George H. Roop is an American mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of
Spike TV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir, winning his
preliminary and first round fights. He currently fights as a bantamweight in
the UFC. He holds notable victories over former WEC Bantamwight 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 The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs.
Team Mir cast mate Shane Nelson. Roop lost the fight via split decision. Roop
had his next fight at UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida 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. Roop lost the
fight in the second round after Sotiropoulos applied a kimura forcing
Roop to tap instantly. Roop was let go, along with Thales Leites and Tamdan
McCrory, after going 1-2 in the promotion.
= 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. The bout ended in a rare
split draw but earned Fight of the Night honors.
Roop next faced Chan Sung Jung on September 30, 2010 at WEC 51. A
significant underdog going into the fight, Roop won via KO due to a vicious
head kick to the chin in the second round, earning him the Knockout of the
Night bonus and giving Jung his first ever stoppage loss.
= 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 UFC:
Fight For The Troops 2. Roop was knocked down multiple times and at just 1:28 of
the first round Roop lost via TKO due to strikes.
Roop then faced Josh Grispi on June 4, 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.
Although the underdog, he dominated the fight and finished Grispi with a body
shot for the TKO finish in the third round.
Roop faced world ranked Featherweight Hatsu Hioki on October 29, 2011 at UFC
137. Roop lost via split decision. Roop next faced Cub Swanson on January
28, 2012 at UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis. He lost the fight via TKO in the second
round. Roop was expected to face Antonio
Carvalho on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149. However, Roop was forced out of the bout
with an injury and replaced by Daniel Pineda.
Roop was expected to return to Bantamweight and face Yuri Alcantara on
January 19, 2013 at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping, replacing an injured Johnny
Eduardo. However, Roop was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by
promotional newcomer Pedro Nobre. In his next fight, Roop faced Reuben
Duran on March 16, 2013 at UFC 158. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Roop faced Brian Bowles on May 25, 2013 at UFC 160. He won the fight via TKO in
the second round. Roop was expected to face Francisco
Rivera on October 19, 2013 at UFC 166. However, the pairing was shifted to
November 6, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 31. He lost the fight via TKO in the second
round. Roop faced Dustin Kimura on April 16,
2014 at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale. He won the fight via unanimous
decision. Roop faced promotional newcomer Rob Font
on July 5, 2014 at UFC 175. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
Roop faced Takeya Mizugaki on September 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 75. He lost
the fight by unanimous decision. Personal life
Roop is the father of four children. He has fraternal twins Tristan and Nya
Roop. The eldest child, Julian died in 2009 at the age of seven. Roop and his
fiancée had their first child together, a boy named Payden, in September 2010.
Championships and accomplishments World Extreme Cagefighting
Fight of the Night vs. Leonard Garcia Knockout of the Night vs. Chan Sung Jung
Mixed martial arts record See also
List of current UFC fighters List of male mixed martial artists
References External links
UFC Profile Professional MMA record for George Roop
from Sherdog