UFC 131: Kenny Florian and the 15 Greatest Fighters to Never Win a Major Title

Kenny Florian will be making his debut in his record-breaking fourth weight class at UFC 131 when he faces Diego Nunes at 145 pounds. It surprised some to learn that the former The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 finalist is already 35-years old, but his hunger to win a title has never been greater than it is right now.

Florian has spent his career trying to get over the “contender” plateau and to strap a title around his waist. After a disappointing loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118, Florian realized that perhaps his best chance of achieving that goal was to drop the extra 10 pounds and go after UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

But “K Flo” isn’t alone when it comes to great fighters who have never had the pleasure of being called a champion in a major mixed martial arts promotion. In fact, many of the top fighters of all-time fall into that category.

In this slideshow, we’ll count down the top 25 fighters in MMA history who were never a champion in the UFC, WEC, Pride, Bellator, Dream, EliteXC or Strikeforce.

15. Jim Miller

Career Record: 20-2

Wins: 3 knockouts, 11 submissions, 6 decisions

Losses: 0 knockouts, 0 submissions, 0 decisions

One of the top lightweights in the history of the sport at just 27 years old, Jim Miller has never quite crossed the plateau of being an “elite” fighter.

Though he has crushed most of his opponents with relative ease, Miller’s two losses have come at the hands of the consensus top two lightweights in the world, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar. But even given those losses, he can hang his hat on the fact that he has never been finished in a professional mixed martial arts fight and could earn himself a title shot with a victory over Ben Henderson in August.

14. Nate Marquardt

Career Record: 31-10-2

Wins: 8 knockouts, 15 submissions, 8 decisions

Losses: 1 knockout, 2 submissions, 7 decisions

Nate “The Great” Marquardt will have been fighting in the UFC for six years later this summer and has put together one of the best resumes the middleweight division has ever seen. His record includes victories over Ivan Salaverry, Jeremy Horn, Demian Maia, Martin Kampmann and other top opponents.

After a four-fight win streak to start his UFC career, Marquardt earned himself a shot at Anderson Silva in July 2007. Unfortunately, he was knocked out by the champion late in the first round and has not earned himself a rematch since.

Marquardt he has struggled recently, losing two of his last four fights; but hopes to kickstart his career with a move down to welterweight later this month. He will face up-and-comer Rick Story in the main event at UFC on Versus in the main event of that card.

If he is able to get a win streak going, it will be interesting to see how Marquardt handles a potential showdown with his friend and training partner, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

13. Shane Carwin

Career Record: 12-1

Wins: 7 knockouts, 5 submissions, 0 decisions

Losses: 0 knockouts, 1 submission, 0 decisions

Shane Carwin is an absurdly heavy-handed striker who has also surprised opponents with his controlling wrestling on the ground. He is yet to go to a third round in his career and has finished his opponents in the first round of all 11 of his victories.

His punishing knockouts of Gabriel Gonzaga and Frank Mir prove that not only is he able to beat up on mediocre competition, but also some top-tier fighters.

Though Carwin did win an interim heavyweight championship in the UFC, that championship isn’t “real” and he quickly lost it by losing to Brock Lesnar in their fight. But after moving up into the main event at UFC 131 where he will face Junior dos Santos, he has a chance to re-establish himself as one of the top heavyweights in the sport today with a victory.

12. Don Frye

Career Record: 20-8-1

Wins: 7 knockouts, 11 submissions, 1 decision, 1 disqualification

Losses: 4 knockouts, 2 submissions, 0 decisions

An MMA pioneer in the truest sense of the word, Don Frye is one of the fighters who put the sport on his back and carried it into the 21st century. With victories over fellow legends like Gary Goodridge, Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott, it should be no surprise that Frye is considered one of the biggest fan favorites the sport has ever seen.

What’s shocking to many, though, is that despite winning two UFC tournaments and amassing a 9-1 record in the promotion; Frye hasn’t yet been inducted into their Hall of Fame.

Though Frye and his mustache will always be remembered, one thing that he cannot say is that he ever held a major MMA championship title. Then again, I’m not sure that he’s the kind of guy who would really give a damn.

11. Mark Kerr

Career Record: 15-11

Wins: 4 knockouts, 7 submissions, 2 decisions, 2 disqualifications

Losses: 5 knockouts, 4 submissions, 2 decisions

Mark Coleman burst onto the MMA scene at the World Vale Tudo Championship III in January 1997. The tournament consisted of three rounds, which Kerr won in dominant fashion in one of the most memorable performances in the sport’s history.

Despite breaking his hand in the first round, “The Smashing Machine” went on to defeat Paul Varelans by TKO just over two minutes into the first round. While most fighters would pull out of the competition after breaking their hand, Kerr went on to absolutely destroy his second-round opponent, Mestre Hulk, in a bout which saw his opponent literally crawl out of the ring in an effort to escape the vicious beating he was taking. Then in a final third fight, Kerr won the tournament in an epic 30-minute war over Fabio Gurgel.

Kerr went on to the UFC where he would win back-to-back heavyweight tournaments at UFC 14 and 15 before moving on to Pride where he continued his dominance before finally losing his first professional fight to Kazuyuki Fujita in the 2000 Pride Grand Prix finals.

From that point on, it was all downhill for the man who was once considered perhaps the best on the planet. He has won just four of his last 15 fights and lost each of his last five before essentially announcing his retirement in 2009.

10. Yushin Okami

Career Record: 26-5

Wins: 9 knockouts, 4 submissions, 12 decisions, 1 disqualification

Losses: 1 knockout, 0 submissions, 4 decisions

Yushin Okami holds the distinct title of being the last man to have defeated UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, but that doesn’t quite count as a championship... Especially when you consider that the “win” came by disqualification when Silva caught him with an illegal kick.

Still, Okami has established himself as one of the world’s top middleweights since that date, having lost fights to only Rich Franklin, Chael Sonnen and Jake Shields. Meanwhile, his wins over Alan Belcher, Mike Swick, Evan Tanner, Mark Munoz and even Nate Marquardt.

Okami has a chance to make history in his rematch with Silva at UFC 134 in Brazil this August.

9. Kenny Florian

Career Record: 14-5

Wins: 3 knockouts, 10 submissions, 1 decision

Losses: 1 knockout, 1 submission, 3 decisions

What a roller-coaster of a career it has been for Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian.

Florian originally debuted at 185 pounds and has since competed at 170 pounds, 155 pounds and will now be fighting at 145 pounds for the first time at UFC 131 when he fights Diego Nunes in the semi-main event.

While he lost each of his two UFC lightweight title twice, he has also destroyed a host of other top contenders between those title shots. With a new 145 pound division having opened up, now may be the time for the former The Ultimate Fighter finalist to make his final run at a UFC championship.

It has been a long ride for him, but it will all be worth it if Florian can finally be considered the top dog in a weight class.

8. Igor Vovchanchin

Career Record: 54-10-1

Wins: 29 knockouts, 17 submissions, 7 decisions

Losses: 1 knockout, 6 submissions, 3 decisions

If you’re asking, “who?,” don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Igor Vovchanchin is perhaps the greatest mixed martial arts fighter who many fans have never heard of. Those in the know have called him “Fedor [Emelianenko] before there was Fedor.”

He made his debut in October 1995 and fought for nearly a decade before losing back-to-back fights to Alistair Overeem and Kazuhiro Nakamura in Pride. But at one point, in less than a three-and-a-half year span, Vovchanchin went on an unbelievable 36-fight run without a loss.

Though he eventually tapered off like many fighters do after so many fights, Vovchanchin was perhaps the most feared fighter in the world for the better part of a decade.

7. Junior Dos Santos

Career Record: 12-1

Wins: 8 knockouts, 3 submissions, 1 decision

Loss: 0 knockouts, 1 submission, 0 decisions

He was a big underdog against the highly touted heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90. But in just 1:20, Junior dos Santos had shocked the world by crushing Werdum with a huge uppercut that landed right on the button.

Ever since that night, dos Santos has been on a war path toward an eventual shot at the UFC heavyweight championship. He is 6-0 in the organization with numerous wins over top opponents including Roy Nelson in his last fight.

“Cigano” can earn himself a shot at Cain Velasquez if he can win his seventh straight UFC bout by defeating Shane Carwin at UFC 131 this Saturday night.

6. Gray Maynard

Career Record: 10-0-1

Wins: 2 knockouts, 0 submissions, 8 decisions

Losses: 0 knockouts, 0 submissions, 0 decisions

An undefeated record with a victory over the current UFC lightweight champion should mean that Gray Maynard is a champion himself, right?

Wrong.

Wins over Kenny Florian, Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta, Jim Miller, and even Frankie Edgar haven’t been enough to see “The Bully” strap the UFC lightweight title around his waist. Despite putting together one of the most impressive streaks the UFC has ever seen, the UFC seems to have classified him as being fairly “boring” and seemed to be reluctant to even give him his first title shot against Frankie Edgar at UFC 125.

In a fight that really could have gone either way and nearly ended in a first round knockout for Maynard, the two lightweights battled to a draw. Of course, this sparked an immediate rematch which was scheduled to be the main event of UFC 130; but both fighters ended up dropping out due to injury.

No rematch has been rescheduled yet, but one would have to imagine that Maynard will have his chance to get off this list and become a champion in the coming months.  

5. Royce Gracie

Career Record: 14-2-3

Wins: 0 knockouts, 12 submissions, 2 decisions

Losses: 2 knockouts, 0 submissions, 0 decisions

Considered by many to be the greatest UFC fighter of all-time, Royce Gracie was never an official champion for the promotion.

His three tournament wins at UFC 1, 2 and 4 remain best history and he brought prominence to the entire concept of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during the days when many fighters were relatively untrained and seemed to be fighting like they were in a no-holds-barred brawl.

Gracie had only one chance at a major MMA championship throughout his legendary career. It came at UFC 5 when he fought Ken Shamrock for the UFC Superfight championship in a bout that ended in a draw after a legendary 36-minute war.

4. Rickson Gracie

Career Record: 11-0

Wins: 0 knockouts, 11 submissions, 0 decisions

Losses: 0 knockouts, 0 submissions, 0 decisions

Rickson Gracie is so much of a legend that he has actually become a running joke on the internet, given his claim to have won well over 400 total fights without ever losing. He is unanimously considered the greatest Gracie of all-time by the family itself and is an 8th-degree black and red belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

”Rickson is 10 times better than me. He’s the only one who can beat everybody," Royce Gracie once said.

"Rickson is the Champion of the Gracie Family. He is the strongest, has the best technique, and the sharpest mind,” Helio Gracie agreed.

If we would have seen Rickson fight in more official MMA fights, it’s very possible that he could have been the top fighter on this list. But as it is, most of us are forced to just go off of the word of others.

3. Kazushi Sakuraba

Career Record: 26-15-1

Wins: 4 knockouts, 19 submissions, 3 decisions

Losses: 9 knockouts, 2 submissions, 3 decisions

As perhaps the most prominent Japanese mixed martial artist of all-time, it’s surprising to hear that Kazushi Sakuraba has never won a MMA championship belt.

His career started all the way back in 1996 when he fought Kimo Leopoldo in an openweight contest which saw Leopoldo outweigh him by over 60 pounds. He lost the fight by submission but his heart was evident.

After that night, Sakuraba went on a streak of nine straight fights without a loss before his showdown with the undefeated and perceived-to-be unbeatable Royce Gracie in the 2000 Pride Openweight Grand Prix quarterfinals. After a historic nearly 90-minute battle which is widely believed to be the longest MMA bout of all-time, Gracie’s corner finally threw in the towel, declaring Sakuraba the victor in what was one of the biggest moments in the sport’s history.

Though things haven’t been as great for Sakuraba in recent years, he will always be remembered for his days as the “Gracie Hunter” and a fighter whose no-fear attitude brought joy to fans around the world.

2. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic

Career Record: 27-9-2

Wins: 20 knockouts, 4 submissions, 3 decisions

Losses: 4 knockouts, 2 submissions, 3 decisions

If you can look past the recent string of losses that Mirko “Cro Cop” has sustained against top competition, it should be easy to see why the former Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix tournament winner is as high as he is on this list.

With career victories over the likes of Wanderlei Silva, Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn, Josh Barnett, Aleksander Emelianenko and Mark Coleman; Filipovic has one of the greatest mixed martial arts resumes of all-time.

The only thing missing is a major title.

He did have a chance to win one when he fought in what many consider to be the biggest MMA fight of all-time against Fedor Emelianenko at Pride Final Conflict 2005, but lost a unanimous decision. He would have likely been given another fight with Fedor after his tournament victory, but Cro Cop got the short end of the stick when Pride closed its doors.

Since moving to the UFC, he has not been able to rekindle the same spirit we saw him have in Pride which has lead many to believe that he was overrated to begin with. But for fans of Pride and his opponents alike, there may have never been a more feared striker to ever compete in MMA.

1. Jon Fitch

Career Record: 23-3-1

Wins: 5 knockouts, 5 submissions, 13 decisions

Losses: 1 knockout, 1 submission, 1 decision

Some say that if Georges St-Pierre was never born, Jon Fitch would be considered the greatest welterweight the sport has ever seen... And quite honestly, it’s hard to argue with that logic.

The winner of an unbelievable 13 of his 15 UFC fights, Jon Fitch’s only blemishes have come in the form of a decision loss to Georges St-Pierre and a draw with BJ Penn at UFC 127. Both opponents are all-time greats in the sport and many even believe that Fitch was robbed of a victory against Penn.

Nevertheless, the fact that St-Pierre has been such a dominant champion has absolutely crushed Jon Fitch’s chances of holding UFC gold. Even though he has dominated just about every opponent he has fought, including defeating Thiago Alves twice, the UFC has given Fitch only that one title shot.

It’s his slow-paced, safe and some would say “boring” style which has caused UFC President Dana White to publicly scold Fitch. This has obviously led to fewer title shots than most other challengers would get given Fitch’s resume, but it has also been a source of great debate in the mixed martial arts community.

Just how much should entertainment value matter? Should the best fighters be given the title shots, or should the fighters who are more likely deliver an exciting contest with the champion take their place?

No matter which side of the fence you land on, it’s hard to debate that Jon Fitch is one of the most dominant fighters the sport has ever seen. Just one loss in over 8 years while fighting top competition should be enough to prove that.

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