UFC on ESPN 37 Kattar vs Emmett | 18 Jun 22 | |||||
UFC Fight Night 183 Thompson vs Neal | 20 Dec 20 | |||||
UFC 248 Adesanya vs Romero | 08 Mar 20 | |||||
UFC on ESPN 6 Reyes vs Weidman | 19 Oct 19 | |||||
Deron Winn (born June 13, 1989) is an American mixed martial artist and freestyle wrestler. A professional mixed martial artist since 2017, he formerly competed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator MMA, fighting in their middleweight divisions.
Background and wrestling career
Winn was born and raised in Liberty, Missouri. He began wrestling for Liberty High School, where he became a three-time MSHSAA state champion and compiled a record of 163–6.
After high school, Winn attended St. Louis Community College–Meramec where he won the NJCAA national junior college championship and earned the NJCAA Outstanding Wrestler award as a true freshman. In his sophomore year he was awarded All-American status.
Following his career at St. Louis Community College, in his senior year he transferred to the wrestling program of Lindenwood University where he earned NAIA All-American honors by advancing to the NAIA Wrestling Championships, where he placed third at nationals.
After his successful collegiate wrestling career, he focused in freestyle wrestling, where he competed nationally and internationally, compiled wins over notable wrestlers such as J'den Cox and Pat Downey and also placed at competitions such as the US Open, the Pan American Championships and the US World Team Trials. After more than two years since his last wrestling showdown, Winn wrestled the heavily accomplished in collegiate wrestling Kollin Moore on August 30, 2020, at Chael Sonnen's Wrestling Underground I. He lost the match by decision.