TUF winners - where are they now and who was successful and who was a bust

I thought id look back on TUF winners and their careers.

Some have retired due to injuries, others due to others things, so if i got that wrong excuse me because i didnt want to all that research and this is just a brief synopsis. Some Stuff might be inaccurate and the Highest ranking is provided by FightMAtrix so you can agree or disagree but its what i went with


Fighters in bold i consider a bust that accomplished very little post TUF competition 



Diego Sanchez - 19-12 in UFC, highest rank #2 LW, still active with UFC

Forrest Griffin - 10-5 in UFC, highest rank #1 LHW(won LHW Belt), retired in 2012 with 1 win streak

Joe Stevenson - 8-8 in UFC, highest rank #3 LW, Let go from UFC after losing 4 straight, 2-2 post UFC, retired in 2016 on 2 fight win streak

Rashad Evans - 14-8-1 in UFC, highest rank #1 LHW(won LHW Belt), retired in 2018 after losing 5 straight

Kendall Grove - 7-6 in UFC, highest rank #22 MW, let go from UFC after losing 2 straight, Still active 12-9 post UFC, on 1 fight win streak

Michael Bisping - 20-9 in UFC, highest rank #1 MW(won MW belt), retired in 2017 after losing 2 straight

Matt Serra - 7-7 in UFC, highest rank #1 WW(won WW belt), retired in 2010 after 1 loss streak

Travis Lutter - 2-4 in UFC, highest rank #13 MW, let go by UFC after 2 fight losing streak, 1-1 post UFC and retired in 2010 with 1 loss streak


Nate Diaz - 15-10 in UFC, highest rank #2 LW, Still active with UFC

Mac Danzig - 5-8 in UFC, highest rank #19 LW, let go by UFC after 3 fight losing streak, went 1-0 Post UFC, retired in 2017 after 4 year hiatus


Amir Sadollah - 6-5 in UFC, highest rank  #25 WW, retired in 2014 after 2 fight losing streak


Efrain Escudero - 5-7 with UFC, highest rank #45 LW, on and off with UFC but last let go after losing 2 straight, 15-9 post UFC, still active and on 3 fight losing streak


Ryan Bader - 15-5 in UFC, Highest rank #2 LHW, left UFC on 2 fight win streak, still active 5-0-1NC post UFC

Ross Pearson - 12-13 in UFC, highest rank #12 FW, let go after 2 fight losing streak, still active, 0-1 post UFC

James Wilks - 2-2 in UFC, highest rank #84 WW, retired in 2010 on 1 fight losing streak

Roy Nelson - 9-10 in UFC, highest rank #10 HW, let go by UFC on a 1 fight losing streak, 1-4 post UFC, sill active and on a 4 fight losing streak

Court Mcgee - 8-8 in UFC, highest rank #34 MW, still active with UFC, in a 2 fight losing streak

Jonathan Brookins - 2-3 in UFC, highest rank #27 FLY, let go by UFC after 2 fight losing streak, 3-4 post UFC and is retired on a 1 fight win streak


Tony Ferguson - 15-1 in UFC, highest rank #2 LW(won UFC LW Interim belt) still active

John Dodson - 10-6 in UFC, highest rank #3 FLY, still active and is on 1 fight win streak

Diego Brandao - 6-4 in UFC, highest rank #21 FW, let go by UFC on 1 fight losing streak, 5-4 post UFC and is still active on a 1 fight losing streak


Michael Chiesa - 10-4 in UFC, highest rank #8 LW, still active with UFC and is on a 3 fight win Streak

Colton Smith - 1-3 in UFC, highest rank #47 WW, let go after 3 fight losing streak, 4-1 post UFC and may be retired, hasn't fought since 2018

Kelvin Gastelum - 10-5-1NC in UFC, highest rank #4 MW, Still active with UFC but is on a 2 fight losing streak

Chris Holdsworth - 2-0 in UFC, highest rank #24 BW, Hasn't fought since 2014 due to Post concussion, probably retired

Julianna Pena - 5-1 in UFC, highest rank #5 in both FLY and BW, still active with UFC and on a 1 fight win streak

Eddie Gordon - 1-3 in UFC, highest rank #35 MW, let go by UFC after 3 fight losing streak, 1-3 post UFC and is on a 3 fight losing streak

Corey Anderson - 10-5 in UFC, highest rank #4 LHW, still active with UFC but in on a 1 fight losing streak

Carla Esparza - 64 in UFC, highest rank #2 Straw(won UFC straw Belt), still active with UFC and is on a 2 fight win streak

Kamuru Usman - 11-0 in UFC, highest rank #1 WW(won UFC WW belt), still active with UFC and is on an 15 fight win streak(11-0 in UFC)

Ryan Hall - 4-0 in UFC, highest rank #19 FW, still active with UFC and is on an 8 fight win streak(4-0 in UFC)

Andrew Sanchez - 4-3 in UFC, highest rank #33 MW, still active with UFC and is on a 1 fight losing streak

Tatiana Suarez - 5-0 in UFC, highest rank #4 Straw, still active with UFC and is on an 8 win(4-0 with UFC)streak

Tim Elliot - 4-8 in UFC, highest rank #7 FLY, still active with UFC but is in 2 fight losing streak

Jesse Taylor - 1-1 in UFC, highest rank #17 MW, let go by UFC because he's a complete **** up, 25-12 post UFC, still active and on a 1 loss streak


Nicco Montano - 1-1 in UFC, highest rank #3 FLY(won FLY belt in UFC), still active but on a 1 fight losing streak

Brad Katona - 2-2 in UFC, highest rank #34 BW, still active but was released by the UFC after losing 2 in a row

Mike Trizano - 2-1 in UFC, highest rank #138 LW, still active with UFC but is on a 1 fight losing streak


Juan Espino - 1-0 in UFC, highest rank #62 HW, still active with UFC and is on a 1 fight winning streak


Macy Chiasson - 4-1 in UFC, highest rank #4 BW, still active and is on a 1 fight win steak

Interesting...
Personally I've always felt Esparza and Montana were just paper champs cause they didn't fight the best to win there belts.

Edit: and I'm a fan of both. Wish they'd prove me wrong.

* Edited at 03.29.2020, 2:21 PM ET *

Didn't Roy Nelson retire? After that embarrassing slapping contest with Frank Mir? Or is that just wishful thinking.....

I’m not sure about fat boy Roy 

He sure went on the decline fast though 

Roy Nelson is not retired. Still active on bellator but coo coo Coker has suggested he should retire.

The ufc retirement league/Bellator won't be the same without him. 

God, how bad does it have to get for Scott "Booked a fight where one guy almost died and the other guy did die 4 months later" Coker to suggest you should retire?

@pilloraychoke was that a reference to the greatest mma fight of all time kimbo vs dada?

I'm so ******* bored I'm gonna watch that followed by Nganou vs lewis

* Edited at 03.30.2020, 2:30 PM ET *

And that old school ufc where the two idiots held each other's shorts and had wedgies against the cage the whole time.

Diego Brandao rockin' all over the world(Russia..)

John Dodson still in the game

Amir Sadollah went back to being a doctor? Didn't Ross Pearson win the USA vs UK season?

man you realise how old you are when you realise Efrain Escudero was once "Conor McGregor"(upcoming) you get me 

Diego ..... im not that old!!! hehe

Chris Leben is the greatest Ultimate Fighter for me also Julian Lane and Mike from that season (Canadian) also Brandao is the definition of the series

* Edited at 03.31.2020, 6:03 PM ET *

Gotta say Colton Smith was probably the least skilled and worst winner so far. Also he didn't have a very good personality and that doesn't help his case. He annoyed the **** out of me.

Chris Holdsworth always depresses me. He had legitimate skill, was young, and a great camp but medical issues seemed to retire him.

He was the first and was in the "Greatest Fight" ever by many folks surmise.
He had mixed results once going ufc but made it to the top then fell off it.
Wrote couple books retired and now is some kind of ambassador for domestic violence.
He may have some mystery health problem tried to look it up while ago but nothing solid.
Leben kinda transcended fun career never made it to the top then retired reffed and went to bkb.
And of course theres Serra shocked the world a few times faded then retired to train and blog/vlog.  

Don’t talk about Forrest like that, he is a gem and a legit nice guy, also Bobby knuckles won a TUF title right?

Diego Sanchez lasted the longest so he wins!