matt mitrione.... 0 pro fights. but did tuf.
matt riddle.. 0 pro fights. did tuf.
chuck liddell: 0 pro fights. no tuf. hehe
james toney: 0 pro fights. no tuf. huge boxing star and former champ
amir sodallah... 0 pro fights. did tuf.
brock lesnar... 1 pro fight. no tuf. huge sports superstar in NFL and WWE
gray maynard.. 2 pro fights. did tuf.
cain velasquez.. 2 pro fights. no tuf. one sf fight against an unknown.
brandon vera... 2 pro fights (counting wec). no tuf
josh koscheck.. 2 pro fights. did do tuf. div 1 champ
colton smith... 3 pro fights, one was a loss. did tuf
brian bowels... 3 pro fights before wec. no tuf.
Not common, but it happens. Albu has other mma fights under her belt, may have been pro but poor record keeping took place. she had other tma bouts... and she is hot. were also seeing this fantastic russian push and a hot female will help. and its wmma, not the biggest pool to pick from.
EDIT: notice how a lot of these signings were hws? with thin divisions you can look at the promising guys with low records. not many ppl in a division allows the ufc to do it.
EDIT EDIT, etc: this slowly became an ADD infused list of fighters with 3 or less pro fights prior to coming into the ufc.... im having fun.