Roman Mitichyan
Roman Mitichyan briefly appeared on the UFC’s radar via The Ultimate Fighter Season 6 back in 2007, but had to pull out during the very first episode due to an injury, paving the way for the soon-to-be infamous Jon Koppenhaver (aka War Wachine) to step in as his replacement.
The Armenian would still go on to fight in the season finale though, winning by submission against Dorian Price before being released after losing his next bout with George Sotiropoulos.
Mitichyan would continue fighting until 2012 when he retired with an 8-3 record, but he didn’t need to worry about what would come next as had already been juggling a second career as an actor and stuntman for many years.
In fact, by the time he appeared on TUF, Mitichyan had already had a part in the TV show Dexter, featured in a CSI-Miami video game and been a stunt performer on Alias.
With his tough guy look and the benefit of being able to also speak both Russian and Spanish, Mitichyan has found himself typecast as a villain and he says that’s a good thing as it has meant steady work for him over the years.
As such, he has arguably become one of the hardest working former MMA fighters in the business, amassing over 100 acting credits on the likes of CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, 24, Sons Of Anarchy and Homeland to name but a few.
Meanwhile his stunt work has also been featured in the likes of NCIS: Los Angeles (multiple episodes), 24, Animal Kingdom (As a stunt coordinator) and the movie Argo.
