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The UFC has been the leading promotion in MMA for well over a decade now. With that, it stands to reason that most of the greatest fighters in the sport have competed there.
Unfortunately, because the UFC’s dominance of MMA didn’t begin until around 15 years ago, a number of all-time greats only fought in the promotion after their prime was over.
With the lone great who didn’t fight in the octagon, Fedor Emelianenko, retiring this past weekend, it’s worth looking at some of his contemporaries, legends who did fight in the promotion, albeit a little too late.
Here are five legends of MMA who never fought in the UFC during their prime.
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#5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – former interim UFC heavyweight champion
Okay, so it’s fair to say that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira enjoyed more success inside the octagon than some of the other legends who crossed over from rival promotions in the same time period.
‘Minotauro’ joined the UFC in 2007 after a successful run in PRIDE that saw him claim the promotion’s heavyweight title. Hopes were high that he’d repeat the feat in the octagon.
Sure enough, the Brazilian did claim gold in just his second bout with the promotion, submitting Tim Sylvia to win the interim heavyweight title.
However, from that point on, success was short-lived for him. In PRIDE, ‘Minotauro’ was renowned for his durability, but that attribute seemed to have abandoned him in his 2008 bout with Frank Mir. Nogueira was knocked out for the first time in his career, losing his title in the process.
It’s arguable that his career never truly recovered. The Brazilian did win a few more fights, namely beating Randy Couture in a 2009 thriller, but suffered some horrendous losses too.
Most notably, he was knocked out violently by Cain Velasquez and Roy Nelson, and suffered submission losses to Mir and Fabricio Werdum. By the time of his retirement in 2015, he was a shadow of his former self.
Nogueira’s accomplishments in the octagon and in PRIDE meant he was entered into the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2016, but it’s safe to say that had he arrived there in his prime, he could’ve enjoyed far more success.
#4. 'Kid' Yamamoto – former UFC bantamweight contender
Back in 2005, just as the UFC was breaking into the mainstream, most MMA fans considered Japanese star Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto as the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.
A natural 135lber, Kid regularly fought as high as 155 pounds. By the end of 2007, he was 17-1, with his lone loss coming due to a cut. More to the point, he’d beaten far bigger fighters like Caol Uno and Genki Sudo, usually in impressive fashion.
However, in the midst of his prime, a bad knee injury sidelined him for nearly two years between 2007 and 2009.
While he suffered a couple of tricky losses upon his return, his aura as a genuine great still hadn’t left him when he signed with the UFC in early 2011, right as the Japanese MMA scene collapsed altogether.
Despite this – and despite the fact that he was competing at his natural 135 pounds in the octagon – the Japanese star simply couldn’t find success in his new promotion.
He lost to future flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson in his debut, which wasn’t a bad loss by any means. But then, he failed to beat unknowns Darren Uyenoyama and Vaughan Lee before going to a no contest with Roman Salazar.
The bout turned out to be his last in MMA, as he retired soon after and then tragically passed away due to cancer in 2018.
In his prime, though, Kid could well have dominated the bantamweight division, and it’s still a pity that he arrived in the UFC far too late.
#3. Wanderlei Silva – former UFC light heavyweight contender
Widely recognized as one of the greatest 205lbers of all time, Wanderlei Silva pulled off some legendary wins during his lengthy career. He beat the likes of Rampage Jackson, Dan Henderson and Kazushi Sakuraba, usually by using extreme violence.
However, while he had two runs with the UFC during his career, it’s fair to say that neither of them came during his prime.
Silva’s first stint in the octagon came when he was still very young in his career, and this run is mostly remembered for his losses to Vitor Belfort and Tito Ortiz.
From there, he departed for Japan’s PRIDE promotion, and it was there that he became a true legend. He claimed the promotion’s 205-pound title and put together an undefeated run of 20 fights at the weight before finally being defeated by Ricardo Arona in 2005.
However, by the time that the UFC bought PRIDE out and signed ‘The Axe Murderer’ in 2007, he was just about past his best. His durability had begun to wane, as had his speed and reflexes.
He still produced some thrilling moments, namely wins over Keith Jardine and Michael Bisping. Unfortunately, they were outweighed by nasty losses to the likes of Chuck Liddell, Rampage and Chris Leben.
More disappointingly, Silva departed the promotion in 2013 under a black cloud after refusing to submit a drug test.
Had ‘The Axe Murderer’ arrived in the octagon his prime, whether he’d have seen the same success he achieved in PRIDE is up in the air, but he would certainly have put on some classic bouts. As it was, he came slightly too late.
#2. Takanori Gomi – former UFC lightweight contender
When the UFC ran into serious financial issues in the early 2000s, prior to the TUF boom, one thing they did was put the lightweight division on hold for a time.
After Josh Thomson’s fight with Yves Edwards in 2004, UFC fans were not treated to another fight at 155 pounds until two years later, when Edwards returned in 2006.
During that period, Japanese star Takanori Gomi marked himself out as the top 155lber on the planet, claiming gold in PRIDE and beating highly rated foes like Tatsuya Kawajiri and Jens Pulver in the process.
However, as some of the world’s top lightweights began to return to the octagon, ‘The Fireball Kid’ remained in Japan and slowly reached the end of his prime, losing a handful of fights.
By the time he finally made his way stateside in 2010, Gomi was basically a shadow of his former self. While he did produce a couple of flashy moments, namely a big knockout of Tyson Griffin, for the most part, he couldn’t gain any traction.
He lost to the likes of Nate Diaz and Clay Guida, and ended his career with the promotion in 2017 after suffering a devastating five defeats in a row.
Had the UFC hit its boom period a little earlier, it’s likely they could’ve tempted Gomi into the octagon much sooner. Were that the case, he could well have held gold in the promotion, rather than suffering losses to fighters he would easily have beaten in his prime.
#1. Mirko Cro Cop – former UFC heavyweight contender
While it wasn’t obvious at the point in which he signed with the promotion, the best example of a fighter who never competed in the UFC in his prime remains Mirko Cro Cop.
One of the most feared heavyweights in Japan’s PRIDE promotion, Cro Cop defeated the likes of Mark Coleman, Josh Barnett and Wanderlei Silva in the ring, and claimed the 2006 Openweight Grand Prix title in a historic victory.
At the start of 2007, it was announced that he’d signed with the UFC in what was a huge coup for the promotion, which was about to become the most dominant in the world of MMA.
However, after picking up a debut win, Cro Cop was stunned by a head kick from Gabriel Gonzaga and knocked out in violent fashion.
The result was considered a major upset, but it quickly became clear that the Cro Cop of the octagon wasn’t the same Cro Cop who had been dominant in Japan.
He was released from his contract after a poor loss to Cheick Kongo, and a comeback in 2009 didn’t help his reputation, either. He suffered losses to the likes of Junior dos Santos, Frank Mir and Roy Nelson, and ended up heading back to Japan in 2012.
Cro Cop did end his octagon career by avenging his loss to Gonzaga in a one-off return in 2015, but by that point both men were past their primes.
Essentially, had the Croatian arrived in the octagon maybe two years before he actually did, he could’ve seen major success. As it was, he came to the promotion literally as his prime began to end, making him one of the UFC’s all-time busts.
