The 10 Most Dubious Records in MMA

There are so many ways to end up on the wrong end of the record books. Then again, a record is a record. Just ask the beard of bees guy.

If you're one of those people who believes records are like publicity—i.e., there's no such thing as a bad one—then prepare to tip your cap to those holding the following 10 records. They're dubious, they're infamous and now they've got their very own slideshow.

Did I miss a particularly good—er, bad one? Feel free to shout it out in the comments.  

10. Most Losses in MMA

If you've never heard of Shannon Ritch before, get ready to. He's the Michael Jordan of dubious MMA records.

According to the website MMA Wiz, the Cannon is king of this category, with a whopping 88 losses. That's a pretty high number.

 

(Photo credit: Five Knuckles.com)

9. Most Losses by Knockout

According to Five Knuckles, which keeps an excellent records database, Kazuo Takahasi and James Thompson are tied with eight KO losses apiece.

Thompson, though, takes home this hardware for having a slight edge in percentage, with his eight KOs accounting for 57 percent of his 14 losses.

8. Most Losses by TKO

That Ritch guy again. He holds the overall record with 18 TKO losses. Paul Jenkins is second with 15. Why do the bruisers always seem to have the weakest chins? Jenkins has 16 wins by TKO and his nickname is "Hands of Stone." How about "Jaws of Cheese"?

Neither of these men is the percentage king, though. That honor goes to Henry Miller (pictured), who fought in Pancrase, Cage Rage and even Pride, among other promotions, and suffered seven of 11 losses by TKO, for a 64 percent clip.

7. Most Losses by Submission

Another potential Shannon Ritch slide; he has the most with a whopping 53 submission losses. He's like the anti-Travis Fulton (though the uber-prolific Fulton himself has tapped on 25 occasions, good for second place all time).

But instead of giving this to Ritch, I'll give the nod to one Brandon Olsen. All 10 of his career losses came by submission. Here he is squaring off and looking stoned against Hermes Franca.

6. Most Losses by Decision

Shonie Carter. Yep, he of the spinning backfist has a record 17 decision losses. 

5. Most Draws

Apropos to the category, it's a four-way tie.

Travis Fulton, former Pancrase champ Keiichiro Yamamiya (pictured), Takuya Wada and Naoki Matsushita all have 10 career draws.

4. Oldest Fighter

Photo credit: Sherdog

Actually, this one's pretty cool. So maybe it's just dubious in the sense that it's weird.

In 2010, at the nose-tinglingly ripe age of 70, John Williams took a sanctioned fight with Larry Brubaker through Canda's Elite 1 MMA promotion. And not only that, but he knocked the dude out.

(Slide update: "Judo" Gene Lebell was originally listed here. And though he's listed here as the sport's oldest active fighter, he didn't appear to have recently taken a sanctioned fight. So, yeah. I changed it.)

3. Most Losses by DQ

MMA Wiz says it's not Gilbert Yvel. WHA?!?!?!

They do have him in the second spot, however, so the world still makes some sense.

In their top spot is Nick Tyree with four DQs. But you know what? I checked into that, and some of those were amateur fights.

So never mind. I'm bestowing this distinction on Mr. Yvel, its rightful owner. Order: restored. Sorry for the false alarm.

2. Worst Record for a UFC Champion

Former heavyweight champ Maurice Smith finished his career 12-13 overall and 4-3 in the Octagon.

If you're talking tournaments, it's the immortal Steve Jennum, who finished 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the UFC. 

 

(Photo credit: Susumu)

1. General Futility

We've covered total losses and losses by different methods. But who holds the record for the longest losing streak? What about the worst overall winning percentage? In other words, who is truly MMA's biggest loser?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Kenneth Allen.

Allen, a welterweight, has been in the game since 2005. And he's still around today, having fought most recently just last month. He's tangled with big names like Jake Ellenberger, Nik Lentz and Paul Bradley.

His record? 1-31.

He is currently riding a 19-fight losing streak—and counting. That, by my estimation, is a record. His 3.2 win percentage is also a record, at least among those with substantial experience.

Bend the knee to The King of Dubiosity.