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The first ever Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) event was held in 1993 in Denver, Colorado, and its purpose was to identify the most effective martial art with opponents of different disciplines from boxing, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, sambo, karate, and Muay Thai taking each other on with minimal rules.
While (now) there are more rules put in place since its start, there have also been a number of fighters that have made a huge impression on us since its beginnings. The 19 men that are featured on this list showcase some of our favorite and most memorable MMA fighters. What happened to Ken Shamrock, better known as "The World's Most Dangerous Man?" Or what about Royce Gracie, the man who is quite literally one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts? Here, we highlight these nineteen men who have made an impact in the UFC, winners or losers, and see just what they are up to today.
Pat Miletich - Became A Commentator For MMA
If you don't remember, let us jog your memory; Pat Miletich became the first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner. After retiring from the world of MMA, the fighter became a highly successful trainer and coach and founded Miletich Fighting Systems. His camp is considered to be one of the most successful in MMA history, and many world champions have trained actually at his facility. Pat Miletich has gone on to become a color commentator for Strikeforce and has also provided commentary for AXS TV Fights and ESPN's MMA Live.
Oleg Taktarov - Retired From MMA To Act
Oleg Taktarov was the UFC 6 tournament champion and holds notable wins over Marco Ruas, Tank Abbott, Mark Kerr, and Anthony Marcias. He is most well-known to be very calm while in the octagon and using a wide array of rarely-seen acrobatic Sambo takedowns. Oleg is the only fighter to never have been submitted in an MMA fight. Only a few men were able to beat "The Russian Bear." Oleg temporarily retired from MMA to pursue a career in acting and was in a bunch of films like Bad Boys II, 15 Minutes, Air Force One, and the 2002 version of Rollerball, to name a few. He is also the leading actor in the Russian TV series Ex-Wife.
Don Frye - Took Up Acting
Don Frye was a collegiate wrestler and also trained in amateur boxing before joining the UFC over 20 years ago in 1996. With his bushy and impressive moustache and thick accent, Frye quickly became a fan favorite. He would win the UFC 8 Tournament Championship and become a finalist at UFC 10. Even with his many winnings, Frye would leave the MMA world to pursue a career in professional wrestling with the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. After finally deciding to retire, Frye began acting in movies like Godzilla: Final Wars and Big Stan.
Dan Severn - Owns Mixed Martial Arts Camp
Dan Severn literally holds an MMA record of 101-19-7 and is known as "The Beast." Severn was the first world-class wrestler to enter the UFC and made his debut in UFC 4, winning his first two matches in the tournament before being defeated by Royce Gracie (the number one fighter) in the finals. Severn is also the first man to ever compete in the UFC and the WWE at the same time. Since retiring, Severn has written an autobiography titled The Realest Guy in the Room: The Life and Times of Dan Severn and additionally, he now owns a martial arts camp in Michigan.
B.J. Penn - Returned To UFC
Before B.J. Penn began fighting for the UFC, he became the first American Gold medalist of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. His win caught the eye of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and his first debut fight was in UFC 31 where he won the match. Penn was a former Lightweight Champion and UFC Welterweight Champion and is one of only four fighters in UFC history to win titles in more than one weight class. Penn returned to MMA just last year in 2017, but ended up losing. Penn is the co-author of Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge and has written an autobiography titled Why I Fight: The Belt Is Just an Accessory.
Chuck Liddell - Itching For MMA Comeback?
Chuck Liddell is largely known for bringing MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment. Liddell "The Iceman" fought in UFC 17, and by the time of his last fight in UFC 115, Liddell earned himself a Lightweight Champion title, Fighter of the Year, and even became a Hall of Famer in 2009. Liddell has been in a number of films, including War Pigs, How High, and The Death and Life of Bobby Z. He has also been in numerous TV shows like HBO's Entourage and The Deadliest Warrior. Recently, Chuck Liddell was a contestant on the first ever season of Celebrity Big Brother. There are current rumors circulating that Liddell has been itching for an MMA comeback, but at what price?
Mark Kerr - Pursuing A Degree
Mark Kerr went by the three nicknames "The Titan," "The Smashing Machine," and "The Specimen." Kerr went on to become the UFC 14 and UFC 15 Tournament Champion, all thanks to his incredible strength. Kerr was also known to literally annihilate his opponent in under two and a half minutes. After leaving the UFC world, Mark Kerr continued to fight for Japan's Pride FC promotion, but with not much success. As of today, Kerr is said to be pursuing a degree in the pharmaceutical sales area. We wish him nothing but the best.
Vitor Belfort - Still An MMA Fighter
Vitor Belfort is considered a legend in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Belfort was only nineteen years old when he won the UFC 12 Heavyweight Tournament Championship. It took Belfort only two minutes to defeat two opponents and go on to win the tournament. Vitor is known around the world for his powerful knockout and today, he even continues to compete in the Middleweight division of the UFC. As of this year, in February 2018, Vitor is the No. 10 contender in official UFC Middleweight rankings. Not too bad for someone who has been around since he was just 19 years old.
Mark Coleman - Faced Serious Hip Injury
Known as "The Hammer," Mark Coleman was known for his use of unique strategy when in the octagon, which he called the ground-and-pound. If you aren't aware of that strategy, well, we'll tell you: it's when you take your opponent to the ground using a takedown, obtaining a top position and then hammering your opponent with punches. He was the UFC 10 and UFC 11 tournament champion and the first UFC Heavyweight Champion. Mark Coleman is continuing to recover from a serious hip injury where he had to get his hip completely removed and was implanted with a plastic hip.
Tito Ortiz - CEO Of The Punishment Athletics MMA Equipment And Clothing Line
Tito Ortiz's Mixed Martial Arts debut was in UFC 13 in 1997, in which he would win the fight and continue into the finals. However, he would lose to Guy Mezger. Ortiz would become the biggest pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock. Fans loved Ortiz and so did the UFC, who saw him as a new and fresh face for the sport. Now retired, Tito Ortiz is the CEO of the Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line and even owns an MMA training gym in his hometown of Huntington Beach, California.
Bas Rutten - Appeared In A Number Of TV Shows, Movies, And Video Games
Bas Rutten was a UFC Heavyweight Champion and a three-time King of Pancrase (a Japan-based mixed martial arts) world champion and finished his Mixed Martial Arts career with a 22-fight unbeaten streak. After deciding to retire from fighting, Rutten would waste no time in using his charm and his nickname "El Guapo" (The Handsome One) to his advantage. Since retiring, he has worked as a color commentator in several MMA organizations and has appeared in numerous television shows, movies (including Zookeeper and Paul Blart: Mall Cop 1 and 2), and video games. Today, Rutten also coaches MMA.
Gabriel Gonzaga - Opened Up His Own Gym
Gabriel Gonzaga was a former UFC heavyweight title contender with his biggest highlights in Mixed Martial Arts at the 2007 UFC 70 held in the U.K., in which he knocked out K-1 Pride and Rizen champion Mirko Cro Cop with a head kick. Gonzaga would go on to defeat other notable MMA fighters but would become unsuccessful in challenging UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture. Gonzaga retired from the sport but he has mentioned that he would consider returning if he received a six-figure offer to do so. Today, Gonzaga is focusing on his gym, Squared BJJ, and of course, hating on none other than Conor McGregor.
Rodney Wallace - Currently Competing In Russia
Rodney Wallace lost his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale and would then go on to lose a few more fights, which basically ended his career with UFC. After his release, he would go on to compete in other countries like Canada and Poland. Wallace also made his debut for Bellator MMA but he ended up being released, along with twelve other fighters. Currently, he is still fighting, but is doing so in the light heavyweight division of the Absolute Championship Berkut in Russia.
James Toney - Played Joe Frazier In 2001 Film Ali
Even though James Toney is known as a professional boxer who was known for his slick body movements, he has made one appearance in UFC. Toney is a former three-weight world champion who competed from 1988 to 2017. While spotted at UFC 108, Toney had a talk with UFC President Dana White to fight in a tournament. At the age of 42, Toney made his debut, fighting champion Randy Couture in UFC 118. With no mixed martial arts background, Toney received a rude welcoming, thanks to Couture who, less than a minute into the fight, easily took Toney to the ground. Fans went crazy after Toney lost. The boxer had no idea how to get up off the ground and had to tap out. Toney did get back to boxing, though, playing the role of Joe Frazier in the 2001 movie Ali.
Matt Serra - Co-Hosts UFC Podcast
Matt Serra's biggest accomplishment in MMA came during UFC 69: Shootout where he defeated Georges St-Pierre in a Knockout of the Night award-winning performance and won the Welterweight Championship. Practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he became the first American to obtain a black belt in the year 2000 under Renzo Gracie, a world-famous Jiu-Jitsu coach. Serra would then go on to co-host the official podcast of the UFC, titled UFC Unfiltered, with comedian Jim Norton and was actually the head coach for the popular The Ultimate Fighter 6 reality television show.
Matt Hughes - Autobiography Made It To New York Times Bestseller List
During his time fighting in the UFC, Matt Hughes was regarded as one of the greatest welterweight fighters of all time, as well as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in UFC's history. With a background in wrestling, Hughes defeated all opponents in the welterweight division and defended the belt a record (then) seven times. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2008, Hughes published his autobiography, Made in America, which made the New York Times bestseller list. In 2011, the fighter became the host of Outdoor Channel's Trophy Hunters TV, which he gained a lot of criticism for by animal activists.
Randy Couture - Took On Acting
Randy Couture became a fan favorite because of his U.S. Army background and made his first appearance in the octagon in UFC 13 as part of the four-man Heavyweight tournament where he won in under a minute against fighter Tony Halme, who outweighed him by nearly 100 pounds. In the Heavyweight tournament final, Couture went on to defeat Steven Graham, another fighter larger than him by TKO. Randy would go on to become a two-division champion, becoming only one of four fighters to hold two UFC Championship titles in two different divisions. His success in the octagon landed him in the UFC Hall of Fame in 2006. Since retiring from MMA, Couture has had some stints in the acting world, appearing in three episodes of Hawaii 5-0, films Redbelt, The Scorpion King 2, and The Expendables.
Ken Shamrock - Founder Of The Lion's Den
Ken Shamrock was known as one of the biggest stars in the history of MMA and even earned the nickname "The World's Most Dangerous Man" by ABC News during his early UFC fighting years. Shamrock headlined 15 main events and co-main events and set many pay-per-view records. Shamrock was definitely one scary-looking guy and became the first UFC Superfight Champion after defeating Dan Severn at UFC 6. When weight categories were put into effect by the UFC, the title became known as the UFC Heavyweight Championship. In his later years, Shamrock had success in the WWF and TNA. He is the founder of the Lion's Den mixed martial arts training camp.
Royce Gracie - Brand Ambassador For Bellator
Royce Gracie is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts. Not only did Royce and his family come from Brazil and brought with them Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but they also were the original owners of the UFC. Between 1993 and 1994, Gracie was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4 and fought to a draw against none other than Ken Shamrock in a championship match in UFC 5. You might remember him as the fighter who wore a kimono, but Gracie was so much more than that. Today, Gracie is the brand ambassador for Bellator, a mixed martial arts organization that is based in California.
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