They Beat Who? Surprisingly Good Wins from Surprising Fighters

Every so often, you look at a fighter's record and can tell where they stand—due to their record and who they have fought.

Whether they are gatekeepers, contenders or cans, it's not too hard to see how a fighter has performed in their career and their chances of moving up the ladder in whichever promotion that they are in.

Yet sometimes you look at a fighter's record, which may not be so good, you see the name of a fighter that they beat that most would have never given them a chance in hell of beating. This list is an homage to those fighters and their most shining moments.

Erica Paes

MMA Record: 1-1

Who She Beat: Cristiane Santos via double kneebar @ Show Fight 2

We'll start off with a short slide due to the fighter only having two professional fights. Erica Paes may have had a short MMA career (only two fights and her last took place in 2005), but her debut will be something that make people look twice.

She took on another debuting fighter by the name of Cristiane Santos, now widely known as "Cyborg" Santos. The fight would be fairly short at under two minutes when Paes picked up the win after locking Cyborg in a double kneebar.

In her next fight, she would lose by knockout and hasn't been seen since.

Joaquim Ferreira

MMA Record: 11-7

Who He Beat: Junior dos Santos via armbar @ MTL – Final

Known for his crisp striking and his quick win over Cain Velasquez, current Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos has a stellar record for a younger fighter at 14-1. The one loss came earlier in his career when he faced Joaquim Ferreira in 2007 in a rematch from a match earlier that year.

And similar to the way Junior finished Cain in a short amount of time, Joaquim was able to submit Junior with an armbar in just 73 seconds.

Yet, as Junior went on to his career in the UFC, Joaquim bounced between winning and losing streaks, earning a slightly above .500 record.

Matt Serra

MMA Record: 11-7

Who He Beat: Georges St. Pierre via TKO @ UFC 69

Said by many as the greatest upset in MMA history, Matt Serra will be known for his TKO victory over Georges St. Pierre. At 8-4, Matt would become part of the cast for the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter, which not only had a $100,000 contract and Xyience sponsorship, but a guaranteed welterweight title shot.

Going in as a heavy underdog, Serra went for broke and was able to rock GSP and earn the TKO victory.

His scheduled title defense against rival TUF coach Matt Hughes was put on hold after Serra injured his back. Hughes would lose an interim title match against GSP, setting up the rematch between Serra and GSP for the title.

Georges would use a changing technique, which prevented Serra from getting any significant offense, leading to a TKO loss late in the second round.

Afterwards, Serra would lose to Matt Hughes and follow it up with a knockout win over Frank Trigg. He would then lose by unanimous decision to the man he beat in the TUF finals, Chris Lytle.

Since then, many have wondered if Serra has or will retire since the match was in 2010. Serra says that he still has some left in the gas tank, though.

Daiju Takase

MMA Record: 10-13-2

Who He Beat: Anderson Silva via Triangle Choke @ Pride 26

A Pride veteran with 25 pro MMA fights to his credit, Daiju Takase has always seemed to have a problem against quality opponents. But if you were to look at the list of his wins, you would be surprised to see current P4P kingpin Anderson Silva on that list.

In fact, Takase holds the distinction of being the first of two men to have actually finished Silva in a MMA fight.

Carlos Newton

MMA Record: 16-14

Who He Beat: Pat Miletich via bulldog choke @ UFC 31

The inventor of "Dragon Ball Jiu-Jitsu" and former UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton is up next. With a barely over .500 record, Newton has one of the worst records for a former champion.

Yet that doesn't take away from his win over the man who ruled over the welterweight division, Pat Miletich. Even more impressive than the win was that he won using what was basically a schoolyard headlock.

He would then lose infamously to Matt Hughes who slammed Carlos who had Matt trapped in a triangle choke.

Since that win he would go back and forth between wins and losses, ultimately retiring in 2010.

Datsik Viacheslav

MMA Record: 5-11

Who He Beat: Andrei Arlovski via KO @ M-1 MFC World Championship 1999

Known more for his antics outside of the cage and his fighting style, comedy writer and MMA fan Seanbaby likens to "an octopus falling down electrified stairs," Datsik Viacheslav  has an astonishing win for a career that was rather horrible.

In his debut MMA match, Datsik would face off against another fighter making his debut, future UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, in the same situation as the Paes/Santos fight. In the first round, Datsik would end up knocking out Arlovski in just over six minutes.

After that win, he would bounce between wins and losses before going on a six-fight losing streak.

Then Datsik's life would get interesting as he would disappear from public leading to some thinking that he had died. He would prove them wrong by being detained for taking part in the robberies of various cell phone shops in Russia.

After some cuckoo talk concerning Jesus the Mossad agent and how he was the son of Perun, Datsik was sent to a mental institution, from which he eventually escaped.

After a failed attempt to get political asylum in Norway and saying that he was a Nazi, he was eventually deemed sane and then sent to a Norwegian prison before being extradited back to Russia last year.

So it just goes to show, being crazy can help you in MMA fights, just not that much.

Sokoudjou

MMA Record: 12-10

Who He Beat: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira via KO @ Pride 33 and Ricardo Arona via KO @ Pride 34

Next is Sokoudjou, a fighter known for two things despite his mediocre record: his wins over Lil' Nog and Ricardo Arona and for wearing a Predator mask to the Octagon for his match with Lyoto Machida.

Going in to Pride 33, not many people would have given the young fighter, 2-1 at the time, a chance against the lighter Nogueira brother. Yet he shocked the MMA world when he knocked out Nogueira in only 23 seconds. He would follow this up with another knockout victory over Pride star Ricardo Arona.

This would be enough to get him signed to the UFC, where he would debut against fellow rising light heavyweight Lyoto Machida, one of the rare cases where Machida wasn't the favorite going into the match.

Sokoudjou would end up losing by arm-triangle, then win and lose in his next two fights, leading him to be cut from the promotion. Since then he would bounce back and forth between wins and losses, in multiple promotions, never getting more than three wins in a row.

Brandon Vera

MMA Record: 12-5 (1 NC)

Who He Beat: Frank Mir via TKO @ UFC 65

Next is the man who claimed that he would be the first man to hold a title in two different weight classes simultaneously (the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions), Brandon “The Truth” Vera.

In only four professional fights, Vera would win the WEC Heavyweight Title, which would lead to him signing with the UFC. After a couple strong wins, Vera would take on the biggest challenge of his career when he faced former Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir in Mir's third match since his return from a motorcycle accident.

The match was a title eliminator as the winner would face the winner of the Tim Sylvia/Jeff Monson title match that took place the same night. Vera would end up beating the former champ in just over a minute by TKO, giving him the title shot against Sylvia.

Then things went downhill for Vera.

A contract dispute with the UFC would lead to Vera losing his title shot and being replaced by Randy Couture. Vera would return to the Octagon almost a year after the Mir fight to take on the now-former champion Sylvia and lost by unanimous decision.

He would then bounce between wins and losses before going on an almost three fight losing streak where he lost to Randy Couture, Jon Jones and when it happened Thiago Silva. The Silva loss, which caused Vera to be cut form the UFC, was eventually overturned when Silva gave a false urine sample for the drug test. 

Vera was re-signed with the UFC.

Seth Petruzelli

MMA Record: 14-6

Who He Beat: Dan Severn via Unanimous Decision @ King of the Cage 32 and Kimbo Slice via KO @ EliteXC: Heat

If you were ever asked how long does it take to destroy a MMA promotion, the answer would be 14 seconds.

That was how long it took to basically end the Elite XC fight promotion, anchored by internet fight celebrity Kimbo Slice. Playing on that popularity, Elite XC threw buckets of cash at Slice, hoping to make him a mainstream fighter by having him beat a bunch of can fighters.

In partnership with CBS, Elite XC would hold televised events on a Saturday every other month, the third event being Elite XC: Heat.

In the main event, Slice was scheduled to face his first real challenge, UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock. The day of the event though, Shamrock received an injury in training and had to pull out of the fight. A decision was made to have Slice face Petruzelli, who was originally scheduled to face Aaron Rosa in a light heavyweight fight.

The fight ended just as quickly as it started as Petruzelli dropped Slice fourteen seconds in. Having their top-billed fighter lose in such an embarrassing way was problematic enough, an interview Petruzelli gave after the fight on a radio show only made matters worse:

"The promoters kinda hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and throw with him, they didn't want me to take him down. Let's just put it that way. It was worth my while to try and stand up punch him."

Many felt that Elite XC was trying to fix the fight, but Petruzelli would later recant, saying that he was talking about the knockout bonuses given to fighters, nothing illegal. It didn't stop the Florida State Athletic Commission from starting an investigation into the incident.

Though they found no wrongdoing, the damage was already done. Investors fled in droves, spurred on by the investigation as well as the top-billed and highest-paid fighter being defeated so soundly, causing the promotion to declare bankruptcy and cease operations in 2008.

This wouldn't be Petruzelli's only shocking win; prior to the Slice incident, in only his ninth match, he would beat UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn by unanimous decision. Not only was it shocking that he beat Severn, who at the time had over 70 matches, but also he went the distance with Severn, who was known for finishing his opponents.

Yet with his record and the surprising wins that he has, Seth Petruzelli will always be known as the guy who knocked out Kimbo and ended Elite XC.

Houston Alexander

MMA Record: 13-7 (2 NC)

Who He Beat: Keith Jardine via KO @ UFC 71

Up next is light heavyweight slugger Houston Alexander. While his record is rather mediocre, the main reason that he makes the list is his UFC debut against Keith Jardine.

Even though Jardine isn't a top-tier fighter, at one time he was considered one. After his upset win over Forrest Griffin, Jardine was thought by many to be taking a big step up in competition for newcomer Alexander.

Jardine openly voiced his displeasure at fighting what he felt was lesser competition, treating Alexander as a stepping stone. In their match, Jardine rocked Alexander early, only to be leveled by the newcomer in just 49 seconds. The win would get him a three-fight contract with the UFC and a match with Alessio Sakara where he again would win by TKO in 1:01 of the first round.

Houston would then lose his next three fights, including an eight-second KO loss to James Irvin, and then eventually have his last match in the UFC, losing to Kimbo Slice via unanimous decision in a catchweight bout.

Harold Howard

MMA Record: 2-3

Who He Beat: Royce Gracie via Forfeit @ UFC 3

Now this may end up being the most controversial slide in this list as the win has been disputed for quite some time now. Sherdog removed it from their records a couple years back.

Back in UFC 3, Royce Gracie was figured to be a shoe-in to make it to the finals of the third UFC tournament since he had won the first two. Yet he would end up forfeiting in the Octagon due to exhaustion after his prior match with Kimo Leopoldo, giving his opponent Harold Howard the victory and a spot in the finals against Steve Jennum.

If you've never seen Howard, the best way to describe him again comes from Seanbaby:

"Harold Howard was a walking police sketch. He was a crazy-eyed hillbilly with a mullet and his idea of fitness seemed to be funnel-filtered light beer...this is a man who takes karate with 3rd graders; a man with a 0-and-35 record against local law enforcement and 7 no-contests against his wife."

The fight, and the win, is controversial because the fight never actually started. Yet, Royce stepped in the Octagon before throwing in the towel, so it should count on both fighters' records.

So for argument's sake, and considering it had been removed from the records only recently, it's being put on the list.

Jeremy Horn

MMA Record: 89-21-5

Who He Beat: Chuck Liddell via arm-triangle @ UFC 19, Forrest Griffin via KO @ IFC: Global Domination and Chael Sonnen via TKO (Extreme Challenge 57), Guillotine (SF 6: Battleground in Reno) and armbar (UFC 60)

Now before you jump to the comment section to yell about how Horn doesn't need to be on the list due to his record, know that he's on here for his journeyman status in the MMA world. The wins are shocking in retrospect because of how his opponents are viewed now.

As MMA records go, you'll be hard pressed to find more than a dozen fighters who have a more bountiful record than Jeremy Horn. He would enter the UFC at UFC 17 to face Frank Shamrock for the Light Heavyweight Title (then Middleweight Title), losing eventually by kneebar.

He would return to regional promotions before coming back in another losing effort, this time to Ebenezer Braga. Again, he would go back to regionals.

And then, at UFC 19, Horn would beat someone who might not have been a huge name at the time but became a big deal win: Jeremy Horn choked out Chuck Liddell with an arm-triangle. Liddell would eventually beat Horn in a rematch by TKO, but Horn still holds the distinction of being the first man to beat Chuck Liddell in the UFC.

A few years later, Horn would get another retrospective surprise win after he knocked out future UFC champion Forrest Griffin with a head kick at IFC Global: Domination in their Light Heavyweight Tournament.

Horn would then get his next surprising win with three wins over current high ranked Middleweight Chael Sonnen. The two first met at Extreme Challenge 57 where Horn would win by TKO after Sonnen got cut.

A couple months later, using Sonnen's kryptonite, submissions, he would win by guillotine. They would meet one last time at UFC 60, this time winning by armbar.

So, while he may always be known as a journeyman fighter, Jeremy Horn definitely has the skills to have earned his record along with the impressive wins that he has over some of the most well-known fighters in the sport.

Elvis Sinosic

MMA Record: 8-12-2

Who He Beat: Jeremy Horn via triangle armbar @ UFC 30

“The King of Rock n' Rumble” Elvis Sinosic makes the list not only for having a surprising win with a horrible record, but also for having one of the worst records and earning a UFC title shot.

Sinosic entered the UFC a mediocre 3-3-1 after losing a decision to Frank Shamrock. His first match would be against journeyman fighter and submission machine, Jeremy Horn. Suffice to say the 45-10-4 Horn was the favored fighter going into the match.

Yet Sinosic shocked everyone as he was able to submit Horn in under three minutes with a triangle armbar. The win would be enough to earn Sinosic a shot at the Light Heavyweight Title (then Middleweight Title) against Tito Ortiz.

Unfortunately, Elvis couldn't catch lightning in a bottle twice in a row as he would lose by TKO in the first round. He would be dropped from the UFC after losing his next two fights to Evan Tanner and Babalu, only to return to the Octagon three years later in losing efforts against Forrest Griffin and Alessio Sakara.

Sinosic would eventually win Fight of the Night Honors in a loss to Michael Bisping and would then retire after losing his next fight to Paul Cahoon.

Keith Jardine

MMA Record: 17-10-2

Who He Beat: Forrest Griffin via TKO @ UFC 66 and Chuck Liddell via split decision @ UFC 76

Always a fan favorite due to his brawling style, “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine has also become known for having a questionable chin and a style that leaves him susceptible to being hit on that chin.

He would eventually be released from the UFC after a four fight losing streak. Yet, with his less-than-stellar record as of late, Jardine has been able to pick up what many would call surprising wins.

His first would be at UFC 66, when he would take on heavy favorite in both the eyes of critics and fans, Forrest Griffin. The fight would go back and forth with Jardine landing a strike that rocked Griffin late in the first round, finishing him with punches on the ground.

After losing his next fight to Houston Alexander, Jardine was again placed in an underdog situation against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. He would slow Liddell down with leg and body kicks, eventually earning him the split decision victory.

His victories show that Jardine could be a capable fighter, but his numerous losses show that his style leaves him vulnerable to knockouts.

Dennis Hallman

MMA Record: 51-14-2 (1 NC)

Who He Beat: Matt Hughes via guillotine choke @ Extreme Challenge 21 and via armbar @ UFC 29

A journeyman throughout his career, Dennis Hallman's biggest claim to fame may eventually be the purple speedo that he wore in his fight with Brian Ebersole at UFC 133.

Yet what many casual fans don't know is that he holds two very impressive wins over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes. Even more impressive is that both wins were by submission and the total time of both matches was only 38 seconds.