5 legendary former UFC champions who wouldn't cut it today

The world of the UFC is ever-evolving. Often, gameplans and fighting styles that dominate in the octagon one day can look completely outdated the next.

Over the years, the UFC has seen a number of dominant and legendary champions who, in their day, were among the most feared fighters on the planet. But could some of them still cut it today?

The truth is that while some of these fighters will always be renowned for their accomplishments in the octagon and will be revered for years to come yet, if they brought their old skill-sets into a fight today, they’d probably find it hard going.

Here are five former UFC champions who probably couldn’t cut it in the modern era.

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#5. Jens Pulver – former UFC lightweight champion

Jens Pulver's size would make it hard for him to succeed in today's lightweight division

The UFC’s inaugural lightweight champion was Jens Pulver. While his reign has largely been swept under the carpet for reasons unknown, ‘Lil Evil’ was a truly fantastic fighter in his day.

Starting off as a powerful wrestler, Pulver developed one of the sharpest boxing games in MMA at the time. He used this dual attack to defeat his opponents in the octagon.

After claiming the title in a fight with Caol Uno, he went onto defend it successfully twice, becoming the first man to defeat future legend B.J. Penn in the process.

Pulver never lost his title in the octagon, instead preferring to vacate it to move away from the promotion, heading to Japan for some bigger paydays. By the time he returned, he was unfortunately way past his prime and could never regain the traction he once had.

However, could ‘Lil Evil’ still succeed as a top lightweight if he were to enter the UFC today? Unfortunately, it’s doubtful.

On paper, Pulver’s actual skills would probably still translate well to the modern era. After all, the likes of Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler essentially use a similar style to his, with their wrestling being used to back up their heavy hands.

However, in Pulver’s day, weight cutting was not such an art as it is today. ‘Lil Evil’ might’ve won gold in the octagon at 155 pounds, but in reality, he was a tiny lightweight who didn’t need to cut much weight at all.

If the Pulver of 2001 were to appear in the octagon today, he might find some semblance of success as a bantamweight or featherweight. However, the truth is that he would’ve lacked the speed to truly thrive there.

As a lightweight? ‘Lil Evil’ would simply be too small to do well against the physical monsters that fill the division today.

#4. Matt Hughes – former UFC welterweight champion

Despite his legendary accomplishments, Matt Hughes might struggle in the modern UFC

As recently as 2010, before Georges St-Pierre put together nine successful title defenses to usurp his position, Matt Hughes was widely recognized as the greatest welterweight in UFC history.

Hughes claimed the welterweight title twice and defended it successfully on a total of seven occasions. He turned back the challenge of opponents such as Frank Trigg and B.J. Penn.

At his peak, nobody in the 170-pound division could handle his mix of wrestling and brute power. Hughes became renowned for being able to slam his opponents to the ground like ragdolls. He was even praised by the likes of Joe Rogan and Dana White for developing a submission game as deadly as any Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.

However, time moves on and it’s safe to say that even Hughes in his prime would struggle to succeed in the octagon during the current era.

His skills were already beginning to look old-hat in the later stages of his UFC career, even if losses to fighters like Thiago Alves and Josh Koscheck were blamed on him being slightly past his athletic prime.

The truth is that while Hughes’ wrestling was phenomenal in his time, even at his best there’s no way he’d be able to ragdoll current welterweights like Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.

Unlike Hughes, those fighters and the majority of the top welterweights today have also developed a nasty striking game to go with their grappling, something that the legend never quite managed to do.

Hughes at his best was a truly phenomenal champion. Howeverl, if he were to step into the octagon in the current era, it’s likely that his takedowns wouldn’t work quite so well, leaving him a target for the division’s heavier hitters.

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#3. Sean Sherk – former UFC lightweight champion

Former lightweight champion Sean Sherk would be too one-dimensional to succeed in today's UFC

When the UFC brought the lightweight division back from a year or two on ice in 2006, Sean Sherk became the new kingpin of the weight class.

Essentially fighting like a smaller version of then-UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes, Sherk bullied his way to title victories over Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca. He may well have held the title for longer had he not tested positive for banned substances in 2007.

At his best, he possessed a lightning-fast takedown, strong ground-and-pound and he was more than willing to mix it up on the feet with his boxing game, too.

But could ‘The Muscle Shark’ have cut the mustard in the modern lightweight division? If we’re being frank, probably not.

Firstly, while Sherk was heavily muscled by anyone’s standards, he wasn’t exactly the biggest 155lber, standing at just 5’6” and boasting a reach of 67”. We saw B.J. Penn take advantage of this lack of range in their 2008 clash and there’s no doubt that current stars such as Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor would be able to do the same.

Secondly, while Sherk was a fantastic wrestler, he was also a fish out of water if put on his back, as Frankie Edgar discovered in their 2009 clash. Also struggled to avoid submissions, particularly the guillotine choke, at times.

Would Sherk have any success in the current era? It’s possible, particularly given the speed of his takedowns in his prime, but it’s doubtful that he’d make it all the way to the UFC lightweight title.

#2. Tito Ortiz – former UFC light heavyweight champion

Tito Ortiz's failure to evolve would probably cost him in the modern-day UFC

While his accomplishments are often talked down today, largely due to the apparently questionable level of his opposition, it’s hard to deny that Tito Ortiz was one of the most dominant UFC champions of his time.

‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ held the light heavyweight crown from 2000 through to 2003. He made five successful defenses of his title before dropping it to Randy Couture. Even after this, he remained one of the 205-pound division’s more feared fighters, defeating the likes of Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin.

But could Tito, in his prime, have succeeded in the modern era? It’s highly doubtful.

Ortiz’s bread-and-butter was always his wrestling ability. For the most part, his gameplans were simple; he looked to take his opponents down and punish them into submission with a steady diet of elbows, punches and forearm strikes.

However, even in his prime, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ had a hard time with opponents that he couldn’t overpower. Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture both whitewashed him when he found he couldn’t take them down.

It’s probably fair to say that it’s hard to judge Ortiz on his UFC career after 2007, as he suffered a lengthy list of injuries – particularly to his knees, back and neck – that left him with far less explosive athleticism than he once possessed.

Even if you ignore his losses to fighters like Lyoto Machida and Matt Hamill, though, it’s safe to say that Ortiz’s stubborn refusal to switch up his gameplans would stop him from succeeding today.

‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ did possess underrated submission skills and did attempt to tune up his striking, but his straight-ahead approach meant that he often appeared lost if he couldn’t secure a takedown early on.

Therefore, it’s hard to imagine him succeeding against fighters such as Glover Teixeira, Magomed Ankalaev and Jiri Prochazka today.

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#1. Ronda Rousey – former UFC bantamweight champion

Ronda Rousey remains a UFC legend, but whether she would succeed now is up for debate

Despite the fact that her accomplishments have since been surpassed by Amanda Nunes, it’s probably arguable that Ronda Rousey remains the most iconic female champion in UFC history.

Rousey entered the promotion as the Strikeforce bantamweight champion and was awarded the UFC’s version of the title prior to making her first defense against Liz Carmouche. ‘Rowdy’ then went onto defend her crown on a further five occasions, beating the likes of Sara McMann and Cat Zingano.

However, her loss to Holly Holm exposed a pretty major hole in her game: her questionable stand-up. That left her on the shelf for over a year. When she returned, only to have those flaws exposed again by Nunes, she retired and moved to the world of WWE.

Rousey is now clearly past her athletic prime. She’s 35 years old and has started a family. While she continues to compete in professional wrestling, it’s very different to the octagon.

However, could ‘Rowdy’ in her prime have competed in the modern-day UFC? It’s very debatable. On one hand, she comfortably defeated some high-level opponents in her time with the promotion, but on the other, it’s fair to say that the likes of Bethe Correia and Alexis Davis would certainly not be part of today’s top 10.

More importantly, Rousey’s main problem was her one-dimensional nature. Due to her loyalty to coach Edmond Tarverdyan, her stand-up skills lagged behind her stellar grappling. That refusal to evolve would probably see her lose to the likes of Irene Aldana and Julianna Pena today.

Rousey is different to the other fighters on this list in that in her athletic prime, if she’d been more willing to round out her skills, she could still be near the top of the bantamweight division today.

However, if the version we knew from 2015 entered the octagon now, it’s unlikely she’d find the same success she once had.