MMA: The Best Fighter from Each Country

One day, I'd like to see a series of pie graphs of every pro sport's athletes by nationality. I know basketball would look pretty good. Soccer would look great. Golf, surprisingly, might look OK. Hockey would look like a Mercedes-Benz hood ornament. American football would look, you know, like a circle, with a tiny sliver carved out for Samoa. Someone a lot less lazy than me should really get on that.

I bet MMA would rank right up there with the most diverse. For evidence, one need look no further than UFC 144, coming to you Saturday night from Saitama Super Arena in Japan and featuring fighters from seven different countries on its 12-fight card.

For further evidence, just take a look at this list, which ticks off the best fighters from 25 of the planet's most MMA-happy nations. 

Now, of course, I realize there are more than 25 countries that can claim pro fighters or an interest in fighting. So please save comments like"BROWHATABOUTSOANDSOFROMNORTHERNBRAMBLEFRAGHESTHETEATSBRO." If you want to make those sorts of observations, fine. But they must be delivered by carrier pigeon.

But really, how did I narrow it down. I picked countries with more than one fighter currently aligned with a major promotion (UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, DREAM, BAMMA, ONE FC, Shooto and M-1 Global) or that generally appear to incorporate combat sports and similar pursuits into their sporting cultures. Or both. 

Just try to relax and enjoy it. It's what a true global citizen would do. Fighters appear in alphabetical order by country.

Armenia: Gegard Mousasi

Strikeforce's recovering phenom lives and trains in the Netherlands (and hopes to represent them in the Olympics). But because he was born to Armenian parents, he makes the list under that banner.

Australia: George Sotiropoulos

He's dropped two straight, yes, but the lightweight submission artist from down under still sports a 14-4 pro record.

Kyle Noke is another good candidate at 19-5-1, but he lacks a resume win in the UFC. Mark Hunt could take a big step forward by beating Cheick Kongo this Saturday; that would get him back over .500 for the first time in a while.

Belarus: Vladimir Matyushenko

The durable Janitor is still pushing his mop at age 41, and has faced (and, in some cases, beaten) many of the world's best heavyweights and light heavyweights.

Andrei Arlovski probably had this locked up until about spring 2010. A November win over Travis Fulton is mightily impressive, but won't get him back to the top. 

Brazil: Anderson Silva

When you're talking about the best Brazilian fighter, it's hard to pick just one.

But on the other hand...duh.

Canada: Georges St-Pierre

Another duh. I'd say it's pretty safe to grant this distinction to the greatest welterweight of all time.

Croatia: Igor Pokrajac

At 24-8 (3-3 UFC), he's taken this mantle from the legendary and soon-to-retire Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. And by the looks of it, he's taken part of the shorts as well.

Though not as decorated or celebrated as his hall-of-fame friend, countryman and former training partner, Pokrajac is surging in the UFC. Most recently, he knocked out Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 140. He's scheduled to welcome Thiago Silva back to the Octagon at UFC on Fuel TV 3 in May.

Cuba: Hector Lombard

The Cuban-born wrecking machine hasn't lost in more than five years. Check out the video, which I'm excited to report I can post without getting in trouble. 

Denmark: Martin Kampmann

The kickboxing Dane (18-5, 9-4 UFC) faces Thiago Alves in March. 

France: Cheick Kongo

Native Parisian Kongo goes for his third straight win this Saturday against Hunt.

Germany: Dennis Siver

The compact and ill-tempered kickboxer, born in Russia, but now a longtime resident of Germany, won four straight before losing to Donald Cerrone. He has four post-fight bonuses in his UFC career.  

Haiti: Yves Jabouin

Jabouin (17-7) just edges out Ovince St. Preux. For now.

Iran: Kamal Shalorus

"The Prince of Persia" now lives in Texas and tried out for the Olympics as a British citizen, but was born and raised in Northern Iran. The powerful wrestler is 7-2-2 in his MMA career, and still seeking his first UFC victory.

Japan: Shinya Aoki

This is a close one.

Not too long ago, Norifumi Yamamoto or Takanori Gomi would have been easy picks here. Hatsu Hioki, 28 years old and with as many UFC victories as the other three combined (one, if you're wondering), also has a strong case. 

But based on the skill sets as they stand today, I believe the smart money is on Aoki, who sports a 30-5 (1) record and the DREAM lightweight belt around his waist.

Netherlands: Alistair Overeem

Born in London, but a longtime Netherlands denizen, The Reem is at the absolute height of his powers. 

Norway: Joachim Hansen

The former DREAM and Shooto champ at 155 pounds, Hansen has fallen on hard times of late. He's 3-4 in his last seven, though he's still 22-11-1 overall. He easily outpaces countryman John-Olav Einemo, who has yet to convert his MMA potential into anything remotely kinetic.

Philippines: Mark Munoz

All right...time to dip into the well of Random Internet Pictures of Mark Munoz in a Grain Elevator. It's a good day already.

Even though he was born in Japan and moved to America as a small child, I'll give this to Munoz anyway. Munoz's parents are both Filipino, and he clearly takes pride in that heritage. He is the self-styled "Filipino Wrecking Machine," after all.

If you're looking for a native Filipino, look no farther than ONE Fighting Championship's Eduard Folyang, a Wushu wiz who is 11-1 and riding a six-fight win streak.

Poland: Bart Palaszewski

The 36-14 Bartimus beats out fellow Polish-born North American and consonant fan Krzysztof Soszynski.

Russia: Alexander Shlemenko

Move over, Fedor.

With "The Last Emperor" past his prime, this field is suddenly wide open. Recent Bellator tourney winner and brawler nonpareil Shlemenko is 44-7 and holds the title for now. He could hold it even longer if he can find a way to take Hector Lombard's middleweight title in March. 

Breathing down his neck, among others, are the Siberian Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, 15-1 and himself a recent Bellator signee, and fearsome lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is 17-0 all-time and 1-0 in the UFC after choking out Kamal Shalorus in his January debut.

Slovakia: Attila Vegh

Bellator recently signed Vegh (24-4-2) to fight in their next light heavyweight tournament. Nineteen of his victories have been stoppages.

South Africa: Neil Grove

He may not win a date with Junior dos Santos anytime soon, but the heavyweight still notches a respectable 11-5-1 pro MMA record.

South Korea: Dong-Hyun Kim

All the underrated "Stun Gun" (15-1-1-1, 6-1-1 UFC) does is win. He's getting better, too; a thorough victory over Sean Pierson at UFC 141 revealed a dynamic and much-improved standup game.

Dong's only UFC loss to date came to some guy from New Mexico named Carlos Condit.

Other South Korean notables include Dongi Yang (10-2, 1-2 UFC) and Mister Twister himself Chan-Sung Jung (12-3, 2-0 UFC). 

Sweden: Alexander Gustafsson

At 13-1 and still only 25, "The Mauler" could be the next big contender at light heavyweight. A scheduled April tilt with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will go a long way toward sorting that out.

Thailand: Yodsanan Sityodtong

The ONE FC bantamweight is only 1-0 so far in MMA. But the former WBA super featherweight champ is generally considered the best boxer Thailand has ever produced. I'm no Greg Jackson, but my instinct tells me that pedigree might help him in mixed martial arts.

Sityodtong is also fairly good at Muay Thai, which I think I heard once can also be converted pretty well for the MMA stage.

United Kingdom: Michael Bisping

By my count, there are 17 U.K. fighters currently in the UFC. That's more than all other countries except the United States, Brazil and Canada.

With guys like Ross Pearson, Paul Sass and John Hathaway ascending the Octagonal ladder, and with Bisping's pervading, eh, epidermal thickness deficiencies, I was tempted to throw a curveball here.

But as of right now, it simply isn't justifiable. The Count (22-4, 12-4 UFC) stands alone among British fighters. Even BAMMA middleweight champ Tom "Kong" Watson (14-4) can't match the resume of Mr. Wolfslair. 

United States: Jon Jones

Despite a wide selection pool, this choice is pretty easy once you're down to brass tacks.

Until a time when someone can clearly win even one round with the light heavyweight champ, he's America's best in my book. And it's not particularly close.