Where are they now? 5 forgotten UFC stars from 2010-2019

#5 Norman Parke

Norman Parke won the UK vs. Australia season of the Ultimate Fighter

2012 saw a one-off series of The Ultimate Fighter subtitled ‘The Smashes’, featuring a team of fighters from the UK against a team of fighters from Australia. One of the more eventful seasons of TUF, the show was a lot of fun to watch – but it had one problem. Most of the fighters on show just weren’t quite UFC quality. The main exceptions were the winners.

We all know what happened to Welterweight victor Robert Whittaker; he went on to become the UFC Middleweight champion and held the title from 2018 to 2019, but what about Lightweight winner Norman Parke? The Northern Irishman was outstanding on the show, blending his boxing and grappling together to defeat Richie Vaculik and Brendan Loughnane before overcoming Colin Fletcher in the final.

‘Stormin’ Norman’ actually went on a 5-fight unbeaten streak in the Octagon, but as he made the step up to the elite level, he began to struggle. Back-to-back losses to Brazilian veterans Gleison Tibau and Francisco Trinaldo in 2015 left him with his back to the wall, and although he steadied the ship with a win over Reza Madadi, a loss in 2016 to Rustam Khabilov resulted in him being cut from the UFC.

Parke has continued to fight since his release, going 7-1 largely in Poland’s KSW promotion. He’s currently on a 5-fight win streak, and won KSW’s Interim Lightweight title in September. At 32 years old, there’s every chance he could return to the UFC in the near future.