Chris Saunders

Christopher Michael Saunders (born March 11, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, Saunders has made a name for himself fighting in the California area and his one-fight stint with Bellator Fighting Championships. He was a competitor on FX's The Ultimate Fighter: Live.

Early life
Saunders attended Millikan High school in Long Beach, California, where he was an athlete participating in football, baseball, and wrestling. After graduating from Millikan, Saunders enrolled at Long Beach City College, studying in fire science. While at Long Beach City College, Saunders was also on the soccer team.

Mixed martial arts
In 2007 Saunders dropped out of college after watching UFC 79, deciding he wanted to be a full-time fighter. He traveled all over the South Bay area training at different gyms, with different trainers, and other fighters. Saunders opted out of competing as an amateur and began his professional career in 2009. His debut came at Battle in the Ballroom: Summer Fist 3 in Costa Mesa, California on July 17, 2009. Saunders fought Thor Skancke, a 1-2 local fighter, on the card, defeating him via second round submission (guillotine choke). A month later, Saunders again competed for the Battle in the Ballroom promotion, fighting and defeating Guilherme Cotliarenko via unanimous decision.

Saunders took his first professional loss against Isaac Gutierrez on November 20, 2009. Saunders lost the fight in the beginning of round two via rear-naked choke submission. He bounced back after the loss only a month later, defeating Todd Willingham via unanimous decision at another Battle in the Ballroom event. On February 10, 2010 Saunders earned his first referee stoppage by defeating Billy Terry, and then followed up with an impressive first round submission win over Nick Reale on April 18, 2010. Saunders then fought Todd Willingham in a rematch, in which Saunders again won via unanimous decision.

After defeating Andy Morales via decision and amassing an 8-1 record, Saunders was offered a shot at the MEZ Sports Lightweight championship against up-and-comer, George Valdez, at MEZ Sports 4 on November 19, 2010. Saunders defeated Valdez midway into round four via referee stoppage. He then viciously knocked out Tito Ortiz's coach, Cleber Luciano, before being offered a fight in Bellator Fighting Championships.

Bellator Fighting Championships
Saunders fought WEC and IFL veteran, Chris Horodecki, at Bellator 47 in Horodecki's home country of Canada. Saunders lost the fight via unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter
Saunders was one of 32 lightweight fighters announced by the UFC to participate in first live season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show.

Saunders defeated Chase Hackett via unanimous decision to move into the Ultimate Fighter house, and become an official cast member. Saunders was Team Faber's 8th pick, the last pick of the show.

His first fight would come against Team Cruz's 2nd pick Sam Sicilia. Saunders won his preliminary fight against Sam Sicilia via a close split decision after two rounds. This earned him a place in the quarter-finals.

Saunders fought Team Cruz fighter, Vinc Pichel, in the quarter-finals. After a close first round and dominant second round by Pichel, Saunders lost the fight via majority decision with two judges scoring the fight for Pichel and the third declaring it a draw. The loss eliminated Saunders from the competition.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Saunders faced fellow cast member Myles Jury on June 1, 2012 at The Ultimate Fighter: Live Finale. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.