Nicknames are a constant in people’s lives. As we have said here in the past, a nickname can be given to someone in their childhood and it’s up to the person who got the alias as to whether or not they want to embrace it. Take me, for example.
My parents gave me the loving nickname of “Spud” as a child, a nickname that still carries on to this very moment. Other people have monikers that were given to them in their younger years, only for the person in-question to grow older and tell their parent or guardian, “Hey, don’t ever call me that nickname again.”
MMA fighters have nicknames in their own right. Contestants choose an alias and depending upon how they do in a fight, the moniker may fit like a glove. Should you need a refresher course on how these meetings work, refer to the minutes of our first meeting from November of last year.
The All-Nicknames Club: Inductee No. 14: “Crispy” Carli Judice
The first nickname to be enshrined in our fifth meeting is one belonging to a fighter who entered the famous UFC Octagon just a few short months ago. Back in March, Carli Judice (4-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) opened up the night’s activities during UFC Vegas 104 from the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV in a women’s flyweight contest.
Her assignment on the final Saturday night of the winter season was Yuneisy Duben (6-1, 1 NC MMA, 0-1 UFC). The latter was making her UFC promotional debut after scoring her contract with the organization late last summer during Contender Series on ESPN+.
If you somehow missed Contender Series that night, Yuneisy Duben made history by becoming the first victorious fighter in DWCS promotional history to secure a UFC deal without needing to sweat it out backstage for the rest of the show. “Crispy” would, however, flip the script in March with some fireworks of her own.
“Crispy” Goes Upstairs to Finish Duben
Much like Duben had done in September against Shannon Clark, Carli Judice got on the highlight reel in her own way. With under two minutes having ticked off the first-round clock, she delivered a kick to the head, knocking Duben out on contact.
Although this bout was the first of the evening that night, Judice’s effort was among the best of the evening. After the show, she pocketed a $50,000 (USD) bonus for the Performance of the Night Award.
Her UFC tenure is only two fights old as of this writing, with Judice already booked for a July 19 contest on UFC 318 versus Nicolle Caliari. “Crispy” has one of the best nicknames in the sport today.
The All-Nicknames Club: Inductee No. 15: Malcolm “The Machine” Wellmaker
We move right along to the bantamweight division for our next inductee in tonight’s enshrinement in The All-Nicknames Club. Like Carli Judice, this fighter is one of the rising stars in the sport of MMA. He, too, has one of the awesome nicknames in MMA.
Back on the night of April 26, Malcolm Wellmaker (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) made his debut in the organization from inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, KS on ESPN+. Wellmaker picked up his UFC contract last year during an episode of Contender Series by way of first-round knockout over Adam Bramhald (14-3 MMA.)
“The Machine” Runs Through Saaiman in Under One Round
Wellmaker’s opposition that night was Cameron Saaiman (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC). As his nickname, “The Machine”, suggests, that Saturday night on the job was a quick one. During the opening round of an advertised three, he connected on a brutal overhand right punch.
In the aftermath of this contest, Malcolm Wellmaker received the $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. Within days of his victory, he resigned from his 9-to-5 job in welding.
“All my career, I swore that if I made it to the UFC and earned a 50k bonus, I would quit my job,” Wellmaker wrote in a post on his Instagram feed, “and today, it finally happened.”
The All-Nicknames Club: Inductee No. 16: Jimmy “The Brute” Crute
For our last inductee into The All-Nicknames Club this time around, we travel to the light heavyweight division and meet a fighter who took a hiatus from competition a few years ago. Jimmy Crute (12-4-2 MMA, 4-4-2 UFC) pressed the pause button on his career in the summer of 2023.
In the aftermath of UFC 290, he stepped back for the moment due to having an “unhealthy obsession” with the sport. Crute took a breather from fighting, but not before going 1-3 in a dismal four-fight stretch.
Crute returned earlier in 2025 against Rodolfo Bellato (12-2-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) during UFC 312’s main card. His return wasn’t quite the result that he had anticipated, though. After 15 minutes, the judges’ scorecards returned a majority draw.
“The Brute” Another One of the Fitting Nicknames
Crute’s alias is “The Brute.” He couldn’t have asked for a more fitting nickname if he tried, because throughout his career in MMA, he’s been a brute when the cage door slams shut on a fight night.
Prior to joining the UFC’s active roster by way of the 2018 season of what was then titled Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, he had amassed a record of 7-0 in Hex Fight Series.
In so doing, he secured that promotion’s light heavyweight championship via first-round submission (arm-triangle choke) against Ben Kelleher (12-11 MMA, 0-3 Hex Fight Series) in June of 2017. Crute then retained the strap twice over before getting the Contender Series call-up in 2018, besting Chris Birchler (7-4 MMA) by first-round knockout due to punches.
Meeting Adjourned
On that note, this fifth meeting of The All-Nicknames Club is adjourned. Please drive home safely.
