UFC: 5 Stars Who Should've Been Superstars

When a young prospect gets discovered by MMA scouts, one word that always is in their description is potential. At some point in their career, these five stars had tons of it.

Some won championships, others just didn't match the hype.

Let me be clear before this show gets going; I am by no means saying these men were failures. As the title implies, these are/were UFC stars. Rather this is meant to express the failed potential to be something more.

5. Dan Henderson

Dan Henderson's UFC career is one of frustration.

He fought a tough fight against Rampage Jackson, then followed that up by winning a round against Anderson Silva before being tapped out. Watching Hendo try and slug it out with Silva was perhaps one of the most frustrating fights I've ever watched.

Hendo had success taking Silva down in the first round, but chose to try and stand up with Silva. We all know what happens to people who try to stand with the Spider.

Just as Hendo was becoming a major household name for the UFC, he left for Strikeforce. He achieved success but there was always the question of "can Hendo be a UFC champion?".

Hopefully we will have that question answered in his return to the UFC against Mauricio Rua.

4. Vitor Belfort

The Phenom.

The nickname says it all. When Vitor Belfort burst onto the UFC scene it was in emphatic fashion. His cage-to-cage flurry that decked Wanderlei Silva is a highlight reel clip that will be played for years.

The reason Belfort makes this list is for one simple phrase—"Vitor Belfort is back!" How many times have fans heard this?

Belfort went through a lot of personal tragedy that no doubt played a part in his MMA career. In fact, if Anderson Silva never existed we could possibly be discussing Belfort as the best UFC middleweight of all time.

For some reason it seems every time Belfort is back on his way to the top something happens that prevents him from reaching the mountain top.

3. Frank Mir

Frank Mir's story is the one who had it all and seemingly lost it overnight.

He won the championship at UFC 48 by breaking Tim Sylvia's arm. He was young and full of talent. But then disaster struck.

Mir was involved in an accident on his motorcycle that caused the champ to be sidelined for a lengthy period of time. When Mir came back he wasn't the same.

It took a long time for Mir to reclaim his spot in the top ranks of the heavyweights. Even then he is still searching for answers seemingly before every fight. One fight he wants to add muscle, the next he's considering a drop to light heavyweight.

Those lost years of fighting contributed to Mir being a top five heavyweight now instead of a top five heavyweight of all time.

2. Brock Lesnar

The self proclaimed baddest S.O.B on the planet. The next big thing. The product of vikings interloping with other vikings.

Whatever you want to call Brock Lesnar, there's no doubt he was THE man at one point in his career. But has there been a bigger fall from grace than one of Lesnar's?

Lesnar dominated his way to the heavyweight title, save for a rookie mistake in his UFC debut.

Then came Shane Carwin. Lesnar's career has never recovered from the first round against Carwin. Lesnar pulled a rabbit out of his behind to survive the first round but the magic fell short in his next title defense against Cain Velasquez.

Now Lesnar is not only battling health issues but has to answer some serious questions about his chin and ability to take a punch.

1. Mauricio Rua

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua may be the biggest "What If" story in MMA.

Making his mark in Japan for Pride, Shogun became renowned for his flashy combos that often ended with him soccer kicking his opponents head off.

When he arrived in the UFC, he was given a sacrificial lamb in the form of Forrest Griffin. Rua was embarrassed by Griffin and was forced to have surgery on his ailing knee.

He returned to show a glimpse of his old self and even won the UFC belt, effectively ending "The Machida era".

Again he returned and looked sluggish, getting destroyed by young phenom Jon Jones. Now we've seen another glimpse of the old Shogun after his defeat of Griffin in their rematch.

If Shogun had healthy knees he may have been the best 205er in the world. Unfortunately we were only treated to a few teaser trailers to a promising career instead of the full length feature film.