Who Are The Top MMA Fighters Around The World That Should Be In The UFC?
There are many great fighters around the world that haven’t yet joined the UFC, assuming they even have the opportunity. While the world of MMA focuses on the greatest athletes of the UFC, and for good reason, there’s a lot of talent out there that the UFC misses out on.
Today we’re checking out five fighters who aren’t in the UFC, but they probably should be and would certainly make a dent in the sport if they were added to the roster. Depending on the promotions that these fighters fight with, you may also be able to place bets with MMA odds.
1. Fedor Emelianenko
While he’s in the sunset stage of his career, many UFC fans will be aware of Emelianenko and how he almost entered the championship. However, negotiations fell through, even after Dana White offered Emelianenko a shot at then-current heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.
With a current record of 40 wins and just 6 losses, Emelianenko was burned in the year 2000. That was where Tsuyoshi Kohsaka made a controversial TKO against him at the Rings: King Of Kings 2000 Block B event. What followed was a brutal 16 fight winning streak, interrupted by a no contest, then another 11 straight wins. His record is patchier today though he still wins more than he loses.
Having fought for Pride FC, Affliction, Strikeforce, Rizin FF, and Bellator, he has never touched the UFC. However, he has defeated over four former UFC champs, one Pride champ, three K-1 champs, and two Olympic medal holders.
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2. Shinya Aoki
Like Emelianenko, Shinya Aoki is an older fighter. In fact, he’s the oldest on this list, but that isn’t stopping him from fighting with ONE Championship nowadays while moonlighting as a pro wrestler. Aoki has also fought for DEEP, Pride, DREAM, Strikeforce, RIZIN, and Bellator, too – pretty much everybody but the UFC. His record shows his experience too, with 47 wins and just 9 losses.
Aoki is known to have a mean streak, gathering controversies throughout his career based on needlessly injuring opponents and disrespecting them in after-fight celebrations. While that wouldn’t go down as well in the UFC, you just know those antics would get fans and the media hooked, so he can carry star power along with that impressive record of his.
3. Patricio Pitbull
Often ranked as the #1 featherweight fighter that isn’t in the UFC, Patricio “Pitbull” Freire has been loyal to Bellator MMA for most of his career. He is a former Bellator featherweight champ twice and a former lightweight champ too, holding one of those featherweight titles at the same time as his lightweight run. This makes him the second two-division champ in Bellator’s history.
While Pitbull hasn’t entered the UFC, he trained as a teenager alongside UFC greats like Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua. He was a promising prospect that spent his formative years with Team Nogueira, ranking as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To date, he has 32 wins and 5 losses, 20 of those wins being with Bellator.
4. Michael Page
Next, we go to the British isles, where Michael “Venom” Page comes from. Like Pitbull, “MVP” fights mainly with Bellator nowadays, where he is often considered the best welterweight outside of the UFC. Across 21 fights so far, he has won 20 of them, 12 being with a knockout.
He isn’t just a good fighter. He also has the charisma that could have easily made him a UFC star if he chose to go with them instead of Bellator. He’s also a tough fighter to go up against, thanks to his blend of freestyle kickboxing and sports karate. So he doesn’t follow the BJJ rule-book when in the cage. He also gets around, having sparred with the likes of UFC prospect Alexander Gustafsson and boxer Chris Eubank Jr.
5. Jarrah Al-Silawi
We don’t often hear about the MMA scene in the Arab world, where one fighter has pioneered the space. That would be Jarrah Al-Silawi, the Jordanian Lion, who was raised and trained without even leaving his home country. He didn’t need to ship off to Brazil or America to become one of the best. His record currently stands at 17 wins and just 3 losses, though he’s one of the youngest on this list and has quite a way to go.
Having become welterweight champ for BRAVE Combat Federation, he has beaten people who have gone on to the UFC. One of the most notable examples is Carlston Harris, who was the guy he took that welterweight champ title from. While the UFC has signed Middle Eastern fighters, they have yet to choose Al-Silawi, who has indicated he is loyal to BRAVE for now.
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Conclusion
Those are some of the best fighters outside the UFC right now. They’re all at different points in their careers but one thing is certain, their talent is being recognized by other promotions on all continents.
Whether right now or when they were in their prime, all five of these fighters could definitely compete in their respective UFC weight classes if they did sign-on.
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