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#5 Tatsuya Kawajiri
‘The Crusher’ earns his spot on this list for being one of the most feared men in the world at 155lbs and then 145lbs for over a decade. Best known for his powerful top game and ground-and-pound, in his prime Kawajiri could do it all – wrestle with the best of them, strike with even K-1 MAX veterans, and his submission game was pretty tight too – witness his 2011 arm triangle of renowned grappler Joachim Hansen.
He first burst onto the scene as a Lightweight in Shooto in the early 2000’s, and claimed a spot in the top ten back in 2004, when he knocked out the highly rated Vitor Ribeiro to claim the Shooto title.
A transition to PRIDE followed, and although Kawajiri was unable to win the PRIDE title, he became one of their most popular fighters and went to war with the likes of Takanori Gomi and Gilbert Melendez. A move to DREAM in 2008 led to more success as he defeated top-ranked opponents like Josh Thomson and Gesias Cavalcante.
By 2013 it seemed like Kawajiri was destined to be on the list of the greatest fighters to never fight in the UFC, but he surprised everyone by signing with the promotion in 2014. Wins over Sean Soriano, Dennis Siver and Jason Knight followed, but realistically he was past his prime at that point and he was defeated handily by Clay Guida and Dennis Bermudez. Kawajiri is still competing for Rizin, but how much longer he can continue is a question mark.
