In hindsight, Josh Emmett ‘truly blessed’ he wasn’t selected for The Ultimate Fighter

After years of being told he was on the UFC’s radar, Josh Emmett finally made it to the premier mixed martial arts organization this past May. He made his debut at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam, Netherlands on very short notice against Jon Tuck, and pulled off the minor upset. That wasn’t when he initially expected his debut to take place though.

The Team Alpha Male product was slated to compete on The Ultimate Fighter 22 last summer, unbeknownst to many. And, according to him, he was told after performing well at the tryouts it was essentially a given he would be on the show.

Well, that ended up not being the case.

“I was out there. I did really well when I hit mitts, I grappled, I went to the next levels. I did all the interviews. I did really well. I made the final cuts. I stayed out in Vegas and did all my medicals. I was down to the last 30 or 40 people and [Team Alpha Male’s Urijah] Faber was coaching,” Emmett told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “So I thought it was just a for sure thing I was getting on the show. All this type of stuff. I actually didn’t take one fight — I was going to fight another UFC vet.”

“Basically, the producers told me that if I was serious about being on the show, they don’t want to risk me getting injured. And that they were most likely sure I was going to make the show so not to take that fight. So I didn’t. I knew everybody was flying out to Vegas soon, so I emailed the producers and I was like, ‘Oh, when am I going to get the itinerary? Because I know the show is starting soon.’ And then that’s when I found out I wasn’t selected.”

Soon after, Emmett, who is undefeated, discovered that a former opponent of his in Brandon Ricetti was a competitor on the show. …

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