Over the years, The Ultimate Fighter has offered an opportunity for new and up and coming talent to fight their way on to the sports biggest stage, the UFC. Some have seized the opportunity and gone on to find fame and fortune as a result, with their careers playing out in front of millions of MMA fans around the world.
They are not the focus of this article, however. Instead, we will look to find out what happened to some of the memorable characters from past seasons who didn’t obtain the same level of success in the octagon, and found themselves cut from the roster as a result. Did they continue to pursue their dreams, did they find success elsewhere, or did they just fade into obscurity? Read on to find out…
2. SAM HOGER
The Alaskan Assassin’ Sam Hoger became something of a villain in TUF Season 1 after he was accused of stealing items from other fighters. Meanwhile, good fortune meant that Hoger didn’t have to fight until the semi-finals, but his luck quickly changed when he was TKO’d by Forrest Griffin a little over a minute into the bout. He did, however, make amends at the season finale by defeating Bobby Southworth.
It would be the start of a five-fight run in the UFC in which he would post a record of 2-3, including losing out to future champions Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. The latter defeat in March of 2007 spelled an end to his UFC career. A few months later he suffered another setback when he was choked out by Vernon White in the IFL. 18 months later and now fighting at heavyweight Hoger made a successful comeback in regional promotion WCF, while in January of 2009 he claimed another win, and the URC Cruiserweight belt.
Now 29 and holding a record of 8-4, Hoger hasn’t fought in over a year. He has kept busy though, opening up the ‘Hoger MMA And Ultimate Fitness Center’ in Texas last April, and earning his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in July. According to a recent post on his twitter account Hoger is expecting to return to fighting in April.
