5 UFC fighters who are unfairly overlooked in the GOAT debate
Whenever the subject of the UFC’s GOAT arises, whether that’s across the entire promotion or in a single weight class, similar names come up, with the likes of Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva usually being mentioned.
When it comes to the UFC’s GOAT, though, there are a number of fighters who probably belong in the conversation but don’t get brought up quite enough. Sometimes this is because they’ve been overshadowed by another fighter in their weight class, but often, other factors are at play.
Here are five UFC fighters who get unfairly overlooked in the GOAT debate.
#5. Shogun Rua – former UFC light heavyweight champion
One fighter who definitely gets overlooked when it comes to considering the GOATs of the UFC is former light heavyweight champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Despite suffering some devastating losses in recent years, it’s hard to dispute the Brazilian’s pedigree.
Shogun first rose to fame in Japan’s PRIDE promotion in the mid-2000’s, defeating the likes of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Alistair Overeem and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira en route to winning the 2005 PRIDE middleweight grand prix.
Given that the Japanese promotion was generally considered to have most of the world’s best 205lbers on its roster at that stage, most observers considered Shogun the best light heavyweight on the planet following his victory.
If you don’t remember Shogun Rua soccer kicking dudes you aren’t a real old school fan.
Sure, his early UFC days weren’t outstanding, as he suffered a bad loss to Forrest Griffin in his octagon debut, but it’s arguable that a knee injury contributed to that. He also subsequently recovered and became the first man to stop Lyoto Machida, winning the light heavyweight title in the process.
Two things probably keep Shogun from being considered the 205lb GOAT outright: the presence of Jon Jones, who destroyed him in their 2011 title bout, and the fact that the tail end of his career has been so bad.
However, other potential GOATs – Anderson Silva comes to mind – suffered bad losses on their way out, and when you consider Jones’ positive drug tests, there’s probably an argument that Shogun should still be considered top of the pile at light heavyweight.
#4. Henry Cejudo – former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion
When it comes to discussing the UFC’s various potential GOATs, some of the names that tend to come up are fighters who held two titles in different weight classes, such as B.J. Penn, Georges St-Pierre and Amanda Nunes.
One fighter who was able to not only equal that achievement, but was also one of the handful of fighters to hold two titles simultaneously is Henry Cejudo. Despite that, it’s rare that ‘Triple C’ is mentioned in the debate around the GOAT, both in his two weight classes and in the promotion overall.
However, despite his time at the top of the mountain being comparatively short, Cejudo’s accomplishments stack up against any other fighter in octagon history.
Not only is ‘Triple C’ the only fighter to defeat legendary former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in the octagon at 125lbs, but he also followed that with a victory over then-bantamweight kingpin T.J. Dillashaw, taking him out in a matter of seconds.
HENRY CEJUDO!!!!!!!
Messaged. Sent. WOW!!!!! #UFCBrooklyn @HenryCejudo https://t.co/5gx41CdUOM
When you add in his bantamweight title win over Marlon Moraes, who was then considered the division’s most dangerous contender, and his subsequent title defense against Dominick Cruz, who is underrated in his own right, it’s hard to argue against Cejudo’s status.
Sure, his decision to walk away from MMA in 2020 – for now at least – might’ve been a little misguided, but ‘Triple C’ should definitely be considered one of the UFC’s potential GOATs.
#3. Alexander Volkanovski – current UFC featherweight champion
When DAZN recently produced a list of the UFC’s potential GOATs, one name was definitely conspicuous by his absence on the countdown – current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Bizarrely, two former featherweight kingpins – Jose Aldo and Max Holloway – were named on the list, despite the fact that Volkanovski has beaten both of them and actually holds three wins over ‘Blessed’.
Alexander Volkanovski defeats Max Holloway by unanimous decision to maintain the featherweight title belt 🏆
What. A. Fight. https://t.co/cRnNJU8EUA
So why does ‘Alexander the Great’ seem to be getting ignored in the debate around who is the UFC’s featherweight GOAT? The most obvious reason would be recency bias, as it’s perhaps the case that observers don’t want to be too quick to proclaim the Australian the greatest while he’s still competing.
However, it’s hard to argue with his accomplishments. Not only has he never been beaten in the octagon, but his list of victims easily stands up against Holloway’s or Aldo’s when you consider he holds wins over Chad Mendes, Chan Sung Jung and Brian Ortega.
Perhaps once his title reign finally ends, Volkanovski will get the dues that he deserves. For now, he remains underrated in the conversation around who the UFC’s GOAT is.
#2. Dominick Cruz – former UFC bantamweight champion
One fighter who certainly belongs in the discussion around the UFC’s GOAT and often doesn’t get mentioned is former bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz. Were it not for his lengthy list of injuries, he’d almost definitely be in consideration.
After dominating the WEC’s bantamweight division, Cruz arrived in the octagon for the first time in the summer of 2011, and defended his newly-minted UFC crown against Urijah Faber and Demetrious Johnson before being derailed by a knee injury.
Remarkably, though, despite fighting just once between October 2011 and January 2016 – a 2014 TKO of Takeya Mizugaki – ‘The Dominator’ returned to immediately regain the title he never lost in the octagon by defeating T.J. Dillashaw in a stunning performance.
HIGHLIGHTS: TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz #UFCBoston snpy.tv/1V11STD
Sure, the years haven’t been too kind to Cruz since, as he lost his title to Cody Garbrandt, was back on the shelf for four years with injuries, and then failed in a 2020 attempt to regain it from Henry Cejudo. However, the fact is that ‘The Dominator’ has still never lost a non-title bout in the octagon.
Essentially, it’s fascinating to think what he could’ve achieved without injuries, and it’s not inconceivable to believe that he would’ve put together a record number of bantamweight title defenses.
So when it comes to the debate over who is the UFC’s 135lb GOAT, he’s impossible to overlook.
#1. Daniel Cormier – former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion
While he often appears on lists of the UFC’s potential GOAT, the general consensus on Daniel Cormier is that he’s behind Jon Jones in terms of being the light heavyweight GOAT, and Stipe Miocic – and perhaps Cain Velasquez – in terms of being the promotion’s heavyweight GOAT.
Should this really be the case, though? In terms of his heavyweight credentials, it’s probably fair to have Cormier below Miocic and Velasquez based on his two losses to the former, but light heavyweight is a little more intriguing.
Sure, ‘DC’ doesn’t have the resume of Jones, and he did lose twice to him. However, he also doesn’t have any black marks to his name as ‘Bones’ does with his multiple failed drug tests.
It’s not like Cormier’s record at 205lbs wasn’t great, either. He picked up wins over Dan Henderson, Anthony Johnson (twice), Alexander Gustafsson and Volkan Oezdemir, all of whom were highly ranked at the point that ‘DC’ defeated them.
That is classic Daniel Cormier 💪
The champ defends his belt at #UFC220 with a second-round finish of Volkan Oezdemir 🏆 https://t.co/Yz5vmWGXhI
So could there be an argument – particularly as he won the heavyweight title while holding the light heavyweight title, something Jones never achieved – that Cormier belongs above ‘Bones’ in the discussion around who is the light heavyweight GOAT? It’s definitely possible.