Nordine Taleb (Arabic: نوردين طالب, born June 10, 1981) is a French-Canadian professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed in the Welterweight division of the ARES FC. A professional since 2007, he has also competed for Bellator MMA and Ultimate Fighting Championship for 6 years.

Nordine Taleb
BornNordine Taleb
(1981-06-10) June 10, 1981 (age 43)
Saint-Tropez, France[1]
ResidenceMontreal, Quebec, Canada
NationalityFrance
Canada
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Weight170 lb (77 kg; 12 st)
DivisionMiddleweight
Welterweight
Reach74 in (188 cm)
Fighting out ofMontreal, Quebec, Canada
TeamTristar Gym[3]
RankBrown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Firas Zahabi[4]
Years active2007–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total22
Wins15
By knockout7
By decision8
Losses7
By knockout3
By submission2
By decision2
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Mixed martial arts career

edit

Early career

edit

Taleb began his professional career with a unanimous decision victory, before losing his next bout via TKO. After a further four victories across Canada, Taleb fought Pete Sell at Ring of Combat 38 for Sell's welterweight championship.[5] Taleb was the much quicker man and was able to move in and out of range quickly, which reduced the amount of strikes he took from Sell.[5] In the second round, Taleb hit Sell with a counter right hand, followed by strikes on the ground. The referee stopped the fight early in the second round and Taleb was declared the ROC Welterweight Champion.[5]

Bellator

edit

In 2011, Taleb was signed by Bellator and made his debut at Bellator 64 against Matt Secor. Taleb dominated the fight and outclassed Secor enough to be awarded 10-8 rounds by one judge.[6] Taleb was able to take Secor down multiple times and also controlled the stand-up portion of the fight. Taleb won via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-24).[6]

Taleb's second fight for Bellator was against Matt MacGrath, which was held as a 180lb. Catchweight bout, due to the fight being contested at short notice.[7] Taleb controlled MacGrath in the opening round, by utilising his reach advantage via straight punches.[7] MacGrath started to come back into the fight in the second round, but was knocked down by a left hand from Taleb. Taleb hit MacGrath with some follow-up shots and was declared the winner via TKO.[7]

Taleb was then entered into the Bellator Season Seven Welterweight Tournament. Taleb's opponent in the quarterfinal was the first-and-only DREAM welterweight champion Marius Žaromskis.[1] Taleb lost via unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter

edit

In December 2013, it was announced that Taleb was selected as one of the fighters to represent Canada for the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia.[8] In his first fight on the show, Taleb lost to Tyler Manawaroa via unanimous decision after three rounds.

In a rare move, the UFC revealed in March 2014 that Taleb would also appear as a participant on the next season of the show, The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn.[9] Taleb lost his preliminary fight to get into the house against Mike King via decision after a sudden victory round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

edit

Despite being announced as a participant on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn, Taleb appeared on the event leading up to its premiere as he faced fellow contestant Vik Grujic at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale.[10] He won the bout via unanimous decision.

Taleb faced Li Jingliang on October 4, 2014 at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine.[11] He won the fight via split decision and marked a successful return to welterweight.[12]

Taleb was expected to face Cláudio Silva on April 25, 2015 at UFC 186.[13] However, Silva was forced out of the bout with a broken foot and replaced by Chris Clements.[14] Taleb won the fight by unanimous decision.[15]

Taleb faced Warlley Alves on August 1, 2015 at UFC 190.[16] He lost the fight by submission in the second round.[17]

Taleb faced Erick Silva on March 5, 2016 at UFC 196.[18] He won the fight via knockout in the second round.[19]

Taleb was expected to face Alan Jouban on July 7, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 90.[20] However, Taleb pulled out of the bout in early June citing an injury.[21]

Taleb faced Santiago Ponzinibbio on February 19, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 105.[22] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.[23]

Taleb was expected to face Emil Weber Meek on 28 May 2017 at UFC Fight Night 109.[24] However, Meek pulled out of the fight on May 12 citing injury.[25] Meek was replaced by promotional newcomer Oliver Enkamp.[26] He won the fight by unanimous decision.[27]

Taleb was expected to face Sultan Aliev on 16 December 2017 at UFC on FOX 26.[28] However, Aliev was removed from the card for undisclosed reasons in early December and was replaced by Danny Roberts.[29] Taleb won the last bout of his contract by knockout in the first round.[30][31] This win earned him the Performance of the Night bonus.[32]

Taleb faced Cláudio Silva on 27 May 2018 at UFC Fight Night 130.[33] He lost the fight via a rear-naked choke in the first round.[34]

Taleb faced Sean Strickland on 27 October 2018 at UFC Fight Night 138.[35] He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round.[36]

Taleb was scheduled to face Siyar Bahadurzada on 4 May 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy.[37] However, it was reported on April 24, 2019 that Bahadurzada pulled out of the bout citing injury,[38] and he is replaced by newcomer Kyle Prepolec.[39] Taleb won the fight via unanimous decision.[40]

Taleb faced Muslim Salikhov on September 7, 2019 at UFC 242.[41] He lost the fight via knockout in round one.[42]

Post-UFC career

edit

After being released by the UFC, Taleb was expected to headline ARES 2 on April 3, 2020, against Maarten Wouters.[43] However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was postponed until October 30, 2020.[44]

Championships and achievements

edit

Mixed martial arts record

edit
Professional record breakdown
22 matches 15 wins 7 losses
By knockout 7 3
By submission 0 2
By decision 8 2
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 15–7 Muslim Salikhov KO (punch) UFC 242 September 7, 2019 1 4:26 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Win 15–6 Kyle Prepolec Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy May 4, 2019 3 5:00 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Loss 14–6 Sean Strickland TKO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Volkan vs. Smith October 27, 2018 2 3:10 Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
Loss 14–5 Cláudio Silva Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Till May 27, 2018 1 4:31 Liverpool, England
Win 14–4 Danny Roberts KO (head kick and punch) UFC on Fox: Lawler vs. dos Anjos December 16, 2017 1 0:59 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Performance of the Night.
Win 13–4 Oliver Enkamp Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira May 28, 2017 3 5:00 Stockholm, Sweden
Loss 12–4 Santiago Ponzinibbio Decision (unanimous) UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Browne February 19, 2017 3 5:00 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win 12–3 Erick Silva KO (punch) UFC 196 March 5, 2016 2 1:34 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss 11–3 Warlley Alves Submission (guillotine choke) UFC 190 August 1, 2015 2 4:11 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Win 11–2 Chris Clements Decision (unanimous) UFC 186 April 25, 2015 3 5:00 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win 10–2 Li Jingliang Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine October 4, 2014 3 5:00 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Return to Welterweight.
Win 9–2 Vik Grujic Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale: Bisping vs. Kennedy April 16, 2014 3 5:00 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Middleweight debut.
Loss 8–2 Marius Žaromskis Decision (unanimous) Bellator 74 September 28, 2012 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Bellator Season Seven Welterweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
Win 8–1 Matt MacGrath TKO (punches) Bellator 67 May 4, 2012 2 2:30 Rama, Ontario, Canada Catchweight (180 lbs) bout.
Win 7–1 Matt Secor Decision (unanimous) Bellator 64 April 6, 2012 3 5:00 Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Win 6–1 Pete Sell TKO (punches) Ring of Combat 38 November 28, 2011 2 0:53 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Won the Ring of Combat Welterweight Championship.
Win 5–1 Szymon Boniecki TKO (punches) UGC 28: Montreal October 1, 2011 1 1:52 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win 4–1 John Salgado KO (head kick) Eye of the Tiger June 11, 2011 1 2:50 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win 3–1 Chad Cox Decision (unanimous) W-1 MMA 6: New Ground October 23, 2010 3 5:00 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win 2–1 Dean Martins TKO (punches) W-1 MMA 4: Bad Blood March 20, 2010 2 2:54 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Loss 1–1 Guillaume DeLorenzi TKO (punches) XMMA 3: Ring Extreme March 14, 2008 3 3:46 Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada
Win 1–0 Louis-Philippe Carles Decision (unanimous) XMMA 2: Gold Rush November 24, 2007 3 5:00 Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada

[45]

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

edit
Professional record breakdown
2 matches 0 wins 2 losses
By decision 0 2
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 0–2 Mike King Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn April 16, 2014 (airdate) 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States TUF 19 house entry bout.
Loss 0–1 Tyler Manawaroa Decision (unanimous) The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Australia February 7, 2014 (airdate) 3 5:00 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Quarter-finals bout.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Bellator 74s Nordine Taleb on Marius Zaromskis: "I'll have to knock him out twice"". mmajunkie.com. September 25, 2012.
  2. ^ "Fight Card - UFC 190 Rousey vs. Correia". UFC.com. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  3. ^ "TMT Fighters Mairbek Taisumov & Nordine Taleb will head to Sweden for UFC Fight Night - Tiger Muay Thai & MMA Training Camp, Phuket, Thailand". Tiger Muay Thai. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  4. ^ Jeremy Brand (May 4, 2015). "Firas Zahabi promotes Nordine Taleb, Francis Carmont and Desmond Green". mmasucka.com.
  5. ^ a b c "DeBlass, Audinwood, Taurus among title winners at ROC 38". sherdog.com. November 19, 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Ben Askren retains welterweight crown; Sandro, Marx, Nakamura advance at Bellator 64". sherdog.com. April 6, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c "Chandler blasts Gono in 56 seconds at Bellator 67; Baker advances to final". sherdog.com. May 4, 2012.
  8. ^ "Report: TUF Nations cast announced". bloodyelbow.com. December 3, 2013.
  9. ^ "TUF: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn revealed". fightnews.com. 2014-03-25. Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
  10. ^ Keith Grienke. "Taleb to Face Grujic on TUF Finale". topmmanews.com. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  11. ^ Staff (2014-08-11). "Nordine Taleb-Jingliang Li Welterweight Bout Added to Oct. 4 UFC Fight Night in Halifax". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  12. ^ Staff (2015-10-05). "'The Leech' suffers split decision loss against Nordine Taleb". fightsportasia.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2014-10-05.
  13. ^ Don Wilson. "Taleb added to UFC 186". topmmanews.com. Retrieved 2015-01-22.
  14. ^ Keith Grienke (March 24, 2015). "Taleb To Get Menaced By Clements At UFC 186". TopMMANews.com. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  15. ^ Ben Fowlkes (2015-04-25). "UFC 186 results: Nordine Taleb cruises past Chris Clements for scorecard sweep". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2015-04-25.
  16. ^ Staff (2015-06-10). "Warlley Alves vs. Nordine Taleb official for UFC 190". themmareport.com. Retrieved 2015-06-10.
  17. ^ Ben Fowlkes (2015-08-01). "UFC 190 results: Warlley Alves taps Nordine Taleb with second-round guillotine". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  18. ^ Staff (2016-01-13). "Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb joins recently announced UFC 196 lineup". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
  19. ^ Steven Marrocco (2016-03-05). "UFC 196 results: Nordine Taleb leaves Erick Silva out cold in second". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  20. ^ Jordan Breen (2016-05-02). "Alan Jouban to face Nordine Taleb at July 7 UFC Fight Night 90". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  21. ^ Staff (2016-06-07). "Nordine Taleb injured, UFC seeks opponent for Alan Jouban at UFC Fight Night 90". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  22. ^ Cody Rempel (2016-12-15). "Theodorou, Taleb and Ricci Added to UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax". topmmanews.com. Retrieved 2016-12-15.
  23. ^ Steven Marrocco (2017-02-19). "UFC Fight Night 105 results: Santiago Ponzinibbio scores unanimous win over Nordine Taleb". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  24. ^ Staff (2017-04-07). "Emil Meek vs. Nordine Taleb set for UFC Fight Night 109". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  25. ^ Staff (2017-05-12). "Emil Meek says he's out of UFC Fight Night 109 fight with Nordine Taleb in Sweden". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-05-12.
  26. ^ Ashah Tafari (2017-05-12). "Oliver Enkamp ready for UFC Stockholm - replaces Emil "Valhalla" Meek" (in Swedish). mmanytt.se. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
  27. ^ Steven Marrocco (2017-05-28). "UFC Fight Night 109 results: Nordine Taleb spoils Oliver Enkamp's debut with sound victory". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  28. ^ "Former Champs Collide as UFC Returns to Winnipeg | UFC". 14 September 2018.
  29. ^ Peter Carroll (2017-12-04). "Several changes announced for UFC on FOX 26". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  30. ^ Jay Anderson (2017-12-16). "UFC Winnipeg Results: Nordine Taleb Ends Danny Roberts' Night Early". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  31. ^ Ben Fowlkes (2017-12-17). "Free agent Nordine Taleb's UFC on FOX 26 KO win might be last at welterweight, but not in UFC". mmajunkie.com.
  32. ^ a b "UFC on FOX 26 bonuses: Julian Marquez, Darren Stewart awarded for back-and-forth brawl". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2017-12-17.
  33. ^ Themistoklis Alexis (29 May 2018). "Taleb meets returning Claudio Silva at UFC Liverpool in May". thescore.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  34. ^ "UFC Fight Night 130 results: Claudio Silva returns after nearly four years away, stuns Nordine Taleb in first". MMAjunkie. 2018-05-27. Retrieved 2018-05-27.
  35. ^ Marcel Dorff (2018-08-10). "Welterweight clash between Nordine Taleb and Sean Strickland during UFC Moncton" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
  36. ^ Sherdog.com. "UFC Fight Night 138 Prelims: Sean Strickland Pounds Out Nordine Taleb". Sherdog. Retrieved 2018-10-28.
  37. ^ Marcel Dorff (2019-03-04). "Nordine Taleb vs. Siyar Bahadurzada added to UFC Ottawa" (in Dutch). mmadnanl.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  38. ^ Marcel Dorff (2019-04-24). "Siyar Bahadurzada drops out for UFC on ESPN 9" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  39. ^ Marcel Dorff (2019-04-28). "Kyle Prepolec replaces Siyar Bahadurzada against Nordine Taleb during UFC Ottawa" (in Dutch). mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  40. ^ Bitter, Shawn (2019-05-04). "UFC Ottawa Results: Nordine Taleb Takes Decision Against Kyle Prepolec". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
  41. ^ DNA, MMA (4 June 2019). "Nordine Taleb treft Muslim Salikhov tijdens UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi". Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  42. ^ Anderson, Jay (2019-09-07). "UFC 242 Results: Muslim Salikhov Drops Nordine Taleb At End of First". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  43. ^ Carroll, Peter (2020-01-28). "Nordine Taleb, John Moraga set for debuts at ARES 2 in Brussels on April 3". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  44. ^ Michael Fiedel (March 6, 2020). "Upstart ARES FC promotion postpones second event due to coronavirus". thebodylockmma.com.
  45. ^ Sherdog.com. "Nordine Taleb MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography - Sherdog.com". Sherdog. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
edit