The Top 25 Fighters the UFC Needs to Sign Now

Ever since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, some of the top fighters have come over.

Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz and Jason "Mayhem" Miller have all jumped over to the top MMA promotion in the world.

Strikeforce's top fighters are slowly being siphoned over to the UFC, and soon enough, there will be none left.

However, for the time being, Strikeforce still holds a number of reputable fighters, and some that surely should be signed by the UFC.

In addition to Strikeforce, other promotions around the world have some top fighters, so let's take a look at the top 25 fighters the UFC should sign as soon as possible.

Note: Tim Kennedy is likely already on his way to, if not already in, the UFC, and is not on the list, and Fabricio Werdum is currently in talks with the UFC.

Ian McCall

Ian McCall is the current Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion.

Therefore, McCall could not be signed to the UFC now, I'm saying that the UFC should implement the flyweight class, then sign him.

McCall won the title back in August when he defeated Darrell Montague by third round rear naked choke.

McCall holds a professional record of 11-2, with losses to Dominick Cruz and Charlie Valencia.

Jussier Da Silva

Jussier da Silva is another flyweight the UFC should sign as soon as the division is formed.

Da Silva is the former Shooto South American Champion, a title which he won in 2008, and defended once in 2010.

He is arguably the No. 2 flyweight in the world, right behind McCall.

Da Silva has a professional record of 10-1, with notable victories over Mamoru Yamaguchi and Alexandre Pantoja.

Yasuhiro Urushitani

Yasuhiro Urushitani is another flyweight, and is the current Shooto flyweight (123-pound) champion.

Urushitani is one of the more experienced flyweight fighters around these days, and he has competed against several top fighters.

Urushitani won the Shooto title in 2010, and he has since fought twice—once in a non-title fight—however, both were TKO victories within six minutes.

Urushitani has a professional record of 19-4-6, with notable wins over Yuki Shoujou and Mamoru Yamaguchi.

Mamoru Yamaguchi

Mamoru Yamaguchi is the fourth of five flyweights who will make an appearance on this list.

Yamaguchi is known as "The Illest Afro In Asia" and is another one of the top flyweights in the world.

Early in his career, Yamaguchi won the Shooto featherweight championship (132 pounds). After that, he went on to win the bantamweight championship (123 pounds) and defend it twice.

He is currently the King of the Cage junior flyweight (125 pound) champion and was last seen at Tachi Palace Fights 10, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Jussier da Silva.

Yamaguchi has a professional record of 26-6-3, with notable victories over Yuki Shoujou, Junji Ikoma (current Shooto 114 pound champion) and Yasuhiro Urushitani.

Ulysses Gomez

Ulysses Gomez is the fifth and final flyweight on the list that the UFC must sign when the division is formed.

Gomez is the first ever Tachi Palace Fights flyweight champion, and he defended the title once before losing it.

Gomez is a brown belt in BJJ, and prefers to use that to finish his fights, as he has six submissions to his name thus far in his career.

Gomez has a professional record of 9-2, with a notable loss to Darrell Montague. 

Zach Makovsky

Zach "Fun Size" Makovsky is the current Bellator bantamweight champion.

Of course, the UFC just signing Bellator fighters isn't that easy, but if it were, Makovsky would be near the top of their list.

As one of the top bantamweights in the world, Makovsky could shake things up in the bantamweight division, as Dominick Cruz is getting short—no pun intended—on challengers.

Makovsky has a professional record of 14-2, with notable victories over Chad Robichaux and Bryan Goldsby.

Patricio Freire

Patricio Freire is a featherweight in Bellator, where his only career loss has been to the champion.

Freire is a very well-rounded fighter, and out of his 17 wins, he has 6 (T)KO's and 7 submissions.

Freire has twice made it to the finals of the Bellator featherweight tournament, and the first time, he lost to Joe Warren. The second time, he won, and earned a second shot at Warren.

The rematch will likely happen sometime in 2012.

Freire is 17-1 in his MMA career, with notable victories over Wilson Reis (2x) and Daniel Straus.

Joe Warren

Joe Warren is the current Bellator featherweight champion, but was last seen in action in the bantamweight tournament, where he lost via first-round KO.

Warren is a bit of a decision machine, as five of his seven career victories have been by decision. The other two were (T)KO's.

Warren's next fight will likely be in the featherweight division against Patricio Freire in a rematch of their battle at Bellator 23, which Warren won by split decision.

Warren has a professional record of 7-2, with notable victories over Norifumi Yamamoto and Chase Beebe.

Gilbert Melendez

Gilbert Melendez will likely make his way to the UFC after his Dec. 17 title defense against Jorge Masdival.

Until that time, Melendez is definitely one of the top fighters who has to be signed by the UFC.

Melendez is arguably a top three lightweight in the world, and many have been saying that he could be the UFC champion when he comes over.

Melendez has a professional record of 19-2, with notable victories over Shinya Aoki and Clay Guida.

Shinya Aoki

Shinya Aoki recently said that the only reason he is not in the UFC now, is because he has a family to tend to.

Hopefully he can find a way to transfer his family over to the States, and can sign a contract with the UFC.

Aoki is arguably a top 10 lightweight, and has some of the best jiu-jitsu in the sport today.

Aoki has 19 of his 29 career wins by submission, including multiple flying submissions.

Aoki has a professional record of 29-5 [1 NC] with notable wins over Eddie Alvarez, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Caol Uno.

Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez is the current Bellator lightweight champion, and arguably a top five lightweight.

Alvarez is another fighter who could shake things up in the lightweight division, and he would definitely bring a killer instinct to the division.

Alvarez has 22 career wins, and he has finished his opponent in 19 of them.

Alvarez has a professional record of 22-2, with notable wins over Roger Huerta and Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Ben Askren

Ben Askren is the current Bellator welterweight champion, and he has some of the best wrestling in MMA today.

Askren was an Olympian in 2008, where he made it to the round of 8, before losing 3-1.

Askren won the welterweight title in August 2010, when he won a unanimous decision over Lyman Good. Since that time, he has had one non-title fight, a unanimous decision victory over Nick Thompson.

Askren is 8-0 in his career, with notable victories over Lyman Good and Dan Hornbuckle.

Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley is another fighter with outstanding wrestling, as he was an All-American in two years during his time in college.

Woodley is currently undefeated in his career, and was a front runner for a shot at the Strikeforce welterweight title, until it went into limbo.

When he comes to the UFC, look for him to be a top 10 guy, with a shot at making a title run in the near future.

Woodley is 9-0, with a notable victory over Paul Daley.

Hector Lombard

Hector Lombard is the current Bellator middleweight champion, and is thought to be a fighter who could have a competitive fight with Anderson Silva.

Lombard was an Olympian in judo in 2000, and uses his strong judo base to keep fights on the feet and knock his opponents out.

In addition to his black belt in judo, Lombard also has a black belt in jiu-jitsu, though you rarely see a need for it in his fights.

Lombard has a professional record of 30-2-1 [1 NC] with notable victories over Alexander Shlemeneko and Brian Ebersole.

Alexander Shlemenko

Alexander Shlemenko is a middleweight in Bellator, and is the only man to ever make it five rounds with Hector Lombard.

Shlemenko won the Bellator season two middleweight tournament, and earned his title shot at Lombard, which he lost by unanimous decision.

Now, in the season five middleweight tournament, he's looking to earn a second shot at Lombard, so he can avenge his only loss inside the Bellator cage.

Shlemenko has a professional record of 42-7, with notable losses to Ronaldo Souza and Hector Lombard.

Ronaldo Souza

Ronaldo Souza is the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, and arguably one of the top 10 middleweights in the world.

Souza is one of the best BJJ practitioners in the world, and he uses his jiu jitsu to win his fights, as 11 of his 14 wins have been submissions.

Souza most recently lost his title to Luke Rockhold, but look for them both to be in the UFC soon enough, and a rematch could certainly be in the future down the line.

Souza has a record of 14-3 [1 NC] with notable wins over Mayhem Miller, Robbie Lawler and Tim Kennedy.

Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold is the current Strikeforce middleweight champion, and after seeing him defeat Ronaldo Souza, Rockhold could have a good amount of success in the UFC.

Rockhold is a product of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, so he trains with some of the best fighters out there.

In addition, Rockhold is a brown belt in BJJ, and has six submission victories to his name.

Rockhold has a professional record of 8-1, with a notable victory over Ronaldo Souza.

Roger Gracie

Roger Gracie is a current light heavyweight in Strikeforce, and is one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in the world today.

Gracie was last seen getting knocked out by Muhammed Lawal, but that doesn't mean he isn't a threat.

Prior to the loss to Lawal, Gracie was 4-0 with all four wins being submissions within 10 minutes.

Gracie is 4-1 in his career, with notable victories against Trevor Prangley and Kevin Randleman.

Muhammed Lawal

Muhammed Lawal is the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, and has some great wrestling and knockout power to go along with it.

Lawal won the title at Strikeforce: Nashville, when he defeated Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision.

He went on to lose the title in his first defense to Rafael Cavalcante by third-round TKO.

Lawal has a professional record of 8-1 with notable victories over Roger Gracie and Gegard Mousasi.

Gegard Mousasi

Gegard Mousasi is the current DREAM light heavyweight champion, the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, and the former DREAM middleweight champion.

Mousasi is one of the youngest and most experienced fighters in MMA, as at only 26 years of age, he already has 36 fights under his belt.

In addition to his MMA career, Mousasi had an amateur boxing record of 12-1 with 12 knockouts.

Mousasi has a record of 31-3-2 with notable victories over Renato Sobral and Ronaldo Souza.

Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier is a former Olympic wrestler and a current finalist in the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix.

In his last fight, Cormier was a huge underdog against Antonio Silva, but he was able to overcome to odds, and knock Silva out in the first round.

Cormier is also a good finisher, as he has four (T)KO's and three submissions out of nine career wins.

Cormier has a professional record of 9-0 with notable victories over Antonio Silva and Jeff Monson.

Antonio Silva

Antonio Silva is a current heavyweight in Strikeforce, and was a participant in the World Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Silva is known to many fans for defeating Fedor Emelianenko, and then for getting knocked out by Daniel Cormier.

Silva is a deadly fighter as he has black belts in BJJ, karate and judo, and he trains with some of the best in the world.

Silva has a professional record of 16-3, with notable victories over Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.

Sergei Kharitonov

Sergei Kharitonov was a participant in the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix, until losing to Josh Barnett in the semi-finals.

Kharitonov has been around for quite awhile, since 2000 to be exact, and he has fought some of the best in the world.

He's fought against Murilo Rua, Minotauro Nogueira, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem (2x), Alexander Emelianenko, Jeff Monson, Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett, and has gone 4-5.

Kharitonov has a professional record of 18-5 with notable victories over Andrei Arlovski and Alistair Overeem.

Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett is the former UFC heavyweight champion, and a finalist in the Strikeforce World Heavyweight Grand Prix.

In his first two matches to get to the finals of the tournament, Barnett submitted Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov, both with arm-triangle chokes.

Barnett has been out of the UFC since 2002, but with the purchase of Strikeforce, he could soon make his return.

Barnett has a professional record of 31-5, with notable victories over Minotauro Nogueira and Randy Couture.

Cole Konrad

Cole Konrad is the current Bellator heavyweight champion, and is a former D-1 champion in wrestling.

Konrad is a bit of a decision machine, as five of his eight wins have come in the form of decision.

In his last fight at Bellator 48, he wanted to show everyone that he had improved his striking, and he came out and beat Paul Buentello by unanimous decision.

Konrad is 8-0 in his career, with notable victories over Paul Buentello and Neil Grove.

Anyone else? Let me know in the comments.

Tim McTiernan is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. For the latest news on everything MMA, follow me on twitter @tmt2393.