...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.
The Skinny: After an illustrious career as an amateur wrestler, including being a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team (glorious mullet included), Dan Henderson decided to make money punching people in the face. Wise career choice. After a two-fight, one night stint in the UFC in 1998 (where he beat Allan Goes and Carlos Newton in one night, not a bad way to start a career), Henderson made his way to the Rings promotion where many of today's top stars got their feet wet (Hendo, Fedor, Big Nog, Babalu). His first three fights of the decade came in one night at the King of Kings final, where Hendo defeated Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Renato "Babalu" Sobral in one evening.
That's basically been the story of Henderson's career. Wherever he goes, and there's been a few stops, he's thrown to the wolves, and far more often than not he comes out the victor. Already the Pride welterweight champion (what is considered middleweight in the U.S.), Hendo become the only fighter to ever hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously when he knocked Wanderlei Silva (who had been champion for seemingly forever) unconscious at Pride 33, the second and last time Pride put on a show on American soil. Following that victory he made his triumphant return to the UFC with two title belts in need of unification. In his first fight back, he dropped a close decision to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to unify the light-heavyweight titles and then was submitted in the second round by Anderson Silva to unify the middleweight titles.
He hasn't lost since, though, defeating Palhares, Franklin, and Bisping in his last three before signing a contract with Strikeforce where he'll begin basically the fourth stage of his career. To help illustrate the level of competition Henderson has faced, consider that all seven of his losses have come to fighters on this list (a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, I admit), and 18 of his 26 fights this decade have come against fellow top-100 fighters. Considering he's 39 years old, this is generally the spot where I'd tell you he's not the fighter he once was and probably doesn't have much time left in the sport, but the truth is Henderson is still exactly the same fighter he's been for the past ten years and he doesn't appear to be slowing down. Perhaps suffering (benefiting) from a touch of "Randy Couture Disease", I wouldn't be surprised if Hendo had four or five great years left in him, and I WOULD be surprised if he doesn't add at least one, if not two, more title belts to his mantle in his new home with Strikeforce.
12. Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz
Record: 15-7-1 (11-5-1)
Notable Wins: Wanderlei Silva, Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ken Shamrock (3), Patrick Cote, Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin
Bad Losses: none
The Skinny: Forget the fact that Ortiz is 0-3-1 in his last four fights and hasn't won a meaningful bout since defeating a still-green Forrest Griffin over three and a half years ago. Ok, don't forget those things, because they're relevant arguments, but put them on the back-burner for now. In Ortiz's first fight this decade, he captured the vacant UFC light-heavyweight title (it was vacant because previous champ Frank Shamrock "retired") by defeating Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25. He would go on to defend his title five times, a record he still holds with Matt Hughes and Anderson Silva. He spent three years as the most dominant fighter in the UFC at the start of the decade. He would eventually drop the strap to Randy Couture, and then lost his next fight against Chuck Liddell.
He rebounded from his first ever losing streak with a nice little three fight run, defeating Patrick Cote, Vitor Belfort, and Forrest Griffin by decision. Unfortunately, that's basically where Ortiz's career stops as far as being an elite fighter. After the Griffin fight, Ortiz was paired up with Ken Shamrock as coaches on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. Ortiz easily dominated Shamrock in the ensuing fight, but Shamrock claimed it was an early stoppage, so the two fought for a second straight time on a free card on Spike. It was a carbon copy of the first, with a B-level Ortiz overwhelming a D-level Shamrock. Ortiz hasn't won a fight since. Granted, his competition has been extremely tough in the last four fights, and he was a deducted point for grabbing the fence away from winning a decision over Rashad Evans, but the fact remains that Ortiz is basically a shell of his former self.
That shouldn't, however, take away from his accomplishments earlier this decade. He truly was a dominant force much like Anderson Silva is now in ruling over the middleweight division. If Ortiz had enjoyed even a modicum of the success in the last three years as he did in the first three years of the aughts, he probably would've secured a spot in the top ten. Even still, #12 ain't bad.
13. Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida
Record: 16-0 (16-0)
Notable Wins: Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Vernon White, Sam Hoger, David Heath, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Tito Ortiz, Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua
Bad Losses: Not so much
The Skinny: Whether or not you agree with the decision, Machida's fight with Shogun goes into the books as a victory for The Dragon. All the guy does is win. He's made karate popular again. And its not like he's done it against cream puffs. 12 of his 16 wins are listed in the "notable wins". Even before he signed with the UFC he was taking out great fighters. He beat Stephan Bonnar in his second fight and then Rich Franklin in his third. In fact, until some guy named Anderson Silva came to the UFC, Machida was the only person to ever defeat Franklin.
Often criticized for being boring, Machida put those concerns to rest with back to back stoppages of undefeated fighters Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans, the latter to capture the UFC light-heavyweight crown. He became the first person to defend that title since Rampage unified the UFC and Pride belts by defeating Dan Henderson at UFC 75.
Personally I think he was too focused on "acting" like a champion, rather than "fighting" like a champion in his title defense against Shogun. I think that'll end up being a blip on his radar, and if the only blip you have on your radar is a win, you're probably doing ok for yourself. He's 31, and with only 16 fights on the resume (fights where he's taken a minimal amount of damage), he's likely just entering his prime. If he has six more years like his last six, we very well may be watching one of the top two or three fighters to ever live.
14. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
Record: 18-4 (18-4)
Notable Wins: Evangelista Santos, Akihiro Gono, Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem (2), Ricardo Arona, Kevin Randleman, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: For those of you whose only exposure to Shogun is his uneven 2-2 mark in the UFC, I suggest you look up some of his fights in Pride from 2004-2006. During that three year run there wasn't a more dominating fighter on the planet. He gave us a glimpse of the Shogun in his last fight against Lyoto Machida (in terms of talent, not style or gameplan), but there wasn't much like a prime, berserker Mauricio Rua. He went an unfathomable 12-1 in Pride with his lone loss coming less than a minute into his fight with Mark Coleman when he broke his arm in a freak occurrence trying to post up on a takedown attempt by Coleman. That was it.
He went on perhaps the greatest four fight run in history during the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix. In the first round he defeated Rampage with soccer kicks halfway through the first round. In the second round he won a decision over Little Nog. In the semi-finals he stopped a pre-gigantic Alistair Overeem with strikes six and a half minutes into the first round (in case you didn't know, Pride used a ten minute first round and five minute second round). Then in the finals, held on the same night as the semi-finals, he knocked out ultra-tough Ricardo Arona less than three minutes into the fight. After the finals, Rua stood in the ring as perhaps the greatest fighter on the planet (and yes, I'm aware that Fedor was, in fact, living and breathing in late 2006).
After signing with the UFC amidst much fanfare, Shogun's career was basically ground to a halt by multiple major knee injuries. He lost his debut to Forrest Griffin in embarrassing fashion, being choked out with mere seconds left in the fight. Then, in his return fight, he looked sluggish in needing almost three full rounds to dispatch of the geriatrically sluggish Mark Coleman. He finally looked to be rounding back into form in his knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 97, but how much can you really tell about a fighter against Chuck Liddell these days?
His fight with Machida was a revelation. Not only was his striking back to its usual sharp, destructive self, but Rua had obviously matured as a fighter, staying patient and executing a gameplan against MMA's #1 enigma. Knee injuries have derailed many an athlete's career, but if the Machida fight was any indication, Shogun v2.0 might be even better than the original. Having just turned 28 and with only twenty-two fights to his name, its possible Rua might actually be just entering his prime. Hey, a boy can dream, right?
15. Rich "Ace" Franklin
Record: 25-5 (25-5)
Notable Wins: Travis Fulton, Marvin Eastman, Evan Tanner (2), Ken Shamrock, Nate Quarry, David Loiseau, Jason MacDonald, Yushin Okami, Travis Lutter, Matt Hammil, Wanderlei Silva
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: Along with Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, Rich Franklin has been one of the "faces" of the UFC since its explosion four years ago. He was one of the coaches of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter after defeating Evan Tanner for the UFC middleweight title, a title he would defend twice against Nate Quarry and David Loiseau at UFC 56 and UFC 58, respectively. As a former math teacher and a generally well-spoken/educated person, Franklin was a perfect spokesperson for the sport at a time when it was struggling to get away from its "human cock-fighting" label that should've expired years earlier. He's also been the ultimate company man, taking fights against Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort at a catch-weight of 195lbs. to help them transition into new careers in the middleweight division that Franklin was trying to leave behind to pursue a title shot at light-heavyweight.
Ok, so those are the positives of Rich Franklin's career. Now the negatives: Franklin's title run came at a time of a severe dearth of talent in the middleweight division. Once a truly elite fighter was brought in to face him, Franklin was clearly over-matched. Now granted, there's absolutely no shame in losing to the perhaps the greatest fighter who ever lived, Anderson Silva, but the manner in which Franklin lost both fights was demoralizing. Silva literally booted Franklin from the middleweight division to light-heavyweight where Franklin hoped the fighters wouldn't be too big and also wouldn't be Anderson Silva. Unfortunately, a title run hasn't materialized at 205, and its starting to look like it never will. Likely due to the drastic step up in competition, not only for him, but for everyone in the UFC, Franklin hasn't been able to string together more than two straight victories since before his first loss to the Spider.
On the plus side, all five of Franklin's losses have come to guys who find their names on this list, and four of the five are to fighters who've yet to be listed. You really won't find a better collection of losses than Anderson Silva (twice), Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson, and Vitor Belfort. That's it. Those are the only fighters who've had their hands raised after a tussle with Rich Franklin. And at 35 and thirty fights into his career, its likely that title run never will materialize. Doesn't matter. Between his title run, the fact that he's only beaten by the truly elite fighters, and his time as an excellent ambassador for the sport, Rich Franklin is well deserving of his spot in the top-15.
16. Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi
Record: 31-5, 1 NC (25-5, 1 NC)
Notable Wins: Rumina Sato, Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Charles Bennett, Jens Pulver, Luiz Azeredo (2), Jean Silva, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Hayato Sakurai, David Baron, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Duane Ludwig
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: During a time when the UFC lightweight title was dormant and sub-170lb. fighters didn't exist to mainstream American MMA fans, Takanori Gomi was the best lightweight in the world, it wasn't even close, and hardly anyone noticed. He won his first 14 fights of his career, mostly in Shooto, before finally dropping a decision to Jaochim Hansen. After a second straight loss to BJ Penn, Gomi made his debut in Pride and went on a dominating run against some of the best lightweights in the world. He was the consistently the top fighter on their Bushido shows, winning his first ten fights for the promotion. He went 13-1 in Pride with one no contest (it was actually a clear-cut loss to Nick Diaz, but the result was overturned after a drug test revealed THC levels so high in Diaz's blood that the only logical conclusion was that Diaz was actually high DURING the fight), and he later avenged his only loss to Marcus Aurelio with a decision victory at Bushido 13 in late 2006.
His career has taken a steady downturn since the no-contest to Diaz, but that seems to be a constant with lightweights entering their 30's after a long, grueling fight career. Gomi is unlikely to ever again reach the heights he did in the mid-90's, but that doesn't take away the fact that he was the most dominant lightweight of the decade.
17. Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba
Record: 26-12-1, 2 NC (19-11-0, 1 NC)
Notable Wins: Guy Mezger, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, Quinton Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Ken Shamrock, Ikuhisa Minowa
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: I'll be honest. I had a hard time figuring out where to put Sakuraba on this list. His record, especially this decade, isn't terribly impressive. A handful of his biggest wins (against Vernon White, Carlos Newton, Vitor Belfort, and Royler Gracie) came in the late 90's and don't count here. His record against fellow Top-100 fighters, not so much a criteria as it is a fun fact, is a less-than-stellar 2-6. He's taken some of the worst beatings, most notably in his series of fights against Wanderlei Silva, the sport has ever seen. So with all that working against him, how does he find himself so high on the list? Because its freakin' Sakuraba! He's not called the Gracie Hunter for nothing. During a time when the Gracie's were the biggest name/force in MMA, Sakuraba beat four of them (Royler, Royce, Renzo, and Ryan) in the span of a year.
He was the classic underdog. He started the time honored tradition of Japanese fighters being expected to take on fighters significantly bigger than themselves. He was THE star of Pride from its inception until he left for K-1 in 2006. He's forty years old now and hasn't been in his prime in a minimum of five years. It doesn't matter. People have been calling for his retirement for years, but its hard to tell a guy to stop when he's submitted his last two opponents. He's one of the true legends of the sport and had he been fortunate enough to have fought in a time like the present where he wouldn't be fighting guys 30-40 pounds heavier than him, he might still be a viable contender. Then again, that was always part of the charm with Sakuraba. No matter who he fought, win or lose, he gave you everything he had, and every once in a while, he'd pull out that miracle upset that reminded you why you watch in the first place.
18. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Record: 30-7 (29-7)
Notable Wins: Igor Vovchancyn, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Chuck Liddell (2), Ikuhisa Minowa, Ricardo Arona, Murilo Rua, Matt Lindland, Marvin Eastman, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine
Bad Losses: Daijiro Matsui (granted it was a DQ loss for a knee to the groin, but a loss to a guy with a record of 11-23-4 on your resume is bad no matter how you slice it)
The Skinny: Because of his battles, big wins, and cult following just during his time in Pride Rampage would've safely found himself on this countdown. What really puts him on the list of elite fighters of the decade, however, is his time in the UFC. Granted his run between his first fight in Pride, a submission loss to Sakuraba, and his first fight with/loss to Wanderlei was fantastic. During that time he went 9-1 (the lone loss being the Matsui DQ) including wins over Vovchanchyn, Randleman, Bustamante, and Liddell. That's impressive stuff. Unfortunately, Silva was always the thorn in Rampage's side, brutalizing on two separate occasions in Pride and generally standing in Jackson's way of being a champion.
Rampage arrived in the UFC amidst much fanfare and he didn't disappoint. After defeating Marvin Eastman in his UFC debut, which in the process avenged his first career defeat, he was matched up with Chuck Liddell in a light-heavyweight title fight. The fight was meant to be Liddell's chance at avenging his loss in Pride to Rampage, but Page had other ideas. He clipped Liddell with a right hook, pounced on a flash-knocked out Liddell and captured the UFC light-heavyweight title. He defended his belt once, in a unification bout with Pride Middleweight (the equivalent of the UFC light-heavyweight belt) champ Dan Henderson. He then lost the title in a close decision to Forrest Griffin in a fight many still feel Rampage won.
After dropping his title, Jackson was able to gain a measure of revenge against longtime nemesis Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 when he knocked Silva unconscious with a brutal left hook in the first round. Rampage has only fought once since then, taking a decision victory over Keith Jardine at the makeshift main event of UFC 96. He's currently on a hiatus from fighting, but once he returns he'll have an angry Rashad Evans waiting for him, and, if he can get past Rashad, another crack at the light-heavyweight title. Rampage is 31, but he he's put a lot of miles on his body over the years and is currently trying to secure a second career in acting after he's done fighting. My guess is Rampage has one more run in him, but barring something unexpected, he'll probably be retired in the next couple years.
19. Miguel Torres
Record: 37-2 (37-2)
Notable Wins: Joe Pearson, Jeff Bedard, Chase Beebe, Yoshiro Maeda, Manny Tapia, Takeya Mizugaki
Bad Losses: None (because Torres was able to avenge the loss to Ryan Ackerman I consider it wiped off the slate)
The Skinny: Torres may have the third most impressive record in MMA history behind Lyoto Machida and Fedor Emelianenko. Forget that most of it was piled up against lesser fighters in regional promotions. Torres suffers from the same problem that all sub-155 fighters do. Before the ascension of the WEC, there just wasn't a big enough platform for lighter weight fighters to ply their trade. Bouncing around various regional promotions for the first seven years of his career, Torres brought a ridiculous 32-1 record into his WEC debut. His submission of Jeff Bedard was enough to earn him a crack at Chase Beebe's Bantamweight Title, and his submission of Chase Beebe was enough to cement him as the #1 bantamweight in the world, a ranking he backed up in classic title defenses against/beatdowns of Yoshiro Maeda, Manny Tapia, and Takeya Mizugaki. His reign of terror finally ended in his last fight against Brian Bowles, as he was blasted into unconsciousness in the first round. Torres will be back though. He has BJ Penn-like talent (minus the cast-iron chin) and will be ready for Bowles the next time around. For now, he'll just have to take comfort in the fact that being the best bantamweight of all-time was enough to land him a prestigious top-20 spot on this countdown.
20. Josh "The Babyfaced Assassin" Barnett
Record: 24-5 (19-5)
Notable Wins: Dan Severn, Gan McGee, Semmy Schilt (2), Bobby Hoffman, Randy Couture, Yuki Kondo, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Aleksander Emelianenko, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Hidehiko Yoshida, Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo, Gilbert Yvel
Bad Losses: None
The Skinny: If consistency is the name of the game, thy champion is Josh Barnett. He's basically been a top-10 heavyweight for ten straight years. Most fighters have their highs and lows, but not Barnett. He's beaten some of the top heavyweights in several different eras. He went 4-1 in the UFC at the beginning of the decade, capping it off by defeating Randy Couture for the heavyweight title (he subsequently tested positive for steroids, was stripped of his title, and left the promotion. Yes, its been a recurring theme with Barnett). He bounced around a few Japanese promotions before finally finding a permanent home in Pride in 2004. He dropped his first two fights for the organization to some guy named Cro Cop, but he followed that up with the best four fight streak of his career, defeating Kazuhiro Nakamura, Aleks Emelianenko, Mark Hunt, and Big Nog to cap it off. He lost his last fight in Pride, this time with Nogueira avenging an earlier defeat, but has won his last four fights in a row, two each for Sengoku and the now-defunct Affliction.
Another positive test from Barnett actually doomed the Affliction promotion as they had been building up a long-awaited fight between Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko, but Barnett was unable to secure a fight license, the event was canceled, and the rest is history. Despite being around since the beginning of time, Barnett only recently turned 32 and probably has four or five great years left in him. His legacy is hurt by the multiple positive steroid tests and the fact that he was never able to rise above being a distant fourth best heavyweight in Pride, but his overall resume and history of success is certainly to be admired.
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