By E. Spencer Kyte (espencerkyte@mmaratings.net)
Were finally here – the final ten fighters in our countdown of the Greatest Fighters in the History of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
With this final collection of fighters, we’ll reach the conclusion of a very exhaustive process that has been awesome to put together and extremely fun to roll out to you on a daily basis over the last week and change. Now comes the fun stuff.
There are 100 fighters on this list in 100 different places, which means I have surely made a mistake in your mind somewhere along the line. I’ve already heard from one BJ Penn fan about the horrible error I made of placing Penn at #12 yesterday and now I want to hear from you.
Who is your Top 5? Your Top 10? Who did I miss? Let me know and let the debates begin!
10. Don Frye
UFC Record: 9-1
Victories Over: Gary Goodridge (twice), Tank Abbott
His only loss came to Mark Coleman back when he was “The Hammer” and not the “confused old man” Joe Rogan so aptly described him as last we saw him in the cage. Besides winning the UFC 6 and Ultimate Ultimate ’96 tournaments, “The Predator” was one of the very first to incorporate multiple disciplines into his fighting.
9. Dan Severn
UFC Record: 9-3
Victories Over: Oleg Taktarov, Ken Shamrock
Severn was ever bit “The Beast” when he errupted on the UFC en route to being the UFC 5 tournament winner and a two-time Superfight champion. When your three losses inside the Octagon are to guys we still haven’t mentioned, you know you were something special.
8. Ken Shamrock
UFC Record: 7-6-2
Victories Over: Kimo Leopoldo (twice), Dan Severn
His record diminishes his impact in the UFC and really, his six losses are to Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and Tito Ortiz, so it’s not like he got dropped by slouches or anything either. There is also the two Superfight wins and being the first real crossover star to emerge from the UFC.
7. Georges St-Pierre
UFC Record: 12-2
Victories Over: BJ Penn (twice), Matt Hughes (twice), Jon Fitch
I can’t even blame the Matt Serra loss for GSP only being #7. Dude is outstanding, but the guys who remain are even better. Two welterweight title reigns are impressive, but it’s his evolution throughout the years into the most complete athlete and fighter the UFC has ever seen that truly stands out with Georges St-Pierre.
6. Tito Ortiz
UFC Record: 14-6-1
Victories Over: Ken Shamrock (thrice), Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was the poster child of the UFC (with Chuck Liddell) back when the only people who cared were Dana White and those of us reading this list. Ortiz made five title defenses as the Light Heavyweight champ and absolutely steamrolled Wanderlei Silva before he ever had a belt around his waist. If only things didn’t go so wrong with Dana, we’d still have Tito around keep us entertained / annoyed.
5. Anderson Silva
UFC Record: 9-0
Victories Over: Rich Franklin (twice), Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt
Undefeated and unchallenged. Those are the two best words to describe “The Spider” and his performances inside the Octagon. If he destroys Forrest Griffin the way he has destroyed so many before him, I might have to create an ammendment to this list after UFC 101.
4. Randy Couture
UFC Record: 13-6
Victories Over: Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort
You can’t knock a guy who has twice held the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles. By the way, he won that first title at age 37, when most fighters are ready to hang’em up. He smashed Vitor Belfort when Vitor Belfort was smashing everyone else (included Couture himself), he outpunched Chuck Liddell when Chuck Liddell was outpunching everyone else (including Couture himself, twice…) and well, he’s “The Natural” and there is nothing more to say.
3. Chuck Liddell
UFC Record: 16-6
Victories Over: Randy Couture (twice), Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva
Four losses in his last five fights makes the record look not as dominant as it once did, but the truth of the matter is that for a period between April 2004 and may 2007, Chuck Liddell was very much the deadliest man on the planet. He knocked out everybody and defended the Light Heavyweight title against some serious challengers. Now, it’s time for “The Iceman” to ride off into the sunset.
2. Matt Hughes
UFC Record: 16-5
Victories Over: Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Royce Gracie
Love him or hate him, Matt Hughes was the most dominant fighter in the world for a long, long time. He owned the welterweight division, defending his belt a total of seven times over two title reigns and beat the best of the best, literally. One of the five losses came really early to Dennis Hallman, and the others are to BJ Penn, Georges St-Pierre (twice) and Thiago Alves. Not too shabby, sir. If only that win over Gracie came sooner.
1. Royce Gracie
UFC Record: 11-2-1
Victories Over: Ken Shamrock (twice), Dan Severn, Kimo Leopoldo
Though an explanation isn’t really necessary, I’ll give you one tomorrow, when I give Royce Gracie the royal treatment the Greatest Fighter in the History of the UFC deserves.
With that, I’m done … and I’m out!
Find out who landed where with The UFC 100 Archives.
Originally posted at Keyboard Kimura.
