Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel - Superior striker, with a head screwed
loose. Could have been a force if his dirty tactics didn't outshine his
talent.Jadson Costa - To be dubbed "Little Wanderlei" are huge shoes to
fill, and the shoes have never fit.Valentijn Overeem - Master of leglocks with victories over Couture &
Babalu. Just never took that next step to greatness.Stefan "Blitz" Leko - After a successful career in K1 and high
expectiations following Crocop's success in MMA, Leko went to Pride
and was absolutely humiliated.Enson Inoue - Defeated the then unknown wrestling great Randy
Couture, but never really followed it up with much success in the UFC
or Pride. But was always a fan favorite for his heart and determination.Ken Shamrock - 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' had more
success in the WWE ring than in MMA.Vitor Belfort - Career started off great, but never got back on track
or lived up to the potential shown after the early UFC's.Jose Pele Landi - Expansive career, but never showed the same flare
and explosiveness in the larger organizations as he did in the smaller
shows.Igor Zinoviev - Former instructor for the KGB & Extreme Fighting
champ, Zinoviev completely disappeared from MMA after his brutal
slam KO from Frank Shamrock.Rickson Gracie - nuff said.
good list
"take ken and Rickson off that shit, those two did a hell of a lot for the
sport"
Fair enough. I respect your opinion.. Then who are your top
disappointments in MMA?
- UFC Marketting, and failure to connect with fans: This is more of a recent thing, but it took way too long for the UFC to recognize that we are the ones who kept the sport goin in the US. Dana rarily gives credit where credit is due. It wasnt him, or the Fertitas that kep the sport around, it was the small gyms and the amateru fighters, and the guys on the internet who kept telling their friends about the best sport in the world. Its an utter disappointment how low the pay is for the fights who have yet to be a champ....but still once you reach the UFC level you are a pretty damn good fighter.Why not get rewarded for that by getting paid more in the supposed TOP US SHOW? Its ludacris that other organizations are paying fighters more in smaller shows. Who gives a shit ifyou are the new kid on the block...you hit the major leagues of fighting..other sports reward their athletes for reaching that level with higher pay.
Furthermore the PPV schedule is complete bullshit with how bad the UFC is raping people on PPV prices. They are going to slowly push people towards the WFA's, and Bushido's, and StrikeForce Promotions who are getting good fights and not charging out the ass because they have a "name" in the fightworld. The UFC exists because of the fans, dont get too cocky and think you can do as you please because the fans ultimately decide what happens...and once people can unite or atleast form a collective force numerous enough....the UFC will understand that they should have catered more to the fan instead of how much they could make off of the fans.
Rickson Gracie - his bloated legend status has never been proved. His record is a farce. BJJ he is a god. In MMA he is a ghost. 10 documented fights does not calculate to 400+ wins. He is the epitome of a "what if" fighter as stated on Sherdog....but he will continue to hide behind his last name and his aura of greatness because we all know that he fears Bas.
Kevin Randleman - as one already said he had the potential to be one of the best. But staying at HH limited his ability to develop a striking game that would complement his wrestling. Cardio has always been an issue as well with him and the team.
Ken Shamrock - His early fights were ok. He was a bully at best and took advantage of the fact no one knew submissions just like Royce did. But when push came to shove in the big fights....Shammy has yet to step up. Losses to Fujita (where was the heart). Franklin (he had no business in the cage with Rich), Tito, Saku show that Ken is a sinking ship that needs to understand its time to walk away from fighting and either become a coach or do something in the sport. He spent his best possible years of fighting as a wrestler and still is trying to make up for that.
Ricco Rodrigaz - sorry I spelled his name wrong. But the kid started off great, he was hungry and it paid off. He got to championship level. And the completely fell off the face of the earth. His fight with Pedro Rizzo was shit. And then allowing himself to inflate like the Michelan Man is just mind boggling. Im happy that he is on the right track now, but he has some heafty shoes to try and fill up again. Wish him all the luck in the world.
Gary Goodrich - mountains of talent, yet he was nothing more than a 1 hit wonder. He got wins against Jap cans who couldnt defend a forarm to the throat, and with wild swinging banshee punches. Another person I feel that was in over his head when it came to the fights with people at the higher levels....Cro Cop, Fedor, Igor...He was brought to Japan for the entertainment factor, but when it comes down to talent and ability..Goodridge has never been anything but decent in skill.
Vitor BElfort- He is too much of a roller coaster. He has everything a fighter could want, except the will power to push through everything. Talk of a NEW Vitor and OLD Vitor will always haunt his fighting career, unless he can string together 5-6 straight victories and attain a belt. If he can't people will always label him as a coulda' been/shoulda' been fighter. He is still young though and has plenty of years ahead of him for fighting......the book is not quite closed on him yet
The Gracie Family's Striking Ability- how is it that with all the resources in the world, and money galore....that this family has yet to develop a decent striker? I know they feel Jiu Jitsu is God, and that if all else fails Jiu Jitsu can save the world......but lets be real. Brazilian BJJ'ers whom train only in BJJ tend to have shitty shots, and leave their bodies and chins open as if they want to be KO'd. Chute Box is in Brazil, Boxing gyms galore in NYC by Renzo, Cali is thriving with Striking gyms, hell even go to Bas's school and learn.....it is fascinating how bad the entire family is at striking after all these years.
Mark Kerr- I am still hesitant to put him on this list. I dont have him on here because of what lacked ability wise...but because of how his career was so side tracked and ended so soon. The guy was a true wrecking machine. He was a nightmare to fight against. But he also did so well in the period that he did fight, and his ADCC competitions that you cant deny the man was one of the best of his era. His return into MMA at a time when so much has evolved will be interesting. The US audiences are not as forgiving as the Japanese fans are....US people are much more critical as exemplified by the Sims-Kerr ordeal.
PRIDE Fights.....Now all the die hard PRIDE people will hate on me, and I accept that. But how could an organization with such talent pimp out so many Japanese fighters to their big dogs time after time after time. They have a wealth of talent...and have had very high profile fights matchups....that end up sucking. Now there have been many awesome fights...but there also have been a fair fair share of snoozerz. Mismatches made to entertain the audience like wrestling promoters do so very often....who really wants to see Cro Cop vs Don Caras, or Fedor vs Zulosino....they do nothing to further Prides standing as the supposed King of all promotions.
The best thing Pride ever did was to establish Bushido.
RHM just curious but how is Andre a disappointment. please elaborate
I agree with most of everyone's list, but I would add Pedro Rizzo. Had all the tools to be a great fighter, but was never aggressive enough or mentally strong. Plus he got cut easily.
vengence couldn't be any more correct as to why Rickson is my #1.
Here are a few other guys that could have made the list:
Pedro Rizzo (you're correct Bowlman)
Mark Schultz
Hugo Duarte
Mike Van Arsdale
Vernon Tiger White
bowlman. i wanted to put Rizzo down on my list. but forgot about him right after i finished.
Pedro Rizzo will now be my 6b. Another talented fighter who just fizzled
Would it be considered right to put a fighter on that list that is still fighting? I mean who knows they might be able to bounce back. wishful thinking i know
my mom
jjgear being down all day today
great post, vengeance
"He was a UFC champion."
You're correct and i should have been more specific. I meant to imply
that he didn't have the same popularity then (even as UFC champ) as he
does now. So he was unknown to the general masses... Now he's is in
DirectTV commercials. :)
thanks YMB
RHM did you REALLY expect big things from Joe Son?
I will call him mini-Kimo
WPB, that was a great post, man.
Kerr, Jackson, Alger, Kolat
Greg "The Ranger" Stott
I really thought he was going to make waves in the UFC, but it just didn't happen...
I think he overtrained.
1 manjor disappointment is that Jason Black has not fought in the UFC yet....and his loss to Shonnie