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It almost goes without saying that UFC fighters are intimidating. Dedicating the majority of one’s life to being supremely skilled at beating people up does that. That being said, there are certain fighters out there that are that much more menacing than others.
There’s a multitude of reasons a fighter can prove to be especially intimidating. Anything from elite-level wrestling skills to one punch knockout power can send competitors running for the hills.
Other times, the intimidation factor is as much psychological as it is physical. Certain fighters have a degree of focus and intensity that others find unsettling.
In this list, we’ll be taking a look at five UFC fighters, past and present, who no one wanted to fight:
#5. UFC light heavyweight veteran Glover Teixeira
Jan Blachowicz’s next challenger first arrived in the UFC in 2012. He came in with a killer’s reputation owing to his 15-straight victories prior to his debut. Many of these victories had come by way of brutal finishes including 13 TKO/KO wins. Teixeira had not lost a fight since 2005 and was widely touted as the man to finally beat Jon Jones.
Teixeira went 5-0 in the UFC to start with, including submission wins over Kyle Kingsbury and James Te-Huna as well as a round one TKO on Ryan Bader. Sadly for Teixeira, he was unable to fulfill the prophecy of putting an end to Jon Jones’ dominance. ‘Bones’ picked up a unanimous decision victory against the Kajukenbo expert at UFC 172.
In the years since, Teixeira has remained a prominent figure in the light heavyweight division. He currently holds the records for most submission wins and most finishes in UFC light heavyweight history.
#4. Former UFC heavyweight fighter Mark Kerr
This jacked, brain-rattling wrestler was something of a heavyweight boogeyman in the early days of the UFC. Hitting harder than the average high-speed train, it seemed there was no end to the level of punishment Kerr could dish out. This was never more apparent than in his bizarre chin-to-the-eye submission win over Dan Bobish at UFC 14.
Kerr’s dominance was short-lived as, thankfully for the UFC heavyweight division, he jumped ship to PRIDE in 1998. Kerr finished all four of his UFC fights in the first round with extreme efficiency. In doing so, he won back-to-back heavyweight tournaments in the promotion.
Sadly for Kerr, his days as ‘The Smashing Machine’ were ultimately short-lived. He picked up 11 defeats in the second half of his career before bowing out in 2009.
#3. UFC lightweight fighter Islam Makhachev
The most current entry on this list, Islam Makhachev seems set to conduct a hostile takeover of the UFC lightweight division soon. A near perfect wrestler, Makhachev has been grappling since he could walk and trains with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
An accomplished sambo combatant, Makhachev’s ruthless grappling and one-punch knockout power has made him a menace.
Despite being one of the best fighters in the lightweight division, Makhachev is running surprisingly low on top tier opponents. The reason? No one wants a piece of the utter brutality this submission artist is dealing out. At 19-1, Makhachev is the odds-on favorite in his clash with Thiago Moisés later tonight at UFC Vegas 31.
#2. Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov
Given the UFC lightweight king's unfortunate slate of injuries, the argument can be made that the only man who can stop Khabib is Khabib himself. The sambo maestro’s relentless, lightning quick takedowns were both terrifying and near impossible to deal with.
For the many fighters unlucky enough to be grounded by the Dagestani, there were suddenly two things to worry about. The first was what kind of horrible submission hold ‘The Eagle’ might go for. The second was Nurmagomedov’s penchant for punching the faces of his grounded opponents into mush.
With a marathon runner’s cardio and immense pound-for-pound strength, the supremely-skilled Nurmagomedov was simply on another level. His four-round UFC 229 dissection of Conor McGregor remains the most bought pay-per-view in UFC history.
His pillar to post dominance of the lightweight division is already the stuff of MMA legend. At 29-0, Nurmagomedov bowed at the peak of his powers.
#1. Former UFC light heavyweight fighter Anthony Johnson
One of the hardest hitters the UFC has ever seen, Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson’s skull-cracking power was enough to have everyone running. Over the course of his two tenures in the UFC, Johnson racked up a whopping 11 TKO/KO victories. During his time in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, Johnson puts a who’s who of LHW contenders to sleep.
Despite his explosive, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it knockout shots, Johnson simply couldn’t overcome Daniel Cormier. DC managed to finish Johnson not once, but twice at UFC 187 and UFC 210 respectively. Cormier is the only man to have beaten Johnson in the past nine years.
The orthodox stance brawler can now be seen in Bellator, where he recently knocked out José Augusto.
