Jesse Forbes

Forbes was born in Portland, Maine, and moved to Arizona. He was a two-time All-State wrestler at Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona, before going on to wrestle at Pima Community College, where he was a NJCAA All-American. Former UFC fighter Drew Fickett is also an alumnus of PCC, and Forbes trained with him soon after college.

Forbes signed with the UFC to appear on The Ultimate Fighter 3.

Forbes was the first pick on Team Ken Shamrock and second overall. Shamrock explained that when Tito Ortiz chose Matt Hamill as his first pick that he would have to pick someone he thought could beat Hamill, and he thought Forbes was that person. While on the show, Forbes was the youngest in the house. Despite Shamrock's belief that Forbes was a force to be reckoned with, he lost his preliminary fight against Noah Inhofer via submission. He was brought back on the show after Inhofer asked to be sent home (therefore disqualifying him from the competition) for fear that his girlfriend believed he had cheated on her. Forbes returned with a mohawk and a second chance that put him in Inhofer's semi-finals spot.

Forbes lost again in his just received semi-final spot to Josh Haynes via guillotine choke despite dominating the first round that even Ortiz admitted could have been scored 10-8.

Forbes was pitted against Team Ortiz's Matt Hamill at the finale of the show. Forbes lost again that night via TKO in the first round.

Forbes compiled an 11-2 record after being released from the UFC, including notable wins over fellow UFC veterans Jesse Taylor and James Head.

Forbes made his UFC return on January 11, 2010 at UFC Fight Night 20 against Nick Catone, replacing an injured Steve Steinbeiss.^[1] Forbes lost the fight via controversial split decision.

Forbes faced Ryan Jensen at UFC 114 on May 29, 2010. He lost the fight via guillotine choke submission in the first round dropping his UFC record to 0-3. After his second straight loss, he was released from the UFC once again.

In his first fight since leaving the UFC, Forbes fought Strikeforce veteran Anthony Smith at Crowbar MMA: Fall Brawl on September 11, 2010. He won via second round TKO.^[2]

Forbes then faced Justin Guthrie at Crowbar MMA: Winter Brawl on December 10, 2010. He won via triangle choke submission.^[3]

Forbes is currently a firefighter/paramedic with the Phoenix Fire Department.^{[citation needed]}

• Professional MMA record for Jesse Forbes from Sherdog
• Jesse Forbes at UFC