UFC Pre-Zuffa: The Top 10 Fighters In the UFC Before Dana White Took Over

Time changes, people change, and change is definitely something that the UFC has done a bunch of since 1993, when the first UFC was broadcast live to American audiences on pay-per-view.

They initially started off as a showcase of the various martial arts, but were branded as a form of "human cockfighting" and faced the risk of going out of business before a man named Dana White and two brothers named Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta came in and purchased the UFC.

The end result is an Ultimate Fighting Championship league that eventually developed into the company we all know (and some of us knock) now.

Before the reigns of the Anderson Silvas, the Georges St.-Pierres, the Cain Velasquezes and the BJ Penns, Frankie Edgars and even the Mauricio Ruas of today, there were 10 guys who held their own claims as being dominant at a time in which there was really nothing else besides the UFC.

Without further ado, I will now take the distinct pleasure of introducing to you those 10 men.

Bas Rutten (Honrable Mention)

Why Bas, when he retired due to injury after winning the UFC Heavyweight title?

Watch the video or the Dutch Doctorate in Whoop-Ass, and you'll find out why he gets the honorable mention.

1. Royce Gracie

Yeah right, like it's logical to mention a top 10 of guys that ran game in the pre-Zuffa era of the UFC without Royce Gracie's name being mentioned in the top 10.

I mean, the guy only made using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu a staple of MMA, and he dominated three out of the first four UFC Tournaments--withdrawing from the UFC 3 after scoring "career win by submission No. 8" over Kimo Leopoldo due to exhaustion.

Yeah, doesn't sound like a name that should be mentioned here at all, right?

Sarcasm aside, it really is tough to mention the early days of the UFC without mentioning Royce. His tournament wins at UFCs 1, 2 and 4, or the fact that the UFC was where he won 11 fights all by first-round submission.

He was widely seen as an unstoppable force in the early days of the company, and the fact that his only real loss came in the Zuffa era against Matt Hughes is a solid reflection of his heart and his grit.

2. Ken Shamrock

UFC Superfight Champion, only lost to Dan Severn and Royce Gracie before Zuffa's purchase of the UFC, and didn't suffer a UFC loss until he fought Tito Ortiz for the first time.

I'd say not bad for a guy who never got a hold onto the UFC Light Heavyweight title, yet went on to become WWE Intercontinental Champion.

Plus it didn't hurt that at the time, people feared his submissions as much as they feared Royce Gracie's submissions.

3. Dan Severn

Two UFC Tournaments (UFC 5, UFC Ultimate Ultimate 1995), and he's the last guy in UFC or MMA history to win a belt designed strictly for Superfights: hence, the name "Superfight Champion".

He went on to achieve an impressive record including 97 wins, 16 losses and 7 draws with 60 wins coming by way of submission,15 via KO's and 22 decisions.

Yeah, no way in hell is Severn staying off of this one.

4. Don Frye

A UFC Heavyweight champion Frye was not. But like Gracie, he showed his dominance in three UFC tournaments before the purchase of the company by Zuffa.

In his run with the UFC, his only loss came against Mark Coleman, and he wouldn't suffer a second loss until the bout after his now-legendary war with Yoshihiro Takayama at PRIDE 21.

In the UFC, though, he and his bad-ass mustache hold one of the best UFC stints in the promotion's history at 9-1.

The fact that a win over Gary Goodridge (twice in one career) was a big deal back then is a reflection of how far the UFC has come, and this should not serve to discredit the career of this surefire Hall of Famer.

If you dare to discredit it, his bad-ass stache will find you, grab the back of your head, and deliver some dirty-boxing fury until you say "Damn, that's funky!"

5./6. Randy Couture (Like You Didn't See This One Coming Either Way)

Really speaking, Couture began as more of a prospect before the purchase by Zuffa, but he did make quite the impression before Dana and the Fertittas showed up.

6./5. Mark Coleman

7. Tito Ortiz

The Huntington Beach Bad Ass (and I say "Bad Ass" because he's no longer a boy anymore) did suffer a loss to Frank Shamrock in the pre-Zuffa era of the UFC, but it wasn't Frank Shamrock that walked into UFC 30 as one of the first champions under the Zuffa banner.

All that came about after both Shamrock and Guy Mezger both whooped up on Ortiz in their respective bouts.

After avenging the loss to Mezger and showing us the brash bad ass he was, his next fight was an immediate battle for the UFC Light Heavyweight title against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 25 (or UFC Ultimate Japan 3).

Ortiz achieved victory in a classic bout that saw the man earn a unanimous decision victory, and after a successful UFC 29 defense against Yuki Kondo, he walked into The Battle on The Boardwalk at UFC 30 as the reigning and defending king of the UFC's 205-pound division.

To this day, the only UFC Champion in the pre-Zuffa era to have headlined the first Zuffa-branded UFC show as an already-reigning titleholder is also the man who holds the most consecutive title defenses in the UFC Light Heavyweight division.

To some, it'll be nothing short of surreal if his career ends at UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle against Rogerio Nogueira, but to others, it'll be the end to a rather illustrious, storied and memorable MMA legacy.

8. Frank Shamrock

You know you're a top guy when you not only retire after being unbeaten in the UFC, but you defend your belt four times in the UFC and vacate the belt due to "a lack of competition."

That alone should tell you why Shamrock's UFC run (starting with his UFC debut at UFC: Ultimate Japan and ending with his UFC 22 win over Tito Ortiz) qualifies him for this list.

The man was dominant in his first and only run as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and before Zuffa came along, no other champion at that time could top it.

Tito Ortiz didn't top the reign of The Legend until after the purchase, and before the purchase, Chuck Liddell was just coming up while Randy Couture was dominating at Heavyweight.

Before it was Zuffa that took over, it was Kenny's brace-faced brother that was whooping ass, taking names, and dominating as the Light Heavyweight Champion.

Few champions aside from Ortiz, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn and Anderson Silva have been able to claim the same since The Legend's reign at the top of the 205-pound ladder.

9. Pedro Rizzo

Call Pedro's UFC run a "rollercoaster" because of it being high at times and low at times, but the man was one of the first Brazilian fighters to showcase a significant Muay Thai striking game that few have ever outmatched.

The first person to ever beat Rizzo by form of KO, a form of victory that Rizzo himself has delivered 12 times in his career, was Randy Couture at UFC 34, but that loss came after the purchase.

Before the purchase, the only blemish Rizzo had was a decision loss to Kevin Randleman at UFC 26, but aside from that loss, he had been dominant in his other fights before the purchase and before UFC 30.

Rizzo gets lost in a mix of names from the early days of the UFC, but there's no doubt that even before the purchase, Rizzo was a guy for people to look out for in the UFC and the MMA world.

10. Tank Abbott

Why Tank?

Why NOT Tank?

If anything, Tank deserves a mention just by virtue of the fact that he was one of the first guys that had the "excitement appeal" to him.

In other words, Tank was a brawler, and people who were just getting into the sport easily got into Tank because that was basically his whole fight game every time.

He was one of the first guys that a "casual fan" would pay to watch in action, even if Tank had no real shot to win the fight. That's how much people tended to like him back in the day.

Even when he was losing fights, he never failed to excite the crowds, and the fans never forgot it.

Today, people question his status as an overall fighter, but as far as guys who could attract audiences based on his fighting style, few could do it like Tank Abbott could.