Kyle Watson: Record, Net Worth, Weight, Age & More!

By Benjamin Strusnik, October 04, 2021

Who is Kyle Watson?

Kyle Watson is an American Jiu Jitsu practitioner and former UFC Lightweight competitor.

Who is Kyle Watson?

Kyle Watson is an American Jiu Jitsu practitioner and former UFC Lightweight competitor.

He is a 3rd Degree black belt in BJJ under the lineage of Royler Gracie through his coaches, Jack McVicker and Wellington “Megaton” Dias. He began his Mixed Martial Arts career in the early 2000s, and competed for nearly 10 years on stages as large as the UFC. After his retirement from cage fighting in 2012, Watson went on to compete in a rigorous Jiu Jitsu competition schedule that he still maintains to this day.

Mastering The Knee Weave System by Kyle Watson

Kyle spent his time in college reading about education. He put effort into uncovering the best ways to help capture people’s attention and to help them learn. After graduating, he worked for a company that trained young people to achieve their educational goals. He has been able to apply this same methodology in service of helping his students, whether they are competitors or hobbyists, make progress towards their goals. He works with all ages and ability levels to convey the high-quality character and self-discipline needed to succeed in martial arts.

The Effective Knee Slice Tutorial by Fabio Caloi

How Old is Kyle Watson?

Kyle watson is 42 years old as of August 2021. He was born on August 9th, 1979 in Illinois.

Kyle Watson Family

Details about Kyle Watson’s family have been kept private.

How Much is Kyle Watson Worth?

Kyle Watson’s net worth is not public record. He mentioned in an interview that he fought in a time when the UFC didn’t have the star power that it does now. The big money fights and celebrity status for cage fighters were things that came after his tenure as a professional mixed martial artist. In his retirement years, Watson has continued to spread his knowledge of the sport by creating his own successful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy, Watson Martial Arts, in St. Louis, Missouri.

How Tall is Kyle Watson?

Kyle Watson is an even 6’0” (183cm). He has a 70 inch reach, making him an exceptionally tall and long fighter, especially for the lightweight division in Mixed Martial Arts.

How Much Does Kyle Watson Weigh?

Kyle Watson competed professionally in the lightweight division, which is 144-155 pounds, or 66-70 kg. His last weigh-in took full advantage of the 1 pound allowance, coming in at 156 pounds when he fought his last professional bout in the early part of 2012.

Kyle Watson Fight List

Watson fought in MMA across many promotions during his career. See a list of his professional bouts below:

Feb 2012 - Juha - Pekka Vainikainen - CWFC: Fight Night 3 - Loss
Apr 2011 - John Makdessi - UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields - Loss
Dec 2010 - Sako Chivitchyan - The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale - Win
Feb 2009 - Steve Reyna - C3: Evolution - Win
Jan 2009 - Josh Bernal - X-treme Fight 1 - Win
Jun 2009 - Decarlo Johnson - Total Fight Challenge 12 - Win
Sep 2007 - Kevin English - Total Fight Challenge 10 - Win
Feb 2007 - Tyler Jackson - Bodog Fight: Costa Rica Combat - Loss
Nov 2006 - Dan Spychalski - IHC 11: Apocalypse - Win
Sep 2009 - Chris Higi - Total Fight Challenge 6 - Win
Jul 2006 - Sherron Leggett - Madtown Throwdown 8 - Loss
Jul 2006 - Cory Conger - Madtown Throwdown 8 - Win
Sep 2005 - Bart Palaszewski - Total Fight Challenge 4 - Loss
Jun 2005 - Joe Voisin - Courage Fighting Championships 3 - Win
May 2005 - Chris Higi - Total Fight Challenge 3 - Win
Mar 2005 - Spencer Fisher - Courage Fighting Championships 2 - Loss
Feb 2005 - Jason Bryar - Total Fight Challenge 2 - Win
Nov 2004 - John Paun - IHC 8: Ethereal - Draw
Apr 2004 - Thomas Cubas - Total Fight Challenge 1 -Win
Jan 2004 - Henry Matamoros - Freestyle Combat Challenge 13 - Loss
Jun 2003 - Tom Kirk - Freestyle Combat Challenge 11 - Loss
Mar 2003 - Monte Skinner - Freestyle Combat Challenge 10 - Win

Kyle Watson's Best Fight of All Time

It’s hard to pick just one fight to stand above the rest when you’re looking at a resume as long as Watson’s. Between his days in the MMA circuit and his current success in Jiu Jitsu tournaments around the country, there have been a lot of stand out moments.

It’s hard to argue with an origin story, and Watson’s widespread public debut came with his time on the Ultimate Fighter Season 12. Watson was known as a submission specialist and a Jiu-Jitsu phenom but hadn’t shown it on the biggest stages yet. In 2010, he got the world’s attention when he entered the TUF house and submitted his first three opponents with the same choke, and all without ever seeing the third round. These wins weren’t against weak competition; Joe Duffy was among those who found Kyle Watson on their back.

Who Did Kyle Watson Lose To?

Kyle Watson has competed in a lot of cage fights and, like any professional combat athlete, he has experienced some losses over the course of his nine year pro career. Although Watson went on some nasy submission streaks, he also met defeat towards the end of his MMA career.

In April of 2011, Kyle Watson got his shot in the UFC. After competing successfully and making the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 12: Team GSP vs. Team Koscheck nearly two years earlier, Watson was more than eager to get on the biggest stage that combat sports has to offer. In a stroke of luck, John Makdessi’s opponent dropped out of UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields, leaving Watson as a logical choice for the replacement fighter. The fight was a back and forth struggle, but Makdessi eventually got the better of Watson in the third round. Makdessi faked a head kick and followed it up with a spinning back fist that sent Watson crashing to the canvas for a knockout. Watson was released from the UFC after this loss, and began to train to regain his place.

Kyle Watson’s final loss came in February of 2012, when he faced Juha-Pekka Vainikainen in Cage Warriors FC: Fight Night 3. Like his previous fight, Watson hung tight with his opponent to start things off. Unfortunately, Watson caught an accidental elbow as he shot in for a takedown and was cut badly. The referee asked the doctor to check on Watson, who wanted to continue despite the doctor’s urging. The ringside doctor overruled him and stopped the bout, officially calling it a TKO by doctor stoppage. Watson has stated that he believes this should have been a no-contest instead of a TKO.

Kyle Watson Record

Kyle Watson competed in both MMA and Jiu Jitsu but his grappling career has spanned nearly 20 years, having begun in 2003. Records of all his individual matches are not centralized or compiled, but his list of accomplishments in the sport is a long one (see below).

Kyle Watson’s record as an MMA fighter is 13-8-1. Impressively, he finished 10 of his 13 victories with either a rear naked choke or a triangle choke. He was never submitted in competition.

Kyle Watson Injuries

Despite a long competition career as a professional fighter, Kyle Watson did not sustain any major injuries that were made public. This is even more impressive considering his Jiu-Jitsu resume, which is the sport where Watson has arguably achieved the most success. Most competitors face a slew of injuries as they progress in Jiu Jitsu, but Watson found a way to stay healthy for the vast majority of his career both as a grappler and a fighter.

Is Kyle Watson Retired?

Kyle Watson is retired from some of his endeavors but still active in the world of Jiu Jitsu. He is retired from the UFC and from mixed martial arts in general, having competed last in 2012. In an interview, Watson said that he absolutely loves and misses the training that goes along with competing at the highest level of combat sports. What he doesn’t miss as much, however, is the mental preparation for his fights. Just like many UFC veterans, Watson approached the cage with a sense of dread and respect, and was ultimately glad when it was time to move on to his budding career as a coach.

Watson’s relationship with Jiu Jitsu has been much different than it was with Mixed Martial Arts. In contrast to the stress and fear induced by MMA, Watson says that he’s looked forward to every Jiu Jitsu competition that he’s ever competed in. In 2012, after coming off two losses in the cage, Watson joined the H.I.T. Squad to coach under MMA legend and nine-time UFC Welterweight Champion, Matt Hughes. He was asked to come on as the head Jiu Jitsu instructor. Under his eye, the Jiu-Jitsu program took off and became a destination for both pro and amateur athletes to come and improve their skills. Watson has spent a significant portion of his time in retirement to the training and coaching of young MMA and BJJ competitors.

As noted above, Kyle Watson has not retired from Jiu Jitsu competition. Since his days as an MMA and UFC fighter, he’s focused heavily on preparing for competitions. He’s won, as well as placed in, Middleweight black belt competitions first in the Master division. More recently, he has continued to medal in the same brackets at the Master 2 level. In 2018, Watson started competing interchangeably in both the Middleweight and Medium-heavy brackets, and now falls into the Master 3 category. Continue to expect Kyle to bring home medals from regional and world-level Jiu Jitsu tournaments again in 2021 and beyond.

When he’s not competing, Kyle is coaching under his own affiliation, Watson Martial Arts. He works hard to transfer the years of experience and knowledge that he built competing at the highest levels to his students. In addition to coaching in person, Watson has already begun creating video products in coordination with BJJ Fanatics. His excellent “Mastering the Knee Weave System” is a great introduction to Watson’s passing system, which uses knee positioning and pummeling to maintain connection to the opponent while destroying their guard. Check it out and add this unique style of passing to your game!

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