UFC on Versus 6: Anthony Johnson and the Biggest Underachievers in the UFC Today

MMA is full of people who did not live up to expectations throughout their careers.

Then you've got people who still have a chance to live up to the expectations but haven't yet.

These guys are the underachievers.

There are some big names on this list, but that is because they never lived up to what they were originally expected to become. Yet, they still have a chance.

Anthony Johnson can take the first step Saturday night when he takes on Charlie Brenneman.

Anthony Johnson

After Anthony Johnson's first fight, there were some pretty big expectations for him in the UFC.

His first fight consisted of him knocking out Chad Reiner in a mere 13 seconds. Unfortunately, he was submitted by Rich Clementi in his next fight after that.

But then he bounced back with a 51-second knockout!

Then he lost controversially in his next fight.

Then he went on a three-fight winning streak, all (T)KOs, and then he got submitted by Josh Koscheck.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Injuries have also derailed Johnson, as this will be his second fight in as many years.

BJ Penn

What? But he won championships in two weight classes in the UFC!

The fact that he is on this list just shows how high the expectations were.

Penn started his MMA career after getting his BJJ black belt in only two years, and after becoming the first non-Brazilian to win the World Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

In his first fight (which was in the UFC), he earned a TKO. In his next two fights, he earned knockouts.

Then he met Jens Pulver for the UFC lightweight title, and Penn was defeated via majority decision.

Five fights later, Penn won the welterweight championship and was stripped of it without a defense for failing to defend.

Penn was content to coast on pure athletic ability for most of his career, and that truly hurt him in the end as a fighter.

If he was completely dedicated from day one, maybe he would be the most dominant fighter in UFC history.

Alistair Overeem

Alistair Overeem is an absolute monster who could probably beat anyone on the planet on any given night.

Unfortunately, for the past four years, he's been content to fight cans.

Every fighter he's beaten since 2007 has been underwhelming afterwards, with them earning a combined record of 9-22.

He finally gets his chance to fight some real competition when he takes on Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.

Frank Mir

Frank Mir is an unfortunate story of how an accident derailed his career.

Mir won the UFC heavyweight title by snapping Tim Sylvia's arm in 51 seconds back at UFC 48.

Unfortunately, Mir was in a serious motorcycle accident and had to vacate the title.

In his first fight back, he lost to Marcio Cruz via TKO.

He was never the same fighter after that accident.

As of late, he's earned some wins over solid names, but he's also dropped fights in definitive fashion to Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar.

Vitor Belfort

The Phenom is another fighter who never quite lived up to expectations.

Back at UFC 46, Vitor Belfort won the UFC light heavyweight title. Unfortunately, it was due to a cut that Randy Couture suffered 49 seconds into the first round.

In the immediate rematch, Couture earned a doctor stoppage after the third round and won back the title.

Earlier this year, Belfort got a shot at the middleweight title.

Everyone remember watching Belfort eat Anderson Silva's foot?

Belfort entered the UFC with huge expectations, earning four (T)KO victories in a combined 2:54.

He has victories over former champions such as Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva but never when a belt was on the line.

Brandon Vera

Brandon Vera entered the UFC claiming that he was going to win the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles.

Neither of those happened.

Vera started his MMA career 4-0 before he was signed by the UFC. Then he went 4-0 with the UFC, including a TKO over Frank Mir.

Unfortunately after that, he dropped two straight to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum.

His heavyweight aspirations were basically crushed, so he decided it was time to drop to light heavyweight where he beat Reese Andy in his debut.

After that, he lost to Keith Jardine, then defeated Mike Patt and Krzysztof Soszynski.

Then it really went downhill as he lost to Randy Couture, Jon Jones and got embarrassed by Thiago Silva.

Vera gets to try again against Eliot Marshall at UFC 137.