Worcester’s own Ultimate Fighter
By Kimberly Dunbar

Every time a reality show debuts, it is our guilty pleasure to indulge in the dramatic lives of others. You hide the fact that you can usually identify personally with one of the characters for one reason or another (especially if they’re from your city) and pull for them to go all the way. If you happened to tune in for the first few episodes of Spike TV’s seventh season of the Ultimate Fighter last month, you would have seen (and rooted for) Worcester’s own Dan Simmler, owner of Simmler Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy, make his television debut.

Unfortunately, Simmler’s time on the show didn’t last very long. In the second episode (which aired April 9th), Simmler took to the ring for the preliminary fight round. In the first minute of the second round, Simmler’s opponent, Matthew Riddle, knocked him out, breaking his jaw in the process. “I don’t remember anything before the hospital,” said Simmler. “Everyone gets knocked out. It happens.”

Simmler, who was an alternate for the show’s third season, tried out again and was selected to go to Las Vegas, where filming lasts for six weeks. During the first two rounds, 32 fighters competed for 16 open spots in a house, where they then stay and continue to vie for a six figure contract. Simmler’s injury, which was promoted as “…one of the most brutal knockouts in the history of the competition,” happened five days into filming. “I was glad for this opportunity,” said the humble Simmler. “It was a great experience and I was able to grow as a fighter.”

When it came to the fight, Simmler insists he wasn’t nervous or camera-shy, even though this was his first time fighting in an octagon ring and he hadn’t participated in Mixed Martial Arts action in over four years, as he was focused on his Judo and BJJ training. “The cameras were in your face constantly. They were overwhelming, but not distracting,” he said. “With all the lights and the hype, there was so much to take in. I was star struck almost.”

Even though Simmler’s injury forced him out of the competition, his reality show career isn’t exactly over. He has been invited back to try out for the next 170 weight division season, which, according to Simmler, will be season nine or ten. Simmler decided to move down from the 185 weight division for the next show because, at a 5’11”, he was the smallest competitor in the ring. “I think I would do better in a different division,” he said. “I will be able to prepare better now that I have a feel for the cameras and for what it is like. And I’ll have the chance to get to experience for what it can be next time,” he said.

Simmler began training shortly after he returned home, which led him to break the same jaw two more times. “I’m not a good spectator,” he explained. However, the now fully healed Simmler is already competing: he placed 5th out of 78 in the BJJ Pan American Championships held in California this April.

Also in April, Simmler moved his BJJ Academy to a newer and bigger facility on Summer Street in Worcester. His Academy ~ which is barely over a year old ~ has grown exponentially and he is three-quarters of the way to his dream of building the Ultimate Academy. Simmler’s Academy now offers a vast array of classes including women’s and children’s programs taught by some of the best athletes and trainers in their field, and he has even established a competition team. “I’m a dreamer I guess,” he said. “I’ve never really been content, but there is one big thing out there that can make me happy, and it’s coming. I just haven’t gotten there yet.”

Whether that “thing” is a fruitful television career or not, Worcester’s own Dan Simmler is definitely someone we can root for who will go all the way.