The Top Five MMA Fighter Duos That Share a Last Name

It takes two to tango, especially when that tango involves expertly kicking or punching someone's face in.

Unsurprisingly enough, not every "fighter duo" in MMA gets their place among the best, even by earning it.

Every fighter has hit a few snags, and in the case of these five fighter duos, it's been no different.

In the case of these five, though, the flaws seem hidden by the performances and styles of the fighters themselves.

So with that, I invite you to walk along the bloodline as we examine five duos in MMA who manage to simultaneously share a last name and kick some major ass.

Fist, a tribute to a great MMA Family...

What would the sport be without these guys?

Everything Nate Marquardt knows, everything Demian Maia knows, everything that the Nogueira Brothers, the Rua Brothers, Matt Serra, and even Frank Mir all know about the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, they owe the Gracie Family for.

These guys put BJJ on the map, they made BJJ a staple of MMA.

I think before we kick this list off, it's only fitting that we recollect the legacy of The Gracie Family, the very first family of Mixed Martial Arts.

Honorable Mention: The Coutures

With Ryan Couture slated to make his debut for Strikeforce in Phoenix, the Couture duo will become a trio, so the family won't make the list, but they do get a mention.

Besides, it's Randy and Kim Couture we're talking about, and of course Kim did suffer a couple losses recently, but still, she's a Couture.

And Randy is... well, he's Randy Couture. What more do you need?

5. The Emelianenkos: Fedor and Aleksander

Of course, now Fedor's actually lost a fight, but the Last Emperor and the Red Devil — "Little Emelianenko" as we can call Aleksander — did serve as threats to the heavyweight division for a bit.

Besides Fabricio Werdum, who some would now call "The Emelianenko Hunter", the brothers have also faced a common foe in Mirko Cro Cop, who holds a loss to Fedor and a win over Aleksander.

Both men, despite their respective losses to Werdum, are still considered two of Russia's toughest heavyweights and both can stake their claim as being a dangerous opponent to top-card competition.

Only Fedor ascended to the top of the heavyweight ranks before Fabricio did what few thought possible and handed Fedor an actual loss, and while an ascent back to the very top of the heavyweight ranks may seem unlikely now, Fedor still goes down as one of the sport's best heavyweights with his brother showing himself as a threat on a similar level.

4. The Shamrock Brothers: Frank and Ken

They both helped show that submission fighting was effective, they both were dangerous when they struck, and they're both UFC legends even if only one of them is in the Hall Of Fame.

The only real difference between Frank The Legend and The World's Most Dangerous Man is that Frank made it known in front of a live crowd in San Jose that MMA fans would never see him fight ever again.

Shamrock would lose to Pedro Rizzo by a TKO set up by leg kicks weeks later.

These two are a legendary duo that have their own claims to glory — Ken was the man in an era of the UFC in which you could actually win a title just by winning a superfight, while Frank would be the first man to become the Light Heavyweight Champion in both the UFC and the WEC, as well as Strikeforce's first Middleweight Champion.

While their time has passed in the sport, their legacies will live on forever in the annuls of time, as these two adoptive brothers are remembered not only for their accomplishments in the cage, but how they got those accomplishments under thier respective belts.

3. Stockton's "Bad Ass" Diaz Brothers: Nick and Nate

Unquestionably, this is the duo that deserves the "most infamous" award in MMA, but they're a duo of Cesar Gracie-trained brothers that can and will not hesitate to kick your ass.

Every time you're across the cage from either Nick, who is the current Welterweight king of Strikeforce, or Nate, who is the original Lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter who impressed in his welterweight debut against Rory Markham, you can immediately forget a kind handshake and any kinder words.

You can expect to go into the cage with one of the two hungry brothers who will look to take you apart, piece by piece.

Nate's not on top of his weight class yet in the UFC, but Nick is.

The fact that Nate is still relevant in the division tells you that maybe Nate will be a contender at welterweight soon.

Just don't expect him to be all passionate and tearful about it when he does do that.

2. The Chute Boxe Masters of Madness: Murilo and Mauricio Rua

You talk about two well-rounded guys who can give just about any opponent hell, how do you look any further than Ninja and Shogun — The Rua Brothers?

They've beaten some of the best in the world, and they've been beaten by some of the best in the world, but they never dropped their heads or learned how to do anything other than fight like mad men.

The brothers have put a couple of blemishes on the records of formerly-undefeated opponents:

Shogun handed Machida what many feel should have been his first lost at UFC 104 despite losing the controversial unanimous decision, only to get his vengeance with a brutal knockout of Machida this past May in Canada at UFC 113.

Ninja, meanwhile, has a collection of 31 fights on his career record and is responsible for a knockout by punches which stands as the only loss on the record of Tony "The Gun" Bonello.

From their PRIDE days and even now, these two brothers were considered to be among the best at light heavyweight and middleweight respectively.

While Shogun has reclaimed that spot, Murilo is still gunning to be known as the best in the world at 185 — a spot that may not elude Ninja for very long if he continues to show his skills at 185.

1. The Nogueira Brothers: Rodrigo and Rogerio

Minotauro and Little Nog.

The two heads of Team Nogueira.

Their careers up until now speak for themselves, as both men have fought and beaten some of the best at 265 and 205 respectively.

On top of that, Big Nog went up until UFC 92 against Frank Mir without getting knocked out, and Little Nog's only KO loss to date was against Sokoudjou.

Their accomplishments in the sport are many, and their track records are in their own rights very impressive.

In all honesty, the question of whether Rodrigo still has it or not has caused the brothers to actually tie for first with the Ruas, as both of the brotherly bonds have proven themselves to be unrelenting threats in their own divisions.

Should Rodrigo be able to avenge his first KO loss to Mir at UFC 119, and should Rogerio be able to become the first blemish on the record of Ryan Bader at the same event, then the brothers' spot on this list may be indisputable..