10 Sure Fire UFC Hall Of Famers

10 Fighters Likely to Enter the UFC Hall of Fame

July is a calm period in MMA leading up to a torrent of action in August. In the downtime, here is a look at the top ten fighters who, if they retired today, have the credentials for induction into the UFC hall-of-fame. For this effort, Pride resumes were taken into consideration, as the company is wholly owned by the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa. However, only current UFC fighters are under consideration, so no, we didn’t forget about Pat Miletich, Frank Shamrock, Dan Henderson, or Fedor Emelianenko. Has any otherwise deserving fighter been left off the list?

Images Courtesy Zuffa and James Law

10. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

On his UFC resume alone, he is not in consideration. Opening things up to include his time in Pride and he is a lock. Cro Cop is on the short list of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese MMA, and his Pride record is as impressive as his UFC record is mediocre. Cro Cop went 18-4-2 during his time with Pride with wins over Kazushi Sakuraba, Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn, Aleksander Emelianenko, Mark Coleman, Hidehiko Yoshida, Wanderlei Silva, and Josh Barnett (on three occasions), and all but Barnett by knock out. The greatest moment of Cro Cop’s career occurred in 2006 when he won Pride’s Open-weight Grand Prix by beating Silva and Barnett in consecutive matches on the same event.

Cro Cop’s ability to render his opponent unconscious seemingly at will fueled his great success in Pride. To this point in this history of MMA, it is hard to argue against him as the most feared knockout. His historical impact is such that, despite having not beaten a ranked opponent since 2006, many feel that Cro Cop remains ranked among the top 20 heavyweights in the world.

9. Frank Mir

Mir’s is one of the most inspiring stories not just in the UFC, but in all of sports. Mir was the heir apparent in the heavyweight division when he beat Tim Sylvia to win the UFC heavyweight title less than a month after turning 25. The second youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history not only beat Sylvia, but broke Sylvia’s arm in one of the the most memorable moments in UFC history.

Less than three months later, Mir was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. The collision left Mir’s career shrouded with uncertainty as he suffered two breaks in his femur and the tearing of all of the ligaments in his knee. Due to his inability to defend the heavyweight title, Mir was stripped of the belt. It took nearly a year and half’s worth of surgery and rehab to allow Mir to return to the Octagon. Upon his return, Mir was but a shell of his former self. Mir’s lean physique had given way to a rotund figure hardly befitting a championship-level fighter. Mir went 1-2 in his first year back in action, with his lone win coming over Dan Christison in a lousy fight.

It seemed as though Mir had lost both the ability and desire to compete at the highest level of MMA. Mir spent more time as a bouncer than he did in the gym in preparations for his fights. Following his loss to Brandon Vera, Mir was at a career crossroads. In preparation for a fight against Antoni Hardonk, Mir suffered a shoulder injury. Given his post-accident performance, the setback seemed to be the final nail in the coffin of Mir’s once promising career. Instead, Mir recovered from the injury, and in the best shape since his motorcycle accident was able to submit Hardonk in the first round. “I’m Back,” announced Mir after the fight, and indeed, he was.

Mir followed up his victory over Hardonk, Mir submitted the debuting Brock Lesnar via kneebar in the first round. The high-profile victory led the UFC to put Mir as the coach opposite interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter. With the Mir and Nogueira scheduled to fight each other after the conclusion of the season, nearly everyone doubted Mir’s ability to compete against one of the great heavyweights of all time. In one of the stunning upsets in MMA history, Mir not only beat Nogueira to earn the UFC interim heavyweight championship but he knocked Nogueira out for the first time in his storied career. Though it would later be revealed that Nogueira had fought after suffering a staph infection during his training camp,  the win proved not only that Mir could compete at the high level, but has led Mir to be considered a consensus top ten heavyweight ever since.

Since defeating Nogueira, Mir has gone just 1-2. However, his losses have come to Lesnar and Shane Carwin, both of which were in title fights and the former of which being the highest drawing main event in UFC history. With the rise of contenders like Carwin, Cain Velasquez, and Junior dos Santos, Mir may remain just outside of the title picture for at least the near future. However, he is atop the next tier of heavyweights and rematches with either Lesnar or Nogueira will do big business for the UFC, making Mir one of the company’s more valuable fighters.

8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the second greatest heavyweight in the history of MMA behind only Fedor Emelianenko. In the universe according to the UFC, where Emelianenko remains persona non grata, Nogueira is the best of all time. Though, even with Emelianenko under consideration, Nogueira is a very close second.

Nogueira was the first ever Pride heavyweight champion and the only fighter to win titles in both Pride and the UFC. Though he was never as big of a star as either Mirko Filipovic or Wanderlei Silva, Nogueira’s uncanny ability to absorb punishment while he waited for his opponent to make a mistake has become legendary. That, along with the sheer volume of fights in which Nogueira has competed may also explain why, at 34-years-old, he may no longer be a championship caliber fighter.

Still, Nogueira has compiled some noteworthy statistics in his career. Nogueira is also the only fighter of the trio with Filipovic and Silva to currently have a winning record in the UFC (3-2-0), having beaten Herring, Tim Sylvia, and Randy Couture. Though not overwhelming on its own merits, Nogueira’s UFC record is identical to that of current UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Nogueira also has the highest winning percentage in Pride, 85%, as compared to 75% for Filipovic and 78% for Silva. The record is more remarkable when considering the opponents Nogueira beat: Mark Coleman, Heath Herring, Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, Ricco Rodriguez, Filipovic, Sergei Kharitonov, Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett.

7. Wanderlei Silva

Though his UFC tenure has been just average, his time in Pride put him among the very best to ever compete in MMA. Silva was to Pride what Chuck Liddell was to the UFC. Both were dominant champions at 200/205lbs., both defended their titles four times (a Pride record), both were considered the greatest knockout artists in their respective divisions, and both were among the biggest stars in their respective organizations.

Silva tallied the most wins (22) in Pride history and his middleweight title reign spanned more than five years. Though in that time Silva defended his title just four times, his title reign included victories over Guy Mezger, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kyoshi Tamura, Hidehiko Yoshida, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Ricardo Arona, and Kazuyuki Fujita. Though critics cite Silva’s losses during his title reign as proof of his inferiority to Liddell, Silva’s only losses as champion came to Mark Hunt, a Super heavyweight, Mirko Filipovic, a heavyweight, and Ricardo Arona, who Silva beat in an immediate rematch. Silva ultimately lost his title to Henderson at one of the great events in the history of MMA, Pride 33, in one of the great matches of 2007.

Though Silva has not enjoyed the same level of success in the UFC (3-5-0) as he did in Pride, Silva has managed to become one of the organization’s bigger stars. Much of his stardom is resultant from his success in Pride, but much of it is also due to his UFC 79 bout against Chuck Liddell. The match was years in the making and pitted the two greatest light heavyweights of all time against each other in a match considered to be the second best in the history of the UFC. It didn’t matter much that Silva lost a unanimous decision; his ferocious style endeared him to the crowd and has made him a fighter who, win or lose, fans enjoy watching fight.

6. Rich Franklin

While there are not as many tangible credentials to cite as part of Franklin’s resume for inclusion in the UFC Hall-of-Fame, history will remember Franklin as the first star of the middleweight division. In fact, it’s fair to compare Franklin’s career as a middleweight in the UFC with the Pride career of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Franklin didn’t face quite the same level of talent as did Nogueira, but the talent pool in the UFC’s middleweight division was not as prolific as that of Pride’s heavyweight division during the time of Franklin’s and Nogueira’s respective tenures. Like Nogueira at heavyweight, just one fighter besets Franklin’s legacy at middleweight. For Franklin, that man is Anderson Silva, whereas for Nogueira it was Fedor Emelianenko. In both cases, the superior fighters are among the best in the history of the sport.

Franklin was not the first middleweight champion in UFC history as Nogueira was the first Pride heavyweight champion, but he did establish the division as one capable of headlining a pay-per-view event, which had only occurred once prior to Franklin’s first title defense (Murilo Bustamante v. Matt Lindland, UFC 37). In all, Franklin headlined four UFC events as either the middleweight champion or the challenger for the title and one match, against Yushin Okami, to determine the top middleweight contender. Adding in his bouts at both light heavyweight and 195lbs. and Franklin’s total number of UFC events headlined rises to 10. That’s more than UFC Hall-of-Fame inductees Matt Hughes and Ken Shamrock (6 each) and Georges St. Pierre (7), equal to Anderson Silva and just one fewer than UFC Hall-of-Fame inductee Chuck Liddell.

5. Forrest Griffin

It may seem too early to discuss Griffin as part of the UFC’s Hall-of-Fame, but his is among the greatest impacts on MMA. To a great number of MMA fans today, Griffin is the face of the sport. Though overshadowed while on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter by the likes of Chris Leben, Josh Koscheck, and Bobby Southworth, Griffin surpassed each during the season’s final match against Stephan Bonnar. Not only is the fight considered to be the greatest of all time by UFC president Dana White, but it was the most important fight in the history of the company and the sport as a whole. While Griffin could not have put on the performance he did without Bonnar as his counterpart, there’s no disputing that their battle and Griffin’s victory set into motion a series of events that has led to the popularity enjoyed by the UFC today. Had the fight gone another way, the UFC may have ceased to exist. His effect on the modern era of the UFC is not unlike that of Royce Gracie’s during the early days of the UFC.

Unlike Bonnar, Griffin did not peak at the TUF finale. Griffin went on to headline numerous events and become a part of other great fights against the likes of Tito Ortiz, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Griffin and Jackson put on a performance that led many to proclaim it the best fight of 2008 in a match where Griffin became the first winner of a season of The Ultimate Fighter to win a UFC championship.

Though Griffin has shown an unfortunate immaturity following some of his losses, his place in modern day MMA is secure. Griffin has gone from a reality show contestant to reality show winner, from reality show winner to a fan favorite, from a fan favorite to one of the UFC’s biggest stars, and from a star to a former champion and perennial contender.

4. B.J. Penn

History will remember at least two things about B.J. Penn: he was the greatest lightweight in the history of MMA and that he sought to prove, unlike any other fighter, that he was the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of MMA.

After picking up much of his boxing technique in street fights as a child and earning in black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and winning the BJJ black belt World Championship in just three years, Penn made his way into MMA at only 22 years old. Penn, one of the few fighters in the post-tournament era of the UFC to make his MMA debut with the UFC, is known as “The Prodigy.” Never has a fighter had a more appropriate nickname.

The list of opponents whom Penn has beaten reads like a who’s who of Mixed Martial Artists: Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Matt Serra, Takanori Gomi, Matt Hughes, Renzo Gracie, Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez. Penn became the youngest fighter to receive a UFC title shot at 23 years, 29 days old, facing Jens Pulver for the lightweight title. Penn lost the fight but earned another shot a mere 13 months later, following Pulver’s departure from the UFC. In the finals of the UFC’s lightweight title tournament, Penn fought Uno, whom Penn had previously beaten in just 8 seconds, to a five-round draw that led to the lightweight title remaining vacant for over four years.

Penn would go on to challenge and defeat Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight title during the prime of Hughes’ career in one of the great upsets in the history of the sport. Penn would eventually win the UFC lightweight title on his third attempt by beating Joe Stevenson. Penn subsequently defended the title more times (3) than any lightweight champion in UFC history before losing the title to Frankie Edgar this past March. Edgar is the only lightweight whom Penn has fought and not beaten.

Those his victories have made for a stellar career, Penn’s losses are almost as significant. Penn’s career has spanned five weight classes — lightweight through heavyweight. His decision loss to Lyoto Machida – a match in which Penn ballooned up to 191lbs. against Machida’s 220lbs. – is an almost unfathomable testament to Penn’s talent and desire to compete against the best across all weight classes. Penn’s fights against both Hughes and St. Pierre are some of the most memorable inUFC history. Though Penn has just one win in the four fights, Hughes and St. Pierre are the only two men to stop Penn in 22 career fights.

3. Georges St. Pierre

Following in the footsteps of Pat Miletich and UFC Hall-of-Fame inductee Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre is the latest in a series of dominant champions in the welterweight division. Like Hughes before him, St. Pierre has raised the bar for all welterweights to a level that seems insurmountable to the point where St. Pierre may be the most skilled fighter in MMA history.

Though he is just 29 years old, St. Pierre has already won the UFC welterweight title twice and the interim welterweight title once. As the reigning champion, St. Pierre has tied Miletich, Frank Shamrock, and Chuck Liddell with four successful title defenses during a single title reign, behind only Hughes and Tito Ortiz (5 each), and Anderson Silva (6).

Though St. Pierre’s success inside the Octagon makes him worthy of induction into the UFC’s Hall-of-Fame, St. Pierre is more than just a dominant champion. St. Pierre is UFC’s second biggest star, behind only Brock Lesnar. St. Pierre’s stardom has led an vast expansion of the UFC’s fan base throughout St. Pierre’s native country of Canada. Only a handful of fighters have done as much to expand the UFC fan base as St. Pierre.

2. Anderson Silva

Though Anderson Silva has seemed hell bent on mitigating his UFC Hall-of-Fame credentials in his past three middleweight title defenses, his best (or rather, worst) efforts cannot fully undermine his accomplishments in the UFC. Silva is undefeated in the UFC, winning each of his 11 fights. In only his second UFC fight, Silva beat Rich Franklin to win the middleweight championship. Since then, Silva has successfully defended the title six times, a record for a single title reign. If Silva can defeat Chael Sonnen UFC 117 in August, he will tie Matt Hughes for the most successful defenses of a UFC title.

Though he has recently avoided engaging his middleweight opponents, Silva remains one of, if not the most devastating striker in all of MMA. His dismantling of Rich Franklin on two occasions and his super-human ability to avoid being hit by Forrest Griffin, a fight in which Silva knocked Griffin out with a jab while backing up, are testaments to Silva’s tremendous skills. To put it succinctly, Silva is the most successful fighter in the history of the UFC. When he is at his best, there may be no fighter in the world capable of beating Silva.

1.Tito Ortiz

Following Tito Ortiz’s year and a half long departure from the UFC in 2008, many speculated that the bad blood between Ortiz and UFC president Dana White would lead to Ortiz’s exclusion from the UFC Hall-of-Fame. Such an exclusion would invalidate the significance of the institution. Both his achievements as a fighter and his impact on the UFC make him as significant a figure in the history of the organization as anyone.

Ortiz is both the longest reigning light heavyweight champion in UFC history and is tied with UFC Hall-of-Fame inductee Matt Hughes for the second most title defenses during a single reign as champion. Ortiz’s successful title defenses were not against the highest caliber of fighters — among them were Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, and Elvis Sinosic — but he did defend the title against Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock as well as defeat the likes of Guy Mezger, Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, and Forrest Griffin.

More important than even his historic title reign and key victories is Ortiz’s impact on the business of the UFC. In 23 career fights, Ortiz’s entire career – 23 fights in total – has taken place in the UFC’s Octagon. No current UFC Hall-of-Fame inductee has that distinction, nor do any of the other potential inductees included on this list. Had Ortiz not been there to span the tournament era, the dark era during which the UFC was banned from cable pay-per-view, the TUF era, and now the Brock Lesnar era, it is entirely plausible that the UFC may never have survived into the TUF era.

Ortiz was the company’s biggest star in an era devoid of another. Ortiz’s initial match against Ken Shamrock led to a surge in pay-per-view interest with the event drawing 150k buys in a time where events rarely did more than 50k buys. His fight against Randy Couture drew nearly 100k buys. His first fight against Chuck Liddell and his fight against Belfort drew 105k each. Following the growth of the MMA audience stemming from The Ultimate Fighter, Ortiz’s match against Griffin earned a then UFC record 425k buys. Ortiz then coached against his chief rival, Ken Shamrock, for the series’ third season and set high marks for ratings in the series. It wasn’t until season 10 and the inclusion of Kimbo Slice that the Ortiz and Shamrock-led season was surpassed in the ratings.

The fight between Ortiz and Shamrock following the conclusion of the season set a new UFC buy rate record of 775k. Ortiz v. Shamrock 3 set a new record for television ratings for a UFC fight, topping out at a 4.3 rating with 5.7 million viewers tuning in to watch the culmination of the rivalry. Ortiz then once again helped to set a new standard for UFC pay-per-view success, as his rematch against Chuck Liddell was the first UFC pay-per-view event to top the one million buys threshold.

Few are either more successful in the cage or as important a figure to the business of the UFC as Tito Ortiz. The significance or Ortiz in both aspects makes him as legitimate a candidate for induction into the UFC’s Hall-of-Fame as any of the current inductees.