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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
For most fighters who win the UFC's reality show The Ultimate Fighter, they can expect to have a lengthy career in the UFC provided they have a modicum of success inside the Octagon. There are exceptions to that, as in anything, but for the most part the winners of the show get a longer leash for getting fights.
Unfortunately for season nine winner James Wilks, he wasn't even able to consistently take advantage of those opportunities. The Team UK winner in the welterweight division only fought in the UFC four times, going 2-2 in those bouts, and now a rash of injuries throughout his UFC run have brought an end to his career entirely.
Wilks revealed his retirement officially on Twitter on Monday, letting fans know he's now simply focusing on coaching at his gym Lighting MMA. The 34-year old defeated DaMarques Johnson to win his season of the show, but he suffered losses to Matt Brown and Claude Patrick, with a win over Peter Sobotta sandwiched in between, in his next three fights. He was scheduled to return twice in 2011, with injuries taking him out of both fights.
He leaves the sport with a 7-4 overall record, and an unfortunately brief 16-month run in the UFC as one of its reality show winners.
Penick's Analysis: That's disappointing news. You never want to see athlete have their profession taken away from them because of injuries, but it's an unfortunate reality in all pro sports. If the injuries keep racking up like they did for Wilks, it becomes very difficult not only to recover, but to get back into an acceptable shape for whatever sport they're competing in. It's too bad he didn't have a chance to rebound from his two losses in three fights, or to try to follow up on the promise he showed through TUF's ninth season, but it's something that does happen in a sport as physical as MMA.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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