Tom Breese

Tom Breese (born 26 September 1991) is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, he formerly competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Professional Fighters League (PFL), Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), and BAMMA.

Background

Born in Birmingham to a Welsh father and an English mother, Breese began training MMA at the age of 16.[citation needed] After high school, Breese attended university only to drop out later in order to pursue a career in mixed martial arts. A successful wrestler and jiu-jitsu competitor, he won a junior national freestyle wrestling championship, as well as a second-place finish at the IBJJF world championships when he was a purple belt.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Breese compiled an amateur record of 3–0–1 before successfully making his professional debut for BAMMA in 2010.[citation needed]

Breese fought exclusively in his native England and amassed an undefeated record of 7–0 with all but one win coming by way of submission before joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2015.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Breese made his promotional debut against Luiz Dutra Jr. on 30 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 67. Breese won the fight via TKO in the first round after dropping his opponent with a straight left and following up with ground and pound.

Breese faced Cathal Pendred on 24 October 2015 at UFC Fight Night 76. Breese dominated the fight with striking exchanges en route to another TKO victory in the first round. In similar fashion to his UFC debut, Breese dropped his opponent with a straight left and followed up with ground and pound to earn the TKO victory. The win also earned him his first Performance of the Night bonus award.

Breese faced Keita Nakamura on 27 February 2016 at UFC Fight Night 84. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Breese faced Sean Strickland on 4 June 2016 at UFC 199. He lost the fight via split decision, marking the first loss in Breese's career.

Breese was expected to face Oluwale Bamgbose on 18 March 2017 at UFC Fight Night 107. However, on the day of the event, Breese was deemed unfit to compete and the bout was cancelled.

Breese faced Dan Kelly on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130. He won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Breese was expected to face Cezar Ferreira on 17 November 2018 at UFC Fight Night 140. However, it was reported on 9 November 2018 that Breese pulled out of the event due to injury and was replaced by Ian Heinisch.

Breese was expected to face Alessio Di Chirico on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night 147. However, Di Chirico pulled out of the fight in early January citing an undisclosed injury and subsequent surgery. He was replaced by Cezar Ferreira. However, on 1 February 2019 Ferreira withdrew from the fight, citing a knee injury, and was replaced by Ian Heinisch. In turn, Breese withdrew from the fight against Heinisch due to health concerns.

Breese faced Brendan Allen on 29 February 2020 at UFC Fight Night 169. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Breese was scheduled to meet Roman Kopylov on 4 October 2020. at UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana. However, Kopylov was removed from the bout for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by KB Bhullar. The fight took place a week later at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen. Breese won the fight via technical knockout in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Breese was expected to face Omari Akhmedov on 16 January 2021 at UFC on ABC 1. During fight week, the UFC opted to move the bout to UFC on ESPN: Chiesa vs. Magny. He lost the bout via second round arm triangle submission.

Breese was scheduled to face Antônio Arroyo on 5 June 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai. However, the fight would be cancelled a few hours before it was to take place due to medical issues suffered by Breese.

Levels Fight League

After the pull out from his last bout, Breese was released from the UFC and signed a multi-fight deal with Levels Fight League. Breese made his debut against David Ramirez at LFL 4 on 13 March 2022. He won the fight by submission due to rear naked choke at 1:46 of the second round, winning the LFL Middleweight title in the process.

Breese defended his title against Ahmed Sami at Levels Fight League 5 on 26 June 2022. He won the bout and kept the title, submitting Sami in the second round via guillotine choke.

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki

Breese made his KSW debut against Damian Janikowski on 10 September 2022, at KSW 74, controversially winning via guillotine choke in the second round, with the bout being stopped after the ref thought that Janikowski tapped when he said he didn't.

In his sophomore performance, Breese faced Paweł Pawlak on 12 November 2022, at KSW 76: Parnasse vs. Rajewski, losing the bout via ground and pound TKO in the first round.

Breese faced Bartosz Leśko on 17 March 2023, at KSW 80: Ruchała vs. Eskiev, submitting him via rear-naked choke in the first round.

Return to LFL and double championship

After the stint in KSW, Breese returned to the Levels Fight League, challenging the reigning LFL Light Heavyweight champion Jarosław Lech at LFL 9 on 9 July 2023. Breese became an LFL double champion by submitting Lech in the first round.

On 10 October 2023 KSW announced that Breese was no longer under contract with the promotion.

Professional Fighters League

After leaving KSW, Breese signed with the PFL and made his debut against Cleiton Silva on 8 December 2023 at PFL Europe 4. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round.

Breese started the 2024 season with a bout against Rob Wilkinson on 12 April 2024 at PFL 2. He lost the fight by first-round technical knockout with a knee and punches.

Breese was scheduled to face Sadibou Sy on 21 June 2024 at PFL 5, however he pulled out for unknown reasons.

Championships and achievements

• Ultimate Fighting Championship Performance of the Night (Three times) vs. Cathal Pendred, Dan Kelly and KB Bhullar UFC.com Awards 2015: Ranked #2 Newcomer of the Year
• BAMMA BAMMA RDX Welterweight Championship (One time)
• Levels Fight League LFL Middleweight Championship (One time; current) One successful title defense LFL Light Heavyweight Championship (one time; current)
• Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki Submission of the Night (one time) vs. Bartosz Leśko

Mixed martial arts record

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

External links

• from Sherdog
• at UFC