Pat Downey (wrestler)

Pat Downey
Born	James Patrick Downey III (1992-08-07) August 7, 1992 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names	Lizard King
Nationality	American
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Division	Middleweight (2021–present)
Fighting out of	Deerfield Beach, Florida, U.S.
Team	Sanford MMA
Wrestling	NCAA Division I Wrestling
Years active	2021–present
University	Iowa State University
Notable school(s)	Cheyenne Central High School
Medal record Men's freestyle wrestling Representing United States Pan American Games 2019 Lima 86 kg US National Championships 2019 Las Vegas 86 kg Junior World Championships 2012 Pattaya 84 kg Collegiate Wrestling Representing the Iowa State Cyclones Big 12 Championships 2016 Kansas City 197 lbs

James Patrick Downey III (born August 7, 1992) is an American submission grappler, freestyle wrestler, and professional mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of Bellator MMA. As an amateur wrestler, Downey competed at 86 kilograms and was a 2019 Pan American Games medalist and the 2019 US Open National champion. In college, he was an NCAA Division I All–American in 2016 for the Iowa State Cyclones and an NJCAA champion for Iowa Central Community College. Downey has been involved in several controversies, including accusations of degrading female wrestlers.

Folkstyle career

High school

Downey attended North County High School and Loch Raven High School, where he was a three-sport athlete, competing in wrestling, football and lacrosse. After placing third at the MPSSAA championships as a freshman, he went on to win the tournament every year and also won the NHSCA and USAW National Championships before his graduation in 2011. As a football player, he set a school record for total offense in a game with 420 total yards on 315 yards passing and 105 yards rushing his senior year and was one of three Maryland prep quarterbacks selected to the prestigious Super-22 Team. A legally problematic high schooler, Downey was multiple times denied of wrestling and playing football due to multiple charges.

College

University of Nebraska

After being invited to train at the United States Olympic Training Center by Bobby Douglas, he started residing and training in there. During his stay, he met Olympic Gold medalist and University of Nebraska graduate Jordan Burroughs, who played a big part on Downey's recruiting. He was accepted by the Nebraska Cornhuskers and was supposed to attend the University of Nebraska, but as a recently turned 21 year–old, he got sidetracked on partying. This caused head coach Mark Manning's decision of cutting Downey off the team, suggesting him to start a mixed martial arts career after breaking his thumb in a street fight.

Iowa Central Community College

After his deflected time at UNL, Downey attended Iowa Central Community College, an NJCAA level school. As a redshirt freshman competing at 197 pounds, he compiled an undefeated record and became the '15 NJCAA champion (helping the Tritons reach the team championship). He also went 10–1 against NCAA Division I competition, recording notable victories over Hawkeyes, Cornhuskers, Quakers, Sun Devils, etc.

Iowa State University

After putting things back on track, Downey was given two options; Iowa State University and University of Iowa. He ended up deciding to wear the Cyclones' cardinal and gold clothes, stating that some of the factors of his decision were his connections with coaches Kevin Jackson and Trent and Travis Paulson and his preference of the teammates. During his sophomore season (2015–16), he competed just three times and lost one of the matches, but still was the starter for the post-season at 197 pounds. He placed third at the Big 12 Conference championships and entered the NCAA championships unseeded. He performed greatly, taking out multiple high-seeded wrestlers to place fifth, earning All-American honors.

As a junior, he was finding high success at 184 pounds during the regular season, posting seven wins and no losses. On February 23, 2017, it was announced that Downey had been kicked off the wrestling team due to "repeated violations of team rules", as quoted by head coach Kevin Jackson. Despite some talks about a potential run as an Iowa Hawkeye, this finished Downey's collegiate wrestling career and he earned his degree from ISU via online courses.

Freestyle career

Junior level

Downey was a standout junior level freestyle wrestler until 2014, year in which his eligibility to compete at this level expired. After failing to make the 2012 Senior US Olympic Team, he made the Junior World Team and went on to win a silver medal at the World Championships. He was also a FILA and USAW National Champion.

Senior level

2011–2016

He made his debut in 2011 (fresh out of high school) at the OTT qualifiers in an attempt to make the Olympic Team, but was unsuccessful after losing in the first round to eventual UFC champion and then NCAA DII champion Kamaru Usman. He competed just once between 2012 and 2013 and made his return in 2014. In this year, he won the Northern Plains tournament, placed sixth at the University Nationals and attended the World Team Trials. A year later, he competed at the ASICS US Nationals, the Northern Plains and the Bill Farrell Memorial but did not place, unlike the University Nationals in where he placed fourth. In 2016, he just wrestled one match.

2017–2018

In 2017, he made a return to freestyle in big fashion with a fifth-place finish at the US Open, which qualified him for the World Team Trials. At the WTT, he defeated two-time All-American turned MMA fighter Kyle Crutchmer but subsequently dropped his next two bouts. To close the year, he racked up a bronze medal from the Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational. In 2018, he once again placed at the US Open and (unlike the previous year) at the World Team Trials.

2019–2020

Downey completed his best year of competition as of now in 2019, as he racked up titles from the Dave Schultz Memorial International and the US Open and made the World Team after defeating Nick Heflin in the challenge finals and the defending World Champion David Taylor could not make it to Final X. After successfully making the team, Downey won a prestigious Pan American Games medal and went 2–1 at the World Championships. He then participated in a Super Fight against the accomplished submission grappler Nick Rodriguez, whom he tech'd after scoring 12 points to none.

In 2020, he won a bronze medal at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series in Italy and had a brief appearance at the Ivan Yarygin Golden Grand Prix. In February 2020, Downey competed at a special event where he faced the often referred as "Greatest Submission Grappler of All Time" Gordon Ryan. This event consisted of a freestyle wrestling match and a submission grappling match. In the wrestling match, Downey tech'd Ryan in seconds. In the sub only portion of the match, Downey tapped out to Ryan via 3/4 nelson.

Downey was scheduled to compete at the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials on April 4 at State College, Pennsylvania. However, the event was postponed for 2021 along with the Summer Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving all the qualifiers unable to compete.

After the Olympic Trials were postponed, Downey participated in the first wrestling event of the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic on June 28, at Rumble on the Rooftop. He faced Greco-Roman World Team Member Joe Rau in a mixed-rules match, this consisted in one period of Greco-Roman rules and other of freestyle rules, with no technical falls. After choosing Greco-Roman in the first period, Downey was down 9 points to none and could just pick up four points during the freestyle period, dropping the match 4–9.

Controversies

After several tweets where he made comments towards Greco-Roman and women's wrestling, Downey was dropped by the NJRTC, terminated by Paradigm Sport Management and Barbarian Appel and also lost his spot at the FloWrestling: Dake vs. Chamizo card where he was supposed to wrestle 2018 World Champion David Taylor on July 25, in a 5–day period.

2021

After more than a year of inactiveness, Downey wrestled at the UWW Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series on March 7, at 92 kilograms, where he went 0–4. Downey then competed at the rescheduled US Olympic Team Trials in April, finishing fourth after going 1–2.

Downey was scheduled to face two-time US Open National champion at 97 kg Kyven Gadson on August 13 in an adapted folkstyle match at the Stalemates Street League event. However, Downey did not show up to the event. He was then scheduled to trim down to 79 kilograms and compete at the 2021 US World Team Trials on September 11–12, but once again did not show up.

Legal issues

In November 2009, Downey was charged with first-degree assault, after Baltimore Police stated he had beaten up a Towson University student in a parking lot. According to police, Downey broke the student's jaw and knocked off four of his teeth. In June 4 of 2010, Downey was once again charged with second-degree assault along with former teammate from North County HS Patrick Carey, after allegedly brawling with two Navy football players at a night club. Downey was also charged with assault and robbery in September 2010, when he was accused of beating up a classmate who sold him and two of Downey's friends marijuana after refusing to pay him, however, charges were dropped due to repeated changes in the victim's testimony.

After a trial that took place in July 2011, where Downey was facing up to 35 years of prison, Downey pled guilty to his crimes committed in November 2009, spending six days in jail. In 2017, Downey referred to his antics as a high schooler:

"The whole street thug persona that I was getting labeled as, there was no doubt about it. I wasn’t running with the right crew, and I wasn’t living right. You don’t catch three felony assault charges if you’re doing everything right. Obviously, I was in the wrong places at the wrong times with the wrong people. I cleaned my act up tenfold. I had to change to get the results I wanted. If I didn’t, I was going to lose my life.”

Mixed martial arts career

Bellator MMA

Downey was formerly signed with Paradigm Sport Management and is now signed with SuckerPunch Entertainment. Downey first announced his intentions of pursuing mixed martial arts in 2018 and was scheduled to make his amateur debut in 2019 in a cancelled bout. Downey was rumored to make his professional debut on May 21, 2021, at LFA 108, in a middleweight bout, but an appearance never materialized.

On January 6, 2022 it was announced that Downey had signed with Bellator MMA and will reportedly make his debut later in the year. Downey was scheduled to make his MMA debut against Daniel Compton on April 15, 2022 at Bellator 277. After developing Red skin syndrome, Downey was forced to pull out of the bout.

Submission grappling career

In February 2020, Downey competed at a special event where he faced the often referred as "Greatest Submission Grappler of All Time" Gordon Ryan in two matches, one consisting of wrestling rules and the other of grappling rules. In the grappling match, the unexperienced Downey tapped out to a half nelson hold. He was then slated to face Nick Rodriguez with submission grappling rules on March, in a rematch from their freestyle wrestling match in 2019, but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Downey made his return to the sport at Subversiv 5 on May 1, 2021 defeating Rasheed Perez by unanimous decision and scoring a highlight reel suplex. Downey then competed at the prestigious Third Coast Grappling Middleweight Grand Prix on June 19, being eliminated in the first match by multiple time color belt World Champion Pedro Marinho. He was then scheduled to compete at a Sub Spectrum event on August 14, one day after a wrestling match with Kyven Gadson, but did not show up to either event.

Submission grappling record

3 Matches, 1 Win, 2 Losses (2 Submissions)
Result	Rec.	Opponent	Method	Event	Division	Type	Year	Location
2021 3CG Grand Prix IV DNP at 85 kg
Loss	1–2	Pedro Marinho	Submission (heel hook)	3CG 7: The Middleweights	85 kg	Nogi	June 19, 2021	Houston, Texas
Win	1–1	Rasheed Perez	Decision (unanimous)	Subversiv 5	Superfight	Nogi	May 2, 2021	Miami, Florida
Loss	0–1	Gordon Ryan	Submission (half nelson)	BJJ Fanatics	Superfight	Nogi	February 29, 2020	Beverly, Massachusetts

Freestyle record

Senior Freestyle Matches
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event	Location
2020 US Olympic Team Trials 4th at 86 kg
Loss	61–40	Zahid Valencia	TF 1–11	April 2–3, 2021	2020 US Olympic Team Trials	Forth Worth, Texas
Win	61–39	Aaron Brooks	TF 11–0
Loss	60–39	Bo Nickal	TF 3–13
2021 Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series DNP at 92 kg
Loss	60–38	Selim Yaşar	1–6	March 7, 2021	Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2021	Rome, Italy
Loss	60–37	Erhan Yaylacı	2–11
Win	60–36	Gordon Ryan	TF 11–0	February 29, 2020	2020 BJJ Fanatics Grand Prix	Beverly, Massachusetts
2020 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix 14th at 86 kg
Loss	59–36	Soslan Ktsoyev	6–6	January 23–26, 2020	Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2020	Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2020 Matteo Pellicone RS at 86 kg
Win	59–35	Illia Archaia	13–7	January 15–18, 2020	Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2020	Rome, Italy
Loss	58–35	Alex Dieringer	2–3
Win	58–34	Ethan Ramos	9–5
Win	57–34	Osman Göcen	12–5
Win	56–34	Nick Rodriguez	TF 12–0	October 4–5, 2019	2019 Who's Number One	Iowa City, Iowa
2019 World Championships 9th at 86 kg
Loss	55–34	Ahmed Dudarov	TF 0–13	September 21–22, 2019	2019 World Championships	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan
Win	55–33	Zbigniew Baranowski	8–2
Win	54–33	Hovhannes Mkhitaryan	TF 11–1
2019 Pan American Games at 86 kg
Win	53–33	Alexander Moore	Fall	August 10, 2019	2019 Pan American Games	Lima, Peru
Loss	52–33	Yurieski Torreblanca	2–7
Win	52–32	Angus Arthur	TF 14–3
2019 Yasar Dogu 5th at 86 kg
Loss	51–32	Osman Göcen	6–7	July 11–14, 2019	2019 Yasar Dogu International	Istanbul, Turkey
Loss	51–31	Deepak Punia	5–11
2019 US World Team Trials at 86kg
Win	51–30	Nick Heflin	4–0	May 17–19, 2019	2019 US World Team Trials Challenge	Raleigh, North Carolina
Win	50–30	Nick Heflin	6–2
2019 US Open at 86 kg
Win	49–30	Nick Heflin	10–4	April 24–27, 2019	2019 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	48–30	Myles Martin	9–7
Win	47–30	Kenneth Courts	9–4
Win	46–30	Kevin Parker	Fall
Win	45–30	Pat Romero	TF 13–0
Win	44–30	Cameron Caffey	10–4
2019 Granma y Cerro Pelado 7th at 86 kg
Loss	43–30	Yorli Jimenez		February 15–23, 2019	2019 Granma y Cerro Pelado International	Havana, Cuba
Loss	43–29	Yurieski Torreblanca
2019 Dave Schultz M. International at 86 kg
Win	43–28	Kenneth Courts	TF 12–2	January 24–26, 2019	2019 Dave Schultz Memorial International	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Win	42–28	Brett Pfarr	7–4
Win	41–28	Josh Asper	6–4
2018 Alany International 12th at 86 kg
Loss	40–28	Slavik Naniev	4–7	December 7–9, 2018	2018 Alany International	Vladikavkaz, Russia
2018 US World Team Trials 4th at 86 kg
Loss	40–27	Richard Perry	4–7	July 23, 2018	2018 US World Team Trials True Thirds	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Win	40–26	Joe Rau	7–0	May 18–20, 2018	2018 US World Team Trials Challenge	Rochester, Minnesota
Win	39–26	Ryan McWatters	10–5
Loss	38–26	Joe Rau	2–7
2018 US Open 7th at 86 kg
Win	38–25	Brandon Supernaw	TF 10–0	April 24–28, 2018	2018 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	37–25	Nick Reenan	Fall
Win	37–24	Noe Garcia	Fall
Win	36–24	Anthony Lodermeier	TF 12–2
Loss	35–24	Dominic Ducharme	10–18
2017 Dave Schultz M. Invitational at 86 kg
Win	35–23	Takahiro Murayama	TF 10–0	November 1–4, 2017	2017 Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Loss	34–23	Richard Perry	1–2
Win	34–22	Kim Gwan-uk	2–1
Loss	33–22	Aleksander Musalaliev	2–3
2017 US World Team Trials DNP at 86 kg
Loss	33–21	Austin Trotman	5–14	June 9–10, 2017	2017 US World Team Trials Challenge	Lincoln, Nebraska
Loss	33–20	David Taylor	TF 0–10
Win	33–19	Kyle Crutchmer	TF 14–1
2017 US Open 5th at 86 kg
Win	32–19	Kyle Crutchmer	7–3	April 26–29, 2017	2017 US Open National Championships	Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	31–19	Bo Nickal	TF 2–12
Win	31–18	Gabe Dean	7–6
Win	30–18	Josh Asper	7–2
Loss	29–18	David Taylor	TF 0–10
Win	29–17	Peter Renda	9–6
Win	28–17	Ryan McWatters	TF 14–4
Win	27–17	Vic Avery	6–4
2016 Poland Open 14th at 86 kg
Loss	26–17	Fırat Binici	3–6	June 15–17, 2016	2016 Poland Open	Spala, Poland
2015 Bill Farrell International Open DNP at 86 kg
Loss	26–16	Richard Perry	7–8	November 5–7, 2015	2015 Bill Farrell International Open	New York City, New York
Win	26–15	Tyler Caldwell	7–4
Win	25–15	Tyrel Todd	11–6
Win	24–15	Alireza Asadinia	Fall
Loss	23–15	Ryan Loder	12–16
Win	23–14	Gwon Hyeok-beom	9–5
2015 US University Nationals 4th at 86 kg
Loss	22–14	Ryan Loder	5–5	May 28–31, 2015	2015 US University National Championships	Akron, Ohio
Win	22–13	Sam Brooks	7–7
Win	21–13	Aaron Studebaker	TF 10–0
Win	20–13	Glenn Climmons	8–5
Loss	19–13	Hayden Zillmer	5–8
Win	19–12	Montrail Johnson	TF 10–0
Win	18–12	Nicholas Veling	TF 12–2
Win	17–12	Lawrence Thomas	8–4
2015 Northern Plains DNP at 86 kg
Loss	16–12	Victor Terrell	3–7	May 14–16, 2015	2015 Northern Plains Regional Championships	Waterloo, Iowa
Win	16–11	Cody Caldwell	TF 12–1
Win	15–11	Dane Pestano	TF 10–0
2015 ASICS US Nationals DNP at 86 kg
Loss	14–11	Richard Perry	Fall	May 5–9, 2015	2015 ASICS US Senior Nationals	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	14–10	Robert Hamlin	6–5
Win	13–10	Adam Fierro	7–2
Loss	12–10	Deron Winn	1–7
Win	12–9	Quentin Wright	Fall
2014 US World Team Trials DNP at 86 kg
Loss	11–9	Enock Francois	Fall	May 29 – June 1, 2014	2014 US World Team Trials	Madison, Wisconsin
Loss	11–8	Robert Hamlin	4–7
2014 University Nationals 6th at 86 kg
Loss	11–7	Chris Perry	4–10	May 22–25, 2014	2014 US University National Championships	Akron, Ohio
Win	11–6	John Lampe	TF 10–0
Win	10–6	Kenneth Courts	17–13
Win	9–6	Rory Bonner	TF 11–1
Win	8–6	Trent Noon	6–4
2014 Northern Plains Regionals at 86 kg
Win	7–6	Bruce Toal	TF 11–1	May 8–10, 2014	2014 Northern Plains Regional Championships	Waterloo, Iowa
Win	6–6	Justin Koethe	TF 11–0
Win	5–6	Dan Olsen	Fall
2012 NYAC International DNP at 84 kg
Loss	4–6	Tamerlan Tagziev	0–5, 0–5	November 8–10, 2012	2012 NYAC Holiday International Open	New York City, New York
Win	4–5	Mathieu Deschatelets	4–1, 6–0
Loss	3–5	Selim Yaşar	0–3, 2–1, 0–1
2011 US OTT Qualifier DNP at 84 kg
Loss	3–4	Evan Brown	1–0, 0–1, 0–4	December 3, 2011	2011 US Olympic Team Trials Qualifier	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	3–3	Cody Powers	Fall
Loss	2–3	Kamaru Usman	1–1, 3–3, 0–4
2011 NYAC International DNP at 84 kg
Loss	2–2	Kurt Brenner	1–3, 4–0, 3–5	November 11–13, 2011	2011 NYAC Holiday International Open	New York City, New York
Win	2–1	Eyad Abujaradeh	1–0, 5–0
Loss	1–1	Bryce Hasseman	1–1, 0–4
Win	1–0	Nathanael Ackerman	1–0, 4–3

NCAA record

NCAA Division I Record
Res.	Record	Opponent	Score	Date	Event
End of 2016-2017 Season (junior year)
Win	17–4	Drew Foster	9–5	January 20, 2017	Northern Iowa - Iowa State Dual
Win	16–4	Daniel Chaid	6–4	January 14, 2017	Iowa State - North Carolina Dual
Win	15–4	Conner Small	MD 19–7	January 6, 2017	Arizona State - Iowa State Dual
Win	14–4	Casey Crawford	Fall	November 13, 2016	Harold Nichols Open
Win	13–4	Tyler McNutt	Fall	November 6, 2016	Iowa State - North Dakota State Dual
Win	12–4	Nate Rotert	8–6	November 4, 2016	Iowa State - South Dakota State Dual
Start of 2016-2017 Season (junior year)
End of 2015-2016 Season (sophomore year)
2016 NCAA Championships 5th at 197 lbs
Win	11–4	Jared Haught	Fall	March 15–17, 2016	2016 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Loss	10–4	Nathan Burak	SV-1 1-3
Win	10–3	Brett Harner	3-2
Win	9–3	Shawn Scott	5-3
Loss	8–3	Brett Pfarr	MD 3-12
Win	8–2	Jared Haught	TB-1 Fall
Win	7–2	Phil Wellington	SV-1 3-1
2016 Big 12 Championships at 197 lbs
Win	6–2	Trent Noon	3–1	March 3–6, 2016	2016 Big 12 Conference Championships
Win	5–2	Derek Thomas	4–1
Loss	4–2	Preston Weigel	2–6
Win	4–1	Jake Smith	4–1
Win	3–1	Brad Johnson	8–5
Loss	2–1	Brett Pfarr	MD 1–12	February 19, 2016	Iowa State - Minnesota Dual
Win	2–0	Bubba Scheffel	5–4	February 14, 2016	West Virginia - Iowa State Dual
Win	1–0	Cody Krumwiede	5–2	February 5, 2016	Iowa State - Northern Iowa Dual
Start of 2015-2016 Season (sophomore year)
End of 2014-2015 Season (freshman year)

Stats

Season	Year	School	Rank	Weigh Class	Record	Win	Bonus
2017	Junior	Iowa State University	#7 (DNQ)	184	7–0	100.00%	57.14%
2016	Sophomore		#5 (5th)	197	11–4	73.33%	13.33%
2015	Freshman	Iowa Central Community College	#1 (NJCAA)		10–1	90.91%	36-36%
Career					28–5	84.85%	30.30%