Dent's training in Martial arts began at age 13 with karate. Just before earning his black belt he moved onto muay thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Dent made his professional MMA debut at Extreme Combat Challenge's Assault event on May 31, 2003, where he defeated Tim Newland with a triangle choke. He won his first professional championship a few months later at Next Level Fighting's first event on September 13, 2003. Once again, using a triangle choke, Dent defeated Nick Spencer for the NLF Lightweight Championship. He fought in a number of other local events and was eventually offered a chance to fight in a UFC match. In his UFC debut at UFC 63, Dent lost by unanimous decision to Roger Huerta. He was given second chance with a match against Gleison Tibau at UFC 68 which he lost by unanimous decision. Having lost both matches, Dent was cut from the UFC roster. Dent went back to the local MMA circuit and won five of his next six fights winning three championships along the way. He tried out for The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom and was accepted. In the preliminary elimination round, he defeated Robert Browning, securing himself a spot in The Ultimate Fighter house. In episode eight, Dent defeated Team UK lightweight Jeff Lawson by Anaconda Choke in the second round, earning him a spot in the semi-finals. Dent lost by decision in the semifinals to Ross Pearson. Dent won his post TUF fight against Cameron Dollar by submission in the first round due to an anaconda choke. The fight was at the TUF 9 Finale and Dent was awarded the Submission of the Night bonus for the choke. Dent faced George Sotiropoulos on November 21, 2009 at UFC 106. Dent fought George on the Prelim card, the fight started off with an exchange where both fighters were engaging but after some time Sotiropoulos took down Dent and controlled him on the ground for the duration of round 1. At the start of round 2, Dent once again got taken down while Sotiropoulos was working for a kimura, but was unable to lock it in. While still holding Dent's arm he instead went for an armbar which finished the fight in the 2nd round. Dent was released from the UFC for the second time after his loss at UFC 106. With his latest stint in the UFC now behind him, Dent took a fight with NAAFS Middleweight Champion Chris Lozano at a catchweight of 170 pounds for the NAAFS Superfight Title. Despite suffering a broken arm sustained from blocking a kick in the 1st round, Dent traded shots with Lozano for four full rounds before the fight was ended. He returned to defend his NAAFS Lightweight belt against the Interim Champion, Bellator Featherweight Tournament finalist Daniel Mason-Straus more than a year later. While Dent again traded shots with his opponent throughout, he lost a decision on all three judges' scorecards. Dent is scheduled to fight Chris Horodecki in Horodecki's hometown of London, Ontario on October 26, 2013 on the Provincial Fighting Championship card. Based on research by an MMA writer] Dent owns the record for most career submissions in MMA for a UFC veteran from Ohio.
