Following amateur MMA fights in 2006, Samman made his professional MMA debut in 2007. Over the next five years, he amassed a record of 9 wins and 2 losses before joining the cast of The Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter
In January 2013, it was revealed that Samman was a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Team Sonnen. He won his preliminary bout over Leo Bercier via TKO in the first round. However, he drew the ire of both coaches and Dana White for what they perceived to be showboating during his bout. Samman was selected by coach Jones as his second pick (fourth overall).
In the next round, Samman defeated Tor Troéng by knockout in the first round. In the quarter final round, Samman defeated Jimmy Quinlan via submission in the first round. In the semi-finals, he faced eventual tournament winner Kelvin Gastelum. Despite being considered a heavy favorite by both coaches, Samman was quickly taken down by Gastelum and eventually submitted in the first round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On April 9, 2013, it was announced that Samman would face fellow season 17 alumni Kevin Casey at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.[5] After a close first round, Samman won the fight via TKO in the second round.
Samman was to replace Nick Ring against his former The Ultimate Fighter 17 rival Uriah Hall on August 17, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 26.[6] However, on July 17, he was taken out of the bout after an undisclosed injury.[7]
Samman was expected to face Caio Magalhães on April 19, 2014, at UFC on Fox 11 but was forced to withdraw after tearing his left hamstring.[8]
Samman faced Eddie Gordon on December 6, 2014, at UFC 181.[9] After losing the first round, he came back in the second round to land a left switch head kick on Gordon, knocking him out in what was considered one of the best knockouts of 2014. Samman's knockout earned him his first Performance of the Night bonus award.[10]
Samman faced returning veteran Tamdan McCrory on December 19, 2015, at UFC on Fox 17.[14] He lost the back-and-forth fight via submission in the third round.[15]
Samman is the author of The Housekeeper: Love, Death, and Prizefighting, which chronicles his struggles with addiction; career-threatening injuries and the death of his girlfriend.[18]
Samman was a long time contributor to SB Nation's website Bloody Elbow, and in August 2014, Samman started submitting Fanposts regularly to the website.[19]
In March 2015, BloodyElbow.com announced that Samman would become officially part of the staff and would be joining the website as a feature author.[20]
Samman was also a columnist for UFC.com.[21] In May 2016, Samman announced he would be contributing to an additional MMA website, flocombat.com.[citation needed]
Combat Night
In 2009, Samman began promoting a mixed martial arts event in Tallahassee, Florida, dubbed “Ubersmash,” which featured Samman as the headliner and other local fighters on the bill.[22] When Florida legislation passed that allowed for the creation of amateur MMA sanctioning bodies, Samman and his business partner immediately set out to create Combat Night, which has since expanded to Jacksonville, Orlando, and Miami to become the largest MMA organization in the state.[22]
On Saturday, September 26, 2015, Samman and his business partner celebrated a successful 50th edition of Combat Night, drawing 4,000 fans to an amateur MMA show in Tallahassee, Florida.[23]
On September 29, 2016, Samman and a friend, Troy Kirkingburg, were found unresponsive in a South Florida apartment due to a drug overdose. His friend, an MMA announcer for a local Florida promotion, was pronounced dead from an overdose of cocaine, heroin and pain killers upon arrival at the hospital, while Samman remained in critical condition and in a coma.[25][1] Samman died on October 5, 2016.[26]
