5 Defining Moments: Tom Breese

Tom Breese may never reach the ridiculous heights some thought he might, but he figures to have a long and successful career at which to point whenever he decides to call it a wrap.

The Team Renegade middleweight will turn to the Professional Fighters League for the first time when he meets Cleiton Pereira da Silva in a 2024 global qualifier as part of the PFL Europe 4 undercard this Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. A two-division Levels Fight League champion, Breese enters the match on the strength of back-to-back victories. The 32-year-old Englishman last appeared at LFL 9, where he submitted Jaroslaw Lech with a triangle choke less than three minutes into their July 9 pairing. It was his 10th first-round finish as a pro.

As Breese inches ever closer to his looming confrontation with Pereira da Silva at 185 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have helped to define his run to this point:

1. Golden Corral

Breese laid claim to the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts RDX welterweight championship and did so in resounding fashion when he subdued Warren Kee with a rear-naked choke in their BAMMA 11 co-main event on Dec. 1, 2012 at National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. Kee raised the white flag of surrender 3:06 into Round 1. Breese tagged the Tsunami Gym export with a left cross right out of the gate, engaged him in the clinch and proceeded to batter him with short punches to the head and knee strikes to the body. He later executed a double-leg takedown, progressed immediately to side control and eventually scrambled onto the back. Before Kee could react, the arms were in place for the fight-ending choke. Breese’s squeeze did the rest.

2. A Bullish Market

An emerging threat in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division at the time, Breese wiped out SBG Ireland’s Cathal Pendred with a first-round body kick and follow-up punches as part of the UFC Fight Night 76 undercard on Oct. 24, 2015 at 3Arena in Dublin. The end came 4:37 into Round 1. The unbeaten Breese handled his business with power and precision. The Tristar Gym rep sat down Pendred with a counter left inside the first minute, leaving him with a badly bloodied nose. Later, a body kick doubled over the Irishman before a pair of crushing lefts sent him to the mat. Covered in his fallen opponent’s blood, Breese pounced for the finish, his kneeling rights and lefts prompting referee Leon Roberts to act on Pendred’s behalf. It was the first of Breese’s three $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonuses in the UFC.

3. Missed Opportunity

Sean Strickland needed some assistance from the cageside judiciary to eke out a split decision over Breese in their UFC 199 welterweight prelim on June 4, 2016 at The Forum in Inglewood, California. All three judges struck 29-28 scorecards: Michael Bell for Breese, Jeff Mullen and Wade Vierra for Strickland. Neither man effectively separated himself from the other. Breese leaned on kicks and counterpunches but struggled with output. Strickland, meanwhile, overcame a slow start and picked up his pace in the second round, where his stinging jab and forward movement became more and more problematic for the Englishman. He seemed to salt away the decision late in Round 3, as he popped Breese with a sneaky right hand, drove him to the canvas and swarmed with punches. By the time it was over, Strickland held a 77-62 advantage in total strikes landed.

4. No Middling Middleweight

In his first appearance in nearly two years, the oft-injured Breese moved up to 185 pounds and disposed of Daniel Kelly with punches in the first round of their featured UFC Fight Night 130 prelim on Dec. 8, 2023 at 3Arena in Dublin. Kelly bit the dust 3:33 into Round 1. Breese kept the four-time Olympian at bay with a punishing jab and fast-twitch combinations. A left uppercut split open Kelly near his right ear and forced him to retreat to the cage in distress with roughly 90 seconds left into the opening round. Breese continued his pursuit, let his hands go and buried the Australian judoka with punches before a crowd of 8,520 fans.

5. Time for a Change

American Top Team’s Omari Akhmedov on Jan. 20, 2021 submitted Breese with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their UFC on ESPN 20 middleweight showcase at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Referee Lukasz Bosacki waved it off 1:41 into Round 2. Akhmedov executed a takedown in the first round, freed himself from an attempted guillotine and launched a sustained barrage of ground-and-pound that had the Team Renegade rep in real danger for several tense moments. Breese rebounded late in the frame, advanced to the back and fished for a rear-naked choke, only to run out of time. Akhmedov powered through the Brit’s bid for a calf slicer early in Round 2, transitioned to full mount and cinched the choke for the tapout. Breese was released by the UFC several months later, ending his six-year run with the organization.