5 fighters who came to the UFC too late in their careers
This week has seen the announcement that former Bellator star Michael ‘Venom’ Page has finally joined the UFC – but at the age of 36, has he left his big move too late?
If Michael Page has indeed left his move to the UFC too late, he wouldn’t be the first MMA superstar to do so, as there have been other examples over the years. Often, these fighters built huge reputations for themselves in other promotions, only to fail to replicate this in the octagon due to their bad timing.
With this in mind, here are five fighters who came to the UFC too late in their careers.
#5. Takanori Gomi – former UFC lightweight contender
When the UFC decided to close off its lightweight division for a brief period between 2004 and 2005, the majority of the world’s best 155-pound fighters made a move to Japan’s PRIDE promotion.
Despite the likes of Jens Pulver and Josh Thomson competing in the PRIDE ring at the time, one fighter stood head and shoulders above the rest – Japan’s Takanori Gomi.
A remarkably hard-hitting boxer with excellent takedown defense, ‘The Fireball Kid’ destroyed anyone who faced him, including Pulver, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Hayato Sakurai.
By 2006, despite the UFC reintroducing the lightweight division, Gomi was widely considered the best 155-pounder on the planet. When PRIDE crashed a year later and was bought out and eventually absorbed by its US-based competitor, though, Gomi did not initially make the jump.
Instead, he stayed in Japan with the new Sengoku organization – and suddenly seemed to age overnight, losing to less notable foes like Saturo Kitaoka and Sergei Golyaev.
By the time he finally agreed to enter the octagon in 2010, he was miles past his prime and looked terrible in his debut fight with Kenny Florian. While ‘The Fireball Kid’ showed the odd flash of his former self – his knockout of Tyson Griffin coming to mind – he continued to struggle in the octagon.
His career in the promotion eventually came to a sorry end in 2017 after a run of five straight losses, making him the perfect example of a fighter who waited too long to enter the octagon.
#4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – former UFC interim heavyweight champion
Another legend of PRIDE who simply left it too long to join the UFC, it’d be unfair to completely write Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira off as a flop in the octagon.
After all, ‘Minotauro’ did produce some stirring wins during his eight-year career with the promotion, most notably defeating Tim Sylvia for the interim heavyweight title in 2008.
However, comparing the Nogueira who competed in the octagon to the younger version who fought in PRIDE would be like comparing night and day.
The Brazilian essentially defeated a who’s who of heavyweight greats in the Japanese rings, dispatching the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, and Josh Barnett.
His submission skills, underrated boxing and seemingly inhuman durability turned him into a legend, and were it not for his great rival Fedor Emelianenko, he would’ve been known as the best heavyweight of his generation.
When he arrived in the UFC, though, he was on the wrong side of 30, and all the damage he’d taken in PRIDE had begun to add up.
2008 saw Nogueira suffer the first knockout loss of his career at the hands of Frank Mir, and he never truly recovered the magic after that. Soon, the losses began to add up, and he even suffered tapout defeats to Mir and Fabricio Werdum.
‘Minotauro’ eventually hung up his gloves in 2015 following a string of defeats, his legendary career ending in bitter disappointment.
#3. Kid Yamamoto – former UFC bantamweight contender
Back in the early 2000’s, few fighters had as fearsome a reputation as Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto.
A natural 135-pounder, ‘Kid’ actually made his name fighting at 155 pounds in the rings of Japan, defeating the likes of Royler Gracie and Genki Sudo en route to becoming the K-1 Hero’s champion at the weight class.
An Olympic-level wrestler with ridiculous knockout power, Yamamoto appeared to have no glaring weaknesses. By the end of 2007, after putting together a record of 17-1 with his only loss coming via a fluke cut, many fans viewed him as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
However, this version of ‘Kid’ never came to the octagon, primarily for two reasons. Firstly, as a mainstream star in Japan, he was being paid far too much to justify a move to the US.
Secondly, as a natural bantamweight, there was no real place for him in the UFC, who didn’t introduce any weight classes under 155 pounds until 2011. Once they did, ‘Kid’ was one of their first marquee signings. However, by that stage, not only was he the wrong side of 30 years old, but he’d also suffered a serious knee injury in 2008 that he never really recovered from.
The Japanese star ended up losing three of his four trips to the octagon, with the fourth and final one ending in a No Contest. That bout was to be the final one of his career, and he tragically passed away from stomach cancer in 2018, with fans never getting to see the best of him in the octagon.
#2. James Toney – former UFC heavyweight contender
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a number of crossovers between the worlds of MMA and boxing, with numerous stars from the former sport trying their hand at the latter.
However, while superstars like Conor McGregor and Francis Ngannou have stepped into the squared circle during their prime years, we still haven’t really seen a top-level boxer enter the octagon.
The closest fans have come to witnessing this was back in 2010, when former multi-division champion James Toney signed with the UFC in what was, at the time, a big-money move.
At his peak, ‘Lights Out’ was widely considered one of the best pound-for-pound boxers on the planet thanks to his slick counterpunching skills, rapid hand speed, and strong chin.
Unfortunately, by the time that Toney made his octagon debut against the legendary Randy Couture, those peak years were long gone.
Despite promising to easily dispatch ‘The Natural’ via knockout, at 42 years old, Toney was painfully out of shape and had failed a drug test a few years beforehand.
Judging by his showing, he also hadn’t trained in any kind of grappling, even defensively, as Couture took him down with a simple ankle pick and tapped him out with a choke moments later.
Toney never fought in the octagon again and remains a punchline of sorts with MMA fans. Had he arrived in his athletic prime, though – assuming he was taking it seriously – he could well have achieved success.
As it is, though, he’s not only an example of a fighter who left it too late to enter the octagon, but as one of the promotion’s all-time greatest question marks, too.
#1. Ben Askren – former UFC welterweight contender
On most occasions, whenever a fighter emerges to become a champion in one of the numerous organisation hoping to challenge the UFC, Dana White and company quickly look to sign them away.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with Ben Askren. Despite ‘Funky’ possessing world-class wresting skills and plenty of trash-talking charisma, White and company just didn’t seem interested in bringing him to the octagon until it was too late.
Askren burst onto the scene in Bellator back in 2010, and it didn’t take long for him to make an impact. He eased past every foe put in his way, and by 2013, he sported a 12-0 record and held Bellator’s welterweight title.
Unfortunately, Askren’s takedown-heavy style, based around the wrestling skills that’d taken him to the 2008 Olympics, meant that many observers considered him dull to watch.
Was that really the case? Not exactly. ‘Funky’ was no less entertaining than Chael Sonnen or Tito Ortiz, for instance, both of whom became superstars in the UFC.
Regardless, when Bellator unexpectedly allowed his contract to expire in 2014, White gave Askren a hard pass, allowing him to instead move to ONE Championship, where he continued to win fights.
By the time that he finally arrived in the octagon in 2019, he was returning from a temporary retirement two years prior and was already in his mid-30’s.
Askren won his octagon debut by surviving a bad start to submit Robbie Lawler, but followed that with devastating losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia before retiring for a second time.
Whether ‘Funky’ could’ve done better in the octagon had he arrived in his prime is a fair question mark, but it’s hardly a stretch to think that he could’ve succeeded given his prior achievements. Instead, he stands as the poster-boy for fighters who came to the UFC far too late.