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#4 Frankie Edgar – UFC debut February 3rd, 2007
Frankie Edgar is a genuine UFC legend. The former UFC lightweight champion has competed in three weight classes over his 14-year UFC career, and while he may be slowing down now as he approaches his 40th birthday, he’s never been anything short of competitive.
Edgar made his debut at UFC 67 and arguably stole the show on what was a disappointing event overall. His fight with Tyson Griffin was a back-and-forth war that saw ‘The Answer’ squeeze out a victory. Unsurprisingly, the two were handed the 'Fight of the Night' award.
The native of New Jersey then went onto win five of his next six fights, which was enough for the UFC to hand him a shot at the UFC lightweight title. And in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, Edgar overcame a seemingly invincible champion in BJ Penn to win gold before defeating him for a second time in a rematch.
Two epic fights with Gray Maynard followed before Edgar lost his title to Benson Henderson in early 2012, and following that, he moved down to 145lbs for the first time in his career.
While ‘The Answer’ was not able to claim gold in his new division, wins over the likes of Cub Swanson, Chad Mendes and Urijah Faber marked him out as one of the best featherweights on the planet.
Quite how much longer Edgar can remain relevant in the UFC is anyone’s guess, but regardless, he’ll go down as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time and should be a shoo-in for the promotion’s Hall of Fame at some point.
#3 Clay Guida – UFC debut October 14th, 2006
Renowned as the UFC’s energizer bunny, with a seemingly infinite gas tank, it should hardly come as a surprise that Clay Guida is one of the UFC’s longest-tenured fighters, having been part of the promotion’s roster since October 2006.
Guida turns 40 at the end of 2021, but while his durability isn’t what it once was, he’s still clearly got enough left in the tank to compete at the top level of the UFC; he defeated Michael Johnson as recently as this February.
‘The Carpenter’ was already a highly experienced fighter when he arrived in the UFC in 2006, holding a record of 20-6. And while he followed his UFC debut win with just one win in four, his exciting style meant that he became an instant fan favorite.
Despite competing in both the lightweight and featherweight divisions, picking up wins over fighters like Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz and Rafael dos Anjos, and holding a total of 16 wins in the octagon, Guida has never managed to earn a shot at UFC gold.
However, that hasn’t stopped him from becoming part of the UFC’s Hall of Fame. 2019 saw his legendary 2009 brawl with Diego Sanchez entered into the fight wing of the Hall – giving him arguably his biggest ever achievement.
And with his next fight already scheduled – against Mark Madsen in August – ‘The Carpenter’ could be part of the UFC for a long time yet.
