Nick Diaz, Alistair Overeem and 25 Top Fighters Who Will Never Wear UFC Gold

Some guys have all the luck. Some guys have all the pain. Then there are some guys who get all the breaks. And some guys who get left out in the rain.

More poignant lyrics were never written. At least not as they relate to this slideshow, which looks at 25 top fighters who, for one reason or another, will never wear the UFC championship belt around their collective waist.

It could be a skill set issue. It could be that they are embedded in another promotion. It could be a string of misfortunes. It could be that they were too far past their primes by the time they landed in the Octagon.

Or, it could be that they're just plain, old crazy. Not that I have anyone specific in mind for that, Nick Diaz.

I could have taken the easy route and picked a bunch of over-the-hill guys or obvious also-rans. And hey, I included some of those types. I like easy routes. But too much of that and things get a little bland, so I went out on a couple of limbs along the way. I wonder if anyone will notice those.

In any case, here's hoping this provides food for thought and debate. Thanks for reading. 

25. Miguel Angel Torres

It’s hard to remember the time when Torres was considered one of the world’s pound-for-pound greats.  But, after running up a record of 36-1, he was.

And, after a lackluster 1-1 showing thus far in the Octagon, he is no longer.

24. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Upon his entrance into the UFC, I remember believing the 34-year-old Cro Cop might have a few good fights—and maybe a title run—left in him. 

Two years, six fights and three losses later, I realize that belief was just hope. Big difference.

(Photo credit: SBNation)

23. Thiago Alves

Once a top contender at welterweight, a recent string of losses has dimmed Alves' star power and left questions about how complete the pit bull’s game really is.

22. Gabriel Gonzaga

It's true. Gabriel Gonzaga was once a contender.

Napao, who is still only 32, took eight of his first 10 contests in the UFC. He followed that up by losing three of four, and now finds himself out of the promotion.

21. Demetrious Johnson

Johnson is an excellent fighter who went on an absolute tear to earn his Oct. 1 title shot with Dominick Cruz.

But Cruz is on a bit of a roll himself, and seems heavily favored to pick apart Johnson in the standup.

I imagine Johnson’s meteoric rise to the top could mean an equally precipitous drop following such a loss, meaning Mighty Mouse would need to spend plenty of time in the bantamweight hinterlands before approaching contender status again.

20. Brendan Schaub

With one-sided knockout losses to the only two top-tier heavyweights he has faced—Roy Nelson and Minotauro Nogueira—fans have slammed the brakes on, removed the spark plugs from and poured sugar in the gas tank of the Brendan Schaub Championship Bandwagon.

(Photo credit: SB Nation)

19. Dan Henderson

Given his on-again, off-again romance with the UFC, couple with his advancing age, UFC gold doesn't appear to be in the cards for Hendo. Especially when you consider that hell hath no fury like Dana White scorned.

18. Fedor Emelianenko

Everyone who thinks it's pretty safe to say the UFC ship has sailed on Fedor, please stand up and put your hands in the air.

And that's my secret for stealing chairs. 

17. Wanderlei Silva

Not that he hasn't had a great career, but Chris Leben's epic knockout of Wandy at UFC 132 inserted the final dagger into the talk of a UFC title run for The Axe Murderer.

16. Josh Koscheck

When I think of last year’s Kos-Georges St-Pierre fight and docudrama, I think of a line from the movie Seven. Allow me to paraphrase:

Koscheck: I seem to remember knocking on your door.

St-Pierre: Oh, yes. That’s right. And I seem to remember breaking your face.

15. Michael Bisping

Bisping has shown he is too prone to big wrestlers, big power shots and big trash talk to be considered a serious title threat at middleweight. At least, that is, until he finally makes that date with the sports psychologist.


(Photo credit: Sherdog)

14. Chris Leben

Leben is an elite striker. But not as elite as Anderson Silva.

It's true that Silva can't fight forever. But at the same time, conventional wisdom suggests it will take a top-level wrestler to defeat him. The Crippler has at times displayed a competent ground game, but he would still find himself at a significant disadvantage against said top-level wrestler. It's a pretty bleak picture for one of MMA's most popular fighters.

(Photo credit: Tapology)

13. Kenny Florian

Florian is one of the sport’s good guys and smartest fighters. But until he proves he has the mettle to bring his A-game to the biggest fights, no amount of weight-cutting will convince me he’s championship material.

He'll have a chance to prove me wrong in short order, however, when he meets Jose Aldo this fall.

12. Hector Lombard

Don't get me wrong. I actually think Lombard can give Anderson Silva a run for his money.

But to this point, and to the frustration of many fans, the UFC has not yet snapped up the 33-year-old Bellator knockout artist and middleweight champ.

It’s not like they don’t know he exists. It’s not like his skill set is unappealing. But I believe if they wanted him, they would have gotten him by now.

The UFC doesn’t always make decisions in a, shall we say, by-the-book manner. This might be one of those times when it costs a worthy contender the contention he seems to deserve.

11. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Despite popular support beneath his wings, Lil Nog's title campaign never really got off the ground.

Two quick UFC wins landed the 34-year-old in deep water, where he was quickly preyed upon by up-and-comers Phil Davis and Ryan Bader.

An injury forced him out of his UFC 133 match with Rich Franklin, further exacerbating the wide gap between Lil Nog and the big dogs at light heavyweight.

10. Urijah Faber

Now, hold on a second. Put down the pitchfork and hear me out.

Urijah Faber is not a spring chicken anymore. Now 32 years old, if he can defeat Brian Bowles at UFC 139, it appears he is assured another title shot against the winner of Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson. (Given Johnson’s ranking earlier on this list, you can see how I think that one will go.)  

With each contest happening this fall, Faber’s next shot at the belt—once again, assuming a victory over the 10-1 Bowles—may not come until after Faber’s 33^rd birthday.

This is not to suggest Faber, or anyone else, can’t compete at that level at that age. But Cruz has a high-energy standup style that doesn’t seem to serve as a great complement to Faber’s power game. Adding more water underneath Faber’s professional bridge would seem to accentuate that.

9. Clay Guida

Everyone loves Clay Guida, including me. And while he has terrific wrestling, solid hands and a bottomless gas tank, he seems to lack the full arsenal, particularly in the standup phase, to defeat top opponents.

He also seems, oddly, to come up short when he gives his A-performance. Case in point:  Of the four times Guida has won Fight of the Night honors, three times he was on the losing end.

I know he’s on a streak. And I know he beat Anthony Pettis. Still, I don’t see him stacking up favorably against the Maynards and Edgars of the world. Call me crazy.

(Photo credit: UFC.com)

8. Carlos Condit

Condit is a devastating striker and an extremely entertaining and promising fighter.

But he will simply not have the wrestling to tame GSP. End of story.

7. Eddie Alvarez

The Bellator champ is one of the best lightweights in the world, and has the tools to compete for the UFC title.

So why is he on this list? Because he has repeatedly been a vocal critic of the UFC and its business practices, something Dana White and company don’t typically accept in a favorable or forgiving manner.

However, to Alvarez's credit, that seems just fine with him.

6. Joseph Benavidez

Benavidez has twice tangled with bantamweight champ Cruz. Both times it was close, and both times it reached a decision. But, both times, Benavidez came up short.

Benavidez is a mixed martial artist who may be a little too mixed. What, truly, is his bread and butter?  What’s his go-to move when the proverbial chips are down? 

Being good at everything and great at nothing does exactly what it advertises. It makes you good, but it doesn’t make you great.

5. Jake Shields

In their perhaps somewhat dismal but nevertheless instructive match at UFC 129, St-Pierre showed definitively that he can beat Shields at Shields’ own game, namely elaborate chessboard grappling. I don’t see GSP losing the welterweight belt anytime soon. I don’t see Shields beating GSP anytime soon, either.

So if A=B, and B=C, you know what that means for A and C. It means Shields isn’t going to get the belt. 

Lots of people claim that Shields would be the title front-runner if GSP ever moves up in weight class. Maybe so. And if I had wheels and handlebars I would, indeed, be a bicycle.

(Photo credit: MMAValor) 

4. Chael Sonnen

I know someone who would disagree with me here. You know who that someone is?

If you said Chael Sonnen, you are correct.

Know how I know that? Because he calls himself the champion. And I agree…he is the champion—of Crazytown!

Sonnen is a terrific fighter and showman, but to come as close as he did and not get it done against a champion like Silva doesn’t fill this keyboard warrior with any confidence that he'll come any closer in a rematch. 

Not to get all Bill Simmons over-quoting movies on you, but it reminds me of the famous line from The Usual Suspects:  “How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?”

3. Jon Fitch

Jon Fitch won a round from GSP. Who knows? Maybe he could do it again. Maybe he could do it more than once in the same match. He’s got as good a chance as anyone.

But the sad truth is, Fitch seems a little blacklisted right now by the UFC, due in part to his not-exactly-bonus-friendly style.

Maybe it’s intentional. Maybe it isn’t. But as long as Fitch’s trench-fighting style keeps him fighting in the trenches, I don’t see him receiving another chance to fight for the belt, let alone win it.

(Photo credit: Sherdog)

2. Alistair Overeem

As The Demolition Man’s detractors love to point out (and point out, and point out), Overeem has yet to prove he can beat top-flight competition. And we’re not talking isolated incidents here; it’s a full-blown trend.

If he can defeat Brock Lesnar, that would put him in line for a title shot. But then he'd have to fight the winner between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos. I frankly don’t think anyone can run that gauntlet. And if he were to lose, it would throw him smack into the middle of the contending pack at heavyweight. I know I wouldn't want to be in that pack.

1. Nick Diaz

Whether or not a fight with B.J. Penn actually materializes, after the stunts Diaz has pulled, he’ll be lucky to wear the UFC gloves again, much less the gold.