Who was the worst UFC Heavyweight Champion?
by HeadKickOfDoom on Jan 6, 2012 4:58 PM EST
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In an article posted by Brent Brookhouse earlier today, Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer stated that Brock Lesnar was not the worst UFC champion in the company's history. I am inclinded to agree, he defended the title twice, which only he and 3 other fighters have ever been able to do. So, since I love me a discussion (and of course a poll) I wanted to take a quick look at the past UFC HW champions and let the intelligent (or intelligant if you are from Northern England) community of BE make this decision for me. I will give a little overview of each champion, if they defended the belt, and who they lost it to. I am picking up from when the belt from when it was officially created way back at UFC 12.
via blog.betdsi.com
Won title: UFC 12 defeating Dan Severn via choke 2:57 of round 1
Title defenses: 0
Maurice Smith
Won title: UFC 14, defeating Mark Coleman via unanimous decision
Title defenses: Once (victory over Tank Abbott at UFC 15)
via cdn.faniq.com
Won title: UFC Japan defeated Maurice Smith via Decision, UFC 28 defeated Kevin Randleman via TKO, UFC 68 defeated Tim Sylvia via unanimous decision.
Title defenses: Three overall. (Left the UFC after defeating Maurice Smith at UFC Japan, defended the title twice after defeating Kevin Randleman at UFC 28, defended it once after defeating Tim Sylvia)
via blog.betdsi.com
Won title: UFC 20, defeating Kevin Randleman via Unanimous Decision for the vacated title
Title defenses: 0 (vacated the title to move down to 205lbs, retired before ever fighting for the UFC again due to injury)
Kevin Randleman
Won title: UFC 23, defeating Pete Williams via Unanimous Decision.
Title defenses: Once (UFC 26 with a UD over Pedro Rizzo)
Won title: UFC 36, defeating Randy Couture via TKO, 4:35 of the 2nd round.
Title defenses: 0 (tested positive for banned substance, was stripped of title)
via en.susumug.com
Won title: UFC 39, defeating Randy Couture via submission at 3:04 of the 5th round.
Title defenses: 0
Tim Sylvia
Won title: 1st run: UFC 41, defeated Ricco Rodriguez at 3:09 of the 1st round via TKO. 2nd run UFC 59, defeated Andrei Arlovski at 2:43 of the 1st round via TKO
Title defenses: Once during his first run, twice during his second.
Andrei Arlovski
Won title: UFC 51, defeating Tim Sylvia at 0:47 of the 1st round via KO.
Defended title: Twice (when he defeated Sylvia for the title, it was an interim title due to Frank Mir being on the shelf from his motorcycle accident. Mir ended up being out for a year and a half that the UFC promoted Arlovski's interim title to the full title)
Frank Mir
Won title: UFC 48 by defeating Tim Sylvia via submission at 0:50 of the 1st round. Also defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for interim title at UFC 92.
Defended title: 0
via www.mmabay.co.uk
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Won title: UFC 81 by defeating Tim Sylvia via submission at 1:28 of Round 3
Defended title: 0 (this was an interim title when Randy Couture was holding out for a better contract)
Brock Lesnar
Won title: UFC 91 by defeating Randy Couture via TKO at 3:07 of the 2nd round
Defended title: Twice (UFC 100 over Frank Mir, UFC 116 over Shane Carwin)
via the3xgp.com
Shane Carwin
Won title: UFC 111 by defeating Frank Mir via KO at 3:48 of Round 1 (this was another interim title, due to Lesnar being sidelined for a year due to diverticulitis.)
Defended title: 0
Won title: UFC 121 by defeating Brock Lesnar via TKO at 4:12 of Round 1
Title defenses: 0
Junior Dos Santos
Won Title: UFC on Fox 1, defeating Cain Velasquez via TKO at 1:04 of Round 1
Title defenses: ??
So again, there is the raw data (per say). What says you knowledgeable community?
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Bas.
He didn’t even really win that fight with Randleman. Could’ve made a case for Arlovski.
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I disagree
I think Rodriguez would be the worst, as I believe Bas would have defended the shit out of that belt if he didn’t get hurt
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by HeadKickOfDoom on Jan 6, 2012 5:17 PM EST up reply actions
Of course he won the fight
Randleman literally was just lying on him. Bas fucked him up, doesn’t matter that he was on the bottom.
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I came here to say,
Doesn’t matter who’s the worst, Bas is the BEST
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by mmazing on Jan 6, 2012 7:32 PM EST up reply actions 6 recs
I'm shocked and appalled
At the three votes for Bas
"Maybe, you throw some pepper at him."
-Bas Rutten
"Somebody, track that one down, make warrior babies."
-Joe Rogan on Ronda Rousey
by mmazing on Jan 6, 2012 7:34 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Bas will deliver a “kick to the leeeeever” for everyone who voted for him!
by Brian Krespan on Jan 10, 2012 5:36 AM EST up reply actions
It's Timmay, bar none.
He’s the best UFC champion. Ever. Total defenses speak for themselves.
Now, where’s that waaaambulance?
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by Luke Thomas on Jan 5, 2012 1:40 PM PST up reply actions
My first instinct when I saw the subject line was Ricco Rodriguez.
But he did beat Randy for the title, so that’s pretty legitimate. Barnett tested positive after his victory, so he certainly warrants mention (I don’t get why his victory wasn’t overturned).
Aside from Barnett, everyone who held the belt legitimately won the belt, so I can judge them only on their defenses. Anyone who successfully defended the title even once, then, is clearly not the worst.
To my eyes, the worst performance by a champion in his only attempt to defend his title is Mark Coleman’s loss to Maurice Smith. That was just about the worst I’ve ever seen anyone look in the cage, so I’m going to have to go with Mark ‘The Hammer’ Coleman.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
I say Barnett
Like you said, how wasn’t that overturned? He may not be the worst fighter on there, but I don’t consider him a real champ.
It depends on what your looking for
Josh Barnett, to me is the worst HW champ because he got popped for steroids and had the belt stripped and never fought in the UFC again. Obviously he has had a good if not great career after that but his reign as UFC hw champ consists of getting stripped and never fighting for the UFC again(until maybe 2012)
In 2nd, I would have to put Big Nog and Shane Carwin because to me an interim belt doesnt mean anything. Your the champ because the actual champ is sidelined. Plus neither man could defend or unify the interim belt.
Now if were talking strictly talent wise hell you could make the case for alot of guys on this lis as the worst champion ever.
So many votes for Ricco!! He was riding a 10 fight winning streak heading into his title fight over Randy that included Goodridge, Buentello, Arlovski, Monson and Pete Williams. Sure they arent huge names right now but AA went on to win the belt and Williams fought for the belt against Randleman.
I guess it depends on the criteria you use for ‘worst’. If you look at worst as being the lest accomplished fighter to hold the title, I say Carwin. Yes he was on an 11 fight streak heading into his title shot against Mir, but Gonzaga was his only notable win in that streak. Since then he has dropped 2 straight…..Admittedly to solid guys, but stil….. a loss is a loss. You could make a case for randleman too and then its gotta be Lesnar at 3 for mine.
Ricco was a beast back then
He tore through everyone and looked good doing it. Add in that he was Tito’s boy, and he looked unstoppable. Beating Couture secured his spot as one of the best HWs in the world. And then…
Who is the one that seems to get mentioned the least or is the least memorable?
I’d say Maurice Smith.
You hear people talk about Coleman, Couture, Sylvia, Arlovski, Rodriguez, Mir etc etc but it seems like nobody mentions Smith.
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by Fraser Coffeen on Jan 6, 2012 7:00 PM EST up reply actions
I wrote a piece at head kick legend this week on heavyweight title runs...
…requiring me to do a lot of research on the topic.
I would say that it has to be Maurice Smith. He is the ony fighter to have won the title with a losing MMA record. He was 5-7 when he fought Coleman and it’s generally agreed he only won because Coleman gassed badly.
Then he beat Tank Abbott, who was a good street brawler but really nothing more than that, before losing to Couture. So while he did defend the crown once, he stands out as the worst to me.
Rodriguez is nowhere near the worst. He was 13-1 when he won and he lost to Sylvia, who, like it or not, was a very worthy champ.
If you are going to lie to me, then we are going to box
i voted Rodriguez..
but after reading your post I agree with you on Smith.
"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something"...The Dread Pirate Roberts
This is false
and it’s generally agreed he only won because Coleman gassed badly
Most MMA historians will tell you that played a part in it but he won more because of his strategy and being one of the first strikers to train defense from their back.
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Is trolling all you ever do SS? Hahahahahaha
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Then write something better...
Or shut up.
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by Chin Check on Jan 7, 2012 5:33 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Nope.
You shut up. SS is great. I don’t know who you are. He wins.
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by Sugel Mendoza on Jan 9, 2012 12:15 AM EST up reply actions
I was about to type a long post about why it was Maurice Smith, but Luke summed it up for me.
Forget the Coleman fight (which I agree was terrible) the Tank fight was worse imo. Smith was almost finished twice, spent nearly 6 minutes on the ground with Tank on top of him, and only finished him with the Kimura because Tank got so tired he could no longer move.
The answer is Smith, and it’s not even close.
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Barnett
got caught for using roids right after the title fight then he lost his title for that.
nuff said
Matt "The Terror" Serra!!!!
This.
Not sure why they didn’t change it to a No-Contest – if anything, he was never the champ and Randy should have retained…
Don't you know dude?
If you do steroids, you still get to keep your win.
If you smoke weed though, that shit goes down as a NC
by discoandherpes on Jan 6, 2012 11:07 PM EST up reply actions
same here
i dont even consider barnett as a former champ. according to UFC records, he was never a champion and it should stay that way.
Matt "The Terror" Serra!!!!
Correct me if I'm wrong
But I believe at the time of that test that drug testing was only in a trial phase and that’s why he was stripped of his title by the UFC but the NSAC let him keep the W.
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Im probably wrong....
But I think the Commision didn’t change the W because the test was a post fight test.
"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something"...The Dread Pirate Roberts
Didn’t mean to post yet…..If the test is done before the fight then they can use that sample to overturn a W. However in this case I think the test was not done the day of the fight. So they could suspend him for the use, but the loophole was they couldn’t say he was on PEDs during the fight.
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I’m going with Sylvia. His title defences were boring beyond belief, the Monson one was possibly the worst fight ever
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Sylvia?
Least likable for sure. Easiest to make fun of? Yup. most doo doo in the cage? without question. Worst champ? Not so sure. He is the definite knee jerk answer, but upon seeing that list, I have to disagree. God, I can’t believe I’m defending Sylvia.
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I get what you are saying and to be honest I think he gets treated a little harshly and perhaps he was a product of the time, there were no real good HWs then, However Arlovski still had exciting fights about that time, and imagine going to a UFC event and Sylvia being the last fight and he jabs someone with a 2ft reach disadvantage for 5 rounds. I think he was possibly the worst because he did the least to defend the belt, the bare bare minimum which makes him a bad champion in my eyes
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So, is it who was the worst fighter? Who had the worst record as champ? Who had the easiest win to be the champ? Who had the worst reign as champ?
This is actually kind of a vague question, but my interpretation is, who was the worst fighter to be the champ. Smith, no question.
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for me it's barnett
but that’s just based on the “cheating” factor – he’s not the least talented guy on this list.
really, i guess the guys from the earlier eras aren’t as good, mo smith in particular, but to see all those “zero title defenses” they kind of seem to me to all have their different good points.
take mo smith – the first striker to win a big mma event. he really proved strikers could hang in mma. is he a worse fighter than, say, ricco rodriguez? sure. but i feel weird saying he’s a worse champion. hard to say.
Really?
This is a really ignorant comment.
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by Worldisart on Jan 9, 2012 2:22 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
In restrospect..
Lesnar ends up looking like one of the most sucessful UFC HW Champions.
Defended it twice.
Not a lot of that on this list.
Barnett’s inclusion is technically correct and categorically bullshit. I vote him.
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by Derek Suboticki on Jan 6, 2012 11:53 PM EST up reply actions
Barnett by default
And he’s as talented as anyone else on this list, barring maybe Velasquez. The problem is he never really won the belt fairly, as he got popped for ‘roiding. Is it likely that others on this list were on the juice? Maybe, but there’s no conclusive proof of that and they didn’t end up causing a stain on the sport in the process.
I’m a fan of Barnett, I think he’s shown in recent matches that he’s as good as he ever was, with a body that looks considerably less toned than when he’s been caught ‘roiding (not that that doesn’t mean he’s off the juice, but it’s hard not to notice the correlation). He still was never truly a UFC Champion in my eyes so he’s the worst by default.
As for “worst” by skill I would guess Smith but he was so young in the sport. As for “worst” by the standards of their time, oh jeez…. probably gonna go with Ricco Rodriguez, but that’s just a guess.
Sure he did
Sylvia just woke back up and TKO’d Arlovski right back.
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Lotta Sylvia haters up in here.
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I find it odd that he has almost ten times the votes of Arlovski, who he beat twice.
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by Baby Wads on Jan 7, 2012 2:42 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Which is exactly why I voted for Arlovski!
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by PistonHyundai on Jan 7, 2012 3:20 PM EST up reply actions
Maurice Smith hands down...
Followed closely by Coleman for losing the title to him.
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Technically...
Valasquez was a pretty bad champ. His reign lasted just over a minute!
Not to diss Cain or anything, i’m a big fan. But, technically…
by Zakk on Jan 7, 2012 8:47 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Ricco for sure
Terrible champ, horrible personality and never came back from his sad plummet
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Based entirely on the facts in the article
going with Barnett
not even a legit title win really
best on paper is Timmeh
Won twice and defended overall more than anybody ever
Tim Sylvia
because he’s Tim Sylvia. Shitting your pants makes you the worst fighter ever, as does getting KTFO in 9 seconds by Ray Mercer.
Not counting early, no weight division UFC?
Did they even award championship titles to defend? Technically, though, the winners were heavyweight champions, because there were no weight divisions. Tournament, though, not championship…I guess there are too many variables, the lack of gloves, rules, etcetera to throw Steve Jennum into that mix.
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