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By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist
With the end of the decade (assuming you count 2000-2009 as this decade, which, for the purpose of this feature, I do) rapidly approaching, I thought I'd put finger to keyboard and come up with a list of the top 100 fighters of the aughts, i.e. the fighters are only ranked based on what they accomplished this decade. Sorry Royce Gracie. Everyday between now and the end of the year, I'll be counting them down from 100 to 1. No scientific formulas here. Strictly subjective. Criteria include: record, big wins, periods of dominance, activity, and to a lesser extent, popularity. Popularity will mostly be used to break ties. If two guys have accomplished relatively the same in the last ten years, the bigger star will get the higher slot. Also, being good towards the end of the decade carried more weight for me than at the beginning. The pool of talent is so much deeper now than it was ten years ago, when MMA was still trying to break away from the wrestling dominated days of the late '90's. When listing a fighter's record, their career record is listed first, with their record between 2000-2009 in parentheses. Any questions or comments on the rankings can be directed towards matt6buckeye@hotmail.com.
Notable Wins: Yves Edwards, Jeff Curran, Ivan Menjivar, Chris Lytle, Georges St. Pierre
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: I can't in good conscience put him any higher. He was on the winning side of perhaps the biggest upset in UFC history, and it was for the title no less, and for that he deserves a spot on this list. Clearly, Serra has the best single win of anyone on this list so far. The problem is, without getting an undeserved title shot by beating a few other has-been's/never-was's few fans who latched onto the sport late in the decade would even know his name. Its not that Serra is a bad fighter, far from it, its just that he was never even a top lightweight, his natural weight class. Sure all of his losses were to really good fighters (ok, I'm stretching it calling Shonie Carter a really good fighter), but where are the other wins over contenders? They just aren't there. I'll give Serra credit. He certainly took advantage of the opportunity.
62. Matt "The Law" Lindland
Record: 21-6 (18-6)
Notable Wins: Ricardo Almeida, Phil Baroni (2), Pat Miletich, Ivan Salaverry, Falaniko Vitale, Tony Frykland, Travis Lutter, Joe Doerksen, Mike Van Arsdale, Jeremy Horn, Carlos Newton
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Looking over Matt Lindland's resume, he should probably be even higher on this list. He went 9-3 during his time in the UFC and while he lacks a truly elite win, he's defeated many of the big names from the early to mid part of the decade. So what's the problem? Well, he's boring. Its actually the reason he was let go by the UFC, never to return. Consider him the Yushin Okami of yesteryear. Despite his dissenters, he spent most of the decade somewhere in the top-10 of the middleweight rankings. He was never a major champion, but he was never over-matched either (Vitor Belfort fight aside).
The book seems to be out on Lindland now. He's a rock solid fighter, but most of his wins come by decision, so he won't sell tickets, but he WILL make your up-and-coming star look like dog poo in the cage. Promoters aren't interested in that. Oh, and he also has an unfortunately odd physique. Its too bad, because Lindland really was one of the better fighters of the decade, but at 39, its likely his time fighting (at least for a major promotion) may be over.
63. Jorge Santiago
Record: 21-7 (21-7)
Notable Wins: Andrei Semenov, Jeremy Horn, Sean Salmon, Trevor Prangley, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Kazuo Misaki
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Had this been a list of the top 100 fighters from 2000-2006, Santiago wouldn't have been within ten miles of it. What he's done in the last three years alone is what's earned him his spot. Since being knocked out by an Alan Belcher head kick back at Fight Night 7 in late 2006, Santiago has been one of the best (and most under appreciated) fighters in the world. All he's done since then is go 8-0, all stoppages, and capture the Sengoku middleweight crown. Oh, and all of those "notable wins" came in those eight fights. The guy has absolutely been on fire. He's gone from an afterthought to a consensus top-10 middleweight in the world. Being an American Top Team black belt and still shy of his 30th birthday, the sky is the limit for Santiago. Perhaps he's more comfortable fighting in Japan, but with his new found confidence and finishing ability, the time seems right for both parties for a return to the Octagon.
64. Joe "Daddy" Stevenson
Record: 31-10 (29-8)
Notable Wins: Edwin Dewees, Luke Cummo, Yves Edwards, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Melvin Guillard, Kurt Pellegrino, Gleison Tibau, Nate Diaz, Spencer Fisher
Bad Losses: Maurice Wilson, Ronald Jhun
The Skinny: At just 27 (and only five days younger than your's truly) Joe Stevenson has already had a long and successful career. He fought Jens Pulver in just his third fight, which also happened to be his second fight of that night, and he was also only 17 at the time. He's been fighting tough guys since before most people knew what MMA was. He defeated Luke Cummo to win the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, lost to Josh Neer in his first fight after winning the show, then dropped down to lightweight and had a career renaissance. He won four fights in a row to earn a shot at the vacant lightweight title against BJ Penn. We should probably just gloss over what happened in that fight. Frankly, he was destroyed by a better fighter. There's no shame in that, however.
Stevenson hit a rough patch, dropping back-to-back fights to Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez (again, no shame there), the latter being especially disappointing because Stevenson refused to try to take the fight to the mat, instead seeming content to lose a sparring match to Sanchez. After that fight, Joe Daddy went to train with Greg Jackson et al and the results have been promising. He's soundly beaten Nate Diaz and Spencer Fisher in his two fights since switching camps. If he can continue to employ smart gameplans and keep improving, there's no reason Joe Daddy can't fight for (and possibly win) another UFC title.
65. Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante
Record: 14-3-1, 1 NC (14-3-1, 1 NC)
Notable Wins: Bart Palaszewski, Michihiro Omigawa, Hiroyuki Takaya, Rani Yahya, Caol Uno, Nam Phan, Vitor Ribeiro, Andre Amado
Bad Losses: Nope
The Skinny: You knew at some point we'd go on a run of lightweights who've made their careers fighting each other in Japan. First up from that list is JZ. He's not quite as accomplished as some of the others higher on this countdown (hint, all three of his losses), but he's still one of the better lightweights in the game and has been for several years now. He lacks a truly elite win on his resume (although stopping Shaolin with punches is close), but he more than makes up for it in quantity of quality wins. When more than half your victories are included in the "notable wins" section you're doing something right.
JZ has lost his last two fights, both decisions, to Aoki and Kawajiri, and while there's certainly no shame in that, I think it may be time for a change of scenery. He's only fought in the U.S. once in the last four and a half years, and that was in the opening fight of the K-1 Hero's Dynamite!! USA card that saw Brock Lesnar make his MMA debut. At only 26, Cavalcante still has several prime years left. Strikeforce is in dire need of depth in all of its divisions, but a lightweight division with Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, and JZ at the top would be a helluva start. The UFC's lightweight division is stockpiled with good fighters, but there's a shortage of really good Brazilian lightweights in the UFC. JZ could be a star there. Regardless of what he does, Cavalcante has already put together a resume strong enough to earn him a spot this high on this list. The scary thought is he should only get better.
66. Karo "The Heat" Parisyan
Record: 18-5, 1 NC (12-5, 1 NC)
Notable Wins: Dave Strasser, Shonie Carter, Nick Diaz, Chris Lytle, Matt Serra, Nick Thompson, Drew Fickett, Josh Burkman, Ryo Chonan
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Oh, to think what could've been for "The Heat". He was scheduled for a title shot against Matt Hughes at UFC 56, but had to pull out due to injury...and was inexplicably knocked down the ladder during his absence. I honestly believe he had as good a chance as anyone to dethrone the still-in-his-prime Hughes, but we'll never know. Instead the shot went to Joe Riggs (those were different days indeed), who missed weight, was kimura'ed quickly, and never approached another UFC title shot. Karo was matched up with rising star Diego Sanchez upon his return (you know, cause while he was injured he un-earned a title shot), lost a close decision in the fight of the year, and also hasn't approached a UFC title shot since.
He's been fighting professionally since he was 16 and his first two fights of this decade were both to Sean Sherk, both losses. Karo is still one of the better welterweights in the world depending on who you ask, but after getting crushed by Thiago Alves, he won a controversial decision over Dong Hyun Kim, but tested positive for banned medications afterwards and the fight was changed to a no-contest. Despite having a long up and down career already (mostly down lately, but mostly up before that), Parisyan is still a sprite 27. With only 24 fights to his credit, its possible that he can still get things turned around and be a contender. If he doesn't, he's still earned a spot on this list just for being one of the best, most-exciting young fighters in the UFC during the middle of the decade.
67. Eddie Alvarez
Record: 19-2 (19-2)
Notable Wins: Aaron Riley, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Joachim Hansen
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Certainly Alvarez hasn't accomplished as much as some of the men that he's higher than on this list. But not many fighters have two more impressive wins than Alvarez's back-to-back fights with Kawajiri and Hansen. His two losses were to submission wizard Shinya Aoki and veteran Nick Thomson, who recently competed as a middleweight. Still days shy of his 25th birthday as I type this, Alvarez has 19 wins to his credit, is a current champion of a semi-major promotion, and is in the midst of being the face of his second promotion. All before 25. The point is, as good as Alvarez is now, he'll only get better. He has another ten years to define his legacy in the sport and he's already near the top of his division. Its only a matter of time before a big promotion comes calling.
68. Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum
Record: 12-4-1 (12-4-1)
Notable Wins: Gabriel Gonzaga (2), Alistair Overeem, Aleksander Emelianenko, Brandon Vera
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Werdum is never going to be the best heavyweight in the world. That much seems clear. What he is is one of the top heavyweight grapplers in the world and a tough out for even the very best fighters in the world. Other than his knockout at the hands of Junior Dos Santos, which doesn't seem so bad anymore, Werdum's only losses have been decisions to Sergei Kharitonov, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Andrei Arlovski.
After moderately successful runs in both Pride and the UFC, Werdum hopes he's found a home in Strikeforce's heavyweight division. The loss to Dos Santos knocked Werdum out of most everyone's top 10 rankings, but if he's able to pull out some wins over the likes of Brett Rogers, Alistair Overeem (ahem, again), and Fedor, not only will he be back in everyone's good graces, but he'll likely be talked about among the best in the sport. Alas, that probably won't happen. The formula of Werdum's career will continue. He can beat some of the best, just not all of the best. He's amassed an impressive resume considering he only has 17 fights to his credit, but at 32 already and time not always kind to the body of heavyweights, Werdum might have already seen the peak of his career.
69. Kazuo "Grabaka Hitman" Misaki
Record: 22-9-2 (22-9-2)
Notable Wins: Ed Herman, Phil Baroni, Dan Henderson, Denis Kang, Joe Riggs, Kazuhiro Nakamura
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Consistency in MMA is an admirable trait, provided you're winning consistently. That's Misaki. He's never put ten wins in a row together to launch up the rankings or win a major title, but he's consistently faced good to very good competition, has some really nice victories over top fighters, and really only loses to really good fighters. As a result, he seems to have hung around the middleweight top ten for the last three or four years. Extended periods of being "good" are hard to come by in MMA. Misaki finds himself one spot higher than Akiyama, because even though their fight was (eventually) ruled a no-contest, I don't think it was an illegal kick that knocked Akiyama out. Thus, in my head, Misaki won that fight.
70. Yoshihiro Akiyama
Record: 13-1, 2 NC (13-1, 2 NC)
Notable Wins: Frans Botha, Melvin Manhoef, Denis Kang, Alan Belcher
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Some people might look at Frans Botha under the notable wins and think to themselves, "huh?". Well Botha was a professional boxer, has about 60-70 pounds on Akiyama, and it was Akiyama's MMA debut. So I count it. Akiyama lost his second fight, to legendary kickboxer Jerome Lebanner, and hasn't lost since. Well unless you count his fight with Kazuo Misaki, which I don't, because I also can't count his fight with Sakuraba as a win.
Sexyama has been fighting larger opponents for most of his career (its a Japanese tradition), and he's a small middleweight as it is. He was one of K-1's biggest stars throughout the 90's, and now has a chance to become a huge star in the U.S. in the UFC. Akiyama's name seems like its been around for a while, but in reality he's only been fighting since 2005. I guess since most of MMA's history has taken place in the last five years that's why. Akiyama combines a fantastic judo background with heavy hands and an iron chin to make him a force. Now if only he'd cut the weight and drop to 170, we might actually have a decent challenger to GSP's throne.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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