Top MMA Fighters in the World

Mixed martial arts is a full face to face, fist to fist type sport. MMA allows plenty of ideas and techniques of fighting styles. Modern martial arts fighting started in the United States in nineteen ninety-three. Initially based on finding the most effective martial arts for real, actual combat situations. Competitors of various arts like Ultimate Fighting Competition and boxing for example were pitted against each other with minimal rules for safety. Mixed Martial Arts, the name actually came from the developer of the rules, Jeff Blatnick who was a former wrestler and Olympic gold medalist. With this being said, this has become thee biggest fighting sport on television! With it's intensity, and the chanting. It's very, "pull you in" type of sport.

Some of the Worlds top mixed martial arts fighters are very well-known now that the sport itself is getting bigger and bigger. Its possible to even order the fights on pay per view. Here are some of the worlds well-known mixed martial arts fighters...

Starting with Georges St-Pierre who is five foot, ten inches. Weighs one-hundred and seventy pounds and has a reach of seventy-six inches. He was born on May nineteenth, 1981 who is often called and referred to as "GSP" is top in the World right now with his mixed martial arts talent. St-Pierre is Canadian born. Currently, he holds the Welterweight Champion and is top three ranked for the "pound for pound" in the MMA.

Georges St-Pierre won his first amateur fight when he was only sixteen years old. He had been watching Royce Gracie since he was younger and had always wanted to fight like him. After a few more knockouts, St-Pierre then joined the UFC and was great at what he did. He learned ground rules, and how to really fight like a champ and did just that.

St-Pierre was holder of many championships and record holder of many fights. One of many memorable ones would have to be the fight between him and Matt Hughes. St-Pierre have had previous encounters of shared words with one another of things that Georges St-Pierre apparently said about him so St-Pierre asked Hughes for a match. Not too long after, that's what he got. The fight was almost stopped near the end of the first round when St-Pierre put Hughes to the mat with a superman punch and left hook, but Hughes managed to survive the first round. In the second round, St-Pierre won the fight with a technical knockout after a left kick to Hughes' head. After the fight, on January 30, 2007, St-Pierre signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC.

Georges St-Pierre's career is long from being over. He is now 18 wins and two losses and he is basically just beginning. His most recent win was against B.J. Penn and won in the fourth round. St-Pierre was voted Canadian Athlete of the Year. Another accomplishment from Georges would be on March 19th, 2009 he was the very first MMA fighter to ever be sponsored by Gatorade.

Fedor Emelianenko is ranked second in the Worlds top fifteen MMA fighters. His stats read that he is six foot even and weighs two-hundred and thirty pounds. His reach is seventy-four inches. He is Russian born and his styles are Judo and Boxing. Fedor is currently the last Pride heavyweight Champion, and the Russian Heavyweight champion. He has been considered the best Heavyweight champion by companies such as ESPN, Inside MMA, and The Fight Network.

Fedor Emelianenko has taken special attention to grappling, kick boxing, and actual boxing. He trains two to three times daily to keep up the ability to fight as well as he does. He does the most he can in a day to keep from being lazy. Being ranked Second in the World is a huge accomplishment, and in order to keep the accomplishment he has to keep up the ability to fight, and win his matches. Fedor is 30 wins and only one loss. Despite his injuries of his hands, and his toe he is a great fighter and wins most of his matches.

Emelianenko's most recent win was January 24th of 2009 to Andrei Arlovski in the first round by a wicked right hook. His career is going to keep up.

Anderson Silva is six foot, two inches and weighs one-hundred and eighty-five pounds. His reach is seventy-seven inches long. Silva is ranked third in the worlds top fifteen in the MMA. Silva holds the record for the most consecutive wins in the MMA. He has fought in more then just the UFC and Cage Rage. He has been in numerous MMA promos.

Anderson Silva started out doing martial arts when he was fourteen years old. Starting out doing Tae Kwon Do, by the time he was eighteen he had earned his black belt, finally. He also holds a black belt in Judo. He was the Shooto Middleweight Champion, and in 2002 Silva began fighting for Pride, and won matches with them.

In a recent interview, Anderson Silva was interviewed and was asked if he was to retire, he mentioned that he had done all that he could, and has showed all he could show so he would be set to retire from MMA in 2009 sometime. But, since on the contract he was to fight six more fights, he is to fight those contracted fights before he can retire from martial arts. Anderson Silva will star in "Never Surrender" A Lions Gate film in 2009.

B.J. Penn stands five foot, nine inches. He weighs one-hundred and fifty-five pounds and his reach is seventy inches flat. Penn is currently the American Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion. In the year 2000 he became the first American born citizen to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Champion in the black-belt. He was also The UFC 5 reality show host. He became the second person ever to receive two different UFC titles in two different weight classes.

B.J. Penn first made his MMA career a lifestyle when he went up against Joey Gilbert at UFC 31, and won. Then as he was developing into the mean mixed martial artist fighter that he is today, he began throwing harder, kicking faster, and deeper throws. Penn won his first actual championship in the year 2004 at UFC 46. He put himself up a few weight classes to challenge the five-time defending UFC Welterweight Champ, Matt Hughes. To Hughes' surprise, Penn won. Four minutes into the first round with twenty some odd seconds left. Hughes had to quit. More wins to come.

A little while after B.J. Penn beat Hughes, he joined the Japanese FEG in 2004 but then rejoined the UFC in the year 2006. Penn's debut match he lost against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 58. An upset to Penn, but he kept pushing to make himself a better fighter. Ranked fourth in the world in mixed martial arts now, he has sure made much, much more improvement. Some ups and downs in his career like allegedly hitting a police officer outside of a nightclub in the year 2007, to along with other fighters, Penn will star in the upcoming movie "Never Surrender" in 2009. As of now, B.J Penn has had nineteen matches in the MMA of those, he has lost five, and won thirteen and has had one draw.

Fifth ranked in the World, Randy Couture stands six feet and one inch tall and weighs two-hundred and twenty pounds. He has an arm reach of seventy-five inches. Randy Couture's style of fighting is wrestling. He has picked up a few nicknames over the years, one being "The Natural" second being "Captain America". Being an American actor, a wrestler, a mixed martial artist, and a collegiate wrestler he has had plenty of time to set goals for himself for where else he wants to go in life.

Couture won his first heavyweight championship when he first joined the UFC, joining UFC13 in 1997. He was put up against American kick boxer, Maurice Smith. Couture didn't hold this heavyweight title for very long though when he could not come to terms with the contract that he had signed. He then joined the rings in Japan in 1998. In 2000 he re-joined the UFC to gain back the heavyweight title. He did.

Some of Randy Couture's more notable accomplishments being; UFC13 heavyweight champion, he was a two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion, a three-time UFC heavyweight champion, Randy is in the UFC hall of fame. He is the first six time champion in the history of the UFC. Couture is the first to hold both, heavyweight and lightweight championships-ever. Also, he is the first to ever win a title after being inducted into the hall of fame. Randy Couture is sixteen wins, and nine losses to this day.

Forrest Griffin is ranked sixth in the World.He is six feet and three inches tall, weighing two-hundred and five pounds. Griffin has a reach of seventy-seven inches. Before Forrest even began thinking of joining the UFC, he joined the law enforcement in Georgia and worked out at the HardCore gym in Athens. After five or so years, he decided to leave the police/security department to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Forrest Griffin was a light weight champion after defeating Quinton Jackson in Ultimate Fighting Championship 86. Both of which were coaches on the Spike TV series Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest. Between the two, Forrest and Jackson-Forrest beat a well-composed opponent. Jackson's coach was very unhappy and gave out threats but, it was a fair fight and Griffin won tremendously in the second and final round.

Griffin lost the light weight champion title after being matched up against Rashad Evans who Forrest had almost beat throughout the first two rounds but lost it in the third round, including breaking his hand. This would be Griffin's third loss since even entering the UFC.

Forrest was the cover page of UFC 2009 undisputed, he holds "fight of the year" 2005 against Stephan Bonnar, 2006 matched up with Tito Ortiz and for 2008, challenger being Quinton Jackson. Griffin's record is now sixteen wins and five losses. Three wins by knockout, seven by submission and the other five-losses.

Holding the Seventh ranked position in the World right now for Ultimate Fighting Champions is Urijah Faber. The California native stands five foot six inches, and weighs a near one-hundred and fourty-five pounds. Faber's personal style is collegiate boxing. He made his first MMA debut November 12th, 2003 when he was matched against Jay Valencia where he won by a strong choke hold. One month after his previous fight, he fought again. This time Eben Kaneshiro was the challenger. Faber defeated him, earning the title of the KOTC belt Bantamweight championship, which he has defended three to four times.

Faber is very much looked up upon for his ability and stamina to fight standing up and on the ground. This mostly comes from his background in collegiate boxing in high school and in college when he, his sophomore year earned a scholarship to rejoin the wrestling team in college. He went to school of the University of California-Davis. Wrestling in college was an advantage. Urijah Faber was thee first all-time win leader of the university and the two-time NCAA division one qualifier.

Urijah is currently fighting as a featherweight in The World Extreme Cage Fighting Org. He held the Featherweight championship for two and a half years until he lost it to Mike Brown at WEC 36 in November, 2008. Prior, he was ranked first in the Nation in Featherweight, right now though he is ranked second in Featherweight.

Chuck Liddell is noted for his incredible take down in the era of mixed martial arts. For him, to knock someone out seems so simple. The beast in Liddell stands up six feet, two inches. He weighs about two-hundred and five pounds and has an incredible reach of seventy-six and a half inches. Arms that long give you an advantage in ways. He is an American-born citizen. His style of fighting would be wrestling.

Starting out his career in the MMA, he started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the HardCore gym in Las Vegas. Chuck made his actual debut UFC fight in 1998 with a victory over the challenger, Noe Hernandez. Liddell started to earn the reputation of being a heavy, hard striker. Not too long after the win over Hernandez, her started winning matches again Tito Ortiz, Kevin Randleman, Victor Belfort and many others over the next few years and throughout his fighting career. In 2002 even, Liddell was considered the number one in the light heavyweight title holder in history.

Like a few other professional MMA fighters, Chuck Liddell began one of the coaches on the Spike TV series, The Ultimate Fighter. Some of Chuck's notable accomplishments include the light heavyweight champion over Randy Couture at UFC 56 in year 2005. Winning by first round knockouts. Retirement was ahead for Chuck Liddell. April 2009 would be his very last fight before retirement. He was twenty one wins, and seven losses. His very last fight was April 18th, 2009.

Quinton Jackson started being involved in UFC mixed martial arts in 2001. Jackson is six foot, and one inch tall weighing two-hundred and five pounds. He has a reach of seventy-three inches. He is American-born, and thirty years old. His fighting style is boxing and wrestling. Jackson was thee former light heavyweight champion but he lost the title to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. By Sherdog, Quinton Jackson is ranked third in the world in his light heavyweight class.

After high school, Quinton planned to go on to a career in wrestling. In his high school years, he was All-state honors. Instead of going to a four-year college, a university more like, Quinton joined a junior college instead of going to pursue a wrestling career right away. Before joining any big scale MMA companies he decided he would do amateur for awhile. He was sure noticed. Having eleven wins and only one loss, he joined Pride in 2001 as a new fighter. He was first matched with Japanese fighter, Kazushi Sakuraba, huge at the time in Pride. Jackson lost. He was determined to keep fighting, but winning.

After a few more fights, and a win against Alexander Otsuka, Jackson was asked back for Pride 17 where again, he won. He was matched up with Otsuka's training partner, Yuki Ishikawa. He went on to fight and win many more fights.

In 2006 Jackson decided it was time to join the UFC. After all of the years of only kickboxing, he needed to join the UFC. He claims that he didn't before only because he was really great friends with Tito Ortiz and they were the same weight class and he did not want to interfere with his accomplishments. Quinton's debut fight with the UFC was at UFC 67 where he knocked out Marvin Eastman. Jackson fought against Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 in 2007 where Jackson landed a nice right hook onto Liddell. Jackson won the light heavyweight title.

Accomplishments are numerous with Quinton Jackson, but few would be having the fight of the year in 2004 vs. Wanderlei Silva. Also having fight of the year in 2008 vs. Forrest Griffin. Quinton Jackson's record is thirty wins, and seven losses.

Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira competes in the heavyweight class in the Ultimate Fighting Champion division. Nicknamed, "Big Nog" is six feet, three inches tall and weighs about two-hundred and fourty-one pounds. He has a reach of seventy-seven inches. He is a Brazilian Native, his style of fighting include Jiu-jitsu, boxing, and judo. In 1999 at the age of twenty-three he earned a black belt for both judo, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. That same year he had his debut fight with David Dodd in World Extreme Fighting 6.

Nogueria was the heavyweight champion for Pride in the years 2001 to 2003. Also, he was a Grand Prix heavyweight finalist. He is the first and the only fighter to ever hold two of these titles, PFC promotion, and UFC promotions. With his accomplishments at Pride, he won matches against former UFC heavyweight title holders, such as Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. 2001 was the year he had actually debuted and fought for Pride, the first three matches he was contracted to, he won. Fighters such as; Gary Goodridge, nicknamed "Big Daddy", Mark Coleman and he was crowned Pride World Heavyweight Champion after the defeat against Heath Herring.

Antonio joined the UFC in the year 2007 when he went and sat with Dana White at Fight Night 9. It was announced he would be coming to the UFC. His debut fight with the UFC was against Heath Herring whom he had fought three times prior to this fight. Nogueira came back with a complete win throughout the struggle of both him and Herring. He had beat him once again.

Awards and notable accomplishments for Nogueira include earning a black belt in Judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Also, King of Kings 2000 winner, he was the very first Pride FC heavyweight champion. Antonio is the UFC Interim heavyweight champion. He was Pride FC 2004 Grand Prix runner-up. Lastly, but much more to come, Antonio is the only fighter to ever hold the UFC and Pride FC Heavyweight championships. He is thirty-one wins, five losses, one draw and one no contests.

Miguel Torres was born in East Chicago, Indiana. He is five foot, and ten inches tall. He weighs one hundred and thirty five pounds.Torres is only twenty-eight years old. Miguel fights for the World Extreme Cage fighting Organization. His fighting style is mostly Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai. In September of 2008, Torres earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. He is ranked number one Bantamweight in the entire World. Also, Pound-for Pound MMA has him ranked as fourth best Pound-for-Pound in the world.

Much of Torres' mixed martial arts career is not recorded because when he would fight it would be in small town bars, and nightclubs in and around the town he lived in. Miguel sought training from well-known fighter and trainer Carlson Gracie Sr. who has trained many champions of the sport. Gracie knew Torres was a great piece of work because Miguel was only one-hundred and thirty-five pounds- therefore no one could beat him. Many places, companies, and even fighters themselves have took up the challenge. Torres rejected the offer to fight in Brazil, and in Japan- he wanted to stay and fight locally.

Torres owns his own training facility to train and teach over 200 students a year. He trains them just as he was trained. The students even compete and fight in some of the same local clubs that Miguel Torres himself used to fight in. The entire building mostly just focuses on Brazilian style jiu-jitsu fighting.

Torres' records state that he has won thirty-seven fights, and has only lost one. Since he was fighting way before records even meant anything to him, he say his wins would be up by twelve more. making him fourty-nine wins, and only one loss. Also, a little fun fat about Miguel Torres, he wears his mullet because his dad did and it was a huge influence to him but his dads was "way better".

Mauricio Rua, nicknamed "Shogun" weighs two hundred and five pounds and is six feet and one inch(es) tall. He has a reach of seventy six inches flat. He boxes, and Muay Thai are specialties. His style of fighting is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rua is only twenty seven years old. He is the winner of 2005's Middleweight Championship for Pride. Its said that Rua's versatility is great. He can change up his style just like that. He has beaten some really big modern mixed martial arts fighters like, Quinton Jackson, Chuck Liddell, and Mark Coleman. Currently, "Shogun" is ranked fifth in the World in the Light Heavyweight championship category.

Mauricio started Brazilian style Jiu-jitsu when he was six years old, and Muay Thai when he was only seven years old. As of the last few years, he is also training now in boxing, and western style-boxing. He was inspired by his older brother at the age of six and wanted to be and train just like he did. He did.

In Rua's first years with Pride, he fought and defeated the first five challengers within the first two rounds. Mauricio is very good at what he does, and all of his different styles help him become less readable. His opponents never know what kind of kick or punch he will throw next which helps him out tremendously. Rua entered Pride a new body in early 2005 coming in weighing a new two-hundred and five pounds as a heavyweight fighter now. His opponent was Quinton Jackson whom he had defeated before. This was for the Grand Prix Tournament. Rua Dominated. Once again.

Mauricio decided in 2007 that he would join the UFC at UFC76 was his debut fight. He was challenged up against Forrest Griffin. Rua gave a huge fight throughout the match but, he couldn't keep up with Griffin. Within the last fifteen seconds of the round, Rua had to tap out. It is said that his cardiovascular wasn't very great for the stamina of an Ultimate Fighting Championship. This was Rua's first loss in the UFC division of mixed martial arts.

Mauricio Rua's record as of April, 2009 stand at eighteen wins, and three losses.

Paulo Filho fights Judo style, he is a Brazilian Native. Standing five feet, eight inches and weighing one-hundred and eighty-five pounds. He is thirty years old and specializes in Brazilian style Jiu-Jitsu. He is a Judo and Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who fights right out of his home state/country, Brazil.

When Filho was signed with Pride, he was the only entrant who was undefeated in the Grand Prix Welterweight Championship. Although he was undefeated, he didn't win the tournament because of an injury that had happened earlier. In the semi-finals of the tournament at Pride13 in 2006 Filho was up against Kazuo Misaki. He defeated him by an armbar. He was forced to withdraw himself from the finals because of a torn membrane in his knee during his fight with Misaki. Some of his most notable fights though include defeating Misaki, Amar Suloev and Murilo Rua.

His highest accomplishments include second place in 1999 for the black belt, Pesado. Another being second place 1998 for the Brown Belt. In 1997 he won first place for a purple belt in Pesdo. Year 2000 he was runner-up in the Brazilian contest for the Pesado black belt. The year before, he was also second place. In 1998 he was first place for the brown belt, in '96 he won the Esadissimo blue belt. Many more accomplishments to come for Paulo Filho. As of late 2008 he is sixteen wins, and one loss.

Lyoto Machida is a Brazilian Native nicknamed "Dragon" who stands six feet, one inch tall, and he weighs two-hundred and five pounds. He has an arm reach of seventy-four inches flat. Machida's style of fighting is Brazilian style Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and Sumo wrestling. Lyoto has never been defeated. He even had a victory over UFC fighter and title holder, Tito Ortiz also other title holders, B.J. Penn and Rich Franklin both Ultimate Fighter Championship fighters. Currently, Lyoto is ranked second and fourth in the World by MMA Weekly and by Sherdog in the Light Heavyweight Championship.

When Machida was in college he met a Japanese professional wrestler by the name of Antonio Inoki. He was also a promoter. Lyoto trained and trained and trained, even taking up Muay Thai in the mixed martial arts field. The media in Japan flew off the walls over Machida, calling and naming him "the second Inoki" He made his mixed martial arts debut in may of 2003, defeating his challenger, Kengo Watanabe. His next few fights he also came out in victories. This made his record show as three wins and zero losses. Machida decided to ditch Inoki's promotions and sign with a United State company, World Fighting Alliance. He would only fight in the United States. In his very first American fight be defeated his component Vernon White.

Lyoto's UFC career started with UFC67 against challenger, Sam Hoger; Machida one once again. Next, his fight at UFC70, he won his match up against David Heath. Shortly after, his next fight was against the Judo practitioner Kazuhiro Nakamura at the UFC76 fight, Machida also won this match.

Machida uses all kinds of training techniques from when he was younger until now to trick his opponents. His sly moves, and his risky moves are very well thought-over. Sometimes though, it is said that his styles are really boring to watch. You become somewhat used to his style. As of now, he is fourteen wins and zero losses throughout his entire mixed martial arts career. Lyoto Machida is only thirty years old.

David Abbott considers himself a pit fighter. He is six feet flat, and he weighs two hundred and eighty five pounds. His style of fighting is from the streets. Throughout the years, "Tank" Abbott has been in and out of the UFC. 2003 to now though, he has stayed. He has never won a UFC title, but he pushes himself to become the stronger man. He has become well-known not for his wins but his power and aggression in the fights. Abbott is noticed for his street fighting styles.

David Abbott's most recent fight was in February of 2009, against Mike Bourke and it was Abbott's first victory in almost four years! David Abbott knocked out Bourke in the first round. It's rumored that Abbott and ken Shamrock will challenge each other very soon. David Abbott just finished his first book, "Before There Were Rules". Talking about before he entered the UFC.

Abbott's accomplishments include in UFC6 he was Clash of the Titans Runner-Up, in 1996, he was the Ultimate Ultimate runner-up. He was voted All American in the wrestling NJCAA. He was also the State Champ in high school for wrestling. David Abbott the rest of his career to keep pushing for the wins. His records are ten wins, and fourteen losses throughout his UFC and all mixed martial arts career.

Don Frye who is nicknamed "The Predator" is fourty-three years old and has been involved in mixed martial arts since UFC 8 and a little while before then. The start of UFC, he was apart of the beginning. He stands six feet, one inches tall, and he weighs two hundred and nineteen pounds. His style of fighting is wrestling. He began wrestling as a freshman at Arizona State University. He was trained on the team by a professional UFC trainer. A year later he transferred schools to Oklahoma State where he ran into another UFC team member.

Don Frye is considered one of "realest" mixed martial arts competitors who has many backgrounds in styles of fighting (etc.) Frye holds a second degree black belt in Judo, and he has a pro boxing record. Frye has become a fan favorite, and he has become very well-known over the years. At UFC10, Frye came and defeated both Mark Hall, and Brian Johnston. While in the final rounds of UFC 10, Frye had to compete against the most anticipated component yet; Mark Coleman. The final rounds, Frye had the tournament handed to Coleman. Don Frye had his first loss in almost seven fights.

Don Frye was apart of Pride, and he was very famous for his boxing career in Japan at the time. At Pride 16, he faced Gilbert Yvel, who would many times gouge at Fryes eyes. Yvel is a Dutch Kickboxer. Throughout the fight, Yvel kept doing the wrong things. Eventually, he was disqualified for punching the referee. Shortly after, in 2002 he was scheduled to go up against his rival, Ken Shamrock. Frye defeated him. They hugged after the match, and their rivalry had ended.

Don Frye is UFC 8 champion, he is 1996's Ultimate Ultimate tournament champion. He is tied for the fastest knockout (eight seconds) with James Irvin in Frye's victory over Houston Alexander. Fryes record to date is nineteen wins, and seven losses.

Gary Goodridge, nicknamed "Big Daddy" has been active in mixed martial arts since 1996. He stands six feet, and one inch tall. Weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds. His style of fighting is kickboxing. His records for kickboxing show that he has won twelve, he has lost eleven, and has had two draws. His mixed martial arts records show that he has won twenty three matches and has lost twenty two. Also, in mixed martial arts, he has had one draw

Goodridge's debut for mixed martial arts was at UFC 8 against Paul Herrera. Goodridge is known for his brutal blowout to Herrera's head during their match. He was knocked out with thirteen seconds left of the match. After this blow, this would lead him to the final round with Don Frye and to a loss.

Goodridge has titles for the year 2006 he was the K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas, he was a finalist. In 2005 he was the World GP in Hawaii champion. Also in 2005, he was the K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas. A finalist once again. In 1997 he was the 1st I.V.C Tournament Champion ever. Also, in 1996 he was thee UFC 8 Tournament finalist. Finally, but noy last to come, he holds the black belt from 3-dan Kuk Sul Won. His records are on going, and all together he has won thirty five matches, in his mixed martial arts career. All together, he has lost fouty one matches. kick boxing, or just mixed martial arts. Gary Goodridge is a MMA, and a kickboxing machine, He is and will be here for awhile. He is Big Daddy after all.

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