Even on a figurative level, carving Mount Rushmore is no easy task. Not because of who you include, but who you omit.
How can you narrow down an entire history to only four faces?
But I suppose if the United States can do it for the history of its presidency, we can do it for mixed martial arts. The goal is not to include every single person who ever made a contribution to the sport. It’s to canonize those who are larger than life and who embody certain things that go beyond the linear narratives of their careers, as illustrious as those might be.
So here are the four people I would carve onto the Mount Rushmore of MMA. As the original sticks to presidents only, this one sticks to fighters only (sorry, Dana). These are the fighters I thought best embodied the sport, its history and its evolution. Since there are no honorable mentions etched in the South Dakota mountainside, I am including no such list here.
Have a different lineup? Fine with me. Feel free to sound off in the comments.
The “heads” are listed in no particular order.