For his UFC debut, at 2010’s UFC Fight Night 22: Marquardt vs. Palhares in Austin, TX, David Mitchell was matched-up against another newcomer; one who’d found the Octagon after a brutal path through the Bible Belt.
Anthony Waldburger Jr., TJ to friends and fans alike, had won most of his early fights just like David had—with a tapout and barely a scratch to show for it. However, unlike David – who was menaced by adversity outside of the cage, but rarely inside of it – Waldburger knew how it felt to lose.
Waldburger had been defeated five times before joining ZUFFA.