The Complete Bubba Jenkins Competitive Biography
The Complete Bubba Jenkins Competitive Biography
Bubba Jenkins' moves from Penn State to Arizona State and then to MMA are well-documented. If you don't know about Bubba's career, here's the page for you.
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Bubba Jenkins is a performer and a storyteller. His wrestling accomplishments have told a story all their own. If you don't know enough about this electric wrestler turned MMA fighter, get caught up now.
High School Career
Bubba was a 2006 grad of First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Coming out of high school, he was the #1 145-pounder in the country according to Amateur Wrestling News. His top ranking came as a result of an impressive 2006 NHSCA performance where Bubba not only won the bracket but had a pin in the finals.
On top of that, he won the Beast of the East in 2005 and was the Outstanding Wrestler. Coming into Penn State, Bubba J was a big get.
Penn State Career
For parts of four seasons, Bubba was a Nittany Lion. In his true freshman year, Bubba had impressive showings in open tournaments and ultimately earned his way into the starting lineup. The Big Ten schedule was challenging for the true freshman, but he still qualified for the NCAA Championships where he went 1-2.
Between Bubba's first and second years in college, he made a Junior World Team for the United States and ultimately won a Junior World gold medal.
As a true sophomore in the 2007-08 season, Bubba made massive jumps. His 149 NCAA bracket is one of the most legendary brackets of all time, and Bubba made the finals. All of Bubba's NCAA opponents were All-Americans, four of the five were NCAA finalists, and three were NCAA champions. Bubba finished second that year losing a 14-8 decision to Brent Metcalf in the finals.
The 2008-09 season started well for Bubba but had a sad ending. After handling several tough opponents early in the season, Bubba suffered an injury that kept him out of a number of duals in the second half of the year. He made the Big Ten finals, but he was re-injured in the first round of the NCAA Championships and defaulted out of the tournament.
Bubba started the 2009-10 season in redshirt, and it appeared unclear whether he would finish his career that year or not. At an open tournament, Jenkins earned a win over his true freshman teammate David Taylor but was released from the team just weeks later. Reports eventually surfaced that Jenkins had made himself ineligible so that he would not be able to compete that year for the Nittany Lions.
Arizona State Career
After leaving Penn State, Bubba Jenkins had a tough decision to make about where to spend his final year of NCAA eligibility. In April after the 2009-10 offseason, Bubba won a University National title but still didn't have a college home although he was already leaning toward Arizona State.
His season at 157 for Arizona State was not flawless, but it was good enough to earn him the #4 seed at NCAAs. Jenkins appeared to be on a collision course with his former teammate, future two-time NCAA champion, David Taylor.
Taylor was the #3 seed that year but the most dominant 157-pounder in the country. When Jenkins and Taylor met in the finals, Taylor might have been the favorite, but Jenkins got the win by pinning Taylor in a cradle in the second period. The win was somewhat personal for Jenkins who had been released by Penn State just a season before.
MMA Career
Bubba Jenkins made his mixed martial arts debut in 2011, the same year he won his NCAA title. After two fights for Tachi Palace Fights, he joined Resurrection Fighting Alliance and was eventually added to Jon Jones' coaching staff for The Ultimate Fighter 17 which premiered in January of 2013.
After college, Bubba Jenkins stayed somewhat active on the wrestling scene for the beginning of his MMA career, even taking a match with Jordan Oliver in 2013 at Who's Number 1.
Jenkins eventually moved to Bellator, the organization he fought for from 2013-2016. By the end of his time with Bellator, Bubba's professional record was 11-3.
In 2017, Bubba took two fights with Absolute Championship Berkut. He split the results of those fights moving his overall record to 12-4.
Jenkins took one fight per year in the next two years with Brave Combat Federation. He won both of those fights and now holds a professional mixed martial arts record of 14-4. In March of 2020, Jenkins signed with the Professional Fighters League and is awaiting his first fight for that organization. He remains confident about his prospects.
