Combat sports as a whole maintains a long list of themes that build a pathway of failure to glory. Many of the mixed martial arts’ finest men and women have lived and breathed that realm well before they became who they are today.
It is fair to say that were these fighters not exposed to such hardships, including lack of financial resources, they may have never earned their place among the elite. Perhaps even, without these hardships, they would be unable to appreciate the summit they’ve reached and the pile of money that was waiting for them there.
Here is SportsKeeda’s top 5 inspiring rags to riches tales in MMA.
#1 Junior Dos Santos
The Brazilian heavyweight spent a majority of his youth scrapping for ways to make money in order to aid his single mother in putting food on the table. Since he was born into a poor family with a lack of resources for basic living, Dos Santos began working at the mere age of ten.
It wasn’t until he was 21 that he was exposed to martial arts and turned professional in the same year in 2006. After two years of fighting seriously, the Brazilian was granted a UFC contract and maintained a magnificent nine-fight win streak, later earning him the UFC heavyweight title against Cain Velasquez.
The poor boy from Brazil is said to now make upwards of around $400,000 per bout and has also racked in sponsorship money and pay-per-view payouts.
#2 Eddie Alvarez
Alvarez has single-handedly earned his nickname “The Underground King”, mainly because of his quiet rise to prominence across other promotions outside of the UFC, but he still hasn’t been given the respect he deserves. The lightweight grew up on the streets of Kensington, Philadelphia – an area known for its violence, poverty and rough exterior.
Out of necessity, Alvarez’s father taught him the basics of boxing, which later led him into a passionate love for wrestling. He would put these combat sports together after high school, knowing that college was not on the horizon and pursued a career in MMA.
The Philly native has for many years been considered one of the best lightweights in the sports of mixed martial arts. Alvarez has also been a champion in multiple promotions including Bellator and the UFC, where he is the only fighter to date to hold both promotional titles.
#3 Jose Aldo
The newly promoted UFC featherweight champion’s climb to the MMA summit has been one that is perhaps the most admirable on the UFC roster. Aldo had a tough childhood and barely knew where his next meal was coming from. The Brazilian grew up in the favelas of Manaus, relying on others to financial support of his dream.
When Aldo was in the WEC, the promotion's general manager Reed Harris once recalled an anecdote of Aldo’s struggles, “They were telling me that Wagnney Fabiano would be at the gym, and José would show up, and Wagnney would say, 'Have you eaten today or yesterday?' If not, they would go get him some food. That's how poor he was.”
Thankfully Aldo has rebooted his former faith of being utterly poor and climbed the ranks to be one of the most dangerous and dominant featherweights of all-time.
Before losing to Conor McGregor in 13 seconds at UFC 194, the Brazilian had not lost a professional fight in a decade. His average earnings were an estimated $400,000 and a cut of the $1.2 million pay-per-view revenue. He successfully defended his featherweight crown seven times during his reign.
#4 Kimbo Slice
It’s a far cry to think that this “street fighter” made his name by releasing videos of him involved in illegal human cock-like fights that streamed on the internet in 2003, to be the timeless legend he is now. This part of his legacy is perhaps the most important, and it is the part that paved the way for his cult like status before his untimely death at 42.
For Slice, it was simply about loving to fight, but that changed into a professional career which brought money and fame when he was slotted into EliteXC in 2007. In his main event fight in 2008 against James Thompson, Kimbo’s name came to the fore after the bout record of 4.85 million viewers, which at the time was the most watched MMA event in US history.
Slice has been all round the block competing on the Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights season and the promotion itself, Bellator and of course as a boxer. He has sustained his cult status throughout his career through plenty of different avenues and still exists to this day.
#5 Anderson Silva
Some of the greatest fighters to ever grace the earth have the most dim stories of hardship. It seems that Anderson Silva is no stranger to this equation. In fact, like his fellow countrymen Aldo, Silva was extremely poor growing up.
It has been said that he was so poor that his parents sent him to live with his aunt and uncle, as they could not provide for him. While pursuing a career in fighting early o,.n he worked at McDonald’s and earned himself an impressive 11-2 record, before falling out with Team Chute Boxe in 2003 as well as the Japanese promotion Pride.
With no real opportunity on the horizon, Silva looked to go back to his job at McDonald’s and give up fighting for good, but luckily for the world, he was convinced by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to not waste his talent.
We all now know the story – glory, a dominant championship reign and regarded as one of the finest and most talented men to ever enter the octagon.
