Niko Price

Price's Seattle fight ended almost immediately once Chiesa secured top position and advanced to the back for the choke. Both fighters announced their retirement inside the octagon after the bout, closing Price's career on his fourth straight loss.

Key moments

• Lost by rear-naked choke at 1:03 of round one.
• The defeat was his fourth straight loss.
• It came in Seattle against a veteran grappler, and both fighters announced their retirement after the bout.

Veretennikov caught Price in another fast, violent welterweight fight and stopped him before the opening round was half over. The result was brutal but familiar: Price's willingness to exchange made the bout entertaining immediately, yet also gave the sharper finisher a short route to the stoppage.

Key moments

• Was knocked out at 1:42 of the first round.
• The official method was elbow and punches.
• It became Price's third consecutive loss entering the Chiesa fight.

Price made Smith work deeper than a quick prospect blowout, but he still lost once Smith found the choke late in round two. The defeat mattered because it underlined Price's role as a veteran measuring stick for younger welterweights with real upside.

Key moments

• Submitted to Jacobe Smith at 4:03 of round two.
• Smith's own profile already frames the fight as a successful veteran test.
• Price dropped to 16-9 with two no-contests after the loss.

Gorimbo took Price over three rounds and prevented him from turning the fight into the kind of brawl that usually opens finishing chances. Losing a clear decision after the Morono rebound sent Price back into a slide and kept the recent form trending the wrong way.

Key moments

• Lost a unanimous decision across three rounds.
• Could not convert his usual pace into a more chaotic fight.
• The defeat followed his June 2024 decision win over Alex Morono.

Price beat Morono over fifteen minutes in Newark and showed a calmer version of his game than the highlight-reel reputation suggests. The decision win mattered because it stopped the Robbie Lawler setback and proved he could still bank rounds without needing a stoppage.

Key moments

• Beat Alex Morono by unanimous decision at UFC 302.
• It was Price's first win since October 2021.
• The result snapped a three-fight skid before the later four-fight slide.

Price took Robbie Lawler's retirement fight knowing it would start fast, but he never got the chance to settle into the kind of brawl he usually thrives in. Lawler met him in the pocket immediately, hammered him with left hands, and closed his career with a brutal 38-second finish.

Key moments

• The bout was Lawler's final walk after his Hall of Fame induction, so the atmosphere was built around a retirement sendoff from the start.
• Lawler only needed one opening, catching Price with a series of left hooks as the first exchange developed.
• A final left uppercut crumbled Price to the mat and Lawler walked away knowing the fight was done.
• The referee waved it off at 0:38 of round one as the Las Vegas crowd erupted for Lawler's farewell knockout.

Price's fight with Phil Rowe swung violently in both directions before ending with Price on the wrong side of the comeback. He dragged Rowe into a pace-heavy brawl and nearly finished him in the third, but once Price emptied the tank chasing the stoppage, Rowe found the straight right that flipped the fight instantly.

Key moments

• Rowe started well and landed the cleaner punches early, but Price's pressure and conditioning kept forcing him into extended exchanges.
• In round three Price hurt Rowe badly enough that it briefly looked like he might score the comeback finish himself.
• After surviving, Rowe blasted Price with a straight right hand that wobbled him and sent the momentum the other way for good.
• Rowe swarmed with punches against the cage until Marc Goddard stopped it at 3:26 of the third round.

Price snapped the skid against Alex Oliveira by staying stronger deeper into the fight than the Brazilian veteran. After splitting the first two rounds, he owned the decisive late stretch with better cardio, harder punching and a closing takedown that removed any doubt on the scorecards.

Key moments

• The first round featured heavy punches on the feet before Price worked into top position and stayed responsible enough to avoid Oliveira's submission traps.
• Oliveira answered in round two with the cleaner counters and a scramble that left Price underneath him during a key exchange.
• Knowing the fight was close, Price came out for round three with a higher pace and started landing the better shots as Oliveira slowed.
• Price punctuated the finish with a late takedown and ground-and-pound, then swept all three cards 29-28 for his first win since 2019.

The Michel Pereira fight was classic Niko Price chaos: wild exchanges, momentum swings, and long stretches where surviving bizarre offense was as important as landing his own. Price pressured hard late and made the final round competitive, but Pereira banked too much of the cleaner and more memorable work to lose the decision.

Key moments

• Price pushed Pereira to the fence early and kept trying to turn the fight into a grinding exchange, but he ate stiff jabs, knees and front kicks while doing it.
• The strangest sequence came in round two when Pereira shoved Price down, backflipped onto him, landed in mount and followed with heavy ground-and-pound plus arm-triangle attempts.
• Price defended the choke sequence, scrambled back to his feet and kept pressing even as Pereira mixed in more body and clinch offense.
• Price surged with pressure and hard punches in the third round, but Pereira still took a unanimous 29-28 decision on all three cards.

Price and Cerrone fought a genuinely close three-round war that was first ruled a majority draw before being overturned to a no-contest after Price's positive marijuana test. The fight itself stayed true to Price's usual shape, with a huge first round, messy momentum swings, and enough fouls and late rallies to leave the scorecards complicated.

Key moments

• Price jumped on Cerrone early with right hands, uppercuts and elbows, badly roughing him up in the opening round.
• That first round also included repeated eye pokes from Price, and he lost a point after the second infraction.
• Cerrone settled in over the final two rounds with cleaner jabs, body work, kicks and a late takedown plus back-take in round three.
• The bout was announced as a majority draw on scores of 29-27, 28-28 and 28-28 before later being overturned to a no-contest.

The Luque rematch was another savage brawl, but this time the damage got too ugly for Price to fight through to the end. He stayed dangerous and kept exchanging, yet Luque's left hook did the kind of facial damage that turned a live fight into a doctor's stoppage.

Key moments

• The rematch quickly turned into the kind of violent stand-up fight both men were expected to produce.
• Price kept firing back and forcing exchanges, but Luque steadily landed the cleaner counters over the course of the fight.
• A perfectly timed left hook from Luque in the third round dropped Price and badly damaged the area around his eye.
• Price made it back to his feet, but the cageside doctor stopped the fight at 3:37 of round three because the injury had become too severe.

Price added one of the strangest knockouts of his career when he iced James Vick from his back in Tampa. A short scramble flipped the position, Vick rose to posture and strike, and Price turned the mistake into an instant highlight with a heel-to-face upkick.

Key moments

• The fight started with a few quick exchanges on the feet before the action spilled into a scramble on the mat.
• Price briefly worked on top, but another scramble let Vick reverse and settle above him.
• As soon as Vick lifted his knees and postured up, Price fired a crushing upkick that knocked him unconscious almost immediately.
• The finish came at 1:44 of round one and earned Price another performance bonus-level knockout.

Price and Geoff Neal had the kind of frantic two-round shootout that almost guaranteed somebody was going to break. Price had success in the opening chaos, but once Neal got top position in round two, the ground-and-pound piled up too quickly for him to survive.

Key moments

• The first round included a wild exchange where both men were wobbled, and Price recovered a little faster before the grappling reversed again.
• Neal still ended the round strongly by scoring a takedown and advancing to mount before the horn.
• In round two Price threatened briefly with a guillotine, but Neal slipped free and settled on top where he could do real damage.
• Neal's left hands and elbows from top position forced Dan Miragliotta to stop the fight at 2:39 of the second round.

Price and Tim Means produced exactly the kind of reckless one-round brawl their styles promised. Means rallied after a rough opening stretch and seemed to be taking over late in the frame, but Price turned one exchange with a huge right hook that abruptly changed the whole fight.

Key moments

• Price flew out fast and hurt Means early, forcing the veteran to recover while the crowd jumped into the fight immediately.
• Means answered with a hard slam takedown, bloodying offense and an illegal knee sequence as the momentum swung back his way.
• As the round closed, Means appeared to rock Price and came forward looking to finish the exchange on his terms.
• Instead Price detonated a right hook and followed with one more shot on the floor for the 4:50 first-round knockout, the first true knockout loss of Means' career.

The Alhassan fight was a short, violent lesson in what happened when Price chose to trade too freely on the fence. He landed early enough to show the danger went both ways, but once Alhassan closed distance and uncorked combinations, Price's balance and defensive structure disappeared almost instantly.

Key moments

• Price started with a sharp counter right hand, but Alhassan kept marching him backward toward the fence.
• Both men landed in the opening exchanges, yet Price began throwing left kicks while Alhassan was already punching in close.
• That left Price off-balance, and Alhassan used the opening to crash in with another overhand and a flush follow-up left hook.
• Price crumpled to the mat and the fight was over at just 43 seconds of round one.

Price's win over Randy Brown remains one of the weirdest knockouts of his career and one of the strangest in recent UFC memory. After a back-and-forth first round with grappling scrambles and Brown's knees causing problems, the second round scramble somehow ended with Price knocking Brown out from the bottom with hammerfists.

Key moments

• Round one swung through repeated grappling exchanges, with Price scoring offense on top before Brown clipped him with a big knee late.
• The second round scramble initially looked favorable for Brown as he settled above Price on the mat.
• Price trapped Brown's posture with his foot behind Brown's head and started whipping up hammerfists from underneath.
• By the third or fourth clean shot Brown was out cold, giving Price a 1:09 round-two finish from bottom position.

Price had to work through a rough middle stretch against George Sullivan before finding the back-take that ended it. Sullivan's pressure and top control gave him real chances to steal the fight, but once Price created a little space in the second round, he flipped the position immediately and finished the choke.

Key moments

• Sullivan pressed forward early behind his jab, body kicks and right hand, forcing Price to circle and counter.
• Price mixed in takedown attempts and completed one throw in the first round, but Sullivan stayed physical and made the exchanges competitive.
• In round two Sullivan landed a desperation takedown and spent several minutes on top, opening a cut with hammerfists and elbows from Price's guard.
• Price used an armbar threat to escape, jumped on Sullivan's back when the neck was exposed and forced the rear-naked choke tap at 4:21 of the second.

Price's first UFC defeat came in a frantic fight with Vicente Luque that swung through wild exchanges before Luque's grappling ended it. Price had moments in the pocket and kept dragging the fight into chaos, but Luque stayed composed enough to turn a scramble into the finishing choke late in round two.

Key moments

• Luque accepted the fight on short notice and immediately met Price in open exchanges instead of backing away from the brawl.
• Both welterweights landed clean through the first round, giving the fight the kind of pace that later earned year-end praise as one of 2017's better action bouts.
• Price kept firing as the second round wore on, but Luque used the scramble windows to improve position once the fight hit the mat.
• Luque locked up a D'Arce choke at 4:08 of round two and handed Price the first loss of his professional career.

Price needed less than two minutes to flatten Alan Jouban in Mexico City and turn his second UFC appearance into a statement win. The fight opened competitively, but once Price found his range with a right hand, he swarmed Jouban on the floor before the veteran could recover.

Key moments

• Jouban and Price traded early at kicking range, with both men looking comfortable enough before the momentum flipped.
• Price cracked Jouban with a hard right hand inside the opening two minutes and immediately forced him backward in trouble.
• Rather than chase recklessly, Price followed the knockdown to the mat and lined up his punches as Jouban tried to cover.
• The referee stepped in at 1:44 of round one after Price's ground-and-pound barrage produced another quick UFC finish.

Inside the cage, Price looked like he had scored a dramatic buzzer-beater knockout over Alex Morono after a scrappy two-round fight full of counters and momentum swings. The finish was later overturned to a no contest after Price tested positive for marijuana, but the bout itself still turned on his late surge and right hand at the horn.

Key moments

• Morono had success early by countering Price and making him reset rather than letting him walk forward cleanly.
• Price's pressure grew as the fight went on, with uppercuts and jumping-knee attempts starting to pin Morono near the fence.
• At the end of round two, Price unloaded along the fence and landed the right hand that dropped Morono right at the buzzer.
• The official result was later changed from a Price knockout win to a no contest because of a post-fight marijuana test.

Price's UFC debut came on short notice, and he answered it by submitting Brandon Thatch in the first round. Thatch's size and early striking gave the newcomer something to solve, but once Price grounded him and survived the kimura threat, he advanced position quickly and closed the choke.

Key moments

• Thatch had the physical edge in the opening exchanges and looked dangerous when he could stand tall at range.
• Price changed the fight by scoring a takedown and forcing Thatch to work from his back instead of letting him strike freely.
• Thatch attacked a kimura from the bottom, but Price stayed patient, stepped over the position and kept improving his angle.
• That sequence led directly to the arm-triangle choke finish at 4:30 of round one in Price's promotional debut.

Price's win over Willie Hosch mattered because it proved he could finally go 15 minutes after stacking a run of regional stoppages, and it turned out to be the last Florida result before the UFC call. Sherdog's record fixes the unanimous decision, and Sherdog's UFC 207 booking report explicitly cites the Hosch win as the performance Price carried into his short-notice debut against Brandon Thatch.

Key moments

• Sherdog lists the bout as a unanimous-decision win after three full rounds.
• James Warring officiated the fight.
• A Sherdog news report on Price's UFC 207 call-up identifies the Hosch win as his most recent outing.
• The result pushed Price's Florida-based Fight Time record to 8-0 before he jumped to the UFC.

Price stayed explosive at Fight Time 30 by stopping Jose Caceres in barely 90 seconds, and the opponent-side record adds context to the result. Sherdog's paired listings match on the round-one TKO, while Caceres' longer file shows Price was beating a veteran welterweight with a real submission résumé, not just another soft local booking.

Key moments

• Sherdog records the result as a TKO by punches at 1:31 of round one.
• Jorge Alonso was the referee.
• Jose Caceres' Sherdog page mirrors the loss from the opponent side.
• Caceres' record shows he already owned a deep regional career with multiple submission wins before running into Price.

The Maurice Salmon fight kept Price's regional title momentum rolling and did it in headlining position rather than buried on a prelim. Sherdog's Fight Time 26 event page shows Price and Salmon were booked in the main event at welterweight, and the round-one finish preserved the pattern of Price ending fights before opponents could settle in.

Key moments

• Sherdog's event page lists Price as the main-event winner over Salmon at Fight Time 26.
• The finish came by TKO at 2:38 of round one with Jorge Alonso refereeing.
• The event was held at War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale.
• The quick stoppage came five months after Price's second-round finish of Michael Lilly.

Price's Fight Time 23 win over Michael Lilly was one of the clearer early regional tests on his file because Lilly went on to build a sturdier post-2015 career than several of Price's other local opponents. Sherdog's event page and Lilly's own record align on the second-round TKO, which makes it a useful marker of Price's pressure carrying past the opening round without losing its finishing bite.

Key moments

• Sherdog's Fight Time 23 event page lists Price's win as a TKO at 1:05 of round two.
• James Warring officiated the finish.
• Michael Lilly's Sherdog page mirrors the loss and shows he later fought in Titan FC and the PFL Challenger Series.
• The bout shared a card with Jose Caceres' win over Corey Hill, linking two later Price opponents on the same Miami regional night.

Price's finish of Danilo Padilha da Silva was over almost as soon as it started, which is useful context for how quickly his Florida run began to separate him from local opponents. Sherdog's fight line fixes the stoppage at 22 seconds, and later opponent-side records show Padilha kept competing afterward against names like Omar Morales and Ulisses das Neves rather than disappearing immediately after the loss.

Key moments

• Sherdog records the bout as a TKO by punches at 0:22 of round one.
• James Warring officiated the stoppage.
• Padilha's later Sherdog record includes a 2015 decision loss to future UFC fighter Omar Morales.
• He also fought again in Brazil and was submitted by Ulisses das Neves in 2017, giving Price's quick finish more context than a one-and-done opponent.

The David Hayes win was an early checkpoint in Price's regional climb because Hayes had already shared a cage with future UFC contenders before running into him in Florida. Sherdog locks in the first-round TKO, and Hayes' broader record shows he had previously been submitted by a young Colby Covington, which helps frame Price as beating a traveled opponent rather than a pure debut-level booking.

Key moments

• Sherdog lists the finish as a TKO by punches at 3:07 of round one.
• James Warring was the referee.
• Colby Covington's Sherdog record shows Hayes had already fought the future UFC interim welterweight champion in 2012.
• The result came three months before Price's 22-second stoppage of Danilo Padilha da Silva.

Price nearly used the entire opening round against Mikerson Lindor before finally breaking him at the last second, which makes this a slightly different kind of early finish from the instant blowouts around it. Sherdog's record confirms the stoppage at 4:59 of round one, and Mikerson Lindor's name later shows up again on Rico Farrington's Sherdog page, evidence that he remained part of the same South Florida circuit after this loss.

Key moments

• Sherdog records the bout as a TKO by punches at 4:59 of round one.
• James Warring was the referee.
• The timing made it the latest first-round finish in Price's early Fight Time run.
• Rico Farrington's Sherdog record shows Lindor fought again later in 2014 at Fight Time 21.

Price's pro debut was modestly placed on the undercard, but it still introduced the broad outline of his game: fast pressure and a quick finish. Sherdog's Fight Time 8 event page shows he submitted Alejandro Gomez with an armbar in 2:49 at War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale on a card headlined by Jessica Aguilar versus Patricia Vidonic.

Key moments

• Sherdog's Fight Time 8 event page lists the result as an armbar submission at 2:49 of round one.
• Jorge Alonso officiated the bout.
• The fight was the second listed matchup on the card, near the start of the event rather than in a featured slot.
• Fight Time 8 was headlined by Jessica Aguilar vs. Patricia Vidonic, placing Price's debut on a card with a recognizable regional main event.