...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
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: Luiz Azeredo, Frank Trigg, Dave Menne, Shinya Aoki (2), Jens Pulver, Joachim Hansen, Mac Danzig
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Like several others on this countdown, Sakurai did a lot of his damage in the previous decade. From his debut in 1996 to his last fight of 1999, Sakurai went 14-0-2 and was considered one of, if not the best lighter weight fighter in the world. He was the dominant lightweight in Shooto.
Unlike several of those other fighters, Sakurai continued his brilliance well into the 2000's. Losses in three of four fights to Anderson Silva, Matt Hughes, and Jake Shields in 2001 and 2002 took some of the shine off of his record, but Mach was still able to knock off some elite fighters during his time in Pride. During one three fight stretch, Sakurai bested Shinya Aoki (in Shooto), and then Jens Pulver and Jaochim Hansen (in Pride) on the same night. You would assume that a 34 year old lightweight in the twilight of his career would be struggling down the stretch, but he's 12-3 in his last fifteen fights. The losses were all to very good fighters in Takanori Gomi, David Baron and Marius Zaromskis, and he even pulled out a little magic, beating Aoki again earlier this year in the opening round of the Dream Welterweight Grand Prix.
32. Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk
Record: 33-4-1 (28-4-1)
Notable Wins: Karo Parisyan (2), Tiki Ghosn, Manny Gamburyan, Benji Radach, Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian, Hermes Franca, Tyson Griffin
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: People can bang on Sherk all they want, but the fact remains that he's a former UFC champion, he successfully defended his title, and...well, that's a really pretty record. It seems strange that as long as Sherk has been around and as many fights as he has to his credit, he's only fought eleven times in the UFC, posting a solid but unspectacular 7-4 record in those fights. A lot of his resume was built up outside of the UFC, with many wins coming over less-than-elite opposition. Still, three of his four losses have come to three of the best fighters of all time in Hughes, GSP, and Penn, with the fourth coming in his last fight to a younger, better version of himself in Frankie Edgar. Plus, his three fight win streak over Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian (to win the lightweight title), and Hermes Franca (to defend the title) is one of the better runs you'll see a fighter go on. His last few fights seem to point to a fighter on the decline, but Sherk remains one of the ten best lightweights of all time, and he'll always be the guy who won the UFC lightweight title to bring the belt back from the abyss.
33. Mark "The Hammer" Coleman
Record: 16-9 (9-5)
Notable Wins: Kaz Fujita, Igor Vovchanchyn, Don Frye, Mauricio Rua, Stephan Bonnar
Bad Losses: Not even close
The Skinny: Despite being largely irrelevant in the last six or so years, Coleman finds himself quite high on this list. Why? Because periods of dominance are quite important and few fighters have ever been as dominant as Coleman was at the beginning of this decade. When he got to Pride in 1999, his wrestling was unmatched and nearly indefensible. He lost his Pride debut, submitted by a heel hook from Nobuhiko Takada. From there, he rattled off six straight wins including devastating stoppages of top fighters (at the time) Igor Vovchanchyn and Allan Goes. The Vovchanchyn win was his third in one night to win the 2000 Pride Grand Prix.
His skills have clearly diminished and the sport seems to have passed him by, but even to this day, Coleman doesn't lose to just anybody. His five losses this decade? Twice to Fedor and once each to Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Those are literally "best of the best" fighters. In his last fight at UFC 100, Coleman out-pointed Stephan Bonnar for his first win in three and a half years. Clearly Coleman's best days are (way) behind him, but he's still capable of competing in this sport. If this was a countdown of top fighters from 1995-2005, Coleman would easily find himself in the top ten. Still, even just in this decade, his two years of dominance in Pride is good enough to land him the nice round number of 33.
34. Nate "The Great" Marquardt
Record: 29-8-2 (23-7-2)
Notable Wins: Shonie Carter, Kazuo Misaki (2), Ivan Salaverry, Joe Doerksen, Dean Lister, Jeremy Horn, Martin Kampmann, Wilson Gouveia, Demian Maia
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Yeah, yeah, yeah we hear it every time Nate Marquardt steps in the cage to fight. He's the only 7-time King of Pancrase. And you're probably assuming that's what finds him quite high on this list. Well you'd be wrong. Granted, that title has a pretty cool ring to it, but what has really impressed me about Marquardt is his UFC run the last few years. Despite flying somewhat under the radar even to this day, its possible that Marquardt has entrenched himself as the second best middleweight of his time. Clearly that seems to be his ceiling, but its still pretty impressive.
Lost in unseen undercard fights for much of his UFC tenure, Marquardt finally seems to have broken through and earned some respect not only from the UFC brass, but also from the casual fan. Like everyone else, he failed in his attempt to dethrone Anderson Silva, but aside from that he's two deducted points away (although don't get me wrong, he deserved both deductions and probably should've gotten a third for his attempted piledriver) against Thales Leites from the Silva loss being the only blemish on his UFC ledger. People complain that Silva has cleaned out the middleweight division, but it can be argued that Marquardt has done the same.
He beat up Martin Kampmann so badly the Dane dropped to welterweight. He rearranged Demian Maia's brain and probably had him rethinking the positives of MMA vs. competition jiu-jitsu. He waited out Wilson Gouveia's gas tank and unleashed the finishing flurry from hell. He's a sterling 5-1 against other fighters on this list. Only 30, Marquardt already has nearly 40 fights under his belt. He probably has five good years left in him, but maybe only two great ones. If he does get his rematch with the Spider and comes out on top, he deserves to be much higher on this list.
35. Jake Shields
Record: 24-4-1 (22-4-1)
Notable Wins: Hayato Sakurai, Akira Kikuchi, Dave Menne, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Renato Verissimo, Mike Pyle, Nick Thomson, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Jason Miller
Bad Losses: Marty Armendarez
The Skinny: I'd be lying if I said anything other than Shields' thirteen fight, five year win streak is what finds him ranked so high on this list. Sure the wins over Sakurai and Kikuchi in Shooto were nice, but nothing like some of the wins he's had on the win streak. Whether you like his style or not, he's beaten some of the bigger names the welterweight division (Condit, Daley) and middleweight divion (Okami, Lawler) have to offer. He combines his background in wrestling with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu he's learned from mentor Cesar Gracie to form a style coined American Jiu-Jitsu.
After cleaning out the welterweight division (well, at least the welterweights not under contract to the UFC) he's made the jump up to middleweight and is now the Strikeforce middleweight champ. If he really wants a challenge it might be time to sign a UFC contract and take on Georges St. Pierre. My guess is he wouldn't find a fight with GSP to his liking, so it may be wiser to stick with the Fedor route and dominate lesser opponents in a thinner talent pool and keep people guessing as to how he'd fare as a smaller fish in a bigger pond. Either way, Shields' spot on the countdown is secure. That would likely be the case for anyone who's won thirteen fights in a row during this time in the sport's evolution.
36. Gegard "The Dreamcatcher" Mousasi
Record: 27-2-1 (27-2-1)
Notable Wins: Hector Lombard, Evangalista Santos, Denis Kang, Melvin Manhoef, Ronaldo Souza, Mark Hunt, Renato Sobral, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Man is that a pretty record. Granted, a lot of it was built up against weaker competition in European shows before he hit the big stage of Pride, but still that's a pretty record. And its not like ALL of his fights have been against sub-par competition. Look at his notable wins. While he lacks a win over an elite opponent (Sobral and Lombard are just below that distinction), he's beaten some good names and seems to be taking slow but sure steps up in competition. He's also currently the Strikeforce light-heavyweight champ, and while their talent pool in that division is currently thin, its still the second biggest organization in North America, so being a title holder counts for something.
Of course the dream is for him to make his way to the UFC eventually to see if he truly is one of the elite light-heavyweights in the world (hint; he is), but for now we'll have to settle for him getting decent exposure on Showtime and fantastic exposure on CBS. Oh, and did I mention that Mousasi just turned 24 a few months ago? Yeah, the best is yet to come.
37. Jon Fitch
Record: 20-3 (20-3)
Notable Wins: Shonie Carter, Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, Thiago Alves, Roan Carneiro, Diego Sanchez, Akihiro Gono, Paulo Thiago
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Jon Fitch has the terrible luck of fighting in the UFC welterweight division during the GSP era. If St. Pierre never existed, we might be talking about Fitch as one of the ten best fighters of our time. His 10-1 record inside the Octagon is actually better than GSP's in terms of winning percentage. Losses to Wilson Gouveia and St. Pierre bookended a 14-0 run that lasted nearly six years.
His wrestling base is elite, his is top-control smothering, his submission defense is world-class, and his striking is good enough to stand and trade with anyone not world-class on the feet. He's a complete mixed-martial-artist. The only thing he hasn't accomplished in his career is winning a major title. Once GSP gets bored of dominating the welterweight division and moves up to middleweight to challenge himself, the UFC welterweight division might finally be Fitch's for the taking.
38. Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki
Record: 22-4 (22-4)
Notable Wins: Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Akira Kikuchi (2), Jason Black, George Sotiropoulos, Joachim Hansen (2), Gesias Cavalcante, Caol Uno, Eddie Alvarez, Vitor Ribeiro
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: If you guessed who this would be before I even typed it, give yourself a prize. These three lightweights are inexplicably linked. The only difference between the career path of Aoki vs. Hansen and Kawajiri is that Aoki got his start in DEEP, then moved on to Shooto, Pride, and Dream. The reason Aoki heads this trio? Well for starters, his record is better than the other two. He hasn't faced the steady tough competition of Hansen, but his 2-1 advantage in their series gives him the nod.
Aoki is a wizard on the ground, plain and simple. Thirteen of his twenty-two career victories have come by submission. Some claim his trademark pants make all the difference, but if that was the case, wouldn't every grappler in Japan wear them? The best part about Aoki? Despite being a seasoned 26 fight, 6 year veteran of the sport, he's only 26. His best days are still ahead. If he really does plan on bringing his game stateside, its of the utmost importance that he improves his striking first. As good as he is on the ground, the UFC lightweight shark tank would eat him alive with competent grapplers with heavy hands. The only real knock on Aoki is that he doesn't seem to possess a true fighter's instinct. If his submissions fail, he's easily left prone to being punched out. Other than that, he's about as exciting of a fighter out there and the sky's the limit as long as he's committed.
The Skinny: Can you start to feel where this is going? Hellboy and Kawajiri's career paths have been eerily similar. Both started out in Shooto, moved to the big leagues of Pride and fought mostly on the Bushido cards, then stuck around when Dream picked up the pieces Pride left behind. Both also notched victories over elite opponents at every stop. The only real difference between the two? The level of competition. Both have beaten elite fighters, but Hansen has fought more, and done it consistently. Hansen is 6-5 versus opponents that find themselves on this list. Kawajiri? A respectable 3-3-1. Kawajiri found himself matched-up with favorable opposition during his time in Shooto, allowing him to build up a somewhat bloated record.
Hansen, being an outsider, was thrown right to the wolves. He fought and defeated Rumina Sato and Takanori Gomi in his third and fourth fights, respectively, and he also notched a "W" against Gesias Cavalcante before leaving for the greener grass (and bigger paychecks and exposure) of Pride.
Since defeating Yves Edwards in his first fight of the night at Pride: Bushido 9, Hansen is merely 6-6, but its more a product of really tough competition than proof that his skills are diminishing. Despite the fact that its seems like he's been around forever (and in MMA ten years is close to forever), Hansen is still only 30 years old and only has 28 fights worth of wear and tear on his body. I'm not saying he's going to get better from here, the skills of lighter weight fighters diminish faster than the heavies, but there's no reason he shouldn't have another three or four years of being a top-10 lightweight. There's at least a couple more elite wins in Hellboy's future.
40. Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri
Record: 25-5-2 (25-5-2)
Notable Wins: Yves Edwards, Vitor Ribeiro, Luiz Firmino (2), Joachim Hansen, Charles Bennett, Luiz Azeredo, Gesias Cavalcante
Bad Losses: Takumi Nakayama
The Skinny: It feels like its time for a run on lightweights. Up until now (and even now its still only about 50/50) the majority of the great lightweights have fought overseas in Japan. And handful of the originals are still there and on top of their games. Kawajiri is one of them. He's had three successful runs for three different major Japanese promotions. His first stint was with Shooto, where he went 13-2-2 and collected wins over Yves Edwards, Vitor Ribeiro (a previous loss that he avenged), and Joachim Hansen. Then came Pride where he was a regular on the Bushido events, compiling a 4-2 record with wins over Luiz Firmino and Charles Bennett.
After the demise of Pride, Kawajiri decided to stick around and compete for the newly formed Dream. His last six fights have come there, where he's gone 5-1 with a win over Gesias Cavalcante and the lone loss to fellow top-10 lightweight Eddie Alvarez. And that's basically his entire career. Three different promotions where he's collected at least one win over an elite opponent at each stop. Has he ever dominated? No. Does he have flaws that can be exploited by the right opponent? Of course. But he has one of the deepest and most complete resumes of anyone on this list, and he gets a chance to permanently secure his spot in history with a victory in his next fight against Shinya Aoki for the Dream Lightweight Title.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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