UFC Fighters Who Made It Despite Having Second Job (Top 10) (2024)

Many people see combat sports athletes as fearless milliners. Yet, the reality is much different, mainly when it comes to mixed martial arts (MMA).

You see, MMA is still a very young sport also known as the fastest-growing one. But despite the rapid rise, promotions like UFC are still severely underpaying its MMA fighters. Some of the elite fighters barely have enough to keep their career going.

So, it’s not a surprise that many UFC fighters must work full time. It’s weird to even think that your favorite MMA fighters can also work as waiters at the cafe. Or a person you just watched fighting on the ESPN card also comes up to be your real estate agent.

Now, let’s look at some of the best UFC fighters who opted to maintain a day job while competing at the world UFC stage.

10. Paul Thiago

Many UFC fans don’t know who Paul Thiago is, and that’s normal. The guy didn’t leave any special mark inside the UFC cage. And he went on to have an average MMA career. The reason for this lays in the fact that he had a full-time job while pursuing the MMA career.

Thiago was an interesting cat both in and outside the cage. He was a member of the Brazilian special forces known as “B.O.P.E”. For people who don’t know, B.O.P.E is one of, if not the best special forces in the world.

For sure, this type of job allowed him to stay in shape and use the facility to train whenever he wanted to. But after going 2–7 inside the cage, the UFC released him in 2014.

9. Tim Kennedy

People often describe MMA fighters as “Warriors inside the cage”. Though this is a metaphor for most MMA fighters, it perfectly describes Tim Kennedy. For many fans, he is a true American hero. Tim served in the military throughout his entire MMA career, and he managed to succeed in both of these jobs.

At the time, Kennedy was a member of the Special Forces, and he served many missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. While wearing a Green Baret, Tim operated the sniper rifle, and he also had a job as the sniper instructor.

For many years, Tim strived to balance between being a soldier and a fighter. And, he went on to have a really good MMA (18–6) and UFC (3–2) career. It’s fair to say that he had the most success while competing in Strikeforce promotion where he compiled a solid record of 6–2.

8. Eddie Wineland

Though he is not that old, we can say that Eddie is a true veteran of the MMA octagon. People know him as a very tough and talented fighter. But a little to the known fact is that he has been working as a firefighter throughout the entire MMA career.

As a fireman in Northwest Indiana, Eddie works around 120 days a year. This is flexible enough for him to prepare for the UFC matches and spend some time with the family at home.

The crazy fact about him is that he worked a full-time shift a day before his 135lbs title fight against Renan Barao at UFC 165.

Despite the loss to Barao, Eddie is still working as a fireman and going strong inside the UFC octagon.

7. Al Iaquinta

“Ragging Al” is mainly known as a top 10 lightweight and a tricky matchup for anyone. He fought against the biggest names of the sport and went on to put on a good performance against Khabib at UFC 223.

But people don’t know that Al has been working as a real estate agent for a better part of his UFC career. In his words, knee injuries and being away from fighting forced him to search for a job outside of fighting to secure his future.

Despite having a lot of work, Al didn’t give up on his MMA dreams. He enjoys great success while wearing both gloves and a suit. According to Al, his UFC and real estate incomes are very similar. For him, a real estate job is something he looks to pursue even more when he retires from MMA.

6. Shane Carwin

Looking at his size, muscles, and many tattoos on the body, one can easily create a wrong perception of Shane. I mean, it’s easy to think that Shane throws drink people out of the clubs and collects debts for a living.

But in reality, Shane is a very intelligent and educated guy. He owns two bachelor degrees in engineering and environmental technology. All through his entire MMA career, Shane had a job as a construction manager at the “North Weld County Water District.”

Due to his insane work ethic, he was able to find a balance between the two careers. The most memorable moment came when he won the UFC interim title by knocking out Frank Mir at UFC 116.

5. Dominick Reyes

Reyes is one of the most talented UFC fighters and the former title UFC light heavyweight title challenger. Despite the loss against great Jon Jones, many people think Reyes won a decision and see him as the uncrowned King.

Also, let’s not forget that he got into the contender spot while having a full-time job outside of fighting. At the beginning of his MMA career, Reyes worked as a teacher at the school district.

Today he is one of the most famous UFC fighters. But this hasn’t changed a thing about his work ethic. He still has a day job and has been working as an IT support technician at Oak Hills High School in California since 2017.

3. Rich Franklin

Did you know that Franklin has a bachelor’s degree in maths and a master’s degree in education at the University of Cincinnati? Also, did you know that, for a better part of his MMA career, Franklin had a job as a teacher at Oak Hills High School?

For the first four years of his MMA career, Frankling had to work as a teacher to have some kind of income. Only when he won the UFC title at UFC 51, Franklin decided to make a full devotion to the MMA sport. And he went on to have one of the best MMA careers ever.

He is the former two-time UFC middleweight champ and the Hall of Famer since 2019.

3. Mirko Cro Cop

Have you ever wondered what “Cro Cop” actually means? I mean, it’s very simple: Cro stands for his homeland of Croatia. And Cop refers to his days at the Croatian special forces. Or in other words “Croatian Cop”

He joined the special forces at a young age, and he stayed with the job all the way until 2001. Early into his kickboxing and military career, Crocop got the useful piece of advice from his commander:

I don’t think you will be a special soldier, but I believe you will be a good fighter one day.I release you and I want you to train twice a day. And I want you to make your country and your homeland proud one day.

Crocop went on to win the K-1 World title while working full-time at the special forces. But he left the job in 2001, shortly after signing with Pride promotion.

Mirko was a force to be reckoned with. He was one of the best MMA fighters the glory days of Pride and by far the best standup fighter.

2. Demetrious Johnson

Also known as the “Mighty Mouse”, Johnson is the most dominant UFC champ of all time and one of the best to ever do it. Yet, people tend to forget that he actually obtained a day job long into his MMA career.

Johnson worked five days a week operating a forklift at the recycling company. He would train every day after the eight-hour shift and compete in MMA matches during the weekends. He kept this system going throughout his entire WEC career, and the first three UFC fights. That’s crazy!

But at some point, Johnson made a decision to leave the job and fully focus on pursuing his UFC dream. And of course, it all played out well for him. Today, Johnson focuses on building a large viewership and following on social media channels by playing video games. He hopes that one day when he retires, this hobby will become his main source of income.

1. Stipe Miocic

Stipe is synonymous with professional MMA fighters having a full-time job. He is an inspiring person for many founds around the world. He was able to become the most dominant heavyweight champion while working as a full-time firefighter in Clevland.

Though he is earning a lot from fighting (about $600,000 per fight), Stipe has no plans about leaving a fireman job. The explanation is simple, he loves it! He loves it so much that he went to the fire station to clean the toilets a day after he defeated Cormier at UFC 241.

Stipe has been working three shifts a week for over a decade now and training five to six times a week. What’s more, some of his shifts are 24h long. Though this is too much work for most of us, it didn’t stop Stipe from becoming one of the greatest UFC fighters ever.

“I love what I do, man. I work real hard here, and I love especially helping out people. Why would I give it up? Plus, it keeps my mind off MMA.” — Source

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