Jessin Ayari (born May 31, 1992) is a Tunisian-German professional mixed martial artist. He was the formal Superior Fighting Championship Welterweight Champion.[8] and competed in welterweight division of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[1]
Ayari started playing football when he was young, and played for TSV 1904 Feucht youth team as a defensive midfielder in Germany. He started training in MMA at the age of fifteen after becoming frustrated with his football teammates who did not pull their weight and give as much as him. Ayari soon transitioned to MMA and completed his first MMA fight two years later.[9]
Since MMA gyms are hard to find in Germany, Ayari goes to different gyms to train in each specific combat sport discipline. A typical day for his training starts with strength and conditioning training at Power Athletics. In the evening, he either does boxing training at West End, BJJ training at Fight Gym, MMA sparring with Hammers Team or wrestling training at Johannis Grizzlys.[1]
Ayari made his professional MMA debut on October 17, 2009, at Bavaria, Germany, and he was the former Superior Fighting Championship Welterweight Champion.[8] He had a six fight win streak with a victory win over former UFC fighter Mickael Lebout at GMC 8 in Castrop-Rauxel on April 16, 2016,[10] with professional MMA record of 15–3 prior being signed by UFC.[4]
Ayari was expected to make his UFC debut against Emil Meek on September 3, 2016, at UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett in Hamburg, Germany.[11][12][13] However, Meek was pulled from the fight due to a USADA conflict where receiving medical treatment of the fight against Rousimar Palhares prior to signing with the UFC[14] and he was replaced by Jim Wallhead.[15][16] Ayari won his first UFC fight via split decision.[17][18]
He next faced Darren Till on May 28, 2017, at UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira.[19] After three rounds of fighting, the judges handed down the win to Till via unanimous decision.[20]
Ayari faced Stevie Ray in a lightweight bout on October 27, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 138[21] He lost the fight by controversial decision.[22]
Returning from an extended hiatus, Ayari faced Luigi Vendramini on October 4, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 16.[23] He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.[24]
It was announced that after his loss to Vendramini, he was released from the UFC.
Ayari comes from a family of athletes; his cousin Khaled Ayari was a footballer for Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian First League,[6] and another cousin Hassine Ayari and uncle Omrane Ayari represented Tunisia in Greco-Roman wrestling in the Olympics.[7][1]
He worked as an automotive mechanic engineer prior to fighting professionally.[1][25]
| 25 matches | 19 wins | 6 losses |
| By knockout | 5 | 3 |
| By submission | 9 | 1 |
| By decision | 5 | 2 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 19–6 | Niklas Stolze | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Oktagon 73 | June 28, 2025 | 2 | 3:25 | Hamburg, Germany | |
| Win | 18–6 | Andreas Stahl | TKO (punches) | Oktagon 68 | March 8, 2025 | 3 | 4:01 | Stuttgart, Germany | |
| Win | 17–6 | Ayub Gaziev | TKO (punches) | Innferno FC 8 | June 15, 2024 | 2 | 3:20 | Innsbruck, Austria | Return to Welterweight. Won the vacant Innferno FC Welterweight Championship. |
| Loss | 16–6 | Luigi Vendramini | TKO (head kick and punches) | UFC on ESPN: Holm vs. Aldana | October 4, 2020 | 1 | 1:12 | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Loss | 16–5 | Stevie Ray | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith | October 27, 2018 | 3 | 5:00 | Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Lightweight debut. |
| Loss | 16–4 | Darren Till | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira | May 28, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Win | 16–3 | Jim Wallhead | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night: Arlovski vs. Barnett | September 3, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Hamburg, Germany | |
| Win | 15–3 | Mickaël Lebout | Decision (unanimous) | German MMA Championship 8 | April 16, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Castrop-Rauxel, Germany | |
| Win | 14–3 | Twan van Buuren | TKO (punches) | Respect FC: Caged 2 | December 19, 2015 | 3 | 1:50 | Karlsruhe, Germany | |
| Win | 13–3 | Stanislav Futera | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Innferno FC 1 | June 13, 2015 | 1 | 3:22 | Tyrol, Austria | |
| Win | 12–3 | Juan Manuel Suarez | Decision (Unanimous) | Ansgar Fighting League 2 | March 14, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Telde, Spain | |
| Win | 11–3 | Ramon Boixader | Submission (guillotine choke) | Ansgar Fighting League 2 | November 29, 2014 | 1 | 4:56 | Madrid, Spain | |
| Win | 10–3 | Roman Kapranov | Decision (unanimous) | Rhein Neckar Championship: Martial Arts Gala | November 30, 2013 | 3 | 5:00 | Frankenthal, Germany | Middleweight bout. |
| Loss | 9–3 | Abusupiyan Magomedov | TKO (punches) | German MMA Championship 3 | February 16, 2013 | 1 | 1:49 | Herne, Germany | For the GMC Welterweight Championship. |
| Win | 9–2 | Kerim Engizek | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part V | November 24, 2012 | 2 | 3:56 | Manz, Germany | Won the vacant Superior FC Welterweight Championship. |
| Win | 8–2 | Aleksandar Rajacic | Decision (unanimous) | Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part IV | September 15, 2012 | 3 | 5:00 | Düren, Germany | |
| Loss | 7–2 | Alan Johnston | KO (punches) | On Top 5 | June 2, 2012 | 2 | 2:52 | Glasgow, Scotland | |
| Win | 7–1 | Matthias Merkle | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Superior FC: Tournament 2012 Part 2 | March 31, 2012 | 1 | 2:09 | Göppingen, Germany | |
| Win | 6–1 | Sebastian Baron | TKO (retirement) | Respect FC 6 | September 17, 2011 | 1 | 5:00 | Wuppertal, Germany | |
| Win | 5–1 | Volker Dietz | TKO (broken hand) | Respect FC 5 | April 9, 2011 | 1 | 1:37 | Essen, Germany | |
| Loss | 4–1 | Ruben Crawford | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Outsider Cup: Cage Fight Night 9 | October 17, 2010 | 1 | 3:59 | Bielefeld, Germany | |
| Win | 4–0 | Wahid Beisel | Submission (armbar) | Outsider Cup 19 | July 10, 2010 | 1 | 1:58 | Berlin, Germany | |
| Win | 3–0 | Arsan Tepsaev | Submission (triangle choke) | Outsider Cup 19 | July 10, 2010 | 1 | 1:36 | Berlin, Germany | |
| Win | 2–0 | Frank van Lessiel | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Outsider Cup 15 | November 14, 2009 | 1 | 3:06 | Koblenz, Germany | |
| Win | 1–0 | Tobias Hollubetz | Submission (armbar) | Fighting Masters Championship 1 | October 17, 2009 | 1 | 2:43 | Bavaria, Germany |
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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