Bryan Caraway

Bryan Caraway (born August 4, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the UFC's Bantamweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Caraway has fought in Strikeforce, EliteXC, WEC, and UFC. He was a competitor on Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. As of August 17, 2015, he is #6 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.

Background

Caraway is from Goldendale, Washington and attended North Idaho College for one year and then went to Central Washington University for three and half years, where he was on the wrestling team until the program was dropped in 2004. One of Caraway's fellow teammates, a cousin of UFC veteran Dennis Hallman, introduced Caraway to the MMA veteran, who was also an accomplished fighter. Caraway began fighting in the spring of 2004 and then moved to train in his hometown of Yakima.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Caraway decided to go professional after compiling a 6-1 amateur record in his homestate of Washington. His opponent for his debut would be fellow future UFC fighter, Ian Loveland. Caraway lost when the cage side doctor halted the bout because of a deep laceration on the face of Caraway. Caraway built his record to 4-1 with four straight wins, finishing all four opponents, one of which was soon-to-be Ultimate Fighter and WEC fighter, Noah Thomas.