A UFC veteran who endured through a series of tragic circumstances over the past three years, Roberts suffered a first-round TKO loss due to a knee injury in the co-main event of Victory FC 54 on Friday night, falling short in his bid for the vacant Victory FC featherweight title against Rob Emerson in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
Roberts, 38, was returning to the fight game for the first time since a rare bacterial infection nearly took his life this past spring. But it wasn't meant to be, as the longtime Omaha veteran ate a nasty straight right that sent him reeling awkwardly across the cage.