It’s time for seasons seven and eight of our look back at The Ultimate Fighter, and in particular, to find out what happened to the guys who didn’t make their mark in the UFC.
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TUF Season 7:
Fighters still under contract with the UFC: 6
(Amir Sadollah, CB Dollway, Matthew Riddle, Gerald Harris, Tim Credeur, Matt Brown)
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Mike Dolce
Mike Dolce earned his spot in the house with a KO victory but things didn’t go as well in the first round of the competition as he lost out to Jesse Taylor by rear naked choke. He wasn’t recalled for the season finale.
Since the show Dolce has continued fighting, but so far he has failed to make an impression, winning just one of his last five fights. His last two opponents, Shane Primm and Roman Mitichyan are also former TUF competitors, and both ended in defeat for Dolce. Fighting is not the only string to his bow however. Dolce is also a strength coach and nutritionist, and amongst other pursuits has developed ‘The Dolce Diet’, a weight cutting program that has been used and endorsed by fighters like Quinton Rampage Jackson, Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen. He also recently made a return to The Ultimate Fighter as an assistant coach on the 10th season of the show.
With a pro record of 3-7 Dolce is hoping to get his fighting career back on track with a win at an Adrenaline MMA event in February against the Dennis Olson (8-2).
Gerald Harris
A decision victory against Mike Marrello earned Gerald Harris his spot in the competition during the prelims, but his next opponent turned out to be the eventual winner of the show, Amir Sadollah, and he lost out byTKO in the second round. Harris was later disappointed to learn that he wouldn’t be recalled for the season finale.
It was a tough time for Harris, but he wasn’t finished yet. He set about rebuilding his reputation by fighting in a number of MMA promotions around Texas, going on an impressive six fight winning streak after the show. Despite that there was no call from the UFC offering him a second chance in the promotion, so Harris decided to take matters into his own hands. He phoned into a live broadcast on mmajunkie.com while Dana White was in the studio and jokingly pretended to be a Gerald Harris fan, saying that Dana should get him back in the UFC. To his surprise White agreed, and a week later a new four fight contract with the promotion arrived.
Harris had his first official fight in the UFC in January of 2010, stopping John Salter by KO in the third round at UFN 20. The 30 year old is now expected to fight again at UFN 21 against the Brazilian Mario Miranda.
Paul Bradley
Things started well enough On TUF 7 for Paul Bradley as he earned his place in the house with a decision win in the eliminator round. He barely had time to settle into his new surroundings though before being asked to leave the show after breaking out in a rash brought on by the “herpes Gladitorium” virus. Though it is a fairly common occurrence among wrestlers and would likely clear in a matter of days with medication, Bradley was told by Dana White that he couldn’t remain on the show.
It was hard for Bradley to take, particularly since he had given up his day job as a university wrestling coach in order to compete on the show. A ray of light appeared however when he signed a deal with Elite XC, but he was never called into action. His deal was not exclusive however and he began competing on smaller shows and put together a four fight unbeaten run before a loss to Mike Pierce (who would sign for the UFC after the fight). Despite that bump in the road Bradley got back to winning ways just two months later.
Now 11-1 in his career, Bradley’s form hadn’t went unnoticed, and in the summer of 2009 he made a breakthrough by signing a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. Making his debut at Strikeforce Challengers 3, Bradley earned a decision win over Levi Avera. Next up is a tough match-up against the highly regarded Luke Rockhold at Strikeforce Challengers 6 on the 26th of February.
Jesse Taylor
In the cage everything appeared to be going to plan for Jesse Taylor as he successfully negotiated the eliminator, and then notched up further wins over Mike Dolce and Dante Rivera. In the semi-finals he defeated Tim Credeur by unanimous decision to earn his spot in the final. Taylor’s drunken antics outside of the cage, with including trashing the house and urinating on himself, were less well received however. After the show ended Taylor celebrated making the final with several other cast members in Las Vegas, and security camera footage showed him kicking out a limousine window while drunk, and then being aggressive towards hotel security staff. When Dana White heard of the incident he stripped Taylor of his place in the final.
Afterwards Taylor reportedly went to AA and attempted to get his back on track before calling Dana White several months later with an apology which resulted in him being given a second chance in the UFC. His first fight back was against the man who had replaced him in the final – C.B Dollaway. He lost in the first round and was subsequently released by the promotion with continued doubts over his attitude rumored to be part of the reason for his dismissal. After defeating Drew Fickett to end 2008, Taylor began a relentless schedule in 2009, picking up five wins in six months. Just one week after the last of those wins he found himself competing in DREAM on short notice, and gained a win after his opponent Dong Sik Yoon suffered an ankle injury in the opening round.
Despite his controversial past Strikeforce then took a chance on the 26 year old, and he made his debut against Jay Heiron in August of ’09. He lost, breaking his seven fight winning streak, and a further loss came In November against Luke Rockold at Strikeforce Challengers 4. 2010 started better however as he produced a first round submission victory over UFC veteran Jason Day in February at Aggression MMA. Taylor remains under contract with both Strikeforce and DREAM, though he still harbors an ambition to one day return to the UFC.
Cale Yarbrough:
Cale Yarbrough had no pro fights on his record prior to competing in The Ultimate Fighter, yet he managed to make it through the preliminary round with a TKO, and then earned a controversial majority decision victory over Patrick Schultz. The quarter finals would be as far as he reached though after coming off second best against CB Dollaway. He was then selected for the season finale, but injuries meant that he wouldn’t make his official debut until UFN 14 where he was promptly TKO’d by Tim Credeur.
Cut from the UFC after the fight, it was time for Yarbrough (who was still just 21 years old and holding a record of 0-1) to resort to the familiar post-UFC routine of building up his record in the smaller promotions. So far it’s proven to be a successful strategy as he has went six fights without defeat to bring his record up to a respectable 6-1.
Now 23, Yarborough looks to continue his unbeaten run with a win over Timothy Woods on the 20th of February.
Other TUF 7 Competitors:
Jeremy May (6-6): May has a win and a loss on his record since the show. He also recently competed in the Abu Dhabi World Pro BJJ trials, coming 3rd in the USA absolute division (only first place qualifies). He now has MMA fights lined up for February and March.
Dan Cramer (2-1): Released from the UFC in the summer of 2009, Cramer has since picked up his second career win in December.
Patrick Schultz (8-1-1): Hasn’t fought since the show but returns to action at CFX 8 on the 20th of February. Schultz also runs his own MMA school, the ‘Cape Cod Fighting Alliance.’
Brandon Sene (2-1): After the show Sene lost his next fight, and hasn’t competed since.
Dante Rivera (12-4): Rivera has had two wins and a loss since leaving the UFC. He is scheduled to fight at an Adrenaline MMA event on the 26th of February.
Nick Klein (4-0): Hasn’t fought since the show.
Luke Zachrich (9-1): Zachrich has picked up two more wins on his record since TUF 7. He was expected to fight for a title at an MMA Big Show event in January, but the fight was later canceled.
TUF Season 8:
Fighters still contracted to the UFC: 6
(Efrain Escudero, Ryan Bader, Kyle Kingsbury, Tom Lawlor, Eliot Marshall, Krzysztof Soszynski)
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Shane Primm
Shane Primm was relatively inexperienced heading into TUF with only two pro fights under his belt, though the last of those was a win over fellow season 8 competitor Tom Lawlor. He made a successful start on the show, negotiating the preliminary round, but then came undone against Eliot Marshall. Primm remained in the house and later was caught up in one of the most controversial moments in the series when Junie Browning threw a mug at him and then punched him.
Primm was given the opportunity to appear in the season finale, but after getting caught in a kimura submission by Krzysztof Soszynski he lost the fight, and his place on the UFC’s roster. 7 months later he returned to action against TUF season 7 competitor Mike Dolce, and claimed a first round TKO victory, followed by a further win in November at ‘Art Of Fighting 9’.
Now 25, Primm’s most recent fight came in January when he faced former UFC fighter Luigi Fioravanti at Raging Wolf VI. He lost by unanimous decision to go 4-2 in his career to date.
Junie Browning
One of the most controversial characters to emerge from The Ultimate Fighter, Junie Browning’s bark proved worse than his bite on season 8 of the show as he struggled to make his way to the semi-finals before being eliminated. He caused problems throughout his time on the show however, getting into confrontations with several fighters, and was almost kicked off the show after hitting Shane Primm. At the season finale he notched up his first official win for the promotion against Dave Kaplan. In April he came up against stiffer opposition in Cole Miller, and was submitted in the opening round.
Though he appeared to have mellowed since his time on the TUF show, it became apparent later in the year that all was not well with the fighter. In October he was arrested after overdosing on anti-anxiety drugs and attacking three nurses who attended to him in hospital. On hearing the news the UFC immediately cut the troubled fighter from the roster. After issue an apology for his actions, Browning returned to fighting in late November, defeating Scott Cornwell (1-1) by triangle choke in the first round at the MMA Big Show event. Post-fight antics which included a foul mouthed speech directed at the fans in attendance suggested that the fighter had not learned from his prior mistakes.
Browning’s latest fight came at ‘Wild Bill’s Fight Night 25’ against Aaron Hall on the 5th of February. At the weigh-ins for the event threatened to quit the fight after weighing in a pound overweight. The bout eventually went ahead, and after allegedly being hit in the groin late in the first round, Browning quit on his stool during the break. The 24 year old will look to improve on his 4-2 record in March at ‘Ring Of Fire 37’.
George Roop
In the preliminary round George Roop beat Roli Delgado (who would later come back to the show as a replacement) by decision. Despite suffering from a suspected broken hand he then progressed in the competition with a win over John Polakowski, but fell short of a semi-final spot after losing by kimura to Philipe Nover.
Roop had done enough to earn a place in the season finale, but narrowly lost out to Shane Nelson by split decision. Despite the loss he was kept on by the UFC, and subsequently went on to seize his first official UFC win by defeating Dave Kaplan. At UFC 101 Roop faced yet another former TUF competitor George Sotiropolous and again he lost by kimura. With a record 1-2 in the octagon, Roop was then released by the UFC.
After ending the year with a win at Rage In The Cage to improve his record to 9-6, Roop found himself back under Zuffa’s wing via the WEC promotion. Remarkably the 6ft fighter dropped two weight classes to compete at 135lbs for his first fight with Eddie Wineland at WEC 46 in January. It turned out to be an unsuccessful debut as he lost the via unanimous decision.
Vinny Magalhaes
A highly decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, Magalhaes is unquestionably deadly on the ground. Unfortunately after making it to the TUF 8 finale against Ryan Bader it became clear he was not as comfortable on his feet, and he suffered a TKO loss in the first round. A tentative display against Eliot Marshall in his next fight that resulted in a decision loss led to the fighter being released in April.
At the time his MMA record stood at 2-4 (1 NC), but he has since improved upon that with two wins against Chris Davis (6-2) and Mike Nickels (8-3), taking him to 4-4 (1 NC). Meanwhile he has also continued to impress with his grappling skills, claiming the Bronze medal at the prestigious ADCC 2009 event, executing a spectacular flying armbar submission over former ADCC winner Marcio “Pe De Pano” Cruz along the way.
On the 20th of March Magalhaes continues his quest to get back in the UFC with a fight against Marcus Sursa (6-5) at Shark Fights 9.
Jules Bruchez:
Jules Bruchez was as inexperienced as anyone on the show having had no pro fights before the show. Despite that he cleared the preliminary round with a rear naked choke victory. He received a tougher opponent for his next fight though in the shape of Vinny Magalhaes. Ahead of the fight one of Bruchez’s fellow housemates placed a bodybag and RIP headstone in his bed as a prank. Though he was still in the land of the living after the bout, he didn’t make it out of the first round.
Despite his lack of experience Bruchez was given a chance in the finale against Eliot Marshall, but it quickly became evident that he wasn’t ready for this level of competition yet and was submitted in less than 90 seconds. Unsurprisingly he was cut from the UFC afterwards. After a break he began plotting his return to the UFC in April of 2009. His plan was to drop down to 185lbs and fight six times in the remainder of the year. Things began well enough as he went on to pick up his first professional win in June of 2009 at a Cajun Fighting Championships event.
In August he found himself up against TUF 3 competitor Danny Abbadi. The fight ended in disaster for Bruchez as he broke his leg after Abbadi checked one of his kicks. The 32 year old hasn’t fought since and it’s unclear if he will continue fighting, leaving his record at 1-1.
Other TUF 8 Competitors:
Rolando Delgado (8-5-1): Was released from the UFC in November of ’09 after a devastating KO loss to Andre winner left him with a 1-2 UFC record.
Phillipe Nover (5-3-1): Was released from the UFC in February after a decision loss to Rob Emerson left his octagon record at 0-3.
John Polakowski (2-2): Polakowski hasn’t fought since the show.
Dave Kaplan (2-3): Kaplan has been remarkably quiet since being dropped from the UFC after going two fights without a win.
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Due to seasons nine and ten having taken place within the last year I’ve decided to hold off on writing about those fighters until more time has past. However there’s plenty of other avenues for the ‘Where Are They Now?’ feature beyond just the TUF series, so you can expect more articles in a similar vein to appear in the coming months.
