Francisco France Record: 13-5-1

Testing himself against veterans

The level of opposition kept climbing. In December 2010, France met UFC veteran Keith Jardine and came up short, a tough but valuable test against a seasoned former contender. He rebounded in April 2011 with a win over James McSweeney, another fighter with major-show experience. In October 2013 he fought to a hard-earned draw with the highly experienced Hans Stringer at WSOF 6, a result that underlined how competitive he was against established names.

RFA title and Bellator run

France's career peaked on the RFA circuit, where his suffocating top game and submission acumen carried him to gold. In April 2015 he defeated Gabriel Checco by unanimous decision at RFA 25 to capture the RFA middleweight championship, the crowning achievement of his career. That title run earned him a move to Bellator, where the toughest stretch of his career awaited: in February 2016 he was stopped by punches in the second round by former UFC middleweight Kendall Grove at Bellator 150, and a year later he fell to the unbeaten Russian prospect Anatoly Tokov by second-round ground-and-pound at Bellator 172.

Fighting style

France is a quintessential grappler, with 12 of his 13 wins coming by submission – rear-naked chokes, arm-triangles and a kimura among them – for a remarkable 92% finish rate and not a single knockout victory on his ledger. His game is built on taking opponents down, advancing position and hunting the finish, the product of a deep jiu-jitsu background. The record also tells an honest story about his ceiling: all four of his knockout losses came against bigger punchers, a reflection of a fighter whose path to victory ran almost entirely through the mat rather than a striking exchange.

Career highlights

• RFA Middleweight Champion — defeated Gabriel Checco by decision at RFA 25 to win the title, the defining achievement of his career.
• Strikeforce submission win — submitted Lee Brousseau on the Strikeforce stage, an early marquee victory.
• Elite submission rate — finished 12 of his 13 wins by submission for a 92% finish rate, one of the most grappling-dominant records of his era.