Auto racer Jeffrey Earnhardt won his debut MMA fight in North Carolina on Tuesday night, defeating Chris Faison via unanimous decision.
The 22-year-old Earnhardt — the grandson of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt — swept the rounds on the judges’ scorecards, winning 30-27 across at an event titled Fight Labs 25 in Charlotte.
Last week, Earnhardt told MMA Fighting that he had fallen in love with mixed martial arts after taking up the sport to get into optimal shape for his racing career. The former high school wrestler at first began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and soon after took up some of the sport’s other fighting disciplines. He has only been training for less than one year.
His bout against Faison was contested under amateur status.
Earnhardt took Faison down multiple times and worked him over from the top, hunting for a rear naked choke in the second round, but Faison held off the attempt.
He also was forced to fight through a guillotine attempt in the third, and after working his way out, cruised to the final horn for the victory.
Earnhardt has not said if he will fight again. He’s set to begin his racing season on July 6 at the NASCAR Nationwide Daytona Subway Jalapeno 250.