Record: 11-2
Age: 30
Height: 5’8″
Weight: Lightweight
Birthplace: Canada
Next fight: Sept. 6 def. David Briones (4-6) via unanimous decision at BFL 81 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (UFC Fight Pass)
The skinny: Jamie Siraj needed an outlet away from a “rough” home life. That’s when he joined Revolution Martial Arts. Former UFC fighter Kajan Johnson, who served as one of the head coaches. Siraj had his first fight at age 15 and was immediately hooked. After a 7-2 amateur career, Siraj turned pro in 2014. Since a 3-2 start, Siraj hasn’t lost. In 2019, Siraj was on the doorstep for a UFC call, aligned for Dana White’s Contender Series. However, Siraj fell ill and doctors didn’t know why. After a long, grueling period of his body failing, Siraj was diagnosed with hyper IGE Syndrome, an immunodeficiency disorder. It rendered him largely unable to function, septic, and near death. Through treatment, Siraj is now back to a largely normal life. In June 2023, for the first time in four years, Siraj fought and won for Battlefield Fight League. He was offered a spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 32,” but was one of the final cuts from the roster – a move that surprised him, considering he flew all the way out to Las Vegas. In May, he finished then-8-1 Tariel Abbasov by submission. In September, he defeated David Briones by unanimous decision.
In his own words: “I think this fight was 10 days notice or something like that. I was actually joking, but it was kind of how I felt. I was like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything else that weekend, so I might as well. I have been training.’ After my last fight, I was just a little mentally burnt out from not getting a call to the Contender Series. I was just like, ‘Man, am I ever going to get in the UFC? Holy f*ck this just feels like I have to physically kill someone in a ring for them want to sign me.’ … Then, I took the fight on short notice, just for the f*ck of it. Thank God it all worked out and paid off, but it wasn’t my favorite performance of my career.
“… There’s no 145 fights on the card. But I’ve been working slowly on getting back down to 135, so if that way there is a short-notice pullout, I can jump in at 135. Unfortunately, there’s no fights at my division. But yeah, if that’s my opportunity to jump in at 135, then that’s kind of where my mindset is at being able to jump in and make weight at 135. I know there are quite a few 135ers on the card. A lot of them are kind of entry level guys, guys you’d be getting on your first fight or two in the UFC. I kind of have my eye on everyone that’s at 135 from top to bottom. There’s a lot of good 135 matchups. Physically, when I was at 135, I just felt so much stronger and so much faster and bigger than everyone. So if I can make that division again and make weight, yeah I feel like I’d be such a problem at 135, too.”
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