UFC Fighters Who Had Jobs Outside Of Fighting

There are many UFC fighters who rise to the top of combat sports and become ultra-rich celebrities in their own right. There are also many UFC fighters who struggle to pay their bills. While they may be some of the best fighters in the world, they may also moonlight in a job that is a bit less extravagant.

Whatever the reason for the additional job, there are a lot of UFC fighters who at one point picked up a job in their spare time. MMA fans may wonder if that sort of schedule can lead to fighters who worked jobs outside of fighting not performing the best. But some of the greatest fighters of all time worked outside of the UFC, while still fighting.

10 Dominick Reyes

The name Dominick Reyes should be familiar to any UFC fans due to his top-ten ranking in the light heavyweight division. The man has landed both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night honors a few times in his career.

UFC fans may be surprised to learn that during the early portion of his MMA career, Reyes actually worked as a teacher. Even further than that, Reyes has recently been working as an IT technician for another high school based out of California.

9 Demetrious Johnson

Just about every major UFC fan on the planet should be acutely aware of who Demetrious Mighty Mouse Johnson is. The man is likely to go down in history as one of the greatest UFC fighters to ever grace the octagon.

He is also one of the most famous examples of a UFC fighter with a job outside of fighting. Johnson kept working as a forklift operator for a surprisingly long time into his dominant run in the UFC. There aren’t many ways to describe him other than an absolutely admirable workhorse.

8 Geoff Neal

For those that don’t know, Geoff Neal is one of the most exciting fighters in the UFC's welterweight division. His dedication to fighting has led to some great performances, but his time is occasionally split with his other job.

While many fighters tend to work in fields like construction or policing, Neal has often worked as a waiter throughout his fighting career. One can only wonder how strange it would be to find that their favorite fighter is about to serve them drinks or dinner, but most MMA fans would likely agree that it would be a welcome surprise.

7 Stipe Miocic

Of all the notable fighters that worked jobs in addition to their fighting career, Stipe Miocic may be one of the most famous examples. It can be hard to imagine someone being so dominant while also being focused on an entirely different career, but that’s how good Miocic is.

Most people likely won’t believe that Miocic dominated everywhere he went while also working full-time as a firefighter. Part-time jobs aren’t hard to believe, but a demanding full-time job like fire fighting is incredibly hard to believe when also competing in MMA. Miocic manages to somehow make it all look easy.

6 Emily Whitmire

While she may not be contracted by UFC anymore after three straight losses, that may be due in part to Whitmire’s hectic schedule. Not only does she spend much of her time training, but she also works on the side.

Whitmire spent a lot of her time waiting tables in order to make ends meet due to the lower pay that comes with less notoriety. Regardless of MMA fans' opinions on her as a fighter, it’s admirable that she would work so hard to ensure that she can live out her dreams each and every day.

5 Stephen Thompson

Stephen Wonderboy Thompson Listens To A Question

Anyone who’s heard the name Stephen Thompson knows that he is often said to be the nicest man in the UFC, if not all of MMA. It can be hard to balance multiple career paths, but it seems like Thompson has had no issue with that.

While Thompson has worked with modeling agencies, many MMA fans will know Thompson as the nice guy that teaches kids karate. It seems that Thompson took an example from his father and decided that a portion of his time was best spent teaching the next generation about the art of karate.

4 Rich Franklin

While more recent UFC fans may not be entirely sure who Rich Franklin is, his UFC career more than speaks for itself. Franklin was UFC Middleweight Champion and managed to pick up wins over the likes of Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.

There seems to be a bit of a strange overlap between MMA fighters who love to fight and MMA fighters who love to teach. Franklin worked as a high school teacher for a lengthy portion of his fighting career. If he’s as good a teacher as he is a fighter, those students were in great hands.

3 Paulo Thiago

Paulo Thiago hasn’t fought for the UFC since 2014, thanks to three consecutive losses, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t an impressive fighter. All the more impressive, Thiago managed to put on plenty of incredible performances while balancing another job.

His other job? None other than a Brazilian special forces unit. Few jobs are more fitting for a fighter as strong and as tactical as Thiago. The job certainly had to be stressful, but it's one that likely proved rewarding.

2 Luke Rockhold

Whether they love him or hate him, most modern UFC fans have heard of, or at least seen, a Luke Rockhold fight. The man has gone toe-to-toe with some of the all-time greats like Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, and Chris Weidman throughout his career.

Fans that don’t pay too much attention to fighters like Rockhold may be surprised to learn that the man also works as a fashion model on the side. He seems to love it so much that he’s even expressed interest in potentially switching to modeling full-time.

1 Tim Kennedy

Everyone that’s been a fan of MMA for any stretch of time knows how physically demanding the career is. It may surprise fans to learn that while Tim Kennedy was having an excellent MMA career, he was also constantly around the military.

Working in the military was sure to give Kennedy both a great way to stay in shape while not training, and also a way to practice even greater discipline. When fans look back at his career, it seems to have worked out in his favor.