Early career: World Extreme Cagefighting Sanford started his mixed martial arts career in 2001. He fought mainly for California–based promotions as
World Extreme Cagefighting and
Gladiator Challenge. He amassed a perfect record of four victories and no defeats before being signed to compete on the original season of
The Ultimate Fighter.
The Ultimate Fighter Sanford signed in to compete as a
middleweight and was the last middleweight pick of Team
Couture. However, he never fought on the show, as he was sent home by Couture in the second episode after his team lost the team challenges.
Ultimate Fighting Championship Despite being eliminated early on the show, he was awarded a chance to fight at
The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale against fellow housemate
Josh Koscheck. He was knocked out at 4:21 in the first round and was subsequently released from the promotion.
Return to WEC Sanford faced Josh Green on August 18, 2005, at
WEC 16. He won via submission due to a guillotine choke in the very first round. Sanford never fought again since 2005. ==Mixed martial arts record==