The Ultimate Fighter: Brock Lesnar and the 10 Most Overrated Fighters in MMA

Despite Dana White's claim that Brock Lesnar is the most underrated fighter in the UFC, there are many who still believe that Lesnar is overrated and doesn't belong in the sport.

At the root of that argument is the idea that Lesnar has been shown favoritism throughout his time in the UFC and was given the fast track to a title. Now, Lesnar is getting another possibly premature chance to fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship through The Ultimate Fighter and his bout with Junior Dos Santos.

While Lesnar may still be overrated, here are 10 fighters who are given even more accolades than they are due in comparison with Lesnar.

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has had an excellent MMA career, but he has been riding on his name and long-past performances as of late.

Nogueira has now lost consecutive fights to Ryan Bader and Phil Davis. Arguably, Nogueira should have lost his last three, as he won in a controversial split decision against Jason Brilz prior to his bouts with Bader and Davis.

9. Jon Fitch

There is no questioning that Jon Fitch is an elite welterweight, but the days of Fitch being considered the best 170-pound fighter not named Georges St-Pierre may be coming to an end shortly.

After having his hopes at a title shot dashed by a draw with B.J. Penn, Fitch was forced out of a rematch with Penn due to an injury. This relative rough patch for Fitch gives Penn and Jake Shields the opportunity to show that there is not nearly as big of a gap between Fitch and the rest of the division as many thought there had been.

8. Randy Couture

Even at 47 years old, Randy Couture is considered a fighter who can compete with the best in the world. While Couture is on a three-fight winning streak, all three of the fighters he has beaten on his current streak have at least been temporarily cut by the UFC.

Couture will have a chance to show that he is still one of the best fighters in the world when he fights Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in April 2011.

7. Hatsu Hioki

The UFC has shown interest in signing Hatsu Hioki and many believe that he is the fighter who poses the biggest threat to Jose Aldo at featherweight.

While Hioki does hold impressive victories over Marlon Sandro, Mark Hominick and Jeff Curran, he has also shown inconsistency over the course of his career.

Hioki became the Shooto Lightweight Champion in unspectacular fashion with a split decision victory over Takeshi Inoue. One fight prior, Hioki dropped a split decision to Michihiro Omigawa.

6. Anthony Pettis

After landing one of the most memorable kicks in MMA history against Ben Henderson to become the WEC Lightweight Champion, Anthony Pettis' stock is at an all-time high.

Pettis has a bright future in this sport, but the UFC may be rushing him along too quickly by throwing him in with the elite fighters of the organization right away.

In addition to the fact that he may not have defeated Henderson without that legendary head kick, Pettis lost to Bart Palaszewski less than a year-and-a-half ago. While Pettis has shown great improvement since that loss, it is still too early to mention Pettis as one of the best lightweights in the world.

5. Jon Jones

There is no debating that Jon Jones is extremely talented. However, it is hard to not consider a fighter overrated when he is drawing comparisons to Muhammad Ali before even attempting to defend a title.

While Jones could go on to become the greatest MMA champion of all time, it is far too early to start treating him as such.

4. Chael Sonnen

After nearly pulling off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history against Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen is now widely considered the second-best middleweight in the UFC.

However, it is important to remember that Sonnen's most memorable performance of his career came against a Silva who was fighting with a broken rib. Also in that fight, Sonnen showed that he has failed to improve upon his submission defense, a weakness that has haunted him for his entire career. 

3. Roy Nelson

Roy Nelson did an excellent job of defeating street fighters and ex-football players who were still developing their MMA skills on his way to winning The Ultimate Fighter: Season 10. After that, Nelson ran through another fighter who is beginning to become overrated in Stefan Struve.

Somehow, this run of victories earned Nelson a fight with Junior Dos Santos. In a fight that would have earned him a title shot had he won, Nelson was completely out-classed by Dos Santos.

Prior to joining the UFC, Nelson lost to every highly regarded heavyweight that he met. Nelson dropped decisions to Ben Rothwell and Jeff Monson in addition to a knockout loss against Andrei Arlovski.

2. Nick Diaz

Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz has looked excellent outside of the UFC. Since leaving the UFC in November 2006, Diaz has only lost one fight, which he has now avenged by beating K.J. Noons.

Diaz's dominance over non-UFC fighters has prompted questioning about how he would fare against UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. While it is an interesting fight to think about, Diaz may be getting too much credit for beating lesser competition.

At one point, Diaz lost three straight fights to Sean Sherk, Joe Riggs and Diego Sanchez. Diaz will have a chance to prove himself against an elite-level fighter in the next few weeks, though, when he takes on Paul Daley.

1. Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem is a massive heavyweight with outstanding striking, but the notion that he could compete with top UFC heavyweights such as Cain Velasquez is unfounded.

While Overeem has not lost in 10 fights, he has also not been fighting worthy opponents. The last time Overeem mixed it up with elite fighters, he lost five of seven fights. During that time, Overeem was finished by Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ricardo Arona, Mauricio Rua and Sergei Kharitonov.

If Overeem is able to avenge his loss against Werdum in his next fight, it will go a long way toward proving that he deserves to be mentioned among names like Velasquez, but he shouldn't be until and unless that actually happens.