Staff Sgt. Colton Smith, The Ultimate Fighter

Soldier wins reality show, earns UFC contract
Army Times
By Jon R. Anderson
Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Dec 27, 2012

When Army Staff Sgt. Colton Smith got the nod to represent the Army on Spike TV’s reality mixed martial arts competition “The Ultimate Fighter,” he had to burn through two years’ worth of personal vacation to be on the show. “Sixty days of leave in order to go get punched in the face,” he says with a laugh.

Of course, he’s laughing all the way to the bank.

The two-tour Iraq veteran and Ranger-tabbed infantryman is the first active-duty fighter to win “TUF,” beating Canada native Mike Ricci in the show’s title fight Dec. 16 in Las Vegas with a unanimous-decision win.

Three days later, Smith was back to work at Fort Hood, Texas, where he serves — appropriately — as a hand-to-hand combatives instructor. That’s where OFFduty caught up with Smith during a break in training.
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