In the first part of this post, found here, we examined which fighters had defeated the most UFC champions in their careers. Such a list raises more questions than it answers. One of the most natural questions to ask about such a list is “What happens if you account for Pride champions as well?”
The amended list is below. A complete list of Pride champions can be found here.
Matt Hughes and Kazushi Sakuraba topped the initial list for the most victories over UFC champions. Including Pride Champions creates an incredible logjam at the top, with six fighters tied with seven total victories over champions. Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell both jump from six to seven wins by virtue of defeating Pride MW champion Wanderlei Silva. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s victory over Randy Couture at UFC 102 and his victory over Mirko Filipovic at Pride Final Conflict 2003 move him from five wins to seven. Dan Henderson also jumps from five wins to seven by virtue of his wins over Kazuo Misaki and Wanderlei Silva.
How much is a victory over a champion worth? Clearly, some wins are more valuable than others. For instance, Dan Severn defeated future UFC champion Forrest Griffin in Griffin’s first professional MMA fight. This victory came before Griffin had matured as a fighter and is clearly not as important as Rashad Evans’ victory over the #1 ranked Griffin while he was champion. What happens if we remove the victories over champions that came before they won their championships? In this list, only victories over current or past UFC and Pride champions count, not future champions.
Under these rules, Chuck Liddell and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira have the most victories over current or former UFC and Pride Champions. The lists contain mostly the same fighters at the top, although significantly rearranged.
Check back next week for part three and the conclusion to this series.
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