The 10 most dominant fighters in MMA history
Jon Jones and Cain Velasquez are fighters that many expect to reign for a long time despite the fact that both of them haven’t defended their titles yet. In the different eras of MMA, there have been a number of fighters known for long winning streaks and dominating their respective divisions. In no particular order, here are the 10 most dominant fighters of all time.
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Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor did not suffer a real loss for over 10 years, and ruled the Pride heavyweight division at a time when the best heavyweights were in Pride. Compiling a 15-0 Pride record, Fedor was head and shoulders above a stacked class of competition.
Ken Shamrock
On the Pancrase circuit and the early days of the UFC, Ken Shamrock was titled ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man.’ One of the only fighters to submit Bas Rutten, Ken won championships on both sides of the Pacific and was one of the 1st big stars in MMA history.
Mark Kerr
Kerr was the original power wrestler. At 265 pounds, he was a precursor to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin’s brief period of invincibility. Opponents would get themselves disqualified by trying to leave the ring when they fought ‘The Smashing Machine.’
Igor Vovchanchyn
Igor had enemies shaking whenever he threw a punch. An undersized heavyweight, Igor compiled a 37 fight unbeaten streak that only ended when he lost to Mark Coleman in the Pride 2000 Grand Prix final.
Mark Coleman
Coleman was given the title of ‘The Godfather of Ground and Pound’ and struck fear into the hearts of every opponent. With his bulldozer takedowns, Coleman immediately made a splash by winning UFC tournaments and the inaugural UFC heavyweight championship before moving to Japan and winning the 2000 Pride Grand Prix.
Matt Hughes
Before GSP and Anderson took the world by storm, Matt Hughes was the most dominant champion in the UFC. He still holds the record for most wins in the UFC (18) and has the 2nd most title defences in UFC history (7).
Wanderlei Silva
The Pride 205 pound champion for 6 years, Wand had the most wins and knockouts in Pride history. His 18 fight unbeaten streak was only ended by a split decision loss to superheavyweight Mark Hunt.
Chuck Liddell
To give you a hint of how competitive the light heavyweight division is, there have only been 2 successful title defences of the belt in the last 4 years. Chuck held the title for 2 years and defended it 4 times, becoming one the most mainstream stars the sport has ever seen.
Georges St. Pierre
GSP has taken the welterweight torch from Matt Hughes and run with it. Number of consecutive rounds won by GSP on all 3 judges scorecards: 33. Number of title defences: 6.
Anderson Silva
The Spider holds the UFC records for most consecutive wins (15), most title defences (9), most consecutive title defences (9), and generally makes his competition look silly.
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wow, for sliva to be ahead of george is a JOKE. silva should have lost after that 23 minute raping that occured, he lost ALL credibility after that fight. hell i could whoop his ass.
You are an idiot. The article said in no particular order. Can you read???
You are right, Sonnen would have won a decision but Silva submitted the
roid monger. Made him tap out like a bitch. Also, Sonnen did no dammage to Silva. To imply you could beat Silva is another example of how you are stupid. Whatever dipshit.
Ya Shawn seems pretty stupid. Silva is the greatest pound for pound fight ever. I wish dana white didnt own UFC, seeing as he wont let Silva face GSP. Dana dont want his bitch to get beat up.
actually sonnen did damage silva, he broke his ribs. even if he didnt damage silva, he still would have won the decision. he had complete control the whole fight up until the end.
Id love to see you try moron
Your way off not mentioning Royce Gracie who beat Shamrock. He was champ at serveral years in beginning of UFC which HAD NO WEIGHT CLASS. Now the champs are protected to fight someone their own size. Royce fought anyone and won proving the dominance of BBJ and changing hte martial art world
Wow you are clueless. Anderson Silva fought Chael Sonen with a rib injury and with Sonen juiced up with synthetic testosterone for which he was banned for a year. He then proceeded to KO Vitor Belfort in the 1st and Yushin Okami in the 2nd.
Rickson Gracie would be required to be put on the list. Get real.
@shawn did you not see the ‘in no particular order’ disclaimer?’
@rick we have stated Royce was and will be a true pound for pound champ, but he was fighting many guys with zero knowledge of the ground game. As for Rickson, even his family members laugh at his bragging.
Dan Severen had no ground game? Guy was a wrestling SPECIALIST with a huge ground game. You definetly have no credibility posting a list liek this without Gracie in it.
this list is weak at best. most of these so-called top ten, ken shamrock and royce gracie being the exceptions, were still wearing diapers when the real ass-kickers were dukin’ it out before the original UFC was banned. no weight class, no rules, no pu**ies. fight ’til you lose. this mma stuff today is something you can watch with your kids on family night. until you have seen a real no holds barred, beat someone near to death bloody mess fight like at the original UFC tournaments you have truly seen nothing. BRING BACK THE ORIGINAL UFC!
Where is Rickson Gracie? Pre-UFC, Pride and all that other mumbo jumbo. Vale Tudo tournaments were the closest thing to MMA events. He holds a Ju Jitsu record of over 400 wins and no loses.
No Royce Gracie? Come on the list just lost credibility. Ken Shamrock? Maybe, but gee I recall he got beat by Gracie.
Wow…. what a huge oversight ! Not including Royce Gracie is the list is a disgrace and does discredit the writer. Anything that is said in disagreement just proves how ignorant one is about the sport.
I agree, no Gracie???! c’mon man… he beat Shamrock and then tied him… only lost to Matt Hughs when he was in his forties… take Gracie in his prime, he’s gonna beat any welter weight out there (not like he really gave a shit what your weight class was anyhow)!
He also lost in Japan
I agree the Gracie family should be in this list.
What happened when Royce fought someone his own size who actually had skills?
@jak you realise that Coleman, Kerr, Vovchanchyn, Wand actually started their MMA careers in those NHB type fights right? Coleman even said he had to learn some skills once he started fighting in orgs that did not allow headbutts.
What about Randy “The Natural” Couture??? He beat Chuck in
his 40′s!!!
Randy and Royce Gracie should be on this list.
pound for pound silva anyday
delete this article no tito, no couture, no royce?? wow
Randy was 19-11.
Tito ducked Chuck for a long time.
The Gracies should not be in these kinds of lists simply for inventing something no one else was using. It’s not the top 10 pioneers or innovators, it’s the top 10 in terms of dominance. Dominance over people with completely different skillsets than yourself doesn’t mean a whole lot. It’s comparing apples to oranges.
Gracie owns all
I see all you folks going off… Lets put it this way… All 10 fighters have really done a good job… Obviously they are on this list… Sure we could all say that someone else should be here or not be here… But again, these guys have all fought hard… No need to all get in a fight over a blog… Just saying…
Several of these fighters have only dominated due to overblown reputations and dominance during periods of relative weakness in thier weight class. Fedor runs from the real fights and keeps his opponents limited to big names that have aged or opponents/challengers that are subpar. Silva is also over-rated. Sorry, but his reputation wins most of his fights for him. He’s shown weakness recently and his smoke screen has been blown. He’s going to get hit with a series of losses soon. The best pound for pound is St. Pierre without a doubt.