fox 6. Lamas won via TKO in the second round.

Lamas was expected to face Chan Sung Jung on July 6, 2013 at UFC 162. However, on June 14, it was announced that Jung had been pulled from the Lamas bout and would replace an injured Anthony Pettis to face José Aldo on August 3, 2013 at UFC 163. As a result, Lamas was pulled from the event.

The title fight against José Aldo eventually took place on February 1, 2014 as the co-main event of UFC 169. It was revealed during the UFC countdown show that Lamas received his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu during his training camp leading up to the bout. Lamas lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Lamas faced Hacran Dias on June 28, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 44. Lamas won the fight by unanimous decision.

Lamas faced Dennis Bermudez on November 15, 2014 at UFC 180. After dropping Bermudez with a jab, Lamas was able to secure a guillotine choke and earn the first round submission victory.

Lamas faced Chad Mendes on April 4, 2015 in the main event at UFC Fight Night 63. Mendes won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Lamas faced Diego Sanchez on November 21, 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 2 Finale. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Lamas next faced Max Holloway on June 4, 2016 at UFC 199. He lost the back and forth fight via unanimous decision.

Lamas was scheduled to face returning veteran B.J. Penn on October 15, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 97. However, on October 4, Penn pulled out of the fight citing an injury. In turn, the promotion announced on October 6 that they had cancelled the event entirely.

Lamas was quickly rescheduled and returned to face Charles Oliveira on November 5, 2016 at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale. The bout was contested at a catchweight of 155 lbs, as Oliveira missed weight by nearly 10 lbs. Lamas won the fight via submission in the second round and was awarded a Performance of the Night bonus.

Lamas was expected to face Chan Sung Jung on July 29, 2017 at UFC 214. However Jung pulled out of the fight in early June citing a knee injury. He was replaced by Jason Knight. Lamas won the fight by first round TKO.

Amateur wrestling

Mixed martial arts