10 MMA Fighters Who Never Reached Their Full Potential

"The Soul Assassin" David Terrell was one of the most promising prospects in MMA. A black belt under the great Ceasar Gracie, with a solid wrestling background. Terrell lost his MMA debut but then progressed to go on to a 5 fight win streak, including wins over the tough Joey Villasenor and an fantastic 24 second knockout victory over Olympic wrestling powerhouse Matt Lindland. This immediately propelled Terrell into the spotlight, where he was matched up with the late Evan Tanner for the vacant Middleweight title. Terrell caught Tanner in a tight guillotine, Tanner then went on to TKO Terrell late in the first round. In an interview with Sherdog, he stated the loss affected him a lot and he felt suicidal after the defeat.

Terrell was plagued by recurring injuries, his next fight did not come until over a year later. When the fight came he submitted Scott Smith via Rear Naked Choke. Terrell was then scheduled to face Yushin Okami at UFC 62 but withdrew due to a sinus infection. The fight was then re-scheduled for UFC 66, Terrell also withdrew from this fight due to an elbow injury. Finally he was scheduled to face Ed Herman at UFC 78 but you guessed it, withdrew due to injury. The UFC released The Soul Assassin in 2008.

Terrell trained with a great team who produced the Diaz brothers, Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez so the sky really was the limit for him. Unfortunately injuries ruined the chances of seeing just far he could go.