Gavin Tucker

Gavin Scott Tucker (born June 17, 1986) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist. Tucker currently competes in the featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He had previously won the Extreme Cage Combat promotion championship in the featherweight category.

Background
Tucker was born in St. Anthony, NL and raised in Ship Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, on June 17, 1986. He started practicing traditional martial arts like taekwondo and judo in his teens, before leaving for Nova Scotia to study. He graduated from St. Francis Xavier University after studying jazz, music industry and performance. After stationing permanently in Halifax, he got interested in martial arts and found a gym to train at. Tucker began competing in mixed martial arts in 2009. He competed on the regional scene, almost exclusively in The Maritimes of Canada.

Early career
Tucker was the reigning Extreme Cage Combat Featherweight Champion when he was signed to the UFC in early 2017.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Tucker made his promotional debut on February 19, 2017 against Sam Sicilia at UFC Fight Night 105. Tucker won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tucker faced Ricky Glenn on September 9, 2017 at UFC 215. Tucker suffered his first professional loss in this fight by unanimous decision. The referee was criticized by many observers, who felt that the fight should have been stopped earlier, as Tucker was clearly exhausted and had absorbed 142 significant strikes. UFC president Dana White tweeted, "This ref SUCKS" during the fight and tweeted after the fight, "Look at the poor kid's face!!! The ref needs his ass whooped!!!!" Other commentators blamed Tucker's corner for not throwing in the towel to stop the fight. Despite Tucker suffering 4 broken bones in his face as a result of the fight, he defended the referee's, Kyle Cardinal, decision on his Facebook. In victory say little. In defeat ....less. ill keep it short and sweet. i lost on Saturday. stop blaming the ref for a bad call. that man let me go out on my shield. he visited while i was in the hospital and apologized. was him and i in that cage. I didnt stop fighting. he saw that. he should sleep easy. I have four broken bones in my face. the first which started on the jaw in rd 1 and the fight went down for me from there. i have 2 fractured orbital and another vertical fracture in the jaw according to the x ray/CT scan. the heartbreak of losing hurts much worse. throughout the day i wiped a lot [sic] of blood off my cheek and i can't say for sure there weren't some tears in there. I fought w blurred vision and 3 different Rick Glenns kicked the fuck out of me for the last two rds. (i tried to hit the one in the middle) congrats to my opponent. i hope you go far because i plan on seeing you again. I fought my heart out. I'm a rare breed of straight savage and i don't need social media to tell me that. however...i am appreciative of all the support i received on here. which is why I'm writing this. I have no excuses and won't stand for anyone making them for me. that's not how the north folk get it done.

Tucker was expected to face Andre Soukhamthath in a bantamweight bout on October 27, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 138. However, Tucker pulled out of the fight in early October, citing an undisclosed injury, and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Jonathan Martinez.

Tucker faced Seung Woo Choi on July 27, 2019 at UFC 240. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round three.

Tucker was scheduled to face Billy Quarantillo on April 25, 2020. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date.

Tucker faced Justin Jaynes on August 8, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 174. Tucker won the fight via a rear-naked choke in round three. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.

Tucker faced Billy Quarantillo on December 12, 2020 at UFC 256. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tucker was briefly linked to a bout against Cub Swanson on May 1, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 23. However, Tucker was tabbed as a short notice replacement to face Dan Ige on March 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad instead. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Tucker was scheduled to face Pat Sabatini on November 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 198. However, Tucker had to pull out of the bout in late October, and the pair was rescheduled on April 9, 2022 at UFC 273. However, Tucker pulled out due to unknown reasons.

Tucker faced Diego Lopes at UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Font on August 5, 2023. He lost the bout via an armbar submission in the first round.

Tucker is scheduled to face Jack Jenkins on August 17, 2024 at UFC 305.

Professional titles

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Performance of the Night (One time) vs Justin Jaynes
 * Extreme Combat Championship
 * ECC Featherweight Championship (One time)
 * One successful title defense