John Makdessi (born May 3, 1985) is an Canadian professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter who competes in the lightweight division. Makdessi has been a professional MMA competitor since 2008, competing mostly in Canada before signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

 

Early Life

John was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on May 3, 1985 and is a first generation Lebanese-Canadian born to Lebanese parents. His martial arts training started with Taekwondo at the age of 6. When John started highschool though, his dojo closed, and he could no longer continue. Towards the end of highschool at the age of 17, he found a Karate Dojo. He spent a lot of his time competing in Kickboxing tournaments, and in 2006 won a gold medal in the USKBA. After going 22-0 in Kickboxing, John started training for Mixed Martial Arts.

 

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Makdessi signed with the UFC in 2010, making his debut at UFC 124 in Montreal against Pat Audinwood. Despite his obvious height and reach disadvantage, Makdessi was able to dominate Audinwood with inventive kicks, whilst also being able to stop Audinwood's attacks effectively. After three rounds, Makdessi was declared the winner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

Makdessi was expected to face TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins on April 30, 2011 at UFC 129. However, Brookins was pulled from the bout and Makdessi instead faced Kyle Watson. Makdessi defeated Watson via KO due to a spinning backfist in the third round.

Makdessi was expected to face Paul Taylor on August 14, 2011 at UFC on Versus 5. However, Makdessi was forced from the bout with an injury.

 

On December 10th, 2011 at UFC 140, Makdessi lost in the first round via rear naked choke to Dennis Hallman.