The UFC is universally recognized as the preeminent mixed martial arts promotion on the planet. Therefore, UFC bouts usually see the best competing against the best. Of these top level fighters, who has seen the most success?It is impossibl…
The UFC is universally recognized as the preeminent mixed martial arts promotion on the planet. Therefore, UFC bouts usually see the best competing against the best. Of these top level fighters, who has seen the most success?
It is impossible to objectively evaluate which fighters have had more success based on past competition. Such a process allows for too much subjectivity when comparing the value of different wins.
To avoid such subjectivity, the rankings in this article are based on each fighter’s record over .500 (wins minus losses). This process is more effective than simply comparing winning percentages because it factors in longevity.
Also, since any fighter with a better winning percentage but fewer wins above .500 than another fighter would have to win more than half of his fights to catch up, this list assumes that it is impossible to assume such success. For example, if fighter A is 11-3 (eight games over) and fighter B is 7-0 (seven games over), although B has a much better winning percentage, B would have to 4-3 in his next seven fights to match A; it is impossible to assume such success (see Brandon Vera).
For tiebreakers, overall winning percentage will be considered (7-0 > 9-2).
Gray Maynard, without a doubt, deserves his lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136.Putting the title aside, Maynard may have more of a claim to being the No. 1 lightweight in the world then the champion, Edgar, does. Aside from an unof…
Gray Maynard, without a doubt, deserves his lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136.
Putting the title aside, Maynard may have more of a claim to being the No. 1 lightweight in the world then the champion, Edgar, does. Aside from an unofficial loss to Nate Diaz on TUF Five, Maynard is undefeated through 12 professional fights (10-0-1-1). Perhaps even more importantly, he represents the only two blemishes on Edgar’s record.
In their first bout, at UFC Fight Night 13, Gray dominated Frankie on route to a unanimous 30-27 rout. He used superior wrestling and completely overpowered the future champion in a clear upset. To this day, that is Edgar’s only loss.
Immediately following the bout, the true colors of UFC President Dana White began to show. Although Maynard won the fight decisively, comparisons of each fighter’s next few matchups would seem to tell a different story. The always exciting Edgar went on to defeat former title challenger Hermes Franca and former champion Sean Sherk while Maynard was left picking apart middle-of-the-packers such as Rich Clementi, Jim Miller, Roger Huerta, and Nate Diaz.
Edgar, after following his two name victories with a tune-up win over Matt Veach, was granted a title shot against BJ Penn. On the other hand, it took Maynard four more wins—stretching his record to 7-0 in the UFC—to earn even a number one contender fight against Kenny Florian at UFC 118.
When Gray Maynard dominated a two-time title challenger to earn his first crack at the UFC belt, one would logically expect Dana White to praise him, instead White spent the entire post-fight press conference calling Florian a choker. While Florian being a choke-artist is a different discussion for a different time, this behavior by the promoter may have signaled more about Maynard than it did about Ken-Flo.
As Jon Fitch can attest to, Dana White hates fighters who do not finish fights. Further evidence in support of this sentiment came out recently when news broke that the consensus No. 2 170 pound fighter in the world will attempt to extend his current unbeaten streak to seven consecutive fights at UFC 141 against Johnny Hendricks. While Hendricks is by no means a scrub, he is nowhere close to being a top-15 fighter. This type of fight has become the norm for Fitch (13-1-1 UFC).
Fitch may be the No. 2 welterweight in the world. He also may be unbeaten since 2002 save for a gutsy loss to pound-for-pound king Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87. He is probably the most deserving fighter for a title shot. That being said, do not expect Fitch to see another opportunity for the gold anytime soon if White has his druthers. Of Fitch’s 13 UFC victories, nine have gone the distance (including his last seven straight). More than anything else in the world (besides Loretta Hunt), Dana White hates guys who don’t finish fights. It is that last piece of information that has, and will continue, to keep Jon Fitch out of the title picture and fighting against no-name guys.
Make no mistake about it, Gray Maynard sees what Jon Fitch has gone through and will do anything to avoid a similar purgatory. While Fitch may be the poster-boy for grinding out decisions, Maynard is the real king. Much like Fitch, Maynard’s last seven victories inside the Octagon have all come by way of decision. Unlike Fitch, Maynard only has one UFC stoppage on his resume. It cannot be a good thing for Maynard when a large portion of fans refer to a grind-it-out strategy as “Gray and Pray.”
All of this information points towards something that many people already knew, when Dana White repeatedly called Kenny Florian a choker after Maynard’s UFC 118 victory, what he was really saying was, “Thanks Kenny. You were supposed to relegate this Jon Fitch-wannabe back down the ladder for good. Now what am I going to do.”
White was most certainly worried. He knew that Maynard deserved a title shot. He probably knew that Maynard deserved one way before Edgar ever did. The thought of a boring, grind-it-out fighter becoming champion seemed to be a nightmare. Now it may come true? Oh, no!
When Edgar and Maynard met for a second time on New Years’ Day 2011 at UFC 125 for the UFC Lightweight Championship, they put on the fight of the century. After Maynard put one of the worst beatings in MMA history on Edgar during round one, almost ending the fight on multiple occasions, the champion staged one of the greatest comebacks you will ever see to force a split-decision draw.
While fans, writers, and even the two fighters were all clamoring for an immediate rematch, White instead claimed that the next title shot would instead go to number-one contender Anthony Pettis. Eventually, after countless complaints from all sides, White changed the plan and set up a trilogy fight between Edgar and Maynard. He claimed that he simply wanted to put on fights that the fans want to see.
Truthfully, before the public outcry became too much to bear, White was simply trying to avoid giving Maynard another opportunity at all costs. He had avoided the bullet. The “boring fighter” had blown his opportunity. Here was Dana’s excuse to give him the Jon Fitch treatment and avoid the inevitable; Gray Maynard is quite probably the next UFC Lightweight Champion.
In a purely opinionated debate, you could argue that Frankie Edgar might finally best Gray Maynard on October 8. From a factual standpoint, such would be a difficult case to make. In their first fight, Edgar was completely manhandled. This outcome was unquestionable. While he certainly showed a champion’s heart in the second matchup, if not for Gray Maynard’s clear decrease in energy, it is unlikely that Frankie would still be the champ.
Admittedly, this is all an opinion. None if it is meant to come off as perceived fact. That being said, if Clay Guida defeats Ben Henderson in their number-one contender fight at UFC on FOX 1, and Maynard once again bests Edgar to become the new champion, somebody please call the authorities because the impending Guida-Maynard grinder may force Dana White to off himself.
In the past four years, the UFC has seen 15 different champions throughout its five divisions (prior to the infusion of the featherweight and bantamweight classes); its Welterweight and Middleweight divisions combined have seen two. While all oth…
In the past four years, the UFC has seen 15 different champions throughout its five divisions (prior to the infusion of the featherweight and bantamweight classes); its Welterweight and Middleweight divisions combined have seen two. While all other UFC Champions have averaged 0.71 title defenses each over that time, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva have had six and eight defenses respectively. If that is not dominance, I do not know what is.
Throughout the past year, there has been a strong push from fans and, on occasion, Dana White for the two most dominant fighters in UFC history to meet in a superfight. Questions began with whether the catchweight would be 175 lbs or 180 lbs. Then if Silva could still make 170 lbs (something he has not done in over six years). Recently the assumption has become that for the superfight to happen, St-Pierre would make the full-time move up to Middleweight and challenge Silva for his title.
Obviously, a matchup between the two most dominant fighters on the planet, especially when they are so close in weight, is a highly intriguing matchup; but is it the right fight for the UFC to make?
From a business standpoint, putting together a superfight between GSP and Anderson Silva would be a poor investment where the short-term gains do not come close to matching the long-terms losses. Seeing as though Silva and St-Pierre are two of the UFC’s three biggest PPV draws, it is pretty safe to assume that a card headlined by the two of them would be the highest grossing event in MMA history.
That being said, no matter the outcome, the promotion would be effectively torpedoing the value of one of its biggest draws and damaging the immediate marketability of one of its most exciting divisions.
First, while there are tons of good welterweights on the UFC roster, taking GSP out of the division would do serious damage to the division’s marketability. St-Pierre sells fights no matter the opponent. Whether the fight is potentially competitive (Penn II) or clearly a mismatch (Hardy), when GSP headlines a card it sells.
Without St-Pierre, it would take a while to build another solid 170-pound draw. Even when the second biggest draw in the division (BJ Penn) fought the second best fighter in the division (Jon Fitch), the card barely sold (just over 250,000 PPV buys).
Secondly, the implications of the fight are lose-lose.
If Silva were to win, it would certainly damage the status of the UFC’s golden boy and second biggest draw (behind Lesnar), GSP. Georges has already stated that a move to 185 would be permanent and even if an immediate rematch was called for that would only be two fights before the face of the promotion was relegated back to climbing the ladder.
If Silva were to decimate GSP, it would be nearly impossible to put St-Pierre back in the title picture for at least a year (see Vitor Belfort). Either way, a GSP loss would severely damage his marketability and would take millions of dollars out of the Zuffa’s pockets.
If St-Pierre were to beat Silva, it would force Anderson to make a permanent move to 205. While he has certainly had his fair share of success at Light Heavyweight in the past, it is in no way a certainty that he would succeed in reaching the pinnacle of the division. If were to lose on his way up the ladder it would effectively take one of the most exciting fighters in the world out of the main event picture.
While a potential superfight between consensus pound-for-pound #1 and #2 Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva would certainly reach record grossing numbers, in the long run the outcome of the fight would be a financial lose-lose.
Gray Maynard, without a doubt, deserves his lightweight title shot against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136.