Mitch Kerr

Hedge Fund Manager, 31

If you're looking for an anecdote to explain how the new face of MMA differs from the stereotype, consider this: Mitch Kerr had to miss our training photo shoot in order to take the CEO of Home Depot out to dinner.

Kerr, a suit-and-tie guy by day, took a well-traveled path to the world of MMA — he ran out of other challenges. "A couple years out of school I got into triathlons, and then did an Ironman in 2004," he says. "Then I needed something to do."

With endurance sports conquered, he stumbled onto MMA, and soon he was training five days a week. He'll never be a pro fighter — "It doesn't pay as well as my other job" — but he's not getting away from it, either. "I love running a mutual fund and the benefits are great," he says. "But long-term, I'd love to be a 60-year-old guy with a black belt teaching classes somewhere."