interesting TUF note

just randomly wandering through Sherdog as is the norm, and I noticed that Rob (best fight we've ever had!) Emerson had already fought his opposing coach Jens Pulver way back in his first fight in 2002. Of course, this was Rob's first pro fight in an org called "Ultimate Wrestling", and Pulver's...fifteenth, after he'd already posted wins over B.J. Penn, Caol Uno, and Joe "Daddy" Stevenson. It's easy to forget that MMA has been going on for quite a while, and that a lot of fighters have a long history in promotions other than the "Big Two" Pride and UFC. Jens is a good example, but Joe "Daddy" is a good one too...with 34 professional MMA fights under his belt, Stevenson has fought some real fighters: Mishima, Guillard, Neer, Cummo, Denny, Dewees, and Jens. So before we saw him lay a brutal choke on an over excited Melvin recently, he had a long and impressive resume as a mixed martial artist. The way the UFC promotes fighters, you'd think they were making their debuts when they enter the Octagon.
I'd recommend doing a search on any fighters you're interested in on Sherdog, Wikipedia, and of course Google to see what else they've been up to. You may run into some interesting results. Also, consider finding a way of contributing to the great free sites like Wikipedia. They're an amazing resource that costs very little to access, and it's a good feeling to help them get better. A LOT of articles on combat sports originate in non-English-speaking countries, and it's a small thing to help, say, clean up an article about a kickboxer or SAMBO champ you admire.