The 25 Greatest Journeymen in MMA History

We all know who the stars are in MMA. But what about the unsung heroes? The gym rats who had the talent to make it all the way to the biggest stages, but for whom the brightest lights and biggest paychecks were simply not in the cards.

Well, this one's for you, MMA journeyman. These are the sport's 25 most memorable of your kind. The guys who put on the hard hats and came to work each day.

To be more specific, these are guys who have been around for a while and have amassed good records, but aren't quite good enough to consistently live in the elite zip codes of their weight classes. 

25. Alessio Sakara

Weight Class: Middleweight 

Record: 15-8-1

Legionarius is likable (or at least memorable) and talented enough to hold his own against the sport's better fighters. Still, his biggest win came over Thales Leites, and in his last match he lost to up-and-coming Chris Weidman.

So yeah, in other words, quintessential journeyman.

24. Murilo "Ninja" Rua

Weight Class: Middleweight and light heavyweight

Record: 20-12-1

Shogun's big brother has enjoyed a long MMA career, but hasn't matched his sibling's success. Ninja has, by my count, fought in 12 different promotions, but has never set foot inside the Octagon or earned a truly signature victory (unless you want to count Alexander Otsuka, which I don't). 

23. Matt Lindland

Weight Class: Mainly middleweight

Record: 22-9

The Olympic wrestler and the coach of many star fighters has some nice wins in his career, but never found the luck or the skill to take down a big name. The highlight may have been his shot at the UFC middleweight belt back at UFC 37, which he lost to Murilo Bustamante.  

22. Jose Landi-Jons

Weight Class: Welterweight

Record: 27-14

I think I just like to say "Jose Landi-Jons." 

21. Cheick Kongo

Weight Class: Heavyweight

Record: 17-6-2 

This is the slide where everybody goes, "Wait! I beg to differ, sir! Kongo is more of a gatekeeper than a journeyman! PLEASE LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT MMA!"

All right, all right. Just simmer down now. I see the distinction between the two terms, but also don't believe them to be mutually exclusive. I like the marble-cut heavyweight as much as anyone. But the guy beats Matt Mitrione and Pat Barry (barely) and suddenly he's a big deal? Sorry, but I'm not buying it.

Kongo's a journeyman for life.

20. Phil Baroni

Weight Class: Welterweight and middleweight

Record: 14-14

Had some great wins in his career, but could never really sustain the momentum. The 35-year-old New York Bad Ass is still fighting, having dropped a decision to Yoshiyuki Yoshida back in September.

His last fight before that? A win over some guy named Nick Nolte. Sounds about right. 

19. Scott Smith

Weight Classes: Welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight

Record: 17-9-1

Smith may be best known for being on the winning side of one of the greatest comebacks in MMA history, a knockout of Pete Sell in 2006.

True, he was the WEC light heavyweight champ for a time. But it's also true he earned the belt by defeating the immortal Tait Fletcher, then defending it against Justin Levens. That's a journeyman's title run, my friends. Not meant as an insult—I just call them like I see them. 

18. Frank Trigg

Weight Class: Welterweight

Record: 21-9

Like many guys on this list, Trigg's most high-profile opponents also handed him his biggest losses. See Matt Hughes (twice), Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck and so on. 

17. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos

Weight Class: Light heavyweight, welterweight

Record: 18-15

Probably best known for sharing a marriage bed and a nickname with the best female fighter on the planet, Christiane "Cyborg" Santos. 

16. Hideo Tokoro

Weight Class: Bantamweight

Record: 30-24-1

Is it just me, or does it sometimes seem like half the Japanese MMA fighter population are journeymen?

Even so, Tokoro stands out. His win in the 2011 DREAM Bantamweight Grand Prix is a huge feather in his cap, but his near-.500 record over the course of 11 years still screams journeyman. 

15. Heath Herring

Weight Class: Heavyweight

Record: 28-14-0-1

He's been in some memorable fights, most notably a loss to a fledgling Brock Lesnar. But like it or not, he'll always be best known as the owner of one of the sport's most famous no-contests: The Kiss.

Watch and enjoy, as if you haven't already done so 10,000 times.

14. Joe Doerksen

Weight Class: Middleweight

Record: 47-16

Lots of middleweights on this list...not sure why.

In any case, Doerksen has been around the block a time or 12. By my count, he has competed in a crazy 32 different promotions during his nearly 13-year career.

13. Vladimir Matyushenko

Weight Class: Heavyweight and light heavyweight

Record: 26-5

Matyushenko has had a terrific career. But for every big win over guys like Pedro Rizzo or Antonio Rogerio Nogueira there's a loss to a big name like Tito Ortiz or Andrei Arlovski.

It's true that he has some gold on his resume, in the form of the IFL light heavyweight belt, but he earned it over Alex Schoenauer. Granted, it's more gold than I'll ever wear, but it's still not the stuff of true greatness. It's the stuff of goodness.

And that's exactly what journeymen are made of.  

12. Yves Edwards

Weight Class: Lightweight

Record: 41-18-2

The dangerous striker and thug-jitsu progenitor has garnered plenty of success. But he hasn't won more than three in a row since 2005, and has only fought for a title once—a battle for the EliteXC lightweight strap, which he lost to K.J. Noons. 

Most recently, the UFC put him in front of up-and-coming TUF winner Tony Ferguson as a test. Edwards passed the test, in that he tested Ferguson but ultimately lost, which is probably exactly what the brass expected.

11. Jeff Monson

Weight Class: Heavyweight

Record: 43-13

Known as much for his anarchist worldview as for his world-class jiu-jitsu, Monson's recent loss to a fading Fedor Emelianenko may have signaled that "the snowman" is nearing his own professional finish line.

His only fight for a major title ended with a loss to Tim Sylvia back at UFC 65.

10. Ricco Rodriguez

Weight class: Light heavyweight and heavyweight

Record: 48-14

Still at it after all these years, nine years ago Rodriguez defeated Randy Couture for the UFC heavyweight title.

Problem is, he didn't win in the UFC again and was out of the promotion a year later.

Ricco now busies himself fighting no-names in clandestine overseas promotions. 

9. Dennis Hallman

Weight Class: Welterweight and lightweight

Record: 51-14-2-1

The grappler who once out-grappled Matt Hughes has a lot to be proud of, including a recent win over phenom John Makdessi. Nevertheless, he has only fought for a title once, and it was a loss to Jens Pulver at UFC 33. 

8. Gary Goodridge

Weight Class: Heavyweight 

Record: 23-22-1

A professional kick boxer and MMA fighter for 14 years, Goodridge dished out and absorbed a ton of punishment. Goodridge served as a game, but ultimately inadequate, opponent for legends like Fedor Emelianenko, Don Frye, Igor Vovchanchyn and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

All told, Goodridge, who never fought for a belt, was knocked out 10 times in his career. As a sad footnote, Goodridge now suffers from brain damage.

(Photo credit: Susumu) 

7. Kazuyuki Fujita

Weight Class: Heavyweight

Record: 15-9

Talk about absorbing punishment.

The Head fought and lost to some of the greatest names of the PRIDE era, including Fedor, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman and Wanderlei Silva.

6. Leonard Garcia

Weight Class: Lightweight and featherweight

Record: 15-8-1

The crowd-pleasing brawler and subpar secret-keeper would have an even worse record if he hadn't been on the benefiting end of several questionable judges' decisions (see Nam Phan I and George Roop, in particular). 

5. Jason MacDonald

Weight Class: Middleweight 

Record: 25-15

Why is MacDonald so high on this list? After all, he's not really known for much of anything. He wins some, he loses some, he goes home, he comes back. Even his nickname—The Athlete—is not particularly inspiring.

Exactly.

(Photo credit: Cage Today) 

4. Kevin Randleman

Weight Class: Heavyweight and light heavyweight

Record: 17-16

Randleman might be the classic example of the guy most likely to turn up in someone else's highlight reel.

He has fought the best (Liddell, Couture, Emelianenko, Cro Cop and Shogun, to name a few). He even won a UFC title (over Pete Williams). But in the end, he never did enough to shed the journeyman tag.

A four-fight losing streak to end his career only drove the point home even deeper. 

3. Jeremy Horn

Weight Class: Middleweight and light heavyweight

Record: 89-21-5

How do you rack up nearly 90 professional wins and several small-promotion titles but remain unknown outside hardcore fan circles? I don't know, but you could ask Jeremy Horn.

Or, you could ask this guy...  

2. Travis Fulton

Weight Class: Heavyweight 

Record: 247-49-10-1

Good lord! That record defies comprehension.

Tomato cans everywhere, beware. Fulton is 34 now, but showing no signs of slowing down. In 2010 alone, the dude fought 13 times. During that run, he beat Blake Breitsprecher and Anton Tomash twice.

Your move, rest of the world. Your move.

1. Chris Lytle

Weight Class: Welterweight

Record: 31-18-5

To me, Lytle is the ultimate journeyman. He put in the sweat equity, gave the clients (us) what they wanted and came to work each day with a smile on his face.

Lytle never fought for a UFC belt in 14 contests in the Octagon, and only held one title his entire career—the Cage Rage welterweight strap, which he never defended.

But he does have one record that sums up his career: 10 UFC post-fight bonuses. Does that not sum it up? A guy who, win or lose, did what he was supposed to do: put on a freaking show.

And to show that not every journeyman's career has to end with a sad chapter, Lytle went out on top by defeating Dan Hardy in August, taking Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night honors with him.

Hats off to Lights Out, the greatest journeyman in MMA history.