Do you know that some low-skilled fighters have once fought in the UFC?
Some of them looked like human punching bags in the octagon, making them the worst UFC fighters of all time!
You won’t believe how ridiculous these fighters performed during their UFC run. Fighters below are ranked from 13th (pretty bad) to 1st (absolutely the worst). Let’s crack on!
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13. Jorge Santiago
Jorge Santiago was a promising prospect. When he entered the UFC, many Brazilian fighters succeeded in MMA, which boosted his image. However, he demonstrated a low winning chance against high-skilled MMA fighters in UFC.
He fought Chris Leben in 2006 as his first true challenge. Jorge got swarmed by strikes in the second round and lost via TKO. He fought Alan Belcher next and got knocked out with a jaw-shattering kick.
Despite the losing streak, he continued to fight until 2011. He fought his retirement fight against an Icelandic prospect Gunnar Nelson. Of course, Jorge lost.
12. Roy Nelson
Roy Nelson is a UFC veteran who fought in the early days of the Heavyweight division. He dominated various competitors in his prime, including Cheick Congo and Antonio Nogueira. He was known for his reckless-like striking and knockout power.
Despite his striking greatness, Nelson continues to fail due to his fat physique leaving no room for good cardio. This incapability of staying long enough in a fight makes him an easy opponent for much younger fighters who can last longer.
Today, Nelson is retired. Despite not succeeding in his championship run, he is considered one of the UFC Hall of Famers.
11. Greg Hardy
Greg Hardy is a current UFC Heavyweight. He is known for his knockout power, but more than that, he is much more famous for his glass-like chin and terrible cardio despite playing professional football before entering the UFC.
Greg got into a controversy when he was caught using an inhaler because he couldn’t breathe. His action was completely illegal in the UFC, but he got away with it making UFC fans enraged. Fans got so accustomed to him getting knocked out that they made him a losing highlight.
Greg was a salty loser too. Previously he got knocked out by the Australian heavy hitter, Tai Tuivasa. Greg couldn’t accept this defeat and called Tai’s punch a lucky shot and begged for a rematch.
The UFC didn’t grant him his rematch and gave him another fight against an unknown fighter. Of course, Greg proceeds to get knocked out again.
10. Marcus Brimage
Marcus Brimage started his UFC career as a promising striking machine. He had a three-fight winning streak in his first two years in the organization. However, these fighters are just no-bodies, making his wins not a big deal for the fans.
As his career in the UFC continued, he became a gatekeeper of various fresh, soon-to-be UFC superstars. He tragically lost against Conor McGregor’s debut via knockout. Soon enough, he fought Cody Garbrandt and again lost via knockout.
This series of losses from high-level contenders proved that Marcus doesn’t have what it takes to compete for the elusive UFC gold. His last fight was against Jimmie Rivera way back in 2015. Of course, he lost again.
9. Jeremy Stephens
Jeremy Stephens is the fighter who Conor McGregor has destroyed on a press con with a one-liner: ‘who the fook is that guy?’ Stephens has one of the most significant loss counts in the UFC. He is also not a good trash talker.
Stephens has an awful 15-18-1NC UFC record as per his last July 2021 fight against Mateusz Gamrot. Jeremy’s long career in the UFC has never been included in the championship conversation.
Over the years, Stephens was just a fighter in the Featherweight division whose role was to face future championship contenders and lose. He doesn’t have that championship skill within him.
8. Kimbo Slice
Kevin Ferguson, also known as Kimbo Slice, is famous for his reckless striking inside the octagon. Before the UFC, he was a well-known street fighter; he usually fought with bare knuckles and finished his opponents in a dominating fashion.
He entered the UFC as a fan favorite. Despite that, Kimbo showed beginner-level ground game and unreliable cardio. His low BJJ skills and cardio became a significant disadvantage for him. Moreover, Kimbo became the other half of the most boring UFC fight in history against Houston Alexander.
After his failed championship run in the UFC, Slice went to Bellator to continue his career. He performed the same in Bellator. Unfortunately, Kimbo died in 2016 due to heart failure.
7. Jon Fitch
Jon Fitch has an impressive winning record in the UFC. However, the fans, including the UFC president, Dana White, hate him. Jon has a 15-4 record in the UFC. Most of his wins are decision wins. The boring decision wins.
Fitch loves backing up when his opponent fires a shot and counters it with a takedown. However, all he does is mount his opponent with little to no activity. With this, the referee will be forced to stand them up to reset the fight.
His boring style of fighting made Dana White remove him from the roster. Some UFC fans were furious about this decision, but many were happy because they didn’t enjoy watching Jon fight.
6. James Toney
James Toney was a former Boxing champion. Toney was respected for his striking due to being a top-ranked Boxer. He thought MMA would be easy because of his striking skills. With his overflowing confidence, James made an ambitious cross-over to Mixed Martial Arts.
Because he entered the octagon as a champion, the UFC immediately gave him a world-class MMA fighter. Toney fought Randy Couture; at first, Toney was still bursting with confidence until he was taken down.
That single take-down was all that Randy needed. He demolished Toney on the ground and won via arm triangle. After that loss, Toney retired from MMA and returned to Boxing, where he truly belongs.
5. Dan Lauzon
Dan Lauzon is the brother of the UFC veteran Joe Lauzon. Everyone expected the Lauzon brothers to be like the Diaz bros. With Dan’s awful performance in the UFC, it’s safe to say that Dan is the weaker half of the Lauzon brothers.
Dan ‘The Upgrade’ Lauzon got a 0-3 record in the UFC. His ‘Upgrade’ nickname made him sound funny as he looks like a ‘downgrade’ compared to his brother. Dan got defeated in the UFC in all the possible ways. He lost via knockout, submission, and decision.
Dan had a pretty good run before entering the UFC. He defeated current UFC Lightweight on a fight organization called Affliction via Rare Naked Choke.
4. Ross Pointon
Ross Pointon started his pro-MMA career on The Ultimate Fighter Season 3. He entered the UFC. However, as he progressed in the show, it became more evident that he was not fit to fight in the UFC.
He fought against Kendal Grove and lost via submission. Despite enduring some losses on his record, he displayed courage and accepted a lot of short-notice fights, one of which was against Michael Bisping.
He fought Bisping, and as usual, he showed a low level of striking and BJJ game. Bisping didn’t waste any time and finished Pointon via TKO. Pointed retired with a 6-17 record.
3. CM Punk
Phillip Jack Brooks, more publicly known as CM Punk, is a former WWE Heavyweight champion who came to the UFC for whatever reason he has. Of course, he has a huge name that’s why Dana accepted him right away.
Punk had his debut against Mickey Gall. What’s funny is CM entered the Octagon with just a few sessions of MMA training. He also said that he only sparred a few times and trained infrequently. This lack of experience and training made him look like a child inside the UFC cage.
He once again came back to fight Mike Jackson in 2018. He was getting out struck by his opponent by a mile. This striking lesson leads CM Punk to his last fight in the UFC.
2. Sam Alvey
Sam Alvey was a promising fighter who entered the UFC in 2014. Alvey has a pleasing personality and is a fighter who always wears a huge smile whenever he enters the octagon. This made people love Alvey, especially after his consecutive knockout wins.
However, Sam Alvey’s fortune inside the octagon swiftly ran out. His previous fights seemed to be a downgrade of his first UFC fights, which only worsened. As per his last February 2022 fight against Brendan Allen, Alvey is on a severe 7-fight losing streak.
Despite the continuous defeats, it is surprising that uncle Dana hasn’t removed Sam from the Middleweight roster yet. However, a roster cut-off might be near if he continues his horrible performance inside the cage.
1. Ben Askren
Ben ‘Funky’ Askren dominated the Welterweight division in One FC. He was the Welterweight king for quite some time until he got traded with former UFC Flyweight king Demitrious Johnson.
Despite being a champion, he was pretty hated by the public because of his low-level striking. He only depended on his Jiu-Jitsu game to win all matches via submission or decision.
He’s 1-2 in the octagon. He defeated Robby Lawler via controversial bulldog choke stoppage. The referee thought Lawler was out, so he stopped the fight. After stopping, everyone discovers Lawler was still awake and battling, which didn’t go down too well.
Askren’s next fight was historic. He fought Masvidal and got knocked out five seconds in the first round with a flying knee. He also fought YouTuber Jake Paul in a Boxing match and got KOed.
He’s the kind of fighter everyone loves to hate. And that’s what earns him this top spot.
