UFC.com Names the Top 25 List of "The Ultimate Fighter" Contestents

In light of the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC has released a top 25 list consisting of the best TUF alumni.

A few guys on the list have been all but forgotten, but the majority are legitimate contenders within their division.   

Let us take a brief look at each fighter and highlight their success since partaking in TUF.

25. Matt Mitrione

Matt Mitrione, of Season 10, lost to teammate James McSweeney in the quarterfinals.

Nevertheless, Mitrione competed in the season finale against Marcus Jones, knocking him out in the first round.

The heavy-handed heavyweight has a perfect professional record of 4-0, ending the fight via knockout in three of those fights.  

Mitrione has not been particularly busy, however, since turning pro. He's only fought four times in two years.

This trend isn't by chance, since Mitrione broke his left hand in his most recent victory over Tim Hague.  

At this point in his career, Mitrione is best known for ending Kimbo Slice's MMA career, after he defeated Kimbo at UFC 113.

For those wondering, Kimbo shockingly failed to make the top 25 cut.   

24. Roy Nelson

Despite looking like just another fat guy, Roy Nelson showed that a fighter does not need to be muscular to be successful in MMA. 

Big Country won Season 10, knocking out Brendan Schaub in the finals.  

Since then, he's compiled a pretty commendable 15-5 record as a professional fighter.  Nelson is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and still possesses strong punching power from practicing Shaolin Kung Fu. 

However, getting picked apart by current TUF coach, Junior Dos Santos, in his most recent fight shows that Nelson's striking still has some ways to go.  

Nelson is set to challenge Frank Mir at UFC 130 in a must-win situation to avoid becoming a gatekeeper in the heavyweight division.

Fun fact—Nelson also defeated Kimbo Slice via TKO on Season 10.  This was Kimbo's first UFC fight, which was so heavily anticipated that it became the fourth most watched MMA fight of all time.

The aforementioned statistic is very impressive because the bout was an exhibition match.

23. Cole Miller

Cole Miller is a lesser-known lightweight in the UFC, but he actually has 22 professional fights under his belt at just 26 years of age.  

Known for having a great submission game from his guard, as well as being able to take a tremendous amount of punishment and continue fighting, Miller is a journeyman who remains outside the title picture.  

Still, with a 17-5 record at a young age, Miller is probably a ways away from reaching the peak of his career.  

Miller was a case member of The Ultimate Fighter during the fifth season, competing on Jens Pulver's team.  

Miller lost to Joe Lauzon in the quarterfinals, but the fight was not without controversy as Miller was clearly thrown off his game when he took an illegal elbow to the back of the head.  

The allotted recovery time simply was not enough for him to fully regroup, but Miller found some redemption when he defeated Joe's younger brother, Dan Lauzon, at UFC 108.

22. Kendall Grove

Kendall Grove won Season 3 with Tito Ortiz as his coach, but he has been pretty average in the UFC since then. 

Nicknamed "Da Spyder" due to his long 6'6" frame, Grove is just 12-8-1 as a professional fighter, and continually gets dominated when fighting contenders in the middleweight division. 

Grove is still young at 28 years old, so perhaps making a more modest weight cut and competing at light heavyweight would be a better fit for his developing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai game.  

21. Stephan Bonnar

Bonnar was the runner-up on Season 1, putting on a great fight with Forrest Griffin in the season finale. 

Starting out his professional career with a strong 9-2 record, Bonnar has lost five of his past nine fights. 

After suffering a second loss to Forrest Griffin by unanimous decision at UFC 62, Bonnar's career has been on a slide since testing positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone.

While many of his losses have been respectable, the light heavyweight's stock won't drop much by being defeated by Jon Jones or Rashad Evans.

Getting dominated by the then 44-year-old Mark Coleman at UFC 100, however, has to leave fans wondering how much gas Bonnar has left in the tank amidst a very tough division.  

20. Joe Lauzon

Joe Lauzon made it to the semifinals of Season 5 before dropping a unanimous decision to Manvel Gamburyan.

Lauzon won eight professional fights before suffering his first loss at the hands of Jorge Masvidal.  His record currently sits at 19-6, but he has looked weak against top-tier lightweights such as Kenny Florian and George Sotiropoulos.

To his credit, in nine UFC fights, Lauzon has earned either Fight of the Night or Submission of the Night Honors six times.  

19. Ross Pearson

Ross Pearson is the winner of Season 9 in the United States vs. the United Kingdom edition.  

Although he has a respectable 11-4 record, Pearson has made little to no noise in the lightweight division, taking on almost exclusively no-name competition. 

Pearson was defeated by fellow TUF alumnus Cole Miller via a rear naked choke in September of 2010.  

18. Brendan Schaub

Brendan Schaub was the runner up for The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, after Roy Nelson knocked him out with ease in the finale.  

Nevertheless, Schaub remains a fan favorite in the heavyweight division and the notion that he may be a budding contender may come to fruition in the near future.

His recent knockout of the legendary Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 128 showed that his powerful punches are the real deal.

Out of Schaub's eight victories, only once was "The Hybrid" unable to record a knockout.  

Nelson remains the only blemish on his record, with a rematch becoming more probable granted Schaub keeps winning.   

17. Melvin Guillard

Melvin Guillard was not very impressive during his time on the Season 2, losing the first elimination fight.

However, Guillard has proven to be a diamond in the rough, compiling a record of 27-8-2 as well as one no contest, since then. 

The lightweight is coming off a big knockout victory over Evan Dunham at UFC's recent Fight For The Troops 2, and is set to take on Shane Roller at UFC 132.  

While Guillard is at least a couple wins away from being a serious contender in the lightweight division, he is certainly talented enough to wear the gold at some point. 

On a lighter note, it's hard to deny that Guillard looks a lot like a small version of former WWE superstar Shelton Benjamin. 

16. Joe Stevenson

Stevenson was a staple in the MMA's welterweight division until winning the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, when he dropped down to lightweight.

The cut to lightweight has been a questionable move for Stevenson, going 7-6 since making the move. Despite just being 28 years old, Stevenson already has 44 professional fights under his belt.

That being said, "Daddy" may already be at the tail end of his career.  He has dropped three fights in a row in the UFC's lightweight division and wasn't competitive in any of them.

Perhaps a return to welterweight would be the smartest move Stevenson could make at this point in his career.

Unfortunately for Stevenson, he is probably best known for being left a bloody and beaten mess by BJ Penn at UFC 80.   

15. Mike Swick

Mike Swick was eliminated by Stephen Bonnar during Season 1, however, he still found a niche in the WEC middleweight division shortly afterwards.  

After losing to Yushin Okami at UFC 69, Swick decided to make the move to welterweight. 

Things started off favorably for a more svelte Swick, rattling off four wins in a row, but has now dropped consecutive decisions to Dan Hardy and Paulo Thiago.  

Swick's biggest career victory to date would have to be when he forced Joe Riggs into submission with a guillotine choke at UFC 60.   

14. Matt Serra

Matt Serra won Season 4, but there is no question that he is best known for being the last man to beat Georges St-Pierre.  

There is no question that Serra got a bit lucky, which was best exhibited by the way St-Pierre utterly dominated him in their rematch. But a win is a win and Serra deserves a lot of credit for beating someone of St-Pierre's caliber.  

Serra has regressed in the welterweight division lately, losing to Chris Lytle in a rematch of their TUF finale back in September of 2010.  

"The Terror" was the first fighter on the list to ever hold UFC gold.   

13. Krzysztof Soszynski

Krzysztof Soszynski appeared on Season 8, losing in the semifinals of Vinicius Magalhaes. While Magalhaes has disappeared into obscurity as far as MMA is concerned, Soszynski still competes in the light heavyweight division of the UFC.

In his past four fights, he has beaten and been beaten by Stephen Bonnar, lost to Brandon Vera, and defeated Goran Reljic.  

Soszynski is not likely to be more than a gatekeeper within the light heavyweight division, but his boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu are enough to make him a dangerous match up for most up-and-comers.

12. Matt Wiman

Matt Wiman was just a 23-year-old kid when he made his debut on Season 5, now he holds a solid 13-5 professional record as an active lightweight fighter in the UFC. 

While he is a long way from being a contender at 155, Wiman is tough as nails.

He has only been finished once in his nearly seven-year career.  

Wiman's biggest accomplishment to date is getting three consecutive Fight of the Night honors between July of 2008 and April of 2009. 

While two of those fights were losses for Wiman, he is currently riding a three-fight win streak and is expected to fight Dennis Siver next at UFC 132.  

11. Chris Leben

Leben is one of the most active fighters from The Ultimate Fighter's inaugural season.  Along with Josh Koscheck, Leben has fought 17 times since his appearance on TUF. 

"The Crippler" became the first WEC Middleweight champion when he knocked out fellow TUF alumnus Mike Swick.

Leben's career appeared to be heading downhill after losing to Michael Bisping and testing positive for steroids, but he received the 2010 Comeback Fighter of the Year award from both Sherdog and MMANews247.com.

He went 3-3 in '10, putting the exclamation point on his year by submitting Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 116, a fighter many considered a top 5 contender in the middleweight division.

While Leben lost to Brian Stann on New Year's Day of this year, his coaches revealed that he had flu-like symptoms, including chills and vomiting, on the day of the fight.  

Despite his flamboyant personality, fans and fighters alike should never overlook his impressive 25-7 record, where he has scored 13 wins by way of knockout.  

10. Nate Diaz

Nate Diaz is the younger brother of Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, Nick Diaz.  He is the winner of Season 5 and currently is a lightweight fighter for the UFC.

Diaz is still a very raw talent at 25 years old. He struggles to hang with accomplished wrestlers within the division such as Clay Guida, Dong Hyun Kim, and Gray Maynard. 

To be fair, the younger Diaz brother submitted Maynard during the semifinals of The Ultimate Fighter and his loss in their rematch at UFC Fight Night 20 was a controversial split decision where he gave "The Bully" all he could handle.

Diaz currently has four Fight of the Night honors, as well as two Submission of the Night honors, during his time with the UFC.   

9. Matt Hamill

Matt "The Hammer" Hamill won his quarterfinal match on Season 3, but was unable to go any further due to injuries. 

Hamill actually defeated his TUF coach, Tito Ortiz, via a unanimous decision at UFC 121.  Hamill is one of many UFC light heavyweight fighters who excels due to their excellent wrestling. 

Currently boasting a 10-2 professional fight record, Hamill won a silver medal for Greco-Roman wrestling and a gold medal for Freestyle wrestling at the 2001 Deaflympics.  

Currently riding a five-fight win streak, Hamill has an opportunity to become a top contender within the division if he can defeat his next opponent, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. 

Hamill is the only man in the UFC to hold a victory over current title holder Jon Jones, however, "The Hammer" was thoroughly thrashed before Jones got disqualified for using an illegal "12 to 6" elbows in the bout.

8. Josh Koscheck

Josh Koscheck lost a split decision to Diego Sanchez in the semifinals of Season 1.

Kos later came back to coach during Season 12 of TUF, opposite of Georges St-Pierre.  The former D1 wrestling champion has suffered two of his five professional losses to St-Pierre, suffering a broken orbital bone in their most recent match. 

To Koscheck's credit, he at least went the distance with the champion in both bouts.  

Koscheck eventually avenged his TUF loss to Sanchez when he uncharacteristically dominated Sanchez with strikes on his feet at UFC 69.  

MMA Weekly currently ranks Koscheck as the No. 4 welterweight in the world, while Sherdog considers him the No. 5 contender at 170 pounds. 

If St-Pierre ever makes the permanent move to middleweight, Koscheck becomes a favorite to have a shot at a title run.  

7. George Sotiropoulos

George Sotiropoulos looked like he was on his way to a lightweight title shot after rattling off five consecutive wins within the division.

However, his recent loss to Dennis Siver has undoubtebly set him back.  Still, this is only Sotiropoulous' third loss, so don't expect him to drift off into MMA obscurity anytime soon.

Sotiropoulos made it to the semifinals in Season 6, and since then, owns a couple of big wins over fellow TUF alumni Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon.

The Australian jiu-jitsu specialist has a chance to climb the ladder again when he takes on Evan Dunham at UFC 132.  

6. Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez won Season 1, and never looked back en route to an unbelievable 17-0 start to his professional fighting career. 

His first loss to fellow TUF alumnus Josh Koscheck was not without some controversy, as it was later revealed that Sanchez went into the fight with a staph infection. 

"The Dream" is currently on a two-fight win streak, defeating fellow welterweight contenders Paulo Thiago and Martin Kampmann.  

Sanchez' road to a welterweight title may very well have to go through BJ Penn, the only man who has been able to thoroughly dominate the iron-willed welterweight.  

Anyone who saw Sanchez' fights with Kampmann, Clay Guida, or Karo Parisyan knows that his toughness is something special, even by today's MMA standards. 

Sanchez is one of few current fighters to have two Fight of the Year honors, coming from his aforementioned battles with Guida and Parisyan.

5. Kenny Florian

Florian's recent drop to featherweight is pretty surprising, considering that he was the runner-up on Season 1 as a middleweight. 

His featherweight debut is set to take place at UFC 131 against Diego Nunes.  As a lightweight, "Ken-Flo" has some notable wins over the likes of Joe Lauzon, Roger Huerta, Joe Stevenson, and Clay Guida.

Ken-Flo decided to make the move to featherweight after being dominated by the world-class wrestling of Gray Maynard at UFC 118.

While Florian is no spring chicken at 34 years old, his boxing and jiu-jitsu acumen make him dangerous enough to fight his way towards a featherweight title before he retires.  

4. Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping became one of the most notorious UFC middleweights after his victory over Jorge Rivera at UFC 127.

While he is probably better known for the illegal knee thrown during the fight, as well as spitting at Rivera's corner afterwards, it is hard to deny that Bisping has an impressive fight resume at this point at his career.

Bisping is 21-3 as a professional fighter, with noteworthy wins over Chris Leben, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and fellow Season 3 cast member Matt Hamill. 

"The Count" is of course the Season 3 winner and later went on to win the Cage Rage, and the Cage Warriors, light heavyweight titles.

Bisping is rumored to be a coach on Season 14 opposite Chael Sonnen, in what could easily be the most trash-talk-heavy/entertaining season of the show yet.

"The Count" is currently regarded as the No. 10 light heavyweight by Sherdog, and the No. 9 contender by Yahoo! Sports.  

3. Forrest Griffin

Forrest Griffin is the winner of the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, and a former UFC light heavyweight champion.

He owns quality wins over the likes of Chael Sonnen, Stephan Bonnar (twice), Mauricio Rua, Quinton Jackson, and Tito Ortiz.

At 31 years old, it is tough to say where Griffin currently stands among the current UFC light heavyweight division. 

He was embarrassed in back-to-back knockout losses to Rashad Evans and middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who bumped up for the fight, but then answered with wins over Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin.

Griffin has the rare accolade of receiving three Fight of the Year awards: in 2005 for his TUF finale against Stephen Bonnar, in 2006 for his first fight with Tito Ortiz, and in 2008 for winning the light heavyweight title against Quinton Jackson.

2. Gray Maynard

Gary Maynard lost to Nate Diaz in the semifinals of Season 5, but avenged this loss by winning a split decision against Diaz in January of last year.

"The Bully" is undefeated as a pro fighter, currently sitting at a record of 10-0-1(1). Analyzing Maynard's fight record is a good way to get an idea of who's who in the UFC's lightweight division.

In addition to Diaz, Maynard has defeated contenders such as Roger Huerta, Kenny Florian and Jim Miller.

He is also the only fighter to hold a victory over current champion Frankie Edgar.

The two fought a brutal fight that ended in a draw at UFC 125.  Maynard has at least one more chance to prove that he is truly the better man by having a rubber match with "The Answer" at UFC 130.

Although he is yet to wear gold in the UFC, Maynard cracks a number of top 10 pound-for-pound lists, largely due to his win over Edgar.

This title fight will be the main event of the card.  Maynard was a three-time All-American wrestler at Michigan State University, and impressively is able to make the cut from 155, despite walking around at a normal body weight of 190 pounds. 

1. Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans was the heavyweight winner of Season 2.

Evans won the light heavyweight title in December of 2008, and while his title reign only lasted about five months, he is currently set to face former Jackson's Submission teammate, Jon Jones, for the belt in either September or October.

"Suga" has defeated just about every contender in the light heavyweight division, including Stephen Bonnar, Michael Bisping, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, and Forrest Griffin.

His 2008 knockout over Liddell earned him "Knockout of the Year" honors from Sherdog, Fight! magazine, and World MMA Awards.

He was also crowned 2008 "Fighter of the Year" by Sherdog.

Evans sole blemish on his professional fight record came when he lost the UFC light heavyweight title to Lyoto Machida at UFC 98.