UFC middleweight Josh Samman joins Bloody Elbow as feature writer

BloodyElbow.com is pleased to announce that UFC middleweight Josh Samman is now officially a part of the staff and will be joining the website as a feature writer. He'll be bringing his unique inside the Octagon perspective to the site with features focusing on training, fight strategy, interviews with fellow fighters, and much more.

The 26-year-old has contributed on BE numerous times, and been an active part of the community for the past few years, making him a welcome, albeit overdue, addition to the team. As a fighter, Josh has an official record of 11-2 and joined the UFC in 2013 through the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. He's currently unbeaten in 2 bouts with the promotion, with his last fight producing a bonus-winning head kick knockout at UFC 181. Words from Samman are below.

---

Since becoming enamored with Mixed Martial Arts 10+ years ago, I’ve done my best to immerse myself in it day and night, reaching my hands into various roles of the sport in every way I could.

Before anything, I began as a fan, much like many of you reading. I lurked around the site, reading articles and comments for years before ever creating an SB Nation account, and writing my first FanPost for Bloody Elbow in 2010.

I never planned on making a career out of MMA. I really sort of wandered into it, literally, after finding a local MMA gym at 16 years old. Since that day, I’ve stepped into the cage 20 times, 16 of which I have won, finishing all but one opponent.

Early in my career I spent years as a fight team coach in my hometown for a gym called Tallahassee Combat Sports before opening my own gym, dubbed Capital City Combat Club, which lasted until I was cast for The Ultimate Fighter, moving to South Florida shortly thereafter.

I’ve spent time in many positions in the sport, doing my best to see it through every lens and from every angle possible. Besides being a fan, a gym owner, a coach, and a participant, I’ve done work as a matchmaker for local professional organizations, and most recently created what has grown to become the largest amateur MMA organization in Florida, cultivating talent across the state, hosting over 40 shows in the last three years.

It’s with my experiences that I’ll be trying to offer a unique POV in what may be the final step in the natural progression of this journey; covering the sport from the inside out. Competition is my first true love, and I’ll keep fighting as long as my body will let me, but it is never too early to plant seeds and develop roots, to get my ducks in a row for outside projects, and most importantly to continue to try to carve my own little piece of history in the sport as I’ve always wanted to do, through every vehicle and medium at my disposal.

As a blogger on this site, I’ve shared some of my most personal experiences. I want to use this opportunity to continue to do that, to document and share my journey through this sport, and my life in it, with as much transparency as possible. I’ll be contributing as often as I can, covering narratives I find interesting, and attempting to convey as much knowledge of technique, industry practice, and anything else that I have access to. I’ll be providing interviews occasionally, from one fighter to another, with those that I’ve grown close to in the sport, and lines between objectivity and subjectivity will be blurred as I’ll try to give my opinions as honestly and candidly as I can.

Writing, much like fighting, is an art form exposing oneself to criticism or praise, becoming vulnerable and laying it all on the line in the hopes of reaching others. I love this website, I love the personalities within it, and I am honored to be a part of it all. I hope I’ll be held to the same standard and in the same regard as the other talented writers here at Bloody Elbow, and I look forward to growing with the community. Thanks again, and happy reading.