A native of the streets of London, Ontario, he claims he fought a lot in the streets as a young kid. Ronson brags "...Being naturally good [at fighting], I figured I should make something of it instead of doing it on the streets and potentially getting arrested or charged." A wrestler in high school, he decided to start training in kickboxing and boxing in 2006 and switched over to MMA not long after.[1] He got his nickname, "Body Snatcher," in 2006, after he had 3 fights in 3 days and won all three by first-round TKO with body shots.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
He made his professional MMA debut on November 28, 2009, at Elite 1 - Resurrection in Moncton. He defeated local favorite Eric St. Pierre with a first-round KO. He went on to win his next three bouts, but suffered his first career loss against Lindsey Hawkes at a catch weight of 163lbs.
He defeated current UFC fighter Jason Saggo by decision in August 2011. After this impressive showing, he received a shot at the AM Ford Fight Night Lightweight Championship. He defeated the champ, Brad Causey (who was coming in at 10-1 into the bout), on April 14, 2012, at AM Ford Night 2012 - Demolition via first-round KO to capture the belt.
On August 22, 2013, the UFC announced that it had signed Jesse Ronson to replace an injured Mark Bocek to take on Michel Prazeres at UFC 165 in Toronto.[4] He lost the fight via split decision.[5]
Ronson next fought Kevin Lee on July 6 at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale. Ronson was handed his third split decision loss in the UFC, and his third consecutive loss overall.[7]
Post-UFC
Ronson was released after racking up three straight losses, and went on to fight Dom O'Grady at PFC 3 - Showdown in the Downtown on October 18, 2014, in London, where he dominated and won by way of TKO in the second round.[8]
After winning at Abu Dhabi Warriors 2 against Gadji Zaipulaev by the way of D'Arce choke, he would lose by unanimous decision to Alexander Sarnavskiy on October 3, 2015, at Abu Dhabi Warriors 3.[9]
Ronson was scheduled to face Stephen Beaumont at XFFC 8.[10] However, Beaumont pulled out due to injury and Ronson instead faced Matt MacGrath for the XFFC Welterweight title in Grande Prairie, Alberta on December 11, 2015, losing the bout via unanimous decision.[11]
He would follow that performance by losing to Matt Dwyer by unanimous decision on July 8, 2016, at XFFC 10, but would follow that with 5 straight wins on the regional scene, Ronson was scheduled to face Carlos Diego Ferreira on December 8, 2018, at UFC 231, replacing an injured John Makdessi.[12] However, on December 4, 2018. It was announced that Ronson was pulled out of the fight due to being too heavy to safely make Lightweight and was released from UFC.[13]
Ronson made his sophomore PFL performance against Nikolay Aleksakhin on October 11, 2019, at PFL 7, losing by TKO stoppage in the first round.[9]
Return to Ultimate Fighting Championship
After rebounding with a first round rear-naked choke against Troy Lamson at BTC 9, Ronson faced Nicolas Dalby, replacing Danny Roberts on July 26, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 14.[15] He won the fight via submission in round one, earning his first win in the promotion.[16] This win also earned him the Performance of the Night award.[17] The fight result was overturned to a no contest after USADA handed Ronson a 22-month suspension for testing positive for Metandienone, making him ineligible to fight again until March 22, 2022.[18]
Ronson was scheduled to face Vinc Pichel on October 1, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 211.[21] However, Pichel withdraw due to an undisclosed injury and was replaced by Joaquim Silva.[22] He lost the bout in the second round, getting dropped with a flying knee and then getting finished with ground and pound.[23]
In late October 2022, it was reported that Ronson was released by UFC.[24]
Post-UFC 2.0
In his first bout post UFC, Ronson faced Nordin Asrih on December 10, 2022, at BTC 18, where he won the bout via first-round rear-naked choke.[25]
Ronson then challenged Robert Seres for the Samourai MMA Super Lightweight Championship on March 11, 2023 at Samourai MMA 5, winning the bout and title via first round rear-naked choke.[26]
Ronson defended his title against fellow UFC vet Kazula Vargas on May 26, 2023 at Samourai MMA 6, winning the bout in the first round after Vargas tapped out due to a liver shot.[27]
Ronson faced Ricardo Chavez on August 5, 2023 at BTC 21 for the vacant BTC Welterweight Championship, winning the title and bout via TKO stoppage 56 seconds into the bout.[28]
Ronson faced Robert Hale on November 18, 2023 at BTC 22, winning the bout via first round TKO.[29]
Ronson faced Anthony Njokuani at Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7 on March 2, 2024.[30] Ronson won by a kimura submission in the first round.[31]
