UFC: Brazil and the Other Top 10 Potential Olympic MMA Teams

The 2016 Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This Saturday, Rio will play host to UFC 134, which could go down as one of the best MMA events of the year.

While MMA probably won't be accepted as an Olympic event in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics, UFC 134 will definitely help put the sport one step closer to that goal.

With Americans and Brazilians holding six of the seven UFC titles, it would appear that the two countries are head and shoulders above the competition. However, with the rapidly growing popularity of the sport on a worldwide level, fighters from other countries are beginning to put their native lands on the MMA map.

Let's take a look at the top 10 would-be Olympic MMA teams.

10. Russia

Heavyweight: Fedor Emelianenko

Light Heavyweight: Baga Agaev

Middleweight: Alexander Schlemenko

Welterweight: Shamil Zavurov

Lightweight: Alexander Sarnavskiy

Featherweight: Rasul Mirzaev

Bantamweight: None

Although the country once would have been a shoo-in for this list, Russia barely edged out Dennis Siver-led Germany and Cheick Kongo-led France for the final spot in this top 10.

With Emelianenko's recent fall from grace, Bellator's Schlemenko may be the brightest Russian fighter in the sport right now. One could even argue that Kharitonov would be a better heavyweight representative for Russia than Emelianenko.

9. South Korea

Heavyweight: None

Light Heavyweight: Jae Young Kim

Middleweight: Dongi Yang

Welterweight: Dong Hyun Kim

Lightweight: Jung Hwan Cha

Featherweight: Chan Sung Jung

Bantamweight: Soo Chul Kim

Quietly, South Korea is becoming a hotbed for MMA fighters. While D.H. Kim and Jung sit just outside of the top 10 fighters in their respective divisions, other South Koreans, such as Yang, are beginning to ascend into the UFC.

D.H. Kim's recent loss to Carlos Condit was a setback for South Korean MMA, but the sport is still growing in popularity in the country. It seems only a matter of time until see South Korean talent in all of the UFC's weight divisions.

8. Sweden

Heavyweight: Eddy Bengtsson

Light Heavyweight: Alexander Gustafsson

Middleweight: Papy Abedi

Welterweight: David Bielkheden

Lightweight: Reza Madadi

Featherweight: Martin Svensson

Bantamweight: Sirwan Kakai

Without question, Alexander Gustafsson is the torchbearer for Swedish MMA. That being said, there are some very bright starlets coming from the country that can be expected to be seen in the UFC very soon.

Undefeated Papy Abedi was recently signed by the UFC and will make his debut against Thiago Alves in the welterweight division. Abedi has fought at middleweight for most of his career, though, so that is why he is listed as a middleweight on this hypotehetical Olympic team. 

7. Netherlands

Heavyweight: Alistair Overeem

Light Heavyweight: Gegard Mousasi

Middleweight: Melvin Manhoef

Welterweight: Siyar Bahadurzada

Lightweight: Danny van Bergen

Featherweight: Bogdan Cristea

Bantamweight: None

Oddly enough, the four most recognizeable Dutch fighters on this list were not even born in the Netherlands. Still, the Dutch products are all citizens of the country, which makes them eligible to compete on the Netherlands Olympic team.

After his parents divorced in England, Overeem moved to the Netherlands at the age of six. Mousasi's family moved to the Netherlands from Iran when he was only four years old. A three-year-old Melvin Manhoef took off for the Netherlands from Suriname. Bahadurzada made his move to the Netherlands at a much later age after spending 15 years in Afghanistan. 

6. Australia

Heavyweight: Mark Hunt

Light Heavyweight: James Te-Huna

MIddleweight: Hector Lombard

Welterweight: Brian Ebersole

Lightweight: George Sotiropoulos

Featherweight: Richie Vaculik

Bantamweight: Michael Mortimer

Like the Netherlands, Australia is led by several foreign-born fighters. Sotiropoulos calls Australia home, but the other UFC-level talent on this list moved to Australia at some point in their lives.

Hunt and Te-Huna were both born in nearby New Zealand, but they later decided to begin training in Australia. Ebersole was born in American, but he now trains and owns a gym in Australia.

Hector Lombard has actually competed on the Cuban Olympic team, but he has since moved to Australia. At the present moment, Lombard would pretty much be a one-man show if Cuba put together an Olympic MMA team. For that reason, we'll include Lombard on Australia's roster due to the possibility that Cuba might not decide to send any mixed martial artists to the Olympics.

5. Great Britain

Heavyweight: Rob Broughton

Light Heavyweight: Tom Blackledge

Middleweight: Michael Bisping

Welterweight: Paul Daley

Lightweight: Ross Pearson

Featherweight: Ronnie Mann

Bantamweight: Brad Pickett

Great Britain is home to some of the best strikers in MMA. However, the ground game has caused headaches for nearly all of Great Britain's premier fighters.

As MMA continues to grow in popularity, British fighters will become more well-rounded, though. For the foreseeable future, Great Britain should remain one of the top five hubs for MMA talent.

4. Japan

Heavyweight: Satoshi Ishii

Light Heavyweight: Tatsuya Mizuno

Middleweight: Yushin Okami

Welterweight: Hayato Sakurai

Lightweight: Shinya Aoki

Featherweight: Hatsu Hioki

Bantamweight: Takeya Mizugaki

Despite its rich history for producing talented mixed martial artists, Japan has never generated a UFC champion. That could finally change at UFC 134, as Yushin Okami will attempt to dethrone UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

Even without a UFC champion, the country is still home to some of the world's best fighters in the sport's lower weight divisions.

3. Canada

Heavyweight: Tim Hague

Light Heavyweight: Krzysztof Soszynski

Middleweight: Nick Ring

Welterweight: Georges St-Pierre

Lightweight: Sam Stout

Featherweight: Mark Hominick

Bantamweight: Ivan Menjivar

For the longest time, Canadian MMA was carried single-handedly by UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. However, St-Pierre's popularity has encouraged the growth of the sport in Canada, which has allowed the country to boast some of the most talented MMA fighters in the world.

When Rory MacDonald is left off an MMA Olympic team, that is a pretty good sign that the country is doing an excellent job of harvesting mixed martial artists.

2. Brazil

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos

Light Heavyweight: Mauricio Rua

Middleweight: Anderson Silva

Welterweight: Thiago Alves

Lightweight: Gleison Tibau

Featherweight: Jose Aldo

Bantamweight: Renan Barao

Home to two of the most dominant champions in the UFC, Brazil is unquestionably one of the top two MMA countries in the world. Should Junior dos Santos defeat Cain Velasquez later this year, Brazil will find itself in a tie for most UFC belts currently held by one country.

It could be argued that MMA was born in Brazil, so it is fitting that the country still possesses some of the most talented mixed martial artists in the world.

1. United States of America

Heavyweight: Cain Velasquez

Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones

Middleweight: Chael Sonnen

Welterweight: Jake Shields

Lightweight: Frankie Edgar

Featherweight: Chad Mendes

Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz

Call me bias, but I don't think there is even a debate about the best overall MMA country on the planet. The United States has produced four of the seven current UFC champions. Furthermore, the country is home to several of the top contenders in divisions where it does not hold a UFC title.

The biggest worries in putting together a United States Olympic team would be choosing between Chael Sonnen and Brian Stann at middleweight, Jake Shields and Jon Fitch at welterweight, and Chad Mendes and Kenny Florian at featherweight. Needless to say, those are good problems to have.