Justin Wren

Who is Justin Wren?

Justin Wren is a mixed martial artist. Justin Wren is one of the top heavyweights in Bellator MMA. Wren is also a social activist who works with the Fight for the Forgotten charity to help tribes in the Congo’s rainforests.

Austin did not achieve all of his popularity and adoration in a single day.

Rather, the Texas native had to deal with adversity from the start of his career.

Childhood

Justin Wren was born on April 27, 1987, in Dallas, Texas, to unknown parents.

Justin has always desired to participate in combat sports since he was a child.

The main reason is that he has been bullied by other children.

As a result, the heavyweight fighter understood from the age of 13 that he wanted to be an MMA fighter.

However, MMA is not offered as a sport in high schools in the United States.

As a result, a young Wren had no choice but to take up wrestling.

Despite this, the Texas native excelled at Bishop Lynch High School, which was the top high school in wrestling at the time.

Justin was also coached by Olympic Gold Medalists Kenny Monday and Kendall Cross, with whom he won the Prep State Championship twice in 2004 and 2005 and was a two-time Prep All-American.

Wren was also a two-time All-American in Greco Roman wrestling and won Fargo’s national championship by the time he graduated from college.

Age, Height & Body Measurements

Justin Wren was born in the year 1987, which makes his age 34 years currently.

Even though 34 years may sound like a bit old for an athlete, contrarily, most MMA fighter hit their peak during their mid 30’s.

As a result, we feel that Justin’s best years in the MMA scene are still ahead of him.

Similarly, Justin stands at 6 feet 2 inches tall, which is an acceptable height for a heavyweight fighter.

Wren’s relatively short stature makes it easier for him to dodge punches from other fighters while also helping him quickly move from side to side.

Likewise, Justin weighs 234 lb (106.3 kg), which is the perfect weight according to his height.

What most people don’t know is that there is no weight limit in the heavyweight division.

As a result, Justin has to face opponents that might be larger than him regularly.

Nonetheless, Wren does not seem fazed by his much larger opponents, as suggested by his outstanding record of 13 wins and two losses.

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Facts of Justin Wren

Net Worth & Fight Purse

As of 2021, Justin Wren’s net worth stands at $500,000, accrued mainly through his MMA activities.

Even though the sum is a large amount of money to ordinary people like us, professional athletes in other combat sports like boxing and wrestling earn a lot more. As a result, Wren’s net worth is relatively low.

Furthermore, Justin earns a base salary of $20,000 per fight, excluding the bonuses with Bellator.

Also, the Texas native offers sponsorships to interested parties at various sponsorship levels.

To explain, Wren offers $5,000, $10,000, and a $15,000 sponsorship package to have logos on Justin’s shorts and merchandise. Also, sponsors will get mentioned in press conferences and on social media.

However, the Texas native vowed to donate all his earnings to Fight for the Forgotten charity back in 2015.

Therefore, his net worth has not seen a significant rise over the years.

Nevertheless, judging by Justin’s talent and good deeds, we hope that he increases his earnings so that more people can get benefits through charity.

Professional Life

Wren’s professional MMA career began with none other than the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Texas native has previously fought ten times in his amateur career, winning nine of them.

As a result, Justin was invited to compete in the tenth version of Total Ultimate Fighter, where he would face some of the greatest up-and-coming heavyweights in the world.

Following that, the Big Pygmy made his UFC debut against Wes Sims.

Sims tapped down in the first round after Justin used an arm triangle submit maneuver to win the bout.

As a result, Wren was forced to face future UFC heavyweight star Roy Nelson in the tournament’s quarterfinals.

Nelson won the fight by a majority decision in the second round, which was controversial. Everyone who watched the fight, including UFC president Dana White, thought it should have gone to a third and final round.

After that, the 32-year-old heavyweight fought John Madsen for the final time in the UFC. Wren, on the other hand, was defeated by a split decision.

To make matters worse, the Texas native’s tenure with the UFC came to an end after he was discharged due to poor performance.

Despite this, Justin was well aware that the two-time All-American Greco-Roman wrestler would be pursued by a slew of other companies.

And that’s exactly what happened when Wren announced that he’d inked a deal with Colorado-based Ring of Fire MMA.

Justin then defeated Josh Henry in the first round by TKO in his debut fight with the ROF. It seems as if the Texas native had finally discovered his genuine self.

Similarly, Wren defeated Josh Robertson in his second fight with the organization. The fight, however, was not without consequence, as the Big Pygmy was injured as a result of a slam.

As a result, Justin had to undergo corrective treatment to repair the seven discs in his back that had been injured.

Nevertheless, Wren resolved to return even stronger, but little did he know that his injuries would keep him out of the sport for five long years. After that, the Texas native spent the next five years rehabilitating and improving his skills.

Fight for the Forgotten

It is around this time that the 34-year-old heavyweight got interested in the Fight for the Forgotten charity.

To explain, the organization aids forgotten tribes of Mbuti Pygmies who are severely harmed by economic servitude, sickness, and pessimism.

In reality, through his project, Justin has helped free more than 15,000 enslaved individuals who are now flourishing on their own 3,000 acres of property.

Also, they have access to clean water and their own farms, which was unthinkable without Wren’s support.

Following his five difficult years of rehabilitation and charitable work, the Texas native returned to the MMA world with Bellator MMA.

Wren signed a five-fight contract with the organization in July 2015 and later faced Josh Burns in his debut for Bellator.

Justin started his Bellator career just the way he concluded his Ring of Fire by defeating Burns via a unanimous decision.

Even though the heavyweight boxer had fought just once following his five-year-long hiatus, many fans thought Wren was already talented enough to contend for the title.

Nonetheless, the 34-year-old did not allow the excitement to get over his head as he won his second bout against Juan Torres via a unanimous decision again.

Subsequently, Justin battled Roman Pizzolato in his third fight with Bellator. Like two times before, he won the bout via an arm-triangle choke in the first round.

By this time, almost everybody believed the heavyweight fighter was going to get his much-deserved title shot.

On the contrary, since his last fight against Pizzolato, which took place on 3 March 2017, Wren has not appeared inside the MMA ring due to various unspecified reasons.

However, Justin has still got two fights left in his five-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

Thus, we wholeheartedly believe that Wren will make a positive comeback and, who knows, even win the heavyweight championship, just like in the past.

Health Issues

Back in March 2017, Wren fought for the last time, and since then, he was out of the ring for two years. However, he is back and stated his time outside the ring doesn’t mean he was retiring.

During his constant trips overseas to Africa have taken a huge toll on Wren’s health.

Wren has previously suffered from depression and addiction. Apart from it, he also suffered malaria in November 2013, which later developed into blackwater fever.

Additionally, it was right then when he had 65-70 percent of his blood as parasites. Furthermore, his body temperature also fluctuated a lot, at times rising to 104 degrees which would fall to 96 degrees in a minute.

Moreover, he also couldn’t hold down any food. In the meantime, he also struggled with dengue fever.

Wife & Kids

Justin Wren is happily married to his beautiful wife, Emily Wren. The couple got married back in 2014 at a small wedding with their close relatives and friend.

However, Wren’s love story is a bit different because, traditionally, it is the male who proposes to the female.

In the case of Wren, his wife Emily proposed to him via a phone call and even recorded the whole conversation.

As of now, the pair has not been blessed with a child. Nonetheless, the love between the couple is pretty evident in Justin’s Instagram posts, where he posts pictures with his lovely wife on their various trips together.

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Social Media Presence

His Instagram (@thebigpygmy) has 158k followers, his Twitter (@TheBigPygmy) has 33k followers and his Facebook (JustinWren) has 39k followers.