MMA Fighters With Day Jobs

SI Staff | Jul 1, 2008

MMA Fighters With Day Jobs /

MMA Fighters With Day Jobs

Kevin Burns

The 7-1 welterweight Burns (background), who upset Roan Carneiro at UFC 85, is a sales representative for Wells Fargo Financial Leasing in Des Moines, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's degree in business/marketing from William Penn University.

Christian Wellisch

A fighter with a 9-3 overall record, Wellisch is also an attorney. He earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy from San Jose State University before graduating with a law degree from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in 2007.

Seth Kleinbeck

With a combined amateur and pro MMA record of 14-3, Kleinbeck (kicking) is also a family and ER physician with his own practice.

Nate Marquardt

Having spent two years at the University of Denver to study marketing, Marquardt now owns his own mixed martial arts gym while also maintaining his life as a fighter with a 29-8-1 overall MMA record.

Chris Lytle

Even after fighting in 54 professional bouts and winning the Cage Rage world welterweight title, "Lights Out" (far left) still holds his job as an Indianapolis firefighter.

Shane Carwin

The undefeated UFC heavyweight Carwin (far left) holds degrees in mechanical engineering and environmental technology from the Colorado School of Mines and Western State College, respectively. He works full-time as an engineer for the North Weld County Water District in Colorado.

Ryan McGivern

McGivern (near left) owns a 12-6 overall MMA record, but outside of fighting, he's a civilian general engineer for the U.S. Army. He earned his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the University of Iowa.

Jamal Patterson

A former Colgate University football player and one of Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" in 1991, Patterson (near left) balances his days as a salesman and a fighter for the IFL.

Houston Alexander

While he's known as "The Nebraskan Assassin" in the Octagon, the light heavyweight who's fought the likes of Keith Jardine and Thiago Alves is known as "Strong Arm" on KOPW 106.9, a hip-hop radio station in Omaha.

Tim Kennedy

When he's not fighting in the ring, Kennedy (top) is fighting in the U.S. Army, where he's a special forces weapons sergeant.

Kaitlin Young

One of the first females to fight on prime-time network television, Young is a full-time student at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, studying kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise physiology.

Jared Hamman

As a former college football player, Hamman, who owns a 9-1 MMA record, maintains his ties with the sport as a defensive line coach for his alma mater, Redlands University.

Published Jul 1, 2008

SI STAFF