Joey Simon Villaseñor[1] (born October 17, 1975) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 1999 until 2012, Villasenor competed for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, EliteXC, King of the Cage, DEEP, Shark Fights, BAMMA, and the World Fighting Alliance. Villasenor is the former King of the Cage Middleweight Champion, and defended this title seven times before vacating it to sign with PRIDE.
Villasenor was born in East Los Angeles and lived there for the first nine years of his life before moving to New Mexico in 1984. He graduated from Farmington High School but also attended West Mesa High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Villasenor was athletic and in high school he played baseball, football, and participated in track and field. Villasenor first began watching UFC events when he was 17 or 18 years old, but thought that the fighting was brutal, although he wanted to learn self-defense. He began competing in martial arts when he was 19 years old, training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing. He was a four-time Amateur Regional Boxing Champion with a 16–0 record, and 15 wins by KO. [2]
Villaseñor made his professional debut in April 1999 and after 15 consecutive wins, he was signed by the PRIDE Fighting Championships.
Villasenor made his PRIDE debut on June 4, 2006, against Japanese veteran, Ryo Chonan. Despite losing a decision, Villaseñor was brought back by the organization to fight UFC veteran Robbie Lawler at PRIDE 32. He lost via knockout only 22 seconds into the first round due to a flying knee.
Villasenor then signed with EliteXC. He defeated former UFC veteran David Loiseau in EliteXC's inaugural event, and lost to Murilo Rua at the EliteXC co-promotion Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, and rebounded with a win over Riki Fukuda at EliteXC: Uprising. Villasenor scored an impressive knockout over Ryan Jensen at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le. On May, 31st, at EliteXC's Saturday Night Fights, Villaseñor won his bout against Phil Baroni. This bout can potentially be the elimination match for the EliteXC Middleweight Championship. It was recently announced that Villaseñor would receive a title shot in a rematch against Robbie Lawler on the scheduled November 8, 2008, EliteXC show. However ProElite canceled the show shortly after due to large amounts of debt.
After the demise of EliteXC, Villasenor was signed by Strikeforce and defeated Evangelista Santos at Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg via split decision.
Villaseñor faced Ronaldo Souza on May 15, 2010, at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery.[3] He lost the fight via decision.
On December 9, 2010, Villaseñor was released from Strikeforce, along with Joe Riggs.[4]
Villaseñor was expected to face Drew McFedries on September 11, 2010, at Shark Fights 13 but McFedries was forced off the card with an injury. He instead faced Danillo Villefort[5] and lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Villaseñor next faced Chris Camozzi at Shark Fights 15. The fight was initially ruled a draw, but was subsequently overturned and counted as a win for Camozzi by the New Mexico Athletic Commission when it was revealed one of the judges scores was added incorrectly.[6]
Villaseñor made his BAMMA debut against fighter Jim Wallhead at BAMMA 8. He lost the fight via KO in the first round.
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