5 legendary former UFC champions who wouldn't cut it today
The world of the UFC is ever-evolving. Often, gameplans and fighting styles that dominate in the octagon one day can look completely outdated the next.
Over the years, the UFC has seen a number of dominant and legendary champions who, in their day, were among the most feared fighters on the planet. But could some of them still cut it today?
The truth is that while some of these fighters will always be renowned for their accomplishments in the octagon and will be revered for years to come yet, if they brought their old skill-sets into a fight today, they’d probably find it hard going.
History is made!
Ronda Rousey becomes the first woman to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. https://t.co/Ry8KgA3omH
Here are five former UFC champions who probably couldn’t cut it in the modern era.
#5. Jens Pulver – former UFC lightweight champion
The UFC’s inaugural lightweight champion was Jens Pulver. While his reign has largely been swept under the carpet for reasons unknown, ‘Lil Evil’ was a truly fantastic fighter in his day.
Starting off as a powerful wrestler, Pulver developed one of the sharpest boxing games in MMA at the time. He used this dual attack to defeat his opponents in the octagon.
After claiming the title in a fight with Caol Uno, he went onto defend it successfully twice, becoming the first man to defeat future legend B.J. Penn in the process.
Jan11.2002
Jens Pulver hands BJ Penn the first loss of his professional career,
when he defeats him by majority decision at UFC 35 https://t.co/cWK8uj6M0p
Pulver never lost his title in the octagon, instead preferring to vacate it to move away from the promotion, heading to Japan for some bigger paydays. By the time he returned, he was unfortunately way past his prime and could never regain the traction he once had.
However, could ‘Lil Evil’ still succeed as a top lightweight if he were to enter the UFC today? Unfortunately, it’s doubtful.
On paper, Pulver’s actual skills would probably still translate well to the modern era. After all, the likes of Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler essentially use a similar style to his, with their wrestling being used to back up their heavy hands.
However, in Pulver’s day, weight cutting was not such an art as it is today. ‘Lil Evil’ might’ve won gold in the octagon at 155 pounds, but in reality, he was a tiny lightweight who didn’t need to cut much weight at all.
If the Pulver of 2001 were to appear in the octagon today, he might find some semblance of success as a bantamweight or featherweight. However, the truth is that he would’ve lacked the speed to truly thrive there.
As a lightweight? ‘Lil Evil’ would simply be too small to do well against the physical monsters that fill the division today.