The UFC has had some incredible fighters over the years, but sometimes our favorites seem to go missing or have moved on to other things. Let's reminisce about UFC days gone by and find out where five of our favorite fighters have gone since leaving the octagon.
Ryan Bader, also known as Darth Bader, had an impressive run as a top five light-heavyweight contender in the UFC. He compiled a 15 and five record in the octagon and was a force to be reckoned with. During his UFC stint he was the Ultimate Fighter 8 Lightweight division winner and was a cast member and winner on Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir. His UFC career spanned between 2009 and 2016.
Just because his run at UFC ended, it doesn't meant that Darth Bader has left fighting altogether. After his UFC stint he joined Bellator MMA where he continues his fighting career to this day. At the time of writing Bader is the current Bellator Heavyweight champion and has also held the light-heavyweight title.
Ben Askren is another notable name absent from the UFC roster. After a successful career with ONE Championship, Askren joined the UFC in 2018 where he had some success over the past few years.
Askren made his UFC debut with a controversial victory over then UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler. Moving on from the fight, Askren would prove to be a brash trash-talking personality until he ran across Jorge Masvidal at UFC 239. Askren suffered a dominating defeat via knockout and his UFC career would never be the same once his winning streak ended.
Askren retired from the UFC and MMA altogether towards the end of 2019, however that wasn't the last we would hear from Ben. In April of 2021, Ben Askren faced boxer and YouTube personality Jake Paul in a boxing match which turned out to be a spectacle won by Paul via TKO.
As the longest ever reigning UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov was a household name for MMA fans between 2018 and 2021. His run as champion came to an end when he decided to retire and vacate the title with an overall record of 29 wins and zero losses.
Nurmagomedov didn't leave professional fighting behind once he retired. Upon leaving the UFC, Khabib purchased Gorilla Fighting Championship and renamed it Eagle Fighting Championship. He currently promotes this new Russian MMA promotion throughout his home country.
Kimbo Slice earned his way into the UFC by competing on Ultimate Fighter after the closure of Elite Xtreme Combat left Slice looking for a place to fight. Kimbo would go on to fight in two UFC bouts with a one and one record.
After this short stint in UFC, Kimbo chose to pursue professional boxing rather than MMA and amassed a record of seven wins and zero losses. Following his boxing endeavors, Slice briefly return to MMA for Bellator with one win but left the organization after a failed post-fight drug test after his second bout.
Sadly, Kimbo Slice passed away in 2016 of heart failure near his home in Florida.
T.J. Dillashaw made his UFC debut in 2011 at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 14. Over the course of his career he would win the UFC Bantam Weight Title on two separate occasions and be named as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter television program. His UFC career was derailed in March of 2019 when he was forced to vacate the title after testing positive for a banned substance after a successful title defense against Henry Cejudo.
Dillashaw later took responsibility for his discretions and apologized to everyone that was seen in a bad light due to his actions. Dillashaw has served his suspension and was scheduled to return to the UFC in April of 2021, but injuries suffered during training will delay his return until sometime in 2022.
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