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.
| No. of wins | Fighter | UFC Champions Defeated | Pride Champions Defeated |
| 7 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Carlos Newton, Royce Gracie, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Quinton Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Ken Shamrock | – |
| 7 | Matt Hughes | David Menne, Carlos Newton, Royce Gracie, Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Sean Sherk, Matt Serra | – |
| 7 | Tito Ortiz | Ken Shamrock, Forrest Griffin, Evan Tanner, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Jerry Bohlander | Wanderlei Silva |
| 7 | Chuck Liddell | Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante, Guy Mezger, Kevin Randleman, Randy Couture | Wanderlei Silva |
| 7 | Dan Henderson | Rich Franklin, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Carlos Newton, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort | Wanderlei Silva, Kazuo Misaki |
| 7 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez, Dan Henderson | Mirko Filipovic |
| 6 | Fedor Emelianenko | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman | Mirko Filipovic |
| 6 | Randy Couture | Kevin Randleman, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith | – |
| 5 | Pedro Rizzo | Ricco Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman | – |
| 5 | Mirko Filipovic | Kazushi Sakuraba, Kevin Randleman, Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman | Wanderlei Silva |
| 5 | Quinton Jackson | Chuck Liddell, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Dan Henderson | Wanderlei Silva |
| 5 | Renzo Gracie | Oleg Taktarov, Maurice Smith, Pat Miletich, Carlos Newton, Frank Shamrock | – |
| 5 | BJ Penn | Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jens Pulver, Matt Serra | Takanori Gomi |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida | Tito Ortiz, Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Rashad Evans | – |
| 4 | Georges St. Pierre | BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Sean Sherk | – |
| 4 | Kiyoshi Tamura | Maurice Smith, David Menne, Patt Miletich, Kazushi Sakuraba | – |
| 4 | Bas Rutten | Kevin Randleman, Frank Shamrock, Guy Mezger, Maurice Smith | – |
| 4 | Wanderlei Silva | Quntion Jackson, Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Henderson | – |
| 4 | Masakatsu Funaki | Frank Shamrock, Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Guy Mezger | – |
| 4 | Mauricio Rua | Quinton Jackson, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell | – |
| 4 | Anderson Silva | Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, Carlos Newton, Forrest Griffin | – |
| 4 | Ricardo Arona | Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger | Wanderlei Silva |
| 3 | Ken Shamrock | Bas Rutten, Dan Severn, Maurice Smith | – |
| 3 | Josh Barnett | Dan Severn, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Randy Couture | – |
| 3 | Royce Gracie | Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock, Kazushi Sakuraba | – |
| 3 | Frank Shamrock | Bas Rutten, Tito Ortiz, Kevin Jackson | – |
| 3 | Dan Severn | Ken Shamrock, Forrest Griffin, Oleg Taktarov | – |
| 3 | Frank Mir | Tim Sylvia, Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | – |
| 3 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger | – |
| 3 | Gary Goodridge | Don Frye, Jerry Bohlander, Oleg Taktarov | – |
| 3 | Minoru Suzuki | Maurice Smith, Ken Shamrock, Guy Metzger | – |
| 3 | Rich Franklin | Evan Tanner, Ken Shamrock | Wanderlei Silva |
| 3 | Mark Coleman | Don Frye, Dan Severn | Mauricio Rua |
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.
| No. of wins | Fighter | UFC Champions Defeated | Pride Champions Defeated |
| 6 | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira | Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Ricco Rodriguez, Dan Henderson | – |
| 6 | Chuck Liddell | Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Kevin Randleman, Randy Couture | Wanderlei Silva |
| 5 | Fedor Emelianenko | Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman | – |
| 5 | Kazushi Sakuraba | Royce Gracie, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Kevin Randleman, Ken Shamrock | – |
| 5 | Randy Couture | Kevin Randleman, Tito Ortiz, Tim Sylvia, Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith | – |
| 5 | Renzo Gracie | Oleg Taktarov, Maurice Smith, Pat Miletich, Carlos Newton, Frank Shamrock | – |
| 5 | Mirko Filipovic | Kazushi Sakuraba, Kevin Randleman, Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman | Wanderlei Silva |
| 5 | Quinton Jackson | Chuck Liddell, Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Dan Henderson | Wanderlei Silva |
| 4 | Dan Henderson | Rich Franklin, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort | Wanderlei Silva |
| 4 | Matt Hughes | Carlos Newton, Royce Gracie, BJ Penn, Matt Serra | – |
| 4 | Tito Ortiz | Ken Shamrock, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Jerry Bohlander | – |
| 4 | Ricardo Arona | Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger | Wanderlei Silva |
| 4 | Anderson Silva | Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, Carlos Newton, Forrest Griffin | – |
| 3 | Lyoto Machida | Tito Ortiz, BJ Penn, Rashad Evans | – |
| 3 | Georges St. Pierre | BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra | – |
| 3 | Mauricio Rua | Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell | – |
| 3 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Guy Mezger | – |
| 3 | Josh Barnett | Dan Severn, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Randy Couture | – |
| 3 | Rich Franklin | Evan Tanner, Ken Shamrock | Wanderlei Silva |
| 3 | Mark Coleman | Don Frye, Dan Severn | Mauricio Rua |
| 3 | Pedro Rizzo | Ricco Rodriguez, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman | – |
| 3 | Wanderlei Silva | Guy Mezger, Kazushi Sakuraba, Dan Henderson | – |
| 3 | BJ Penn | Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Jens Pulver | – |
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.