BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and the 20 Best Multi-Division Fighters of All Time
More and more in mixed martial arts, we are seeing fighters moving weight classes to try and figure out their optimum weight.
Ideally, a fighter would like to be competing at the lightest weight possible, in order to maximize their size advantage, without sacrificing their power and cardio.
However, that's not always how it goes. Sometimes fighters bulk up in order to compete in higher weight classes.
Let's take a look at the 20 best multi-division fighters of all time...
Honorable Mentions
1 of 21Joe Riggs: Riggs started his MMA career at the age of 18, in the heavyweight division. Since then he has fought at light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight. He holds a solid record of 34-13-1 and has fought for the UFC welterweight championship. Also, he won the WEC middleweight championship in 2005.
Nate Diaz: Diaz debuted in the UFC on the fifth season of the Ultimate Fighter 5, winning all of his fights on the show to earn a contract. Nate won his first five fights at lightweight, but went 1-3 in his next four fights. After that, Diaz moved to welterweight and has since gone 2-2 against stiff competition. Nate has moved back to lightweight and is expected to fight Takanori Gomi later this year.
Dennis Hallman: Dennis has been competing in MMA for 15 years and has competed at lightweight, welterweight and middleweight. He fought Jens Pulver for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 33, but lost via unanimous decision. He also owns two long forgotten victories over Matt Hughes.
Martin Kampmann: Kampmann has competed in the UFC's middleweight and welterweight divisions. Many expect that Martin will be a top contender in the division soon enough. He has lost his last two fights to Jake Shields and Diego Sanchez, but the judging in both fights was controversial.
Diego Sanchez: Sanchez has competed in the UFC's lightweight and welterweight divisions. He has wins over many top contenders and has fought for the lightweight championship. Diego will be looking to make his way towards a welterweight title shot when he takes on Matt Hughes later this year.
No. 20: Matt Serra
2 of 21MMA Record: 11-7
Divisions Competed In: Welterweight and lightweight
Matt Serra is a veteran in the UFC and has faced off against some of the greatest fighters of all time.
He won The Ultimate Fighter 4, earning the right to a match with current and then welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Serra was a huge underdog going into the fight, but shocked the world by knocking GSP out in the first round.
No. 19: Jeremy Horn
3 of 21MMA Record: 87-21-5
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight and middleweight
Jeremy Horn is one of the greatest journeyman MMA fighters of all-time.
He's fought in many different promotions and tussled with a plethora of world class fighters.
Horn has held various titles in small promotions and holds victories over Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin and a whopping three victories over Chael Sonnen.
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No. 18: Vitor Belfort
4 of 21MMA Record: 19-9
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight
Vitor Belfort has held the UFC light heavyweight championship and has competed for the UFC middleweight championship.
He holds victories over Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Randy Couture and Gilbert Yvel.
Vitor will look to start making his way towards a title shot in the middleweight division when faces Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.
No. 17: Alistair Overeem
5 of 21MMA Record: 35-11-0-1
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Alistair started his career off in the light heavyweight division. He was relatively successful at that weight, but had trouble against top competition, dropping fights to the likes of Mauricio Rua, Chuck Liddell and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
In 2007 decided to move to heavyweight full time and added a ton of muscle to his frame. Since then he was looked unstoppable.
Alistair is the current Strikeforce heavyweight champion and coming off a victory over highly regarded contender Fabricio Werdum.
No. 16: Evan Tanner
6 of 21MMA Record: 32-8
Divisions Competed in: Heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight
Evan Tanner is a former UFC middleweight champion and also competed for the UFC light heavyweight belt.
Tanner holds notable victories over Heath Herring Paul Buentello, Phil Baroni and Robbie Lawlor.
No. 15: Kenny Florian
7 of 21MMA Record: 16-5
Divisions Competed In: Middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and featherweight.
Kenny Florian is the only fighter to ever compete in four different weight classes in the UFC.
He has never held a UFC title, but has had two title shots in the lightweight division.
Kenny has notable victories over Takanori Gomi, Clay Guida, Roger Huerta and Joe Stevenson.
Florian will look to capture his first UFC belt when he faces featherweight champion Jose Aldo later this year.
No. 14: Ken Shamrock
8 of 21MMA Record: 23-15-2
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Ken Shamrock is one of the godfathers of the sport of MMA.
He started competing all the way back in 1993 and took part in the first ever UFC event.
Shamrock has victories over Bas Rutten, Dan Severn and Kimo Leopoldo.
Ken will fight boxing legend James Toney later this year.
No. 13: Kazushi Sakuraba
9 of 21MMA Record: 26-15-1-2
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight
Kazushi Sakuraba is a legend of MMA.
He is one of the greatest submission specialists of all-time and holds victories over Vitor Belfort, Royce Gracie, Royler Gracie and Quinton Jackson.
No. 12: Jake Shields
10 of 21MMA Record: 26-5-1
Divisions Competed In: Middleweight and welterweight.
Shields earned himself a reputation as one of the pound for pound greatest fighters on the planet before entering the UFC.
He has held the EliteXC and Strikeforce middleweight championships and holds victories over Jason Miller, Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit and Yushin Okami.
Jake has hit a bit of a rough patch since moving the UFC and dropping down to welterweight. He just squeaked past Martin Kampmann in his welterweight debut and was dominated by Georges St-Pierre after that.
Shields will look to rebound when he faces Jake Ellenberger later this year.
No. 11: Rashad Evans
11 of 21MMA Record: 15-1-1
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Rashad Evans is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 and a former UFC light heavyweight champion.
He has notable wins over Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Thiago Silva and Rampage Jackson.
Rashad will continue his road back to the light heavyweight belt when he meets Phil Davis at UFC 133.
No. 10: Urijah Faber
12 of 21MMA Record: 25-5
Divisions Competed In: Featherweight and bantamweight
Urijah Faber is a former WEC featherweight champion and he defended his belt five times before losing it to Mike Brown.
Since then, Urijah has moved down to bantamweight and has been relatively successful. He's 2-3 with his only loss coming to the current champion Dominick Cruz.
Faber has notable wins over Dominick Cruz, Jens Pulver and Bibiano Fernandes.
No. 9: Rich Franklin
13 of 21MMA Record: 28-6-0-1
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight and middleweight
Rich Franklin is one of the most beloved fighters in UFC history and one of the most consistent. He has never lost two fights in a row.
Rich is a former middleweight champion and holds wins over Yushin Okami, Matt Hamill, Wanderlei Silva and Evan Tanner.
Franklin will look to continue his trend of never losing two fights in a row when he takes on Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 133.
No. 8: Frank Shamrock
14 of 21MMA Record: 23-10-2
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight and middleweight
Frank Shamrock, like his brother Ken, is one of the godfathers of the sport.
He is the first ever UFC light heavyweight champion and he defended the belt four times. After his fourth defense, he relinquished the belt, citing a lack of competition as the reason.
He has victories over Tito Ortiz, Bas Rutten, Phil Baroni and Cesar Gracie.
No. 7: Igor Vovchanchyn
15 of 21MMA Record: 54-10-1-1
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Igor Vochanchyn is one of the greatest mixed martial artists to never compete in the UFC.
He was a legend in Pride and once went 37 fights without a loss.
He holds significant wins over Gary Goodridge, Gilbert Yvel and Valentijn Overeem.
No. 6: Wanderlei Silva
16 of 21MMA Record: 33-11-1-1
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight and middleweight
Wanderlei Silva is one of the most feared strikers in MMA history. His hands lethal and he can be devastating from the clinch.
Silva has fought for UFC light heavyweight championship and won the Pride middleweight championship.
He has wins over Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona and Michael Bisping.
No. 5: Bas Rutten
17 of 21MMA Record: 28-4-1
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Bas Rutten is what we call old school. This guy got his first MMA victory in 1993 and he earned with a palm strike KO.
Rutten has held the UFC heavyweight championship and has gone 22 fights without a loss.
Bas hols notable wins over Frank Shamrock, Vernon White and Kevin Randleman.
No. 4: Anderson Silva
18 of 21MMA Record: 30-4
Divisions Competed In: Light heavyweight, middleweight and welterweight
Anderson Silva is the best striker in MMA history and arguably the greatest fighter of all-time.
Silva has never lost in the UFC. He holds the record for the most consecutive wins in the UFC, with 13, and also the most consecutive title defenses, with eight.
Silva holds victories over Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin and Chael Sonnen.
No. 3: BJ Penn
19 of 21MMA Record: 16-7-2
Divisions Competed In: Welterweight and lightweight
BJ Penn is one of very few fighters to hold major titles in two different weight classes and he did in the most predominant MMA promotion in the world.
Penn has held both the UFC lightweight and welterweight championships and is considered to be the greatest lightweight in UFC history.
He has significant wins over Matt Hughes, Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk and Matt Serra. He is also one of only two people two face Jon Fitch in the UFC and not lose.
No. 2: Dan Henderson
20 of 21MMA Record: 27-8
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight
Dan Henderson is the only fighter in MMA history to hold titles in two weight classes at the same time; Henderson held both the Pride middleweight and welterweight belts at the same time (in Pride, welterweight and middleweight were the equivalent of middleweight and light heavyweight in the UFC).
Henderson is currently the Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and is set to take on Fedor Emelianenko later this year.
Dan has wins over Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Vitor Belfort and Renato Sobral.
No. 1: Randy Couture
21 of 21MMA Record: 19-11
Divisions Competed In: Heavyweight and light heavyweight
Randy Couture is a three time UFC heavyweight champion and a two time UFC light heavyweight champion.
He has notable wins over Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Jeremy Horn, Chuck Liddell, Pedro Rizzo, Tim Syvlia and Gabriel Gonzaga.
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