Brad Imes
American mixed martial artist
title: "Brad Imes" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1977-births", "living-people", "american-male-mixed-martial-artists", "mixed-martial-artists-from-missouri", "heavyweight-mixed-martial-artists", "mixed-martial-artists-utilizing-wrestling", "people-from-maryville,-missouri", "sportspeople-from-bettendorf,-iowa", "ultimate-fighting-championship-male-fighters"] description: "American mixed martial artist" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Imes" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American mixed martial artist ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox martial artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Brad Imes |
| other_names | The Hillbilly Heartthrob |
| image | BradImes.png |
| image_size | 220px |
| caption | Imes in 2007 |
| birth_name | Bradley Imes Smith |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Maryville, Missouri, United States |
| height | |
| weight | 260 lb |
| weight_class | Heavyweight |
| fighting_out_of | Bettendorf, Iowa |
| team | Sacramento BJJ |
| Miletich Fighting Systems | |
| years_active | 2004–2009 |
| mma_kowin | 3 |
| mma_subwin | 8 |
| mma_decwin | 2 |
| mma_koloss | 3 |
| mma_subloss | 1 |
| mma_decloss | 3 |
| sherdog | 11453 |
| university | University of Missouri |
| :: |
| name = Brad Imes | other_names = The Hillbilly Heartthrob | image = BradImes.png | image_size = 220px | caption = Imes in 2007 | birth_name = Bradley Imes Smith | birth_date = | birth_place = Maryville, Missouri, United States | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | residence = | height = | weight = 260 lb | weight_class = Heavyweight | reach = | style = | stance = | fighting_out_of = Bettendorf, Iowa | team = Sacramento BJJ Miletich Fighting Systems | rank = | years_active = 2004–2009 | mma_kowin = 3 | mma_subwin = 8 | mma_decwin = 2 | mma_koloss = 3 | mma_subloss = 1 | mma_decloss = 3 | mma_draw = | mma_nc = | url = | sherdog = 11453 | footnotes = | updated = | university = University of Missouri
Bradley Imes "Brad" Smith (born on March 13, 1977), better known as Brad Imes, is a retired American mixed martial artist. He appeared on The Ultimate Fighter 2, and has competed as a Heavyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), International Fight League (IFL), Palace Fighting Championship (PFC), Titan Fighting Championships (Titan FC), and King of the Cage (KOTC).
Background
Imes was born and raised in Maryville, Missouri. He began wrestling when he was five years old. He also played high school football in Columbia, Missouri, but did not start at a position on the team.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Imes made his professional debut in 2004 for the WEC and won his first three fights before being invited to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 2.
The Ultimate Fighter 2
Imes was the last pick for his division, and was coached by his training partner and then-UFC Middleweight Champion, Rich Franklin. In his first fight in the house, Imes defeated Rob MacDonald via triangle choke submission in the first round. In the semi-finals, Imes faced Seth Petruzelli and won via split decision. At The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale on November 5, 2005, Imes faced future UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans, and lost via split decision, the first loss of his career.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
At UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4 on April 6, 2006, Imes faced Dan Christison and lost via armbar submission in the third round, but won Fight of the Night honors. He then won two fights for independent promotions before returning to the UFC at UFC 69 on April 7, 2007, and lost via unanimous decision.
Post-UFC
After his last appearance in the UFC, Imes went 7–1, fighting in promotions such as the Palace Fighting Championship and King of the Cage before being signed by the International Fight League.
International Fight League
Imes made his IFL debut on May 16, 2008 at IFL: Connecticut, facing then-champion Roy Nelson for the IFL Heavyweight Championship. He was knocked out with a punch in the first round.
Post-IFL
Imes went 1–2 in his last three professional fights before retiring. According to Imes, he retired from the sport due to concerns over his brain health after accumulating trauma from football and mixed martial arts.
Post-retirement
Imes works as a project manager for a construction company in San Antonio, TX. Imes worked as a full-time firefighter in Jefferson City, Missouri.
Imes was featured in a small role in the 2007 action film Missionary Man.
Personal life
Imes and his wife had their first child together in March 2011.
Championships and accomplishments
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Dan Christison
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- UFC Encyclopedia Awards
- Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Rashad Evans
- UFC.com Awards
- 2005: Ranked #4 Fight of the Year vs. Rashad Evans
- 2006: Ranked #9 Fight of the Year vs. Dan Christison
- UFC Encyclopedia Awards
Mixed martial arts record
| draws= | nc= | ko-wins= 2 | ko-losses= 3 | sub-wins= 9 | sub-losses= 1 | dec-wins= 2 | dec-losses= 3 | dq-wins= | dq-losses= | other-wins=
| other-losses= |
|---|
| Loss |
| align=center |
| Josh Queen |
| KO (punches) |
| Arena Rumble |
| | align=center| 1 | align=center| 0:36 | Spokane, Washington, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 13–6 | Patrick Smith | KO (punches) | Titan FC 13 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 0:28 | Kansas City, Missouri, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 13–5 | Chris Guillen | Submission (punches) | EC 109: Extreme Challenge 109 | | align=center| 2 | align=center| 3:14 | Moline, Illinois, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 12–5 | Roy Nelson | KO (punches) | IFL: Connecticut | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 2:55 | Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
| For the IFL Heavyweight Championship. |
|---|
| Win |
| align=center |
| James Jack |
| Decision (unanimous) |
| TFF: True Fight Fans |
| | align=center| 3 | align=center| 5:00 | Missouri, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 11–4 | Anthony Ruiz | Decision (split) | PFC 6: No Retreat, No Surrender | | align=center| 3 | align=center| 5:00 | Lemoore, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 11–3 | Chris Blaire | TKO (punches) | PFC 5: Beatdown at 4 Bears | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 4:13 | New Town, North Dakota, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 10–3 | Bo Cantrell | Submission (gogoplata) | KOTC: Arch Rivals | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 0:55 | Reno, Nevada, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 9–3 | Zak Jensen | Submission (gogoplata) | WFC: Downtown Throwdown | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 1:31 | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 8–3 | Tony Mendoza | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Ring Wars 15 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 2:50 | South Dakota, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 7–3 | Vince Lucero | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Tuff N-Uff 3 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 2:26 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 6–3 | Heath Herring | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 69 | | align=center| 3 | align=center| 5:00 | Houston, Texas, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 6–2 | Chris Adams | KO (punch) | Combat FC 3 | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 0:18 | Orlando, Florida, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 5–2 | Greg Hammer | Submission (triangle choke) | Winter War | | align=center| 2 | align=center| 1:44 | Spirit Lake, Iowa, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 4–2 | Cody Monroe | Submission (punches) | Ring Style - Bad Blood | | align=center| 1 | align=center| N/A | Moline, Illinois, United States | |- | Loss | align=center| 3–2 | Dan Christison | Submission (armbar) | UFC Fight Night 4 | | align=center| 3 | align=center| 3:37 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
| Fight of the Night. |
|---|
| Loss |
| align=center |
| Rashad Evans |
| Decision (split) |
| The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Franklin Finale |
| | align=center| 3 | align=center| 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
| The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 Heavyweight tournament final. |
|---|
| Win |
| align=center |
| Mike Dexter |
| Submission (triangle choke) |
| WEC 14: Vengeance |
| | align=center| 1 | align=center| 3:44 | Lemoore, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 2–0 | Lace Pele | Submission (punches) | WEC 13: Heavyweight Explosion | | align=center| 1 | align=center| 2:04 | Lemoore, California, United States | |- | Win | align=center| 1–0 | Jeremy Freitag | Decision (split) | WEC 12 | | align=center| 3 | align=center| 5:00 | Lemoore, California, United States |
References
References
- Trent Reinsmith. (January 20, 2016). "Brad Imes on retirement: They told me I was going to die or become a vegetable". [[MMAjunkie.com]].
- Percy Crawford. (October 2, 2007). "Brad Imes: "Apparently, I'm only the third person to pull off a gogoplata!".
- Cindy Ortiz. (November 1, 2005). "– One-on-One with TUF 2´s Brad Imes". mmaweekly.com.
- (February 2, 2011). "TUF 2 Finalist Imes Settling into Retirement". sherdog.com.
- "The Gogoplata Guy: Even if retirement sticks, Brad Imes left his mark on MMA".
- (June 9, 2013). "History in the making: Rashad Evans beats Brad Imes, wins The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 2 as a heavyweight". mmamania.com.
- MMANewswire. (2007-02-19). "UFC 69: Heath Herring vs. Brad Imes". mmamania.com.
- (April 25, 2008). "411mania MMA Interview: The "Hillbilly Heartthrob" Brad Imes". 411mania.com.
- Gerbasi, Thomas. (2011-10-17). "UFC Encyclopedia - The Definitive Guide to the Ultimate Fighting Championship". DK.
- Thomas Gerbasi. (December 12, 2005). "Ten Best – he Top UFC fights of 2005 (archive link no longer loading as of Dec 2024 but Gerbasi personally provided the text of the article".
- Thomas Gerbasi. (January 5, 2007). "Ten Best – The Top UFC Fights of 2006". [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]].
- (April 22, 2006). "Ring Style - Bad Blood Results". Sherdog.
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