George H. Roop (born November 10, 1981) is a retired mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's , winning his preliminary and first round fights. He fought as a bantamweight in the UFC and most recently fought under the Road FC banner. He holds notable victories over former WEC Bantamweight champion Brian Bowles and UFC featherweight contender Chan Sung Jung.
Background
Roop is from Tucson, Arizona and began competing in
martial arts from a young age, winning Tae Kwon Do and
judo tournaments while following the UFC in its early days. He later attended Canyon Del Oro High School, where he was a quarterback on the football team and participated in
wrestling in the 112 lbs. division, and had also wrestled in middle school. He attended Pima Community College but elected not to wrestle. He met former UFC fighters
Drew Fickett and
Efrain Escudero while attending PCC.
Mixed martial arts
Roop developed his mixed martial skills at The Ultima Martial Arts and Primero Jiu-Jitsu in Tucson, Arizona. Roop's main experience comes from fighting in an Arizona-based promotion, Rage in the Cage, where he was the featherweight champion. He has fought as a
lightweight,
featherweight and
bantamweight.
Roop was originally a fighter for the team, The Ultima Martial Arts. When the Ultimate Fighter ended, Roop moved out to Las Vegas, Nevada and began his training with Xtreme Couture. After Shawn Tompkins left Xtreme Couture, Roop followed him and started fighting for Team Tompkins. Now, he fights out of APEX MMA in Tucson, AZ.
The Ultimate Fighter
Roop defeated
Rolando Delgado by decision in the preliminary round. This meant that he earned a shot in the TUF house. Roop was selected last overall in the team selections, by Team Mir. George's fight with John Polakowski was the last lightweight, first round fight. Right before the fight Roop broke his hand, during his team's practice. Roop won the fight by decision after two rounds. Frank Mir said it was the fight of the show. While
Dana White stated "Sometimes fights that need a third round don't make it, even when they should."
In the semi-finals, Roop fought Phillipe Nover and lost in round one by submission.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Roop lost his UFC debut against former castmate Shane Nelson. Roop lost the fight via split decision. Roop had his next fight at where he defeated Dave Kaplan via split decision.
In his third UFC fight, Roop stepped in on very short notice to take on George Sotiropoulos at UFC 101.
After release from the UFC
After being released from the Ultimate Fighting Championships, Roop returned to the Rage in the Cage promotion to fight Matt Dell for the featherweight title.
The fight took place on November 14 with Roop winning all three rounds on every judges scorecard to capture the title.
World Extreme Cagefighting
Roop was signed by the WEC after going only 1-0 since being released from the UFC. He was set to make his debut against Jesse Moreng on January 10, 2010 at WEC 46,
but Moreng was forced off the card with an injury.
Roop instead went down two weight classes to bantamweight and faced
Eddie Wineland.
Wineland defeated Roop via unanimous decision.
Roop faced Leonard Garcia on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47 after he replaced Diego Nunes who was forced off the card with an injury.
Roop next faced Chan Sung Jung on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51.
Return to Ultimate Fighting Championship
On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.
Roop fought former Team Tompkins teammate & training partner, Mark Hominick on January 22, 2011 at .
Roop then faced Josh Grispi on June 4, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.
Roop faced world ranked Featherweight Hatsu Hioki on October 29, 2011 at UFC 137.
Roop next faced Cub Swanson on January 28, 2012 at .
Roop was expected to face Antonio Carvalho on July 21, 2012 at .
Roop was expected to return to Bantamweight and face Yuri Alcantara on January 19, 2013 at , replacing an injured Johnny Eduardo.
In his next fight, Roop faced Reuben Duran on March 16, 2013 at UFC 158.
Roop faced Brian Bowles on May 25, 2013 at UFC 160.
Roop was expected to face Francisco Rivera on October 19, 2013 at UFC 166.
Roop faced Dustin Kimura on April 16, 2014 at .
Roop faced promotional newcomer Rob Font on July 5, 2014 at UFC 175.
Roop faced Takeya Mizugaki on September 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 75.
On February 9, 2016, Roop was released from the UFC
Road FC
Roop signed a multi-fight deal with
Road FC on March 22, 2016 and made his debut in Road FC 031 on May 14, 2016.
During the fight Roop attempted to strike his opponent, Yoon Jun Lee, with a front kick and suffered a broken leg resulting in a TKO loss.
Personal life
Roop is the father of 6 children. The eldest child, Julian died in 2009 at the age of seven.
During his long tenure under Zuffa promotions, he reinvested his salaries into licenses for growing medical cannabis and creating a cannabis production facility in his native Tucson.
Championships and accomplishments
-
World Extreme Cagefighting
-
Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Leonard Garcia
-
Knockout of the Night (One time) vs. Chan Sung Jung
Mixed martial arts record
|-
|Loss
| align=center|15–13–1
| Yoon Jun Lee
| TKO (broken leg)
|
Road FC 31
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|1:15
| Seoul, South Korea
|
|-
|Loss
| align=center|15–12–1
|
Takeya Mizugaki
| Decision (unanimous)
|
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
| Saitama, Japan
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center|15–11–1
|
Rob Font
| KO (punch)
| UFC 175
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|2:19
| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center|15–10–1
|
Dustin Kimura
| Decision (unanimous)
|
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
| Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center|
| Francisco Rivera
| TKO (punches)
|
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|2:20
|
Fort Campbell,
Kentucky, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center|14–9–1
| Brian Bowles
| TKO (punches)
| UFC 160
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|1:43
| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center|13–9–1
|
Reuben Duran
| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 158
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
| Montreal, Quebec, Canada
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center|12–9–1
|
Cub Swanson
| TKO (punches)
|
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|2:22
| Chicago, Illinois, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 12–8–1
|
Hatsu Hioki
| Decision (split)
| UFC 137
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 12–7–1
|
Josh Grispi
| TKO (body punch)
|
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:14
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 11–7–1
|
Mark Hominick
| TKO (punches)
|
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:28
|Fort Hood, Texas, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 11–6–1
| Chan Sung Jung
| KO (head kick)
| WEC 51
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 1:30
|Broomfield, Colorado, United States
|
|-
| Draw
|align=center| 10–6–1
|
Leonard Garcia
| Draw (split)
| WEC 47
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Columbus, Ohio, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 10–6
|
Eddie Wineland
| Decision (unanimous)
| WEC 46
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Sacramento, California, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 10–5
| Matt Dell
| Decision (unanimous)
| Rage in the Cage 137
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Tucson, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 9–5
| George Sotiropoulos
| Submission (kimura)
| UFC 101
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 1:59
|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 9–4
| Dave Kaplan
| Decision (split)
| UFC 98
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 8–4
| Shane Nelson
| Decision (split)
|
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 8–3
| Nick Buschman
| TKO (punches)
| WFC: Armageddon
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:24
|Denver, Colorado, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 7–3
| Tito Jones
| Decision (unanimous)
| Rage in the Cage 101
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:00
|Fountain Hills, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 6–3
| Andrew Belvado
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Cage Supremacy 2
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:01
|Tucson, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 5–3
| Austin Pascucci
| Submission (armbar)
| Rage in the Cage 96
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:08
|Tucson, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 5–2
| Ray Robinson
| Submission (armbar)
| Rage in the Cage 93
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:29
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 5–1
| Matt Dell
| Decision (split)
| Rage in the Cage 91
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:00
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 4–1
| Carlos Ortega
| Decision (unanimous)
| Rage in the Cage 88
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:00
|Tucson, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 3–1
| Louie Rosa
| Submission (punches)
| Rage in the Cage 86
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 2:15
|San Carlos, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Loss
|align=center| 2–1
| Nick Hedrick
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| Rage in the Cage 85
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:42
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2–0
| Jason Sterling
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Rage in the Cage 84
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:37
|Phoenix, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 1–0
| Austin Pascucci
| Submission (armbar)
| Rage in the Cage 82
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 2:42
|Tucson, Arizona, United States
|
See also
-
List of current UFC fighters
-
List of male mixed martial artists
External links
