Born in Queens, New York, Chavez went to live in Miami when he was five years old. Two years later he went to Bogotá to live with his father. He lived there until he was 14 in the neighbourhood of Kennedy. He picked up mixed martial arts at the age of 19, when his friend Alex Bermudez showed himThe Ultimate Fighter: Season 3. After enjoying the show, he searched through the Yellow Pages for a school and found one that was advertising Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, and wrestling. After two years, a friend told him about a school and that's when he joined MMA Masters.[3][4]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Starting his career in 2010, Chavez started out his professional career fighting on the regional Florida scene, being selected to compete in the Championship Fighting Alliance Undefeated Featherweight Tournament after three straight wins to start his career, including a unanimous decision win in his CFA debut against Justin Steave at CFA 3: Howard vs. Olson on October 9, 2011.[5]
Chavez next faced Humberto Rodriguez at CFA 4: Izquierdo vs. Cenoble on December 17, 2011, in the semifinal round of the promotions undefeated featherweight tournament. He won the fight via unanimous decision to secure his place in the finals.[6]
Chavez faced off against Jordan Parsons in the finals, which took place at CFA 5: Chavez vs. Parsons on February 24, 2012 for the featherweight title. He lost the fight via unanimous decision after five rounds.[7]
He would continue fighting on the Florida scene, picking up three straight decision wins, before dropping two straight fights in 2016. Chavez did not see any action in 2017 but later returned in 2018 to start his three-fight win streak which were all won by knockout inside the first round, culminating in Chavez fighting under the Global Legion Fighting Championship promotion, in which he knocked out Dylan Cala to become the new GLFC featherweight champion.[8]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In his UFC debut, Chavez faced T.J. Brown at UFC 252 on August 15, 2020. He won the bout via unanimous decision.[9]
In his sophomore appearance in the organization, Chavez faced Jared Gordon on February 20, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 185.[10] At the weigh-ins, Gordon weighed in at 150 pounds, four pounds over the featherweight non-title fight limit. Gordon was fined 30% of his purse which went to Chavez and the bout proceeded at catchweight.[11][12] Chavez lost the fight via unanimous decision.[13]
Chavez was scheduled to face Doo Ho Choi on July 31, 2021 at UFC on ESPN 28.[14] However, Choi had to pull out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by Kai Kamaka III.[15][16] The fight ended up with the result of majority draw.[17]
