Jimmie Rivera, a former UFC bantamweight, recently announced his graduation from the Passaic County Police Academy and subsequent appointment as a New Jersey law enforcement officer.
The 33-year-old shared the news on Instagram along with a heartfelt caption that detailed his road toward joining the blue family. Rivera republished the picture with the following caption:
One person once said, “If you want to make a change, you have to be the change. Can’t wait to get out there and be that change.” “This has been a very tough and challenging journey, working six days a week teaching, training, and going to the police academy. Sunday, the only day of having family time. But the dust has settled and I am officially a police officer.”
From 2015 to 2021, El Terror competed in the UFC’s bantamweight division and finished among the best five competitors in the sport. Rivera has a 7-4 record in the promotion and lost his most recent match to Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision.
Jimmie Rivera joined the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) in 2021, and at BKFC 26: Hollywood in June 2022, he made his promotional debut.
When Jimmie Rivera stated why leaving the UFC to join BKFC was an easy decision for him
After nearly six years of competition in the UFC’s bantamweight division, where he peaked as a top-five contender, Jimmie Rivera signed with the BKFC in 2022.
El Terror, however, was glad to join BKFC owing to their favourable contract terms and had no regrets when his UFC contract wasn’t renewed.
Rivera highlighted two reasons for joining the BKFC in a 2022 interview with Danny Segura of MMA Junkie.
Better fighter compensation and the freedom to participate in other combat sports were two of the factors that drew Rivera to BKFC, which he praised the president of the relatively young promotion for. He stated:
“Dave [Feldman] is performing admirably. The fact that he’s bringing in some big names and paying fighters what they want to be paid is definitely a benefit. We also have leniency available at the same time. I’ve never stopped training for MMA, but I can still perform bareknuckle.” “I am able to accomplish both thanks to my latitude. The compensation in Bareknuckle is more than that in the UFC.”