By MATT MOLGAARD
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

The sport of mixed martial arts is unforgiving, financially unrewarding for most, and in all honesty, extremely dangerous. Far more fighters flounder on the local circuit and destroy their bodies for embarrassing paychecks than succeed in this business. It’s a sad truth that’s been attached to combat sports for too long to track.

Having said all that, some guys run into miracle breaks and genuinely lucky opportunities. Some even reach the summit, obtaining fortune and a fair degree of fame. This particular piece isn’t about those guys however, as it sounds so much more entertaining to focus on gentlemen who have run smack-dab into the face of wretched luck.

Corey Hill: Corey’s had a tough go of things, especially for a man who hasn’t even competed professionally for five years. The 6’4” lightweight looked promising during his appearance on The Ultimate Fighter, and even managed to earn a contract with the UFC.

Things still looked up for the notoriously hard worker, until he turned his leg into a silly-straw against Dale Hartt at UFC Fight for the Troops in 2008. The broken leg not only sidelined Hill for over a year, it earned him a default pink slip from promotional brass. Since the hideous leg injury Hill has competed just four times, and he’s failed to capitalize on the early career momentum he once possessed.

A victory over Kit Cope remains Corey’s greatest accomplishment; Tough luck for a good prospect.

Kazushi Sakuraba: “The Gracie Hunter” kicked off his career with a 12-2-1-1 record prior to running into Wanderlei Silva at Pride 13, where Sakuraba was brutalized in just over 90 seconds. It was a career changing moment for the significantly smaller man, who never again regained the foothold he once held on MMA.

Sakuraba has since continued to clash with bigger men, usually resulting in losing efforts. The Japanese superstar has compiled a 14-12-0-1 record since.

Ricco Rodriguez: Rodrigues has never truly fallen off the mat, despite being embarrassed by Tim Sylvia after fighting his way to the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division in 2002. That said, he’s had some terrible luck since: he’s blown up to an obnoxious size (though he’s since lost the weight, and even gone as far as to trim down significantly), embarrassed himself on national television (check out the first season of Celebrity Rehab), lost multiple fights to inferior competition, rediscovered the passion that enabled him to excel earlier in his career, only to shunned by numerous top-tier promotions.

While we’ll likely never see Rodriguez return to the UFC, he did recently sign a contract with Bellator Fighting Championships, which could signal a long overdue break for the still-dangerous soon-to-be 34 year old.