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…
3. ALEX SCHOENAUER
Alex Schoenauer’s total cage time in TUF lasted just 80 seconds before being TKO’d by Forrest Griffin, but he still made his presence felt – opening up a cut above Griffin’s eye that almost forced the eventual winner and future champion out of the competition. He would then last only 20 seconds in his only official UFC fight before being knocked out by Mike Swick.
The losses didn’t deter Schoenauer however, and he has fought on a regular basis since, most notably a two year stretch in the IFL where he went 5-5. After the IFL went under he found himself picked up by the WEC. At the time the light-heavyweight class in the WEC was preparing to be amalgamated with the UFC’s, apparently paving the way for his return to the octagon. Unfortunately he got injured, and his contract was not picked up by the UFC.
After that disappointment, he didn’t fight for over 18 months, but in December of 2009 he returned for a fight against a high profile opponent in Paulo Filho at Bitetti Combat MMA 4. Schoenauer wasn’t able to pull off an upset though, losing by unanimous decision to take the 33-year-old’s pro record to 13-9.
