Top 25 UFC Fighters: Pre-Zuffa Edition

There once was a time before Dana White was the president of the UFC, when Lorenzo Fertitta was not the head honcho and where fighters fought multiple times in a single night.

In the early days of the UFC, stars were born, legends were made and legacies were created.

Some of the top names from the first UFC events remain well-known names to this day, and impacted the sport of MMA drastically.

From Royce Gracie to Pedro Rizzo, there are plenty of top fighters from before Zuffa purchased the UFC.

Let's take a look—in no particular order—at the 25 best fighters from before UFC 30.

Royce Gracie

Why not kick the list off with one of the most obvious men who will appear on it?

Royce Gracie dominated the early UFC events, and he won 11 straight fights between UFC 1 and UFC 4, all of which he won by submission.

At UFC 5, he fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock, and didn't appear back in the Octagon until UFC 60, 11 years later.

Gracie still holds the UFC record for most submission victories.

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock was another one of the first men to set foot inside the Octagon, where he competed between UFC 1 and Ultimate Ultimate 1996, during which time he amassed a 5-2-2 record in the UFC.

He started off at UFC 1, where he won his quarterfinal match, and then lost to Royce Gracie in the semis.

He then won two fights on his way to the finals of UFC 3, but pulled out after finding out that he would not be facing Gracie.

He finally got a second crack at Gracie at UFC 5, where they fought to a draw due to lack of judges. 

Dan Severn

Dan Severn made his UFC and MMA debut at UFC 4, where he won his first two fights and then lost to Royce Gracie in the finals.

He came back at UFC 5 and won the tournament, as he finished all three opponents that night.

He then won the Ultimate Ultimate 1995 tournament, and defeated Ken Shamrock for the UFC Superfight Championship five months later.

Severn made two more appearances in the Octagon, losing to Mark Coleman for the heavyweight title and Pedro Rizzo three years later.

Overall, Severn went 9-4 in his UFC career.

Oleg Taktarov

Oleg Taktarov made his UFC debut at UFC 5, where he won his semifinal match, and then lost to Dan Severn in the quarterfinals.

Taktarov came back and won the UFC 6 tournament, submitting all three opponents. He then fought to a draw with Ken Shamrock at UFC 7.

Overall, Taktarov went 6-2-1 in the Octagon, winning five finishes and only being finished once himself.

Marco Ruas

Marco Ruas made his UFC debut at UFC 7, where he won three fights en route to winning the UFC 7 tournament.

Ruas came back at Ultimate Ultimate 1995, where he won his first match, but was then defeated by Oleg Taktarov by decision.

Ruas made one more appearance in the Octagon at UFC 21, where he lost to Maurice Smith by corner stoppage after the first round.

He finished his UFC career at 4-2.

Don Frye

Don Frye made his first appearance at UFC 8, where he finished all three opponents to win the tournament.

He returned at UFC 9, where he won his only fight of the night. Then at UFC 10, he made it to the finals but lost via TKO to Mark Coleman.

Five months later, Frye once again won a UFC tournament, as he won Ultimate Ultimate 1996, where he defeated such names as Tank Abbott and Gary Goodridge.

The win over Abbott—a submission in 1:22—was Frye's last UFC fight.

Mark Coleman

Mark Coleman made his UFC and MMA debut at UFC 10. On that night, he won all three of his fights, including victories over Gary Goodridge and Don Frye in the finals to win the UFC 10 tournament.

Coleman came back at UFC 11 and once again won the tournament.

Then at UFC 12, Coleman won the inaugural heavyweight title which was previously known as the Superfight title.

He lost the title in his first defense against Maurice Smith at UFC 14. He dropped two more in a row after that, a finish to Pete Williams and a decision to Pedro Rizzo.

He fought three more times in the Octagon, at UFC 93, 100 and 109.

Tank Abbott

Tank Abbott made his UFC debut at UFC 6, where he won his first two fights, and then lost to Oleg Taktarov in the finals.

Abbott returned at Ultimate Ultimate 1995, winning his first match and then losing to Dan Severn.

Abbott went 5-5 in his remaining bouts before UFC 30, finishing opponents in four of his five wins and getting finished in four out of five losses.

Abbott also fought Maurice Smith for the heavyweight title, a fight he lost via submission to strikes.

Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort started his UFC career at UFC 12, where he stopped both his opponents due to strikes in a combined two minutes to win the tournament that night.

He came back at UFC 13, where he knocked out Tank Abbott in just 52 seconds. After that win, he faced Randy Couture in a heavyweight title eliminator. Belfort lost that fight by TKO.

Belfort had two more fights in the UFC before UFC 30, at UFC Japan and UFC Brazil, earning a submission victory and the iconic 44-second knockout over Wanderlei Silva, respectively.

Randy Couture

Of course Captain America was going to be on here!

Randy Couture made his UFC debut at UFC 13, where he won both fights that night en route to the tournament title.

At UFC 15, Couture defeated Vitor Belfort and earned his shot at the heavyweight title—a shot that he capitalized on.

Couture defeated Maurice Smith by majority decision, and won the heavyweight title for the first time.

He had one more fight before UFC 30, winning the heavyweight title again, via third round TKO over Kevin Randleman.

Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz made his debut at UFC 13, where he won his first fight and then lost his second via guillotine choke.

Ortiz came back to earn a TKO victory at UFC 18 and again at UFC 19. He then earned a shot at the light heavyweight title against Frank Shamrock, which he lost via fourth round TKO.

However, with the subsequent retirement of Shamrock, Ortiz got a shot at the vacant title against Wanderlei Silva. Ortiz won via unanimous decision.

He defended the title once before the Zuffa purchase, earning a submission victory over Yuki Kondo.

Maurice Smith

Maurice Smith made his UFC debut with an unimpressive record, but was able to get a title shot in his first fight anyways.

At 4-7, Smith won the heavyweight title from Mark Coleman, and even defended it against Tank Abbott.

Smith then lost the title against Randy Couture and dropped a subsequent bout to Kevin Randleman, both by decision.

In three more UFC fights, Smith went 2-1, defeating Marco Ruas and Bobby Hoffman before losing to Renato Sobral.

Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock had a brief UFC career, but it was quite memorable.

Shamrock won the light heavyweight title in his first fight, as he defeated Kevin Jackson via submission in just 16 seconds.

Shamrock then defended the title four times. His first was a KO via slam over Igor Zinoviev, which was followed by a knee bar over Jeremy Horn.

After that came a submission-to-punches victory over John Lober, followed another over Tito Ortiz.

After that, Shamrock retired from MMA due to lack of competition. He fought again—not in the UFC—15 months later.

Pat Miletich

Pat Miletich debuted at UFC 16, where he won a decision and scored a submission that won him the lightweight tournament that night.

Then, at UFC Brazil, Miletich won the welterweight title via split decision over Mikey Burnett. Miletich defended the title at UFC 18, UFC 21, UFC 26 and UFC 29.

With four defenses and three finishes, Miletich was one of the most dominant champions of the early days of the UFC.

Jeremy Horn

Jeremy Horn is one of the most well-traveled fighters in the world, and he has had several important fights in the UFC.

He debuted at UFC 17, where Frank Shamrock submitted him with a knee bar. He returned to the Octagon five months later where he was once again submitted.

Then, at UFC 19, Horn choked out Chuck Liddell with an arm-triangle choke and put him to sleep. Horn won again at UFC 21 and UFC 22, earning a submission victory and a TKO victory, respectively.

His last UFC fight before the Zuffa purchase resulted in a submission over Eugene Jackson at UFC 27.

Kevin Randleman

Kevin Randleman made his UFC debut at UFC 19 against Maurice Smith, a fight he won by unanimous decision.

After that fight, Randleman earned a shot at the heavyweight title against Bas Rutten, which he lost via split decision.

After Rutten vacated the title, Randleman got a second crack at it, and he defeated Pete Williams by unanimous decision.

He defended the title against Pedro Rizzo and then lost it to Randy Couture at UFC 28.

Pedro Rizzo

Pedro Rizzo came into the UFC with a 5-0 record; his first fight was at UFC Brazil against Tank Abbott, who he knocked out to remain unbeaten.

He would earn three more victories—two finishes and a decision over Mark Coleman—before earning a crack at the heavyweight title. He lost the fight against Kevin Randleman via unanimous decision.

Then, at UFC 27, Rizzo defeated Dan Severn by TKO due to leg kicks at 1:33 of the first round.  This was his last fight before the Zuffa purchase.

Bas Rutten

Bas Rutten only had two fights in the UFC, but with those two fights he proved that he was one of the best fighters in the world.

His debut came at UFC 18 against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, which he won via TKO. He then faced Kevin Randleman at UFC 20 and won the heavyweight championship via split decision.

Rutten would be forced to retire afterwards due to training injuries.

Pete Williams

Pete Williams debuted at UFC 17 and earned a highlight-reel head-kick knockout over Mark Coleman. You've probably seen it once or twice.

Williams dropped a decision in his next fight at UFC Brazil. After that, he came back and won two in a row to earn his shot at the vacant heavyweight title against Kevin Randleman.

He lost that fight by unanimous decision, and his next UFC fight was UFC 31, after the Zuffa purchase.

Jens Pulver

Jens Pulver debuted at UFC 22, where he ended up fighting to a draw.

His next UFC fight came at UFC 24, a fight against David Velasquez that he won by second-round TKO.

He followed that up with a decision win over João Roque at UFC 26. His next UFC fight was his most impressive yet, as he knocked out John Lewis in just 15 seconds.

With that win he earned a shot at the lightweight title, a fight which came at UFC 30.

Guy Mezger

Guy Mezger made his UFC debut at UFC 4, where he won his fight via corner stoppage in just over two minutes.

Then, at UFC 5, he earned a TKO victory, once again, in just over two minutes.

He was then out of the Octagon for about two years, but when he returned, he did it triumphantly, as he earned a decision victory and then submitted Tito Ortiz to win the UFC 13 lightweight tournament.

Mezger fought once more in the UFC, at UFC 19, where Tito Ortiz got revenge and earned a TKO victory.

Mark Kerr

Mark Kerr, also known as "The Smashing Machine," made his UFC debut at UFC 14, where he won both his fights in a combined four minutes, and earned the tournament title from UFC 14.

He returned at UFC 15, this time winning both his fights in just over a minute combined, and earned the UFC 15 tournament title. This was Kerr's last fight in the UFC.

Evan Tanner

Evan Tanner debuted in the Octagon at UFC 18, a fight he won by rear-naked choke just under eight minutes into the first round.

He returned at UFC 19 to earn a TKO victory via elbows at 1:58 of the first round.

His next UFC fight was at UFC 29, where he earned another TKO victory, this time at 4:48 of the first round.

That victory catapulted him to his first title shot, which would be against Tito Ortiz at UFC 30. 

Chuck Liddell

Chuck Liddell made his first appearance in the Octagon at UFC 17, a fight that he won via unanimous decision.

His next UFC fight came at UFC 19 where he was choked unconscious by Jeremy Horn at the end of the first round.

Then, at UFC 22, Liddell had his first TKO victory in his career, as he stopped Paul Jones at 3:53 of the first round.

His final fight before the Zuffa purchase was a decision victory over Jeff Monson at UFC 29.

He went on to do some great things in the UFC after that. Maybe you know a few of them.

Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes made his Octagon debut at UFC 22, where he earned a unanimous decision victory.

He returned at UFC 26 and earned a first-round TKO victory at the 4:34 mark.

His final UFC fight before the Zuffa purchase came at UFC 29, where he was submitted in just 20 seconds by Dennis Hallman.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @TimMcTiernan.