Welcome to part two of this feature looking at what happened to some of the fighters who didn’t find fame and fortune in the UFC after appearing in The Ultimate Fighter reality show. In this part we will look at Seasons three and four of the show. If you missed the first part of the article then you can feel free to check it out here.
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Fighters Still Contracted To The UFC: 5
Michael Bisping, Matt Hamill, Kendall Grove, Jesse Forbes, Ed Herman
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Kalib Starnes
Kalib Starnes has become one of The Ultimate Fighter’s most infamous participants, though not during his appearance on the show. Starnes made it to the middleweight semi-finals in the house by beating Mike Stine but then lost out to the eventual winner Kendall Grove after verbally submitting due to a dislocated rib. He did however go on to claim a valuable win over fellow TUF 3 fighter Danny Abbadi in the season finale.
Now officially in the UFC Starnes faced a tough start when he went up against Yushin Okami and lost by TKO in the third round. From their he would go on to pick up a notable decision win over Chris Leben and a loss to Alan Belcher. Then came one of the most bizarre fights in UFC history. At UFC 83 in April of 2008 Starnes took on Nate Quarry. In the bout he adopted an overtly defensive strategy, spending almost the entire bout back-pedaling away from an increasingly frustrated Quarry. By the third round the fight began to resemble a Benny Hill skit with Quarry making fun of Starnes by pretending to chase him around the octagon.
Needless to say Starnes lost the bout, was swiftly ejected from the UFC and instantly became the laughing stock of MMA fans around the world with youtube videos, GIFS, and even a website named after him being created to poke fun at him. In his defense Starnes claimed to have broken his foot in the fight, but his excuse fell on deaf ears. Some seven months later he re-emerged and claimed a win at a small-scale promotion in Hawaii. It would be another year before he fought again in November of ‘09 against current Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard. Starnes lasted just under two minutes before verbally submitting due to strikes. Still determined to change his luck the 35 year old, who remains with his long-term girlfriend, pro soccer player Betty Ann Casey, plans to fight again in March.
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Ross Pointon
Known as ‘The Gladiator’, there was no questioning the heart of the UK’s Ross Pointon on TUF, but it wasn’t enough to secure a win on the show with Kendall Grove taking less than a round to submit him in the third episode. Another opportunity to fight would unexpectedly arise when Matt Hamill pulled out injured. Pointon suddenly found himself up against fellow UK fighter Michael Bisping in the semi-finals but again lost out in the first round. He had earned Dana White’s respect though and was given a place in the season finale.
Up against Rory Singer, ‘The Gladiator’s’ ground game once again proved to be his achilles heel as he succumbed to a submission after just 44 seconds. At UFN 8 he made it out of the first round against veteran fighter Rich Clementi before – yes you guessed it – being submitted. Having failed to make his mark in the UFC, Pointon returned home to the British Isles where he has something of a cult status amongst hardcore fans. He would go on to fight four times for UK promotion Cage Rage, going 2-2, including a win over fellow Brit Ross Mason, and a hard fought loss to Marius Zaromskis.
Pointon hasn’t competed since defeating Mason in May of 2008, partly due to injury and also due to Cage Rage going bust. He attempted to re-enter TUF during the Team USA Vs Team UK series in ‘09, but was told by Dana White to go and get some wins together instead. Due to a lack of opportunities Pointon took matters into his own hands, forming Gladiator Promotions, a company which puts on MMA shows in the UK. Though he hasn’t fought in the events so far, he has managed to put together several successful shows, with more planned for 2010.
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Noah Inhofer
Another infamous TUF competitor, Noah Inhofer started off the show in good form, defeating Jesse Forbes in the first round. Things quickly went pear-shaped however when he received a letter that convinced him he had to abandon his place on the show and head back home. Was there a death in the family? Nope, it turned out to be his girlfriend of six months was accusing him of cheating on her. Despite being warned by Dana White that he was throwing away a golden opportunity to fight in the UFC, Inhofer went through with his decision to leave.
Afterwards White described the situation as “pathetic,” and as you might imagine Inhofer has never had another opportunity to compete in the UFC. Despite being ridiculed for his actions he continued to fight for promotions like Extreme Challenge and King Of The Cage after the show, coming away with a mediocre post-TUF record of 3-3. Inhofer’s last fight, a TKO loss to former UFC fighter Victor Valimaki, was back in September of 2008.
The question people really want to know when it comes to Inhofer is what became of his relationship? Well, he did patch things up with his girlfriend Greta, and they are currently engaged to be married after Inhofer proposed in the summer of last year while on a mission trip to Costa Rica.
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Josh Haynes
Josh Haynes had a little luck on his route to the final of The Ultimate Fighter season 3. In his first fight he squared off against Tait Fletcher, and at the final bell it appeared his opponent would win the decision, but to many people’s surprise Haynes emerged with his hand raised. Haynes took his good fortune and ran with it, going on to defeat Jesse Forbes in the semi-final by guillotine choke. He fell one step short of the $100,000 contract though after being comfortably beaten by Michael Bisping in the final.
Haynes remained in the UFC but failed to get back to winning ways, losing out to Rory Singer in one of the bloodiest fights in the promotions history. A KO loss to Luke Cummo in April of 2007 would be his last UFC appearance. Haynes career then had a curious interlude as he was invited to be part of a reality show, ‘Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge’ on CMT, alongside other “celebrities” like Stephen Baldwin and Vanilla Ice. Returning to fighting Haynes picked up two wins and a loss in regional promotions before the close of the year. 2008 started well with a win in the IFL over Leopoldo Serao, and later he would pick up a win over former UFC fighter Sean Salmon, though in-between the two victories he also suffered a loss to a up and coming fighter, Mojo Horne.
After an eventful couple of years 2009 was significantly quieter for Haynes. In February he fought at a Wargods event, picking up a split-decision win over Rafael Real. The expectation was that he would fight several more times for the promotion, with a fight with Vernon White being lined up for April of ‘09, but it did not materialize and Haynes hasn’t returned to the cage since. Now 32, and with a career record of 17-10, it remains to be seen what the future holds for the former TUF finalist.
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Jesse Forbes
Despite being Ken Shamrock’s first pick on the show, Forbes didn’t have the best of starts on TUF, finding himself out of the competition as early as episode two after a submission loss to Noah Inhofer. Forbes wasn’t finished on the show however, finding himself reinstated and through to the semi-finals after Inhofer quit the show. Forbes then fought Josh Haynes, but again came undone via a submission. Despite having lost twice in the house the young fighter made the season finale card to fight Matt Hamill, but lost again, and as a result was cut from the UFC.
Still only 21, the next step was to get more cage experience and he did just that, putting together a three fight win-streak over a six month period, including a victory over future TUF competitor Jesse Taylor. Clearly still in favor with Zuffa, Forbes found himself in the WEC in September of 2007 against Bryan Baker, but once again Forbes struggled to make his mark on the big stage, losing by TKO in the first round. Forbes went back to the drawing board, and back to the smaller promotions. He went 3-1 in 2008, and then really turned up the heat in 2009 by going on a five fight unbeaten run.
Having paid his dues Forbes, now 25, was granted a big reward for his hard work when he found himself recalled to the UFC – three and a half years after his first stint in the promotion. He can’t afford to rest on his laurels now though – particularly as his first fight back ended in a decision loss to Nick Catone at UFN 20 in January. He remains confident though and is looking forward to his next opportunity to fight in the UFC.
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Other TUF 3 Competitors:
Mike Stine (2-0) – Hasn’t fought since the show.
Solomon Hutcherson (11-6) – Still fighting regularly, Hutcherson’s currently fights in the MFC, losing to Jason MacDonald in November.
Kristian Rothaermel (6-3) – Rothaermel hasn’t fought since the show.
Tait Fletcher (4-2) – Fletcher hasn’t fought since a 2008 KO loss in King Of The Cage. Has been pictured recently training with Chuck Liddell.
Mike Nickels (8-3) – Still in the sport, Nickels last competed in December, losing to another former TUF competitor Vinny Magalhaes.
Rory Singer (11-9) – Cut from the UFC in 2007, Singer has lost twice since, most recently against Brian Baker in February of ‘09.
Danny Abbadi (4-6) – His last fight was a loss to Shonie Carter last September.
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Fighters still contracted to the UFC: 4
Matt Serra, Jorge Rivera, Patrick Cote, Chris Lytle
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Travis Lutter
A decorated grappler, Travis Lutter had three previous fights in the UFC prior to TUF season 4, but only one win in the octagon. He showed better form on the show though, tapping out Scott Smith and then claiming a decision victory over Pete Sell to reach the final. In the finale Lutter wasted no time sealing a submission victory over Patrick Cote to become the winner of the fourth season.
As a reward Lutter’s first bout after the show was for the middleweight title against Anderson Silva. Undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career, Lutter was widely criticized for failing to make weight, causing the contest to become a non-title bout. He almost redeemed himself in the fight, giving Silva arguably his toughest test in the octagon to date after forcing him to fight from his back. In the second round, just when it seemed Lutter had a strategy that could win, Silva caught the BJJ black belt in a triangle choke that forced him to tap out. Injuries meant that it would be over a year until Lutter fought again at UFC 83 where he would lose to another tough competitor, Rich Franklin. Despite the caliber of his opponents the UFC had seen enough and Lutter earned the dubious distinction of being the first TUF winner to be cut from the UFC.
It would be 18 months later before Lutter fought again as potential fights fell through, but he kept busy teaching at his own academy in Texas, and opening up another 10,000 square ft training facility in the area in 2009. In October, at the age of 36, Lutter finally stepped back into the cage at MFC 22 to face another UFC veteran Jason Macdonald and picked up a unanimous decision victory which took his pro record to 13-5. It is expected that Lutter’s next fight will again be with the Canadian promotion MFC in April – May, with Thales Leites being mentioned as a potential opponent.
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Mikey Burnett
Mikey Burnett found himself on the TUF 4 comeback show some seven years after his last MMA fight, a win at UFC 18. His stay in the house would be controversial, though due to his fight which ended quickly with a triangle choke loss to Din Thomas. Instead Burnett’s major talking point on the show came when he decided it would be a good idea to repeatedly run into a wall in the house. Needless to say he came off second best in the exchange. As innocuous as it sounds the incident would later come back to haunt him when he is discovered to have a serious spinal injury that requires surgery. There are different accounts of how the damage was inflicted with Burnett suggesting it occurred during a training session on the show with Randy Couture.
In the final episode of the season it appears that Burnett is going to have the necessary operation, but things don’t go as planned after the cameras stop rolling. Burnett waits for the UFC or the insurance group who covered the show will pay for the procedure, but this does not happen, and he is unable to pay the bill himself. In 2008 he filed lawsuits against both the creators of the show, TufGuy productions (citing negligence in failing to provide a safe environment on the show), and AIG, an insurance company associated with the show (citing a breach of contract in regards to a payout for the injuries he sustained).
In the summer of 2009 Burnett announced that he was to retire from the sport due to his injury. To this day Burnett still hasn’t had the surgery on his neck, and due to the debilitating nature of the injury, it is believed it is now too late to repair the damage he has sustained. He takes regular pain medication and his symptoms now include partial paralysis and numbness in his arms. Still needing to provide for his two children, Burnett now teaches at his gym, the ‘Oklahoma Fight Club’ though he isn’t able to take part in activities like sparring. It is believed one of his lawsuits may finally go to court later this year after a series of appeals.
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Scott Smith
Scott Smith fought at UFC 59, losing to David Terrell just a few months later found himself on TUF season 4. His run on the show was short lived, being submitted by Travis Lutter in his opening fight. He made up for that in the season finale however with a memorable victory against Pete Sell. Appearing beaten after taking a vicious body shot that had him doubled over in pain, Smith somehow found the strength of mind to throw one last punch as Sell came in for the kill, and amazingly it connected cleanly, knocking him out.
It remains one of the best knockouts in the sport, but it would prove to be his only win in the octagon as he went on to lose to Patrick Cote and Ed Herman before leaving the promotion. Before long Smith found himself signed to the EliteXC promotion, where he went on to fight Robbie Lawler for the middleweight title. Their first fight ended as a No Contest after an illegal eye poke, and in the second, which aired to millions on CBS as the main event Smith suffered a TKO loss. Smith quickly found favor with Strikeforce when EliteXC folded, and racked up two knockouts in his first two fights, one of which being another of his trademark come-from-behind victories against Benji Radach. Despite losing his next fight against Nick Diaz, Smith’s crowd-pleasing style helped earn him a new six fight deal with the promotion in 2009.
The first bout of his new contract took place at Strikeforce: Evolution in December, fighting one of the promotions marquee fighters Cung Le in the main event of the evening. After being soundly beaten in the first two rounds Smith again showed his remarkable ability to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat, producing a TKO victory in the third round and handing Le the first defeat of his MMA career.
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Shonie Carter
One of the most unique personalities in the sport, Shonie Carter had fought five times in the UFC, going 3-2, prior to appearing on TUF. He was put into action immediately on the show and emerged victorious against Rich Clementi to reach the semi-finals where an old foe was waiting – Matt Serra. The two had fought previously at UFC 31, with Serra appeared to be winning comfortably until the final ten seconds of the final round when Carter famously knocked him out with a spinning back fist. There was no such luck this time around however and Carter lost by decision to the eventual winner of the show. Though he didn’t appear in the season finale Carter did get another chance in the UFC at UFN 7 but he lost a decision to Marcus Davis and wasn’t kept on by the UFC.
With over 60 fights on his record at that point Carter was no stranger to fighting in the smaller promotions and that’s exactly what he went back to doing. In fact he has fought a further 14 times in the past three years, going 9-5, largely against lesser known fighters. Perhaps his most notable fights during that period have been his last two. The first came against another ex-UFC star Carlos Newton in October of 2009 which he lost by unanimous decision. Continuing the theme Carter then took on another former UFC fighter who dates back to UFC 4 – Anthony Macias. Only a month after his loss to Newton, Carter once again lost out by unanimous decision.
Now 37 and holding a 48-21-7 Carter continues to lead a colorful life inside and outside of the cage. Two years ago he refereed a bout that ended in a double knockout and a priceless reaction from Carter. Last year he appeared on the Judge Mathis show after being sued for not turning up to referee an event and hold a seminar. He won the case. Carter’s latest venture in 2010 is a store on Facebook where he sells unique one of a kind apparel designed and made by himself, and even his own drink, ‘Shonie Juice’, which apparently is “certified fantastic.” He is also believed to be working on a book about his life.
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Din Thomas
Din Thomas had a record of 2-2 in the UFC before getting the call to feature in TUF, but had spent the previous three years in the smaller leagues. As well as fighting a staph infection on the show, Thomas also fought Mikey Burnett and quickly won by submission. He would go no further in the competition though, losing a decision to Chris Lytle in the semi-finals. In the season finale he bounced back with a submission win over Rich Clementi, the first in a three fight win-streak in the UFC that also included a decision win over Clay Guida and Submission Of The Night performance over Jeremy Stephens.
A successful 2007 ended on a sour note though with a defeat to Kenny Florian, which was followed up by a further loss to Jeremy Stephens in April of the following year. The back-to-back losses ended his second spell in the UFC, leaving with a 5-4 record for the promotion. It would be almost a year later before he re-emerged, now fighting at 145lbs, and between February and March in 2009 he garnered two victories in regional promotions.
His latest victory came in January of 2010 after another layoff, but he has stayed busy outside of the cage, featuring in some small independent films, and hosting the ‘1001 Submissions’ instructional DVD’s which were released in November last year. It was recently announced that the charismatic fighter has signed with the mid-level promotion Shine Fights and is set to face off against the former WBA/WBC welterweight champion boxer Ricardo Mayorga who will be making his MMA Debut.
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Jeremy Jackson
Jeremy Jackson had just one fight in the UFC, a loss to Nick Diaz in 2003, before receiving an invite to appear in The Ultimate Fighter some three years later. The troubled fighter had apparently been homeless and living in his car before the show. He didn’t get a chance to prove himself on TUF however after being caught leaving the confines of the house to meet a girl he had met earlier in the day. Since this was a breach of the rules he was asked to leave the show by Dana White. Despite the incident he was allowed to return for the show’s finale where he lost to Pete Spratt, suffering a neck injury in the process.
Several months later Jackson emerged on a regional show and picked up a win to take his career record to 10-5. He didn’t fight for over a year after that, but the troubled fighter was apparently battling demons of his own. The full extent of this would only emerge in May of 2008 when he was arrested on multiple counts of forcible rape amongst other charges including sexual assault and burglary, with bail set at one million dollars. The victim is alleged to be a girl he knew and had been dating.
There has been little word on the situation since then, but after looking through court documents we have been able to discover that Jackson pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the case remains open almost two years later. He has remained in jail during that time. Jackson is expected to appear in court in relation to the charges on the 11th of February.
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Other TUF 4 Competitors:
Edwin Dewees (36-13)
Charles McCarthy (10-5) – Retired from the sport after losing to Michael Bisping in the UFC in April, 2008.
Pete Spratt (20-17) – Last fought in January, losing to another former UFC fighter Keith Wisniewski.
Gideon Ray (17-11-1) – Still fighting, Ray claimed his 17th victory in December.
Pete Sell (8-5) – Hasn’t fought since being cut from the UFC after a loss to Matt Brown in March last year. He’s recently been helping Matt Serra train for his upcoming fight with Frank Trigg.
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Feel free to bookmark the site and tune In next week for the 3rd part of the series which looks at Seasons 5-6.
In the mean time here’s some of our other recent featured articles that might interest you:
Article By RossC
Pictures courtesy of sherdog.com
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