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#9: Scarola wants out (Season 6)
Season 6’s Joey Scarola must’ve thought he’d finally made it when he stepped onto the TUF set in 2007. A student of Matt Serra – one of that season’s coaches – Scarola also had a job as a jiu-jitsu instructor in one of Serra’s gyms and had even been the best man at Serra’s wedding. But despite being his mentor’s first pick, he went on to lose to Mac Danzig in the first round of the season’s Welterweight tournament.
Still, losing on TUF hadn’t stopped the likes of Josh Koscheck and Keith Jardine from going onto UFC success, and so all Scarola had to do, essentially, was continue to train for the remainder of his time on the reality show, and due to his Serra connection, he would basically have a free ticket into a UFC contract afterwards.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be impossible for the BJJ black belt. After his loss, Scarola slipped into a funk of sorts – understandable after such a big loss – but a pep talk from Serra appeared to have turned him around. Not so. Scarola simply wanted to leave the house and go back to his girlfriend in New York.
And incredibly – even after being informed by Dana White that if he left, he’d never fight in the UFC – and by Serra that he’d no longer have his job if he left – that was the choice Scarola made. After a full 3 episodes dedicated to his story, Scarola simply walked away.
A 2010 interview with Scarola saw him explain that he wasn't "mentally prepared" to live in the TUF house, which is understandable to an extent - but to see a talented fighter like him just walk away still made for stunning viewing.
