Featherweight
Fernando Padilla
“El Valiente”·
Chihuahua, Mexico
Pro record
16-6-0
Model Elo
1537
#723 of 1994
- Age
- 28
- Height
- 6'1"
- Reach
- 76"
- Stance
- Orthodox
- Team
- Team Oyama
- Born
- Chihuahua, Mexico
- UFC debut
- Apr 29, 2023
Profile
Overview
Two UFC wins, both in the first round, and a loss that ended with two seconds left in the opening five minutes. Fernando Padilla, "El Valiente," fights at featherweight out of Team Oyama and sits at 2-2 in the UFC.
It's a small sample, but the pattern is hard to miss. His wins end early; his losses are the ones that show the cost of trading. He carries a 16-6-0 professional record across all promotions, and a loss into his next fight.
Fast starts, short nights.
UFC Career
Padilla debuted on short notice of nothing but results: a first-round TKO of Julian Erosa at 1:41 at UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon. That was his entire first night, and it went exactly his way.
Next came Kyle Nelson, and the fight went the full three rounds. Nelson took a unanimous decision, the only time Padilla has gone the distance in the UFC.
He bounced back in March 2024 with a first-round submission of Luis Pajuelo at 2:45. Then came Sean Woodson, whom our model rates as a strong opponent. Woodson stopped him in round 1 at 4:58, a fight that was two seconds from reaching round 2.
Both wins in the first round, one loss in the first round. Padilla's fights rarely get comfortable.
Fighting Style
Padilla is a busy striker who racks up a lot of strikes, though he also takes plenty in return and misses more often than most. That kind of output tends to produce fights that end early, and his UFC wins bear that out: one by knockout and one by submission, both in the first round.
On the ground, he rarely shoots for takedowns but is very hard to take down. He hunts for submissions at about the rate you'd expect, and he has shown he can finish one when a fight goes there.
The result is a fighter who prefers to stay on his feet and has the defense to make that stick.
Notable Wins
- Julian Erosa: KO/TKO, round 1 (1:41), UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon (2023)
- Luis Pajuelo: submission, round 1 (2:45), UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas (2024)
Quick Facts
- Division: Featherweight
- UFC record: 2-2 (two first-round finishes)
- Professional record (all promotions): 16-6-0
- UFC debut: 2023
- Stance: Orthodox
- Height / reach: 6'1" / 76"
- Team: Team Oyama
- Born: Chihuahua, Mexico
Written from MMA ProTips fight data, updated Nov 10, 2026.
UFC by the numbers
- UFC record
- 2–2
- since 2023
- Finish rate
- 100%
- 2 of 2 wins
- 1st-round finishes
- 2
- Elite wins
- 0
- vs opponents rated 1700+ at the time
- Longest win streak
- 1
- Current streak
- L1
- losses in a row
- Octagon time
- 24:24
- avg 6:06 per fight
- Opposition
- 1556
- avg opponent Elo (1500 = average)
Best wins
Ranked by the opponent's Elo rating going into the fight.
- 1560opp. Elo
submission, R1 · UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas · Mar 22, 2024
- 1543opp. Elo
KO/TKO, R1 · UFC Fight Night: Song vs. Simon · Apr 28, 2023
Career stats (UFC)
Career UFC averages. The white tick on each bar marks the UFC average.
Striking
UFC avg 3.35 · better than average
UFC avg 3.95 · below average
UFC avg 45% · below average
UFC avg 52% · about average
UFC avg 0.43 · better than average
Grappling
UFC avg 1.52 · below average
UFC avg 15% · below average
UFC avg 52% · better than average
UFC avg 0.58 · about average
Where the strikes land
Where the strikes are thrown
Average fight time: 6:06
Fight history (4)
| Res | Opponent | Method | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| L |  Sean WoodsonRecord after: 2-2 | KO/TKORound 1 · 4:58 | UFC Fight Night: Covington vs BuckleyDec 14, 2024 |
| W |  Luis PajueloRecord after: 2-1 | submissionRound 1 · 2:45 | UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. NamajunasMar 22, 2024 |
| L |  Kyle NelsonRecord after: 1-1 | unanimous decisionRound 3 · 5:00 | UFC Fight Night: Grasso vs. Shevchenko 2Sep 15, 2023 |
| W |  Julian ErosaRecord after: 1-0 | KO/TKORound 1 · 1:41 | UFC Fight Night: Song vs. SimonApr 28, 2023 |