Sherdog’s Top 10: Stick-and-Ball Crossovers

Josh Burkman was a star running back at Dixie State College. | Photo: Sherdog.com

6. Josh Burkman

Burkman played two seasons of college football before he began his career in MMA.

He spent his freshman season at Snow College in Utah before transferring to Dixie State College. In his sophomore season, Burkman rushed for 1,439 yards and 13 touchdowns for the Rebels, earning All-America honors. His team went on to win the Dixie Rotary Bowl. Burkman was offered a scholarship from the University of Utah to continue playing football, but he decided to drop the pads and pursue MMA.

Fighting nine times under the Ultimate Fighting Championship banner, Burkman at one time was one of the top welterweights in the company. However, after losing three straight, “The People’s Warrior” found himself on the Zuffa chopping block. After a solid run in the Showdown Fights promotion, Burkman linked arms with the World Series of Fighting.

Since then, Burkman has gone 4-1, including wins over fellow UFC alums Gerald Harris and Aaron Simpson. Perhaps most impressively, he avenged a previous defeat to Jon Fitch, as he choked the American Kickboxing Academy standout unconscious at WSOF 3 in June 2013. The 37-fight veteran’s ascent stalled in a WSOF title bout against Steve Carl four months later, but he soon bounced back from the loss with a brutal stoppage of Tyler Stinson.

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