Since the early days of the UFC, the fighters competing have always had dreams that took them away from the blood, sweat and tears inside the cage as they looked towards a second career to start after the final Octagon door closes.
In today's list we will take a look at the 20 greatest crossovers in UFC fighter history and there are plenty to choose from.
#20: Urijah Faber the singer on the Oleander track 'Fight'
Sacramento-based rock band Oleander had a few minor hits in the 90's with songs such as 'Why I'm Here' and 'I Walk Alone' while also being featured on prominent film soundtracks like American Pie. Sacramento also just happens to be the home of former WEC champion Urijah Faber and in 2011 the band asked him to guest on a track they wrote called 'Fight' that was eventually featured in the WWE video game released in 2012. His powerful words in the song were as follows — 'All day, everyday, I know what I've got to do. I've been waiting for this moment, it's time to fight!'
#19: Keith Jardine in Breaking Bad
For those unaware Breaking Bad was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the show would routinely cast actors and actresses as extras from the area on the series. Former Ultimate Fighter season 2 competitor Keith Jardine landed a role where he played a bar patron who gets slugged by DEA Agent Hank Schrader played by Dean Norris. Jardine continues to act and also starred in The Mindy Project on FOX during a recent episode that featured some other MMA favorites on the comedy.
#18: Yoshihiro Akiyama the singer
The man they call 'Sexyama' is no stranger to being in the spotlight in his home country of Japan where he's married to a famous fashion model while also being a decorated Judoka before he became a fighter. Little did you know he also possessed some golden vocal chords because in 2008, Akiyama took to the stage to belt out a tune at the 2008 Dream Concert on New Year's Eve in Japan. Don't take our word for it, let Sexyama tell you how it's done.
#17: Forrest Griffin in Law & Order SVU
Off of the success of his run on The Ultimate Fighter , Forrest Griffin decided to take a turn to acting in 2007 when he landed a role on the popular series Law & Order SVU. On the show, Griffin played an 'ultimate fighter' who was accused of murdering a teenager while having co-star and former rapper Ice-T's wife CoCo play his fiancée on the show. It's Griffin's first appearance on this list and who knows what other talents this former world champion might possess.
#16: Michael Bisping as DJ Mikey B
Before Michael Bisping was everyone's favorite middleweight to hate, he was an aspiring DJ performing in clubs and bars throughout England. A master of beats, techno and dubstep, Bisping went under the moniker 'DJ Mikey B' and over the last few years he's picked up the turntables and managed to pick up some major club gigs around some UFC events. He retired the DJ name when he first made it big in the UFC, but lately his passion for the craft has returned and he's started spinning again whenever the time allows him to get back in the club again.
#15: Tito Ortiz in 'The Crow: Wicked Prayer'
This is another instance where the fighter on this list probably won't be taking home any Academy Awards, but former UFC champion Tito Ortiz did manage to land a role in this 2005 sequel to the popular comic book action film The Crow. In the film, Ortiz plays a gang member named Famine but he does get to act alongside some pretty famous names. Angel and Bones star David Boreanaz leads the way with appearances by Entourage actress Emmanuelle Chriqui, American Pie and Sharknado star Tara Reid as well as action icon Danny Trejo. We'll leave out Ortiz's other acting roles in mega-hits like 'Zombie Strippers'.
#14: John Lewis in Sons of Anarchy
Blink and you might miss him, but two-time UFC veteran and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor John Lewis made a couple of appearances on this season of Sons Of Anarchy as the right hand man to dirty cop Charlie Barasky, played by RoboCop actor Peter Weller. Lewis even managed to take a bullet during one of the scenes. Since he stopped fighting in 2000, Lewis began picking up roles in films and TV while still teaching in Las Vegas where he worked with fighters like former UFC heavyweight Gilbert Yvel. The current season of Sons Of Anarchy is still airing on FX and Barasky is still a major character in the story arc happening right now so keep your eyes peeled because Lewis may just pop up again.
#13: Rich Franklin in Cyborg Soldier
Rich Franklin, who went from math teacher in Cincinnati to UFC champion, dabbled in acting in a 2008 straight to video release called Cyborg Soldier. In the movie he played, guess what? A cyborg soldier. Yep, Franklin took the lead in the film where he portrayed a cyborg who tries to escape the dangerous scientists who helped to create him. So how did Franklin with one role end up this high on the list? Because he got to act opposite of Kelly Kapowski AKA Tiffani Amber Thiessen from 'Saved By The Bell'. That alone gets Franklin some serious street cred.
#12: Oleg Taktarov as an actor in films such as Predators and National Treasure
Russian legend Oleg Taktarov might best be known to fight fans as a competitor in the early days of the UFC when he was taking on famous names like Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn but lately he's been popping up in more and more action films from Hollywood. Cast perfectly as a thug in most roles, Taktarov has acted opposite Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Nicolas Cage over the years and he's still very busy with film and television roles to this day. While his last UFC fight was in 1995, Taktarov is still making the promotion proud by staying in the public spotlight with various acting roles all over the world.
#11: Jay Hieron as a professional stuntman and actor
Former UFC welterweight Jay Hieron will become a very common name to movie goers in the new few years as he begins to transition more and more into the acting world. Already actively pursuing roles while he was still fighting full time in the UFC, Hieron has taken up acting and stuntwork in a whole new realm lately while performing in films like 'The Avengers' as well as taking parts in upcoming movies such as 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' and the new 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' remake. Hieron is a very busy man who stays in high demand, so next time you're out at the movies make sure to keep an eye out for this famous fighting face.
#10: Forrest Griffin the author
Forrest Griffin made it to the peak of the UFC as a fighter when he won the light heavyweight title in a stunning upset of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, but that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to his talents. Deep down, Griffin was also a writer and so far he's released two books. One was a more typical fight novel called 'Got Fight' but his second book titled 'Be Ready When the S—t Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse' is a hilarious, first-person view into Griffin's mind for how he would handle the end of the world. There's been no word since his last novel was published in 2011 if he would put out another book, but this might be the area Griffin is the most successful so hopefully he returns there one day.
#9: Bas Rutten in 'Here Comes the Boom'
Former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten hasn't fought in several years, but that doesn't mean he still doesn't count as a member of the Octagon family. Just last year, Rutten landed a role in the comedy 'Here Comes The Boom' where he acted alongside his good friend and student Kevin James in a story about a high school teacher who becomes an MMA fighter trying to earn a few bucks to help keep his school's music program alive. While James was the lead alongside actress Salma Hayak, it was Rutten that stole the show with his comedic timing and pitch perfect physical acting.
#8: Cung Le in 'The Man With The Iron Fists'
Veteran middleweight fighter Cung Le has been acting a lot over the last few years and while his time inside the cage may be counting down, his thespian roles are certainly not. In 2012, Le starred alongside award winning actor Russell Crowe in the martial arts film 'The Man With The Iron Fists', which was produced by Academy Award winner Quentin Tarantino and directed by Wu-Tang Clan member The RZA. Le has also done some stunt and fight coordination in films and when his fighting career is finally over, he will already have a great backup plan for his future with acting roles still lining up for his services.
#7: Tait Fletcher in Breaking Bad
Tait Fletcher never actually competed in the UFC, but he was a cast member during the third season of The Ultimate Fighter where he ended up being coached by Ken Shamrock. In fact, Fletcher ended up going toe-to-toe with his coach over a disagreement about training that became one of the most famous scenes of that entire season. Fletcher continued to fight for a few years after his appearance on the reality show, but then began transitioning first to stunt work and eventually acting roles in films and TV. In 2012, Fletcher landed his biggest role to date — playing Aryan gang member Lester on the hit AMC show 'Breaking Bad'. Fletcher could most famously be seen during the final season when he dragged actor Aaron Paul out from his hiding spot beneath a car during one tension filled scene in the third to last episode for the series. Fletcher also recently popped up on the FOX comedy 'The Mindy Project' where he joined fellow former UFC fighter Keith Jardine in the episode.
#6: Georges St-Pierre in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ronda Rousey in 'Fast and the Furious 7'
So this is a bit of a cheat considering that neither of these films have come out yet, but here's why St-Pierre and Rousey enjoy a slot so high on the list — both Captain America and the Fast and Furious sequel are expected to make some very serious money at the box office next year. The last Fast and the Furious film raked in almost $800 million worldwide. Both fighters will enjoy pretty sizable roles in the upcoming movies with St-Pierre already completing his film while playing Captain America villain Batroc the Leaper. Rousey is still filming her part in Fast and the Furious 7, but expect both movies to be major hits in 2014 while raising both fighters profiles during that time.
#5: Jason 'Mayhem' Miller in Bully Beatdown
Say what you will about Jason 'Mayhem' Miller these days but for a couple of years he enjoyed some newfound success on MTV as the host of the reality show 'Bully Beatdown' where he would find some real life bullies and offer them a stack of cash to go up against real MMA fighters as punishment for tormenting their friends, co-workers or classmates. The show was a pretty big success while it was airing and several high profile fighters appeared including Jake Shields and Eddie Alvarez. The show was eventually cancelled before Miller made one final run in the UFC before retiring from the sport.
#4: Tank Abbott, Tito Ortiz and Bruce Buffer in Friends
Outside of Seinfeld, there hasn't been a more popular sitcom in the last 20 years than the NBC hit show Friends, and in 1997 they decided to turn Monica's boyfriend Pete Becker (played by Iron Man director Jon Favreau) into an 'Ultimate Fighter'. The show was able to use the Octagon, the arena and even Bruce Buffer during the scene where Pete took on former UFC heavyweight Tank Abbott. Needless to say things didn't go well for Pete, but it was fun to see Abbott along with his famous cornerman — future UFC champion Tito Ortiz — smile for the cameras before handing Favreau a beat down.
#3: Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson in The A-Team
When Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson was growing up one of his favorite TV shows happened to be the action series 'The A-Team', which starred former bouncer turned actor Mr. T in the role of B.A. Baracus — a member of the Army special forces unit that was wrongfully accused of a crime they didn't commit, and they promptly escaped from a military stockade to the Los Angeles underground where they became soldiers of fortune. Following the success of the TV show in the 80's, 20th Century Fox decided to distribute a remake of the show in movie form and Jackson was the perfect person to play the new incarnation of BA Baracus. It was a dream come true for Jackson to play the role, and even though it landed him on Dana White's bad side (the role conflicted with his scheduled fight against Rashad Evans) he took it and ran. The movie saw very limited success but no one can ever take it away from Rampage that he got the chance to play BA Baracus on the big screen.
#2: Randy Couture in 'The Expendables 1, 2 and 3'
Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture has dabbled in acting for years, but it wasn't until his fight career was almost over that he started to take some serious roles. He got the call in 2009 to snag a part in an upcoming action movie franchise called 'The Expendables' that would star veteran actors like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke and not only did Couture land the part in one movie — he got the call back for two sequels as well! In the latest edition of The Expendables (which just wrapped up filming) Couture actually starred opposite UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
#1: Chuck Liddell guest stars on 'Entourage'
The list of guest stars on HBO's popular series Entourage is about a mile long. From Larry David to Peter Dinklage to James Cameron — if you were an 'A' list celebrity during the time this popular comedy was on the air, chances are you made an appearance on the show. So it's no surprise that the biggest UFC star at the time got the call to film a guest spot on Entourage, but as it turns out former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell would end up landing a role that lasted an entire episode.
Liddell played himself in an elaborate hidden camera scenario to get one over on Vincent Chase's brother Johnny 'Drama' Chase. While it's not likely Liddell will be remembered for an Emmy award winning performance, he was still pretty spot on playing himself opposite some heavyweight actors on this series in one of the best cameos to date. Liddell has also picked up some additional acting roles in films like 'Kick-Ass 2', which was released in 2013.
