We’ve got the Diaz brothers, the Burns brothers, the Walker brothers, the Pettis brothers, and more siblings who’ve competed in the UFC. We’ve even got the Shevchenko sisters. However, for the first time in the history of UFC, we had a brother-sister pair competing in the promotion at the same time. Yes, we’re talking about David Martinez and his sister, Melissa Martinez.

We know that David Martinez is an orthopedic surgeon by day and a fighter by night. He’s all set to fight on the UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Kavanagh undercard against No. 9-ranked bantamweight Marlon Vera on Saturday. But what about his sister, Melissa Martinez? What do we know about her?

All about David Martinez’s sister Melissa

Melissa Martinez is actually Black Spartan’s elder sister. They have an age gap of only one year. The 28-year-old strawweight contender currently holds a professional MMA record of 8 wins and 2 losses. And 5 of her wins came via KO/TKO. Born and raised in Mexico City, ‘Super Mely’ brings her pride as a Mexican into the Octagon. Melissa was the first sibling to step into the UFC back in 2022. 

“My debut was very important to me and a very special moment, so it’s something I’ll always take with me,” she told UFC.com. “Now is a different kind of situation because I know the level that I need to be at to be in this company, to be in this organization, and I’m going to enjoy every single moment I can in that Octagon.”

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She started her journey as a professional fighter in 2016 and fought under the banners of Combate Americas and Combate Global before becoming a UFC fighter. She was also the first female strawweight champion in Combate Americas. And in her journey to the UFC, ‘Black Spartan’ played a major role.

Melissa & David Martinez’s journey into the UFC

For David Martinez, the journey in the world of fighting began first, and soon, his sister followed suit.

“I started in this sport for him,” Melissa Martinez told MMA Junkie. “He started in MMA. He was the first fighter in professional ranks. Then I fought in professional MMA. But I started because of him.” 

They began their professional journey with karate, and soon moved to kickboxing. And training at Bonebreakers, they finally found their way to the UFC. 

Melissa’s UFC journey began with a loss against Elise Reed at UFC 279. Thereafter, she went on to beat Alice Ardelean in 2024. And her last fight was against Fatima Kline in July this year, which she lost via a third-round KO. Meanwhile, ‘Black Spartan’ made his debut in the Octagon in 2025 with a first-round KO win over Saimon Oliveira. Now, he’s already up against a ranked fighter. 

David Martinez previously revealed how Melissa played a huge role in his UFC debut. He said, “She always gets the goals. She inspired me to be better today and the other days… Fighting in the UFC with my sister is my biggest dream. That’s all.” 

Since then, however, Melissa has retired from the sport.

“It’s true, I just left the most important MMA company,” Martinez wrote in Spanish on Instagram. “The dream of every athlete in this sport. But it didn’t make sense for me to have one more fight and finish the contract, just to look for more fights in something that isn’t my passion.

“I have many new projects and new goals to achieve. Thank you UFC.”

It appears that, despite walking the same path for a while, David and Melissa’s paths have gone in separate directions. But unlike Melissa, can David continue his ascent up the UFC ladder?