5 UFC fighters who are legends despite having mediocre records
Unlike boxing, where athletes can pad their record with easy fights early on, the UFC has always been renowned for ensuring that its fighters face the toughest competition possible.
The fact that UFC fighters, particularly the very best, only ever face off with top competition has in turn meant that some true legends haven’t exactly got the best records.
For fans of boxing, seeing an MMA fighter with a record containing losses in double figures labeled as a legend might seem insane. In the world of the UFC, though, it’s often par for the course.
With that considered, here are five UFC fighters who are legends despite having mediocre records.
#5. Tito Ortiz – 15-11-1 UFC record
If you rewind back two decades to 2001, way before the likes of Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre rose to fame, the UFC’s biggest star was undoubtedly Tito Ortiz.
A powerful collegiate wrestler with plenty of charisma and a marketable personality, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ debuted at UFC 13. Thanks to a feud with Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den camp, Ortiz quickly shot to fame.
Ortiz fought for the UFC light heavyweight title in his fifth fight with the promotion. Although he came up short against Frank Shamrock, he quickly became the new champion once Shamrock vacated a few months later.
‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ then went onto defend it successfully five times, setting a record that would only be broken by Jon Jones almost a decade later. He also became the UFC’s new poster-boy once Zuffa took over the promotion in late 2000.
Ortiz eventually lost his title to Randy Couture in 2003. From there, he began to get into disputes with the UFC’s management and, in particular, UFC president Dana White.
Those disputes, along with a laundry list of injuries, meant that his fights began to get more sporadic as the years went on. By the time he really became active in the UFC again, he was past his prime. That meant the losses began to mount up.
Ortiz called time on his octagon career in 2012, at which point he’d lost six of his last seven fights. However, despite a patchy record at best, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ remains a UFC legend. If anything, his trash-talking style paved the way for the likes of McGregor to become superstars years later.