Antonio Banuelos
Antonio Banuelos is a Bantamweight mixed martial artist.
Banuelos is perhaps best known for being a longtime competitor for World Extreme Cagefighting, making his debut at WEC 5. He fought a record 14 times under the promotion, compiling a record of 9–5. His 9 WEC wins are also a promotional record, which he shares with Urijah Faber and Poppies Martinez.
Banuelos was defeated by Eddie Wineland for the first ever WEC Bantamweight Championship at WEC 20.
After the Wineland bout, Banuelos defeated Cole Escovedo, Mike French and Justin Robbins while dropping contests against Charlie Valencia and a controversial decision to Manny Tapia at WEC 32.
Banuelos defeated Scott Jorgensen via split decision at WEC 41 in a fight that many, including WEC general manager Reed Harris has speculated is a candidate for fight of the year.
Banuelos improved to 8–4 in the WEC after defeating Kenji Osawa via unanimous decision in November, 2009, at WEC 44.
Banuelos was scheduled to face Damacio Page on April 24, 2010, at WEC 48,[3] but Page was forced off the card with an injury.
Banuelos faced Scott Jorgensen in a rematch of their bout from WEC 41 in April, 2010 at WEC 48. Banuelos lost the rematch by unanimous decision.
Banuelos faced Chad George in September, 2010, at WEC 51. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.
Banuelos made his promotional debut against the former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres in February, 2011, at UFC 126. Banuelos struggled with the height and reach advantage of Torres and was unable to mount any significant offense until the latter half of the final round. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, and was subsequently released from the promotion.
After going 2–1 outside of the UFC, Banuelos signed with Texas based promotion Legacy FC. He faced Josh Sampo in his flyweight debut at Legacy FC 14 on September 14, 2012, where he lost the fight via unanimous decision.
In his second fight within the promotion, Banuelos faced Rafael de Freitas at Legacy FC 18 on March 1, 2013. After three hard fought rounds, the bout was ruled a split draw. Banuelos faced Alptekin Ozkilic at Legacy FC 20 on May 31, 2013 and lost the fight via first round TKO.
Most recently, lost by TKO to Joby Sanchez at Tachi Palace Fights 20 on August 7, 2014.