The 10 most underrated fighters in the UFC have come from many different paths. Some have fallen from the top, while others try to force their way up to contention to no avail.

Despite dominating multiple fights, these fighters are still clawing their way towards respectability.

 

10. Brendan Schaub

Schaub was a beast on the 10th season of The Ultimate Fighter, but after getting KO'd by a previously underrated opponent in Roy Nelson, he lost much of the respect he had gained in the few months on the show.

Schaub calls his lone loss "good for his career," and since then he has proven that. Two lightning-fast KOs later, he is proving to be one of the top young fighters in the heavyweight division.

 

9. Rousimar Palhares

"Toquinho" is known throughout the MMA world for hanging onto a leglock long after his opponent, Tomasz Drwal, tapped. This resulted in a 90-day suspension and gave him the reputation of a dirty fighter. Palhares insists that it is not his personality to attempt to injure an opponent after the fight is over.

Regardless, what is not known about Palhares is his steady climb within the UFC middleweight ladder. He is 4-1 in the UFC, with his lone loss going to the judges against the well-respected Dan Henderson.

 

8. Gray Maynard

The undefeated Gray Maynard is known to be a boring fighter, but he is also known to be a winner. His sharp wrestling gives him the opportunity to keep the fight standing or on the ground at his own will. He almost submitted Roger Huerta with a tight kimura before settling for a split decision victory.

Even more impressive is that he is the only fighter to have beaten the current champion, Frankie Edgar. A win over Kenny Florian at UFC 118 should guarantee him a title shot.

 

7. Gerald Harris

One week ago, Harris was a virtual unknown. After UFC 116, he was on SportsCenter's top 10 plays for his devastating slam that left David Branch begging for a bedtime story to go with his snooze. He's not under the radar anymore. With 10 straight MMA victories (3-0 in the UFC), he won't be on this list for long.

 

6. Johny Hendricks

Despite knocking out TUF champion Amir Sadollah in under 30 seconds and compiling a 3-0 record in the UFC, Hendricks is still being relegated to the undercard. Hopefully a win against Charlie Brenneman will finally get him on the main card where he belongs.

 

5. Junior Dos Santos

Yes, I am aware that the majority of people reading this article know very well how dangerous JDS is, but ask the casual fan about Dos Santos and they'll have no idea who you are talking about. I've learned to never underestimate Roy Nelson, but once Dos Santos takes care of business at UFC 117, the winner of Brock Lesnar-Cain Velasquez could be in for a big surprise.

 

4. Melvin Guillard

With losses to Rich Clementi and Joe Stevenson, 2007 was a tough year for Melvin. Fortunately, Guillard's MMA career experienced a resurgence in 2008, and he has been 5-1 since.

He beat some tough opponents in Dennis Siver and Gleison Tibau and devastated his last opponent, Waylon Lowe, with a knockout kick to the body. His lone loss in that span was against Nate Diaz, in which he was winning the fight until he got caught in a guillotine after getting too aggressive.

Much of his recent improvements have been credited to Melvin's training with Greg Jackson. A win against Jeremy Stephens will pin him as one of the top lightweight contenders.

 

3. Jorge Rivera

Since 2008, Rivera has gone 4-1 in the UFC, which included the complete annihilation of Nate Quarry this past March. Rivera went into that fight as a 2-1 underdog. At age 38, Rivera seems to be getting better with each fight. He's drastically improved his boxing and is gearing for a middleweight run. He faces another striker in Alessio Sakara at UFC 118.

 

2. Dong Hyun Kim

"Stun Gun" is currently 13-0 and holds wins over Matt Brown, TJ Grant, and Amir Sadollah. In his last fight he controlled Sadollah for all three rounds; he may have left the octagon without a scratch. Against Grant he was even more impressive, as he took a unanimous 30-26 decision.

Despite his impressive record, this fourth degree judo black belt flies under the radar with many fight fans. He has a real chance to prove himself as a true welterweight contender if he takes out his next opponent, who is also undefeated, John Hathaway.

 

1. Jon Fitch

Dana White doesn't like him because he won't fight his teammate Josh Koscheck. Many fans don't like him because he has mastered the notoriously uneventful "lay and pray" technique. I like him because he is 20-1 in his last 21 fights with his lone loss to a legend in GSP.

He has beaten a who's who in the UFC welterweight division. Fitch's résumé includes victories over Thiago Alves, Paulo Thiago, Ben Saunders, Diego Sanchez, etc.

His next fight comes in as a rematch against Alves, who he decimated four years ago. Somehow Fitch is the underdog in that fight. Why?

Because he is the most underrated fighter in the UFC.

 

Honorable Mentions: Ricardo Almeida, Dennis Siver, Martin Kampmann, Chris Leben, Joey Beltran