Devin Clark
Introduction
Devin "Brown Bear" Clark (born April 2, 1990) is an American mixed martial artist. He was signed by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after Dana White scouted him on the "Dana White: Looking for a Fight - Season 1 Episode 6" UFC web series. He is currently competing in the light heavyweight division with Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Background
Devin Clark was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1990. He started boxing when he was a kid and started competing wrestling in high school. He didn't have any real luck in wrestling until his junior year, where in the State Finals match, he lost to former UFC athlete David Michaud. The following year, Devin's senior year , he would go on to be the South Dakota State Champion at 189 lbs. Clark would then go on to College at Rochester Tech and capture the Junior College National Championship in 2009 at 184 lbs and then in 2010 losing in the semi finals to Josh Marsh. Not ready to end competing Clark began training in MMA and competing at a local level where he started MMA training at his local gym, Team Nak Suk, and later moved to Next Edge Academy under the tutelage of BJJ black-belt Bruce Hoyer quickly moving up and competing in the RFA, or otherwise known as Reliance Fightin was high school state wrestling champion, Junior College National wrestling champion and was an amateur boxer.
MMA career
Early career
2013
Clark started his professional MMA career on August 24, 2013 and made his debut in Knockout Events: Battle at the Chip. He won his first win over Jeremy Spelts via TKO (punches) on round one.
2014
One year later, after his first professional win, he made a move to compete in Resurrection Fighting Alliance 17 on August 22, 2014. He faced Aaron Brown and secured a win via TKO (punches) on round two.
2015
On February 7, 2015, Clark joined Total Fight Challenge promotion for his third fight and faced William Vincent. He secured a win via submission (rear-naked choke).
Clark returned to Resurrection Fighting Alliance promotion (RFA). Clark faced Jaquis William on RFA 25 on April 10, 2015, and he outworked William and won the fight via unanimous decision.
Clark faced Dervin Lopez on RFA 29: USA vs Brazil on August 21, 2015. He was victorious with judges scored a unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) in favour of him.
2016
On April 15, 2016 Dana White, Matt Serra and Robbie Lawler attended Resurrection Fighting Alliance 39 event at Sioux Falls, South Dakota for "Dana White Looking For a Fighter", a UFC web series program, where Clark faced Rafael Viana for the Light Heavyweight Championship. The fight was scheduled for 5 rounds and after the second round, Viana suffered from a broken hand and kept him from continue the fight. Clark was declared the new champion. White was impressed with Clark's performance on the night and with his MMA record of 6-0-0, White signed him up into the UFC roster.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Clark made his UFC promotion debut on July 13, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 91. He prepared his UFC debut camp at Jackson-Wink MMA Academy training with Jon Jones as his training partner for a month. He dropped to middleweight to faced Alex Nicholson, and suffered his first lost on his MMA career lost via KO (punch) on round one.
Clark moved back to light heavyweight division and faced Josh Stansbury on The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale on short notice, December 3, 2016 for the TUF 24 Final against Josh Stansbury. With his father’s voice booming out encouragement throughout the small venue, Devin Clark simply outworked Josh Stansbury in a three-round battle.
On the strength of his takedowns and power punching, Clark (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) downed a somewhat tentative Stansbury (8-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to nab the unanimous decision victory over him. He avoided the guillotine chokes on early rounds and planted Stansbury on his back and with aggressive striking throughout all three rounds. The move to light heavyweight proved to be successful.
2017
Clark next faced Jake Collier on April 15, 2017 at UFC on Fox 24. Clark out pointed Collier by battering him on full mount and achieving multiple takedowns, and Clark cruised through with an unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). In post fight interviews, Clark admitted that he was disappointed in his performance as he stated he missed opportunities to finish the fight.
Clark is expected to face Jan Błachowicz on October 21, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 118.
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
- Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) Light Heavyweight Champion (one time)
Personal
When Clark was in high school at Lincoln, his two best friends gave him the moniker " Brown Bear", citing his dual personality - his is bear-like at time with wrestling and his pleasant demeanor as well as his brown skin color. Devin is active in helping numerous non profits and those less fortunate. He is especially involved in advocating for those that have Down Syndrome and was recently appointed to the National Board of Garrets Fight.
While training for his bout at UFC on Fox 24, Clark was quoted and seen advocating for Down syndrome awareness.
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 12 matches | 11 wins | 1 loss |
| By knockout | 3 | 0 |
| By submission | 2 | 0 |
| By decision | 6 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 8–1 | Jake Collier | Decision (unanimous) | UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Reis | 000000002017-04-15-0000April 15, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Kansas City, Missouri, United States | |
| Win | 7–1 | Josh Stansbury | Decision (unanimous) | The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions Finale | 000000002016-12-03-0000December 3, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Return to light heavyweight |
| Loss | 6–1 | Alex Nicholson | KO (punch) | UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker | 000000002016-07-13-0000July 13, 2016 | 1 | 4:57 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | Middleweight bout |
| Win | 6–0 | Rafael Viana | TKO (hand injury) | Resurrection Fighting Alliance 37 | 000000002016-04-15-0000April 15, 2016 | 2 | 5:00 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | Won RFA Light Heavyweight Title |
| Win | 5–0 | Dervin Lopez | Decision (unanimous) | Resurrection Fighting Alliance 29 | 000000002015-08-21-0000August 21, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Jaquis Williams | Decision (unanimous) | Resurrection Fighting Alliance 25 | 000000002015-04-10-0000April 10, 2015 | 3 | 5:00 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 | William Vincent | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Total Fight Challenge | 000000002015-02-07-0000February 7, 2015 | 1 | 4:29 | Willow Springs, Illinois, Unites States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Aaron Brown | TKO (punches) | Resurrection Fighting Alliance 17 | 000000002014-08-22-0000August 22, 2014 | 2 | 4:02 | Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Jeremy Spelts | TKO (punches) | Knockout Events: Battle at the Chip | 000000002013-08-04-0000August 4, 2013 | 1 | 1:12 | Sturgis, South Dakota, South Dakota |