Kevin Costner’s character in “Bull Durham,” a career minor league baseball player, refers to the minor-league home-run record as “kind of a dubious honor.” It is hard to imagine an MMA equivalent of that record, but there is clearly one even more infamous. 36-year-old Jay Ellis already holds this record, and his lead in this particular metric extended this past weekend.
On Saturday former Appalachian State All-American wrestler Austin Trotman picked up his first professional win. That victory came at the expense of Ellis. In the process, Trotman handed Ellis his record 94th MMA loss. Per Fight Matrix tracking that is the most losses in the history of the sport and six more than Shannon Ritch who has the second most losses.
Ellis made his MMA debut back in 2005, and he currently holds a 15-94 professional record. While that is a 14% winning percentage, he does have some wins over some names that will be familiar to MMA fans.
In 2007, Ellis brought a 3-7 record into a fight against current UFC competitor Gerald Meerschaert. It was only Meerschaert’s second professional fight, and Ellis’ experience edge paid off. Six years later Meerschaert would get a taste of revenge as he won a rematch and handed Ellis his 54th loss.
Ellis was also the debut opponent for former Bellator featherweight champion Daniel Straus. Despite having a 9-28 record heading into the fight, Ellis was able to pick up the victory back in 2009. Straus was able to put the pieces back together and won his first of two Bellator titles in 2013.
The last time Ellis tasted victory came back in 2017, and he is currently riding a 21-fight losing streak. At the moment it looks like he will be remembered for this somewhat odd record. Ellis will have a hard time claiming any other record. He is currently ninth on the list of fighters with the most professional MMA bouts, and it seems very unlikely he will catch the current leader as Travis Fulton has fought 322 times.