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