Ex-Oregon linebacker AJ Hotchkins set on sacking UFC competition

Former Oregon Ducks linebacker AJ Hotchkins thinks MMA has filled the void that prevented him from playing in the NFL.

Hotchkins (3-0) was a standout football player in high school, under-recruited according to his self-assessment. A two-time all-stater, Hotckins played at junior college before the University of Oregon came along – a dream landing spot being from the state originally.

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Hotchkins played two seasons and started 14 games in 2016 and 2017, before a senior-year injury led to medical redshirting and transfer to the University of Texas at El Paso in 2018. He had a CFL offer on the table, but his internal compass pointed elsewhere: toward fighting.

“It wasn’t tough to give up football,” Hotchkins recently told MMA Junkie. “I started to fall in love with martial arts. I didn’t grow up doing it. I started training jiu-jitsu the year after my last year of football. Then I got signed in the CFL. I was making my own money doing content creation and didn’t have a traditional job, so I focused on that. I liked what I was doing and wanted to see where it would take me. Looking back, I probably would have gone to the CFL just to give it a shot, but at the time I was uninterested.”

Many collegiate athletes who feel they could’ve had a crack at the major league if fate hadn’t twisted one or another feel a sense of regret – a sense of what if. But that’s not Hotchkins. He’s accepting and actually wouldn’t have it any other way. He recognizes that his mind was his connection to the game.

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“What I lacked in my football career wasn’t physical work ethic,” Hotchkins said. “I always worked hard physically, but I lacked the spiritual and mental aspects of being an athlete. If I had those two things, I’d probably still be in the NFL. I would have found a way to make it. There are guys I played with who are still playing. Some are on special teams and getting paid millions every year just to run down on kickoff. I was just as good an athlete as them. That’s how I see it. … If I was who I am now, I’d do whatever it takes to get my foot in the door and then maximize the opportunity. I know I could have made it to the NFL. Regardless, I don’t regret anything. Everything I’ve experienced brought me to this moment.”