Student on 'Ultimate Fighter'

March 24, 2005
By Alvaro Macias
Staff Writer

Some college students work their way through college by getting a part-time job in retail, or maybe at a restaurant. Others don't have a clue as to what they are going to do when they graduate. St. Ambrose University graduate student Sam Hoger known as "the Alaskan Assassin" has gotten paid for pounding people into the “octagon” and already has given his career a head start by taking part in Spike TV’s hit series The Ultimate Fighter.

 The show revolves around 16 up-and-coming fighters from across the country who live in one house and are fighting for a chance to compete in the UFC. The reality series was shot in Las Vegas last year and is currently airing Tuesdays at 10:10 p.m. on Spike TV. The UFC is where some of the best fighters around the world compete inside an eight-sided cage (the octagon) for pay-per-view events.

 The hardest challenge for Hoger was not landing the spot on the show.

“The biggest challenge for me was trying to cut all the weight,” Hoger said. “Especially with those late night cravings.”

 While on the show, the participants went through intense daily training and physical challenges that made them more tired when they stepped into the cage.

“We trained every day, when we fought, through when we fought, so naturally it is not a real depiction of anybody’s talent level, it’s just a depiction of how well you can take that circumstance and adapt to it and keep breaking your body down,” Hoger said.

 Pat Miletich is a legend of the sport and runs Champion Fitness in Bettendorf where Hoger trains.

 “Pat, he is more of a strategist, he definitely likes strategy more so than just random practices just so you can attack a guy,” Hoger said of his trainer. “There is always a back up plan on top of a back up plan on top of a back up plan.”

Hoger plans on taking his MBA from Ambrose to Harvard where he wants to study law. He sees himself practicing law five years from now even though his ultimate goal is to become a politician.

 Hogers aspirations are as interesting and diverse as his background.

 “I was born in Louisianna. I’ve lived all over the world, moved to Germany, went down to Panama, after that I went to Alaska,” Hoger said.

 At the age of six his parents started him in martial arts after watching “The Karate Kid”. Hoger eventually got bored with the sparing.

“Later Brazilian jujitsu came along and I started noticing that it was more close to real fighting and something that was actually transferable to be able to be used out in public if it needed to be used,” Hoger said.

Brazilian Jujitsu led him, like many other fighters, into mixed martial arts since Brazilians were the first to start the sport.

 He now gets to watch himself and his former roommates train and fight against each other but he can only talk to people about episodes that have aired. His contract includes a $5 million gag order, which prevents him or any other participants from disclosing the winners of the competition. It also prevents him from fighting until the series has aired. In recent episodes some of his roommates were upset with Hoger and didn’t like his politician attitude.

 “The best saying that goes with the way I looked at this TV show while I was on it was: don’t hate the player hate the game,” Hoger said. “Do I care that I didn’t make too many friends on the show? No, personally I’m never gonna see them again in my life. If I do, hopefully it will be at a voting booth when they’re voting for me.”

 For those who watch and see Hoger sporting Palmer College shirts it is because of all the help he got from his ex-girlfriend who asked him to wear it.

“I did it for her, and I was waiting for my Ambrosians here to give me a shirt with at least a little bumble bee, so I could say, ‘Go Bees’, but they didn’t hook me up,” Hoger said.

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