Robert Michael Emerson (born July 30, 1981) is an American professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. A professional competitor since 2002, Emerson is also a veteran of Bellator MMA, the UFC,

Pancrase Pancrase Inc. is a mixed martial arts promotion company founded in Japan in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the Ancient Olympic Games. Suzuki and Funaki pr ...

, and was a cast member of ''

The Ultimate Fighter 5 ''The Ultimate Fighter 5'' was the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighting Championship produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. As with the show's usual format, sixteen prospective mixed martial arts fighters were secluded in a ...

''.

Background

Emerson was born in Huntington Beach, California and grew up in Dana Point, California. He started training

Kyokushin Karate is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training. Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 by Korean-Jap ...

at the age of nine and picked up also

Kajukenbo Kajukenbo ( Japanese: カジュケンボ) is a hybrid martial art from Hawaii. It was developed in the late 1940s and founded in 1947 in the Palama Settlement of Palama, Hawaii. The name Kajukenbo is a combination of the various arts from whi ...

later. Being severely bullied in the school for his Tourettes, Emerson got into lots of fights in his juvenile years. While preparing to embark on a military career, Emerson went to an unsanctioned mixed martial arts show and ended up fighting there, kindling a fire to pursue a career in the sport.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

After being released from jail in 2002, Emerson made his professional debut against

Jens Pulver Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on '' The Ultim ...

at an Ultimate Wrestling event on June 29, 2002. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.

The Ultimate Fighter

According to Emerson, he bypassed the tryouts as he was invited to participate directly to

. On episode three of the season, Emerson faced eventual winner of the show, Nate Diaz. In the second round of an exciting, back-and-forth fight, Diaz managed to secure a

rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...

for the win. However, BJ Penn told the viewers that he could not take anything away from Emerson, as he had given the fight his all. After Gabe Ruediger was taken off the show for his inability to make the 155 lb weight limit Dana White brought Emerson back. Corey Hill, Ruediger's initial opponent, picked him to fight. The first round belonged to Hill as Emerson had problems getting inside and dealing with his substantial reach advantage. In the second round, Emerson was able to take a shot at Hill and get out of range effectively. He even locked in a

heel hook Heel hook may refer to: * Heel hook, in grappling * A climbing technique {{disambig