5 Things You Might Not Know About Julio Arce

Julio Arce would like nothing more than to rediscover the consistency that once made him a can’t-miss prospect and put him on the Ultimate Fighting Championship radar.

The 32-year-old finds himself on the rebound ahead of his clash with Chute Boxe’s Daniel Gustavo Santos on the UFC 273 undercard this Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Arce has alternated wins and losses in each of his past five outings. He last competed at UFC Fight Night 197, where he succumbed to a head kick and follow-up punches from Yadong Song in the second round of their Nov. 13 pairing.

As Arce pores over the remaining details associated with his forthcoming encounter with Santos, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He picked the right peers.

Arce has trained out of the revered Team Tiger Schulmann academy in New York since he was 14 years old. There, he has sharpened his skills alongside a number of accomplished stablemates, from Jimmie Rivera and Lyman Good to Shane Burgos, Louis Gaudinot and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 27 winner Michael Trizano.

2. A championship pedigree was established years ago.

The Miami native was a two-division Ring of Combat champion. He laid claim to the New Jersey-based organization’s bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Jason McLean at ROC 47 on Jan. 24, 2014 and capture the featherweight crown with a unanimous verdict over Frank Buenafuente at ROC 58 on Nov. 18, 2016.

3. Judges do not always see eye to eye with him.

Three questionable rulings have gone against Arce. A majority decision defeat to Brian Kelleher cost him the Ring of Combat bantamweight championship in September 2015, and he wound up on the wrong side of split decisions against Sheymon Moraes at UFC 230 and Hakeem Dawodu at UFC 244.

4. He earned his stripes through self-belief.

Despite Arce’s reputation as one of the top prospects on the Eastern Seaboard, he had to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series in order to secure a spot on the UFC roster. He cut down Peter Petties with second-round punches on Season 1 of DWCS on Aug. 8, 2017. Arce then proceeded to record back-to-back victories over Dan Ige and Daniel Teymur inside the Octagon.

5. He has yet to fully spread his wings.

Arce has never fought outside of the continental United States. In fact, 19 of his 22 professional bouts have taken place in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or Massachusetts.