Clark was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 1990. He started boxing when he was a kid and started competing wrestling in high school. He didn't have any real luck in wrestling until his junior year, where in the State Finals match, he lost to former UFC athlete David Michaud. The following year, his senior year, he became the South Dakota State Champion at 189 lbs. Clark attended Rochester Community and Technical College where he was a two-time NJCAAAll-American at the 184-pounds division for the Yellowjackets, once in 2009 winning the National Championship, and placing 4th in 2010. Not ready to end competing, Clark started MMA training at his local gym, Team Nak Suk, and later moved to Next Edge Academy under the tutelage of BJJ black-belt Bruce Hoyer. He quickly moved up and competed in the RFA, otherwise known as Reliance Fighting. He was a high school state wrestling champion, Junior College National wrestling champion, and an amateur boxer.
MMA career
Early career
2013
Clark started his professional MMA career on August 24, 2013 and made his debut in Knockout Events: Battle at the Chip. He had his first win over Jeremy Spelts via TKO on round one.
2014
One year later, after his first professional win, he made a move to compete in Resurrection Fighting Alliance 17 on August 22, 2014. He faced Aaron Brown and secured a win via TKO on round two.
2015
On February 7, 2015, Clark joined Total Fight Challenge promotion for his third fight and faced William Vincent. He secured a win via submission. Clark returned to Resurrection Fighting Alliance promotion. He faced Jaquis William on RFA 25 on April 10, 2015, outworked William and won the fight via unanimous decision. Clark faced Dervin Lopez on RFA 29: USA vs Brazil on August 21, 2015. He was victorious with judges scored a unanimous decision in favour of him.
2016
On April 15, 2016 Dana White, Matt Serra and Robbie Lawler attended Resurrection Fighting Alliance 39 event at Sioux Falls, South Dakota for "Dana White Looking For a Fighter", a UFC web series program, where Clark faced Rafael Viana for the Light heavyweight Championship. The fight was scheduled for 5 rounds and after the second round, Viana suffered a broken hand which kept him from continuing in the fight. Clark was declared the new champion. White was impressed with Clark's performance on the night and with his MMA record of 6-0-0, White signed him up into the UFC roster.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Clark made his UFC promotion debut on July 13, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 91. He prepared his UFC debut camp at Jackson-Wink MMA Academy training with Jon Jones as his training partner for a month. He dropped to middleweight to face Alex Nicholson, and suffered his first lost on his MMA career lost via KO on round one. Clark moved back to light heavyweight division and faced Josh Stansbury on on short notice, December 3, 2016 for the TUF 24 Final against Josh Stansbury. With his father's voice booming out encouragement throughout the small venue, Devin Clark simply outworked Josh Stansbury in a three-round battle. On the strength of his takedowns and power punching, Clark downed a somewhat tentative Stansbury to nab the unanimous decision victory over him. He avoided the guillotine chokes on early rounds and planted Stansbury on his back and with aggressive striking throughout all three rounds. The move to light heavyweight proved to be successful.
2017
Clark next faced Jake Collier on April 15, 2017, at UFC on Fox 24. Clark out pointed Collier by battering him on full mount and achieving multiple takedowns, and Clark cruised through with a unanimous decision victory. In post fight interviews, Clark admitted that he was disappointed in his performance as he stated he missed opportunities to finish the fight. Clark faced Jan Błachowicz on October 21, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 118. He lost the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the second round.
2018
Clark faced Mike Rodríguez on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Clark faced Aleksandar Rakić on December 8, 2018 at UFC 231. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.
2019
Clark was expected to face Abdul-Kerim Edilov on April 20, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 149. However, Edilov's removal from the card for undisclosed reasons was announced on 25 March and he was replaced by Ivan Shtyrkov. However, on April 20, 2019 it was reported that the bout was cancelled after Shtyrkov was hospitalized. Soon after the previous fight was cancelled, it was announced that Clark would face Darko Stošić at on June 1, 2019. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Clark faced Ryan Spann on October 12, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 19. He lost the fight via submission in round two.
2020
Clark was scheduled to face Gadzhimurad Antigulov on February 15, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 167. However, Antigulov was pulled from the event for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by Dequan Townsend. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Clark was scheduled to face Alonzo Menifield on May 2, 2020 at. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout took place on June 6, 2020 at UFC 250. Clark won the bout via unanimous decision.
When Clark was in high school at Lincoln, his two best friends gave him the moniker "Brown Bear", citing his dual personality - his is bear-like at time with wrestling and his pleasant demeanor as well as his brown skin color. Clark is active in helping numerous non profits and those less fortunate. He is especially involved in advocating for those that have Down syndrome and was recently appointed to the National Board of Garrett's Fight. While training for his bout at UFC on Fox 24, Clark was quoted and seen advocating for Down syndrome awareness. Clark uses the cage to voice his Down Syndrome Awareness and Advocacy campaign to save the unborn Down Syndrome child from abortion.
