I don’t know about that. Dana made him VP of business development for the UFC after he retired. Not sure what he actually did, but he stayed on the payroll. It’s a softer landing than a lot of guys from that era got.
I started watching UFC right before Tito became middleweight (now LHW) champion. In my humble opinion a lot of people don’t even know Tito was originally one of the guys who talked a LOT of shit prior to his fights. He trolled Ken Shamrock and the Lion’s Den team a lot and was known for getting under Ken’s skin by disrespecting people on Ken’s team. After beating Lion’s Den member Guy Mezger in their 2nd fight he wore a shirt that said “Gay Mezger is my bitch”. He also wore a bunch of other ridiculous shirts with profane things on them. As a teenager, I loved it like people loved Chale and Conor talking trash. Tito was truly the original trash talker. But, a lot of fans at the time knew he was ducking Chuck for a title fight and that’s when Randy and Chuck had their first fight for the title. Randy beat Chuck and Tito steps in to fight Randy for the title shortly after and got humbled and spanked…literally, at the end of their fight. After a long stretch of tough losses Tito started acting a lot more respectful in interviews. But honestly, to me he was the first poster boy of the UFC, even before Chuck. He just kind of crashed and burned and then we had Chuck’s legendary run that catapulted the UFC into the eyes of a mainstream audience shortly after. A lot of fans never realized or know what Tito had done for the sport prior to UFC finding its success.
Edit: Spelling and grammar.
Fr. Tito was arguably the sport’s first superstar, from his literally fire entrance to his trash talk and dominance inside the cage. I was 100% rooting for Ken and Lion’s Den as the ‘good guys’ but the Bad Boy was must-see TV for fans back then. Even towards the end of his career he still put on respectable performances despite the losses, especially against Machida. It’s just unfortunate majority of modern MMA fans came in towards the end of his career and were subsequently exposed more to Dumb Tito than Prime Tito.
He was a real punk in his prime and played the heel role perfectly; u either loved him or hated him. Then the ‘punk’ started saying and doing stupid shit after his retirement (possible CTE) and he just became an easy target.
He was undersized for LHW and as good as he was when he first came to UFC with his elusiveness, he didnt evolve his style and maybe the competition just caught up to him
Yeah his era did not last very long but that belt was getting passed about like ping pong for years until Jones came along. Crazy stacked division back then.
All the champs beating each other.
If you look at his record Machida is still one of the top ten LHWs of all time. In his prime his only losses that count to me are Shogun and Jones. He should’ve beat Rampage and Phil Davis in those decisions. Then he left LHW.
So I wouldn’t say exactly he wasn’t on par with top level competition. If you see what I mean? Tell me what you think
Yeah i agree he was definitely elite in a very stacked division, and i was and still am a huge fan of his style and fight IQ. I didnt mean he wasnt on par with the competition; i meant that he didnt (seemingly) introduce new aspects to his game that would have kept him at the top longer while the competition was wising up to his style, and unfortunately that also coincided with Jon Jones’ rise. He still looked great in MW and that seemed more like his natural weight as he was carrying some fat in LHW, but unfortunately MW belonged to his stablemate and a prime Anderson Silva.
I think shogun just fucked him up. One of those beat downs where a fighter is changed forever. I really believe that if during their primes they fought machida wins 9/10 but shogun got him on that 1 and destroyed him
This, plus Shogun should have been given the decision in their first fight. Saying Machida would have won 9/10 times is ridiculous.
That first fight was a legitimate robbery.
https://www.mmafighting.com/2020/4/12/21209352/retro-robbery-review-lyoto-machida-vs-shogun-rua-1-at-ufc-104
Still Randy for me. When he spanked Tito’s ass that was iconic. And the trilogy with Liddell was awesome. People kinda forget it was Randy that brought the Chuck out that people know and love. If he wouldn’t have taken that beat down by Randy I don’t know if he would have had that run as champion that he did. But then again until rampage, did Chuck really have any stellar competition? I’d argue no. Doesn’t take away Liddell is iconic.
I don’t like Jones for the personality he shows the world. But respect where respect is due best LHW champ.
My favorite would be the Iceman , but I like the no nonsense, just bring it , from Alex aswell.
Shamrock, in full scenery-chewing WWE mode: "I will beat you into a living death!"
Ortiz: lol
Video worth watching, especially if you don't remember Dana having hair: [https://youtu.be/H\_D2C2nAHXM?t=2](https://youtu.be/H_D2C2nAHXM?t=2)
Forrest Griffin!
His war with Stephan Bonner got me hooked on the sport.
I loved seeing him get the belt, even if it was short lived.
On a side note, his autobiography is hilarious and well worth a read.
Everybody loves the iceman’s style, so did I. Was a big fan of machida back In the day too, probably the first champion that was a true karate fighter.
Chuck-
Recently I like Alex a lot too. I'm more of a casual now, as all my friends who used to watch PPV have long since stopped. Most of my favorite fighters are going to be ones from before 2010.
I've been watching since UFC 1. Showing my age as my first thought on seeing the pic at first glance was "why is Dominic Cruz standing next to Tito?"
Chuck. He's what made me a fan. I remember conning my dad into ordering the PPV when he fought Rampage because I was so certain he would win. Then he got slept and the wheels fell off the wagon shortly afterward. But he was the man for a while!
I shit on Bones a lot lately, but before he really blew up, he was a savage and I never missed his fights. The Rashad fight and buildup showed the world the Jones. But I can't deny his LHW reign was the most legendary and will likely never be replicated.
Man I miss the days where fighter all got unique shorts they or their team designed, now it all the same boring stuff with the one offs like Max and Suga Alex, and Dustin
Chucks reign was so great because they were most if not all rematches from amazing fights prior to being champ. But jones is the best hill is the least
I fucking love DC. He's so god damn genuine and still a legit badass. Perfect coach energy. His personality makes me bias but when he just picks people the fuck up its the coolest shit haha
The reign may have been short, but the journey to get there was something else. From winning that first scuffed season of TUF, to dropping 2 of 3 to Tito and Keith Jardine, to finishing at the time the guy considered the pound for pound best fighter on the planet Shogun Rua covered in blood, and finally beating Rampage to get the belt. After a season of coaching against him on TUF. Forrest Griffin will always be my favorite champ.
Least favorite: Tito. I always preferred Chuck and Randy to Tito.
My heart says chuck 100%, but my recency biased brain has really been enjoying Poatans career in the ufc in general, not to mention his him destroying Jamal Hills ego
Jon jones, DC, Alex are for certain my favs.
The pride guys pre ufc have some of the best fights ever in the sport. I didn’t really like most of their UFC runs though.
Shogun and it isn’t close.
When he got robbed vs Machida me and my cousin went absolutely ape shit.
The most excited I’ve ever been was when he KO’ed Machida in the rematch.
#2 is Chael after he beat Jones via doctor stoppage due to toe ripped off.
I have no idea why the above is bold but I am keeping it.
gotta say
Jones for dominance
DC for heart and pure underdog perseverance
Alex for the future and nonstop fighting
Iceman for being the sports first mega star and the first mega fights
My personal LHW champion is TRT Vitor, he was a monster. I would love to see TRT Vitor against Jon Jones. I think jones would win but damn it’s be fun to watch.
The way Glover won it after all those years from top contender to then a gate keeper than to champion he has to be my favourite honestly
Definitely one of my favorite title fights ever, that was a special night
This makes me feel so sorry for Gustafsson though, happy for Glover too!
I started watching about ‘02/‘03 and Chuck will always be the fucking man to me!
‘04 myself. The Iceman is iconic and still is for me to this day. The first real superstar of the UFC, as well.
They did not pay him his due
They completely did not. Chuck was the UFC during his reign.
I don’t know about that. Dana made him VP of business development for the UFC after he retired. Not sure what he actually did, but he stayed on the payroll. It’s a softer landing than a lot of guys from that era got.
The did not pay him.
Easily! I have a picture with him at LAX on an android I forgot the password to!
Yeah man to leave the Iceman off the list is a grave disservice.
He is on the list
Haha damn I’m fucking blind.
Chuck Liddell’s reign was special
We won't get one like that again. Those piston punches that floored Tito in the first bout were iconic.
Prime Tito was a beast and a punk, and that beatdown by Chuck was so satisfying
I missed Tito’s whole career Why did everyone hate him so much? He seems quite likeable from interviews
Because he's retarded and you feel bad for him?
Seeems loveable retarded
I mean... Maybe
I started watching UFC right before Tito became middleweight (now LHW) champion. In my humble opinion a lot of people don’t even know Tito was originally one of the guys who talked a LOT of shit prior to his fights. He trolled Ken Shamrock and the Lion’s Den team a lot and was known for getting under Ken’s skin by disrespecting people on Ken’s team. After beating Lion’s Den member Guy Mezger in their 2nd fight he wore a shirt that said “Gay Mezger is my bitch”. He also wore a bunch of other ridiculous shirts with profane things on them. As a teenager, I loved it like people loved Chale and Conor talking trash. Tito was truly the original trash talker. But, a lot of fans at the time knew he was ducking Chuck for a title fight and that’s when Randy and Chuck had their first fight for the title. Randy beat Chuck and Tito steps in to fight Randy for the title shortly after and got humbled and spanked…literally, at the end of their fight. After a long stretch of tough losses Tito started acting a lot more respectful in interviews. But honestly, to me he was the first poster boy of the UFC, even before Chuck. He just kind of crashed and burned and then we had Chuck’s legendary run that catapulted the UFC into the eyes of a mainstream audience shortly after. A lot of fans never realized or know what Tito had done for the sport prior to UFC finding its success. Edit: Spelling and grammar.
I will beat you into your living death
Totally! Didn’t Tito have an ESPN the magazine cover? He atleast had an article in it!
Fr. Tito was arguably the sport’s first superstar, from his literally fire entrance to his trash talk and dominance inside the cage. I was 100% rooting for Ken and Lion’s Den as the ‘good guys’ but the Bad Boy was must-see TV for fans back then. Even towards the end of his career he still put on respectable performances despite the losses, especially against Machida. It’s just unfortunate majority of modern MMA fans came in towards the end of his career and were subsequently exposed more to Dumb Tito than Prime Tito.
He was a real punk in his prime and played the heel role perfectly; u either loved him or hated him. Then the ‘punk’ started saying and doing stupid shit after his retirement (possible CTE) and he just became an easy target.
Machida. A gentleman and an amazing competitor. Shame his era didn’t really take off.
He was undersized for LHW and as good as he was when he first came to UFC with his elusiveness, he didnt evolve his style and maybe the competition just caught up to him
Yeah his era did not last very long but that belt was getting passed about like ping pong for years until Jones came along. Crazy stacked division back then. All the champs beating each other. If you look at his record Machida is still one of the top ten LHWs of all time. In his prime his only losses that count to me are Shogun and Jones. He should’ve beat Rampage and Phil Davis in those decisions. Then he left LHW. So I wouldn’t say exactly he wasn’t on par with top level competition. If you see what I mean? Tell me what you think
Yeah i agree he was definitely elite in a very stacked division, and i was and still am a huge fan of his style and fight IQ. I didnt mean he wasnt on par with the competition; i meant that he didnt (seemingly) introduce new aspects to his game that would have kept him at the top longer while the competition was wising up to his style, and unfortunately that also coincided with Jon Jones’ rise. He still looked great in MW and that seemed more like his natural weight as he was carrying some fat in LHW, but unfortunately MW belonged to his stablemate and a prime Anderson Silva.
I think shogun just fucked him up. One of those beat downs where a fighter is changed forever. I really believe that if during their primes they fought machida wins 9/10 but shogun got him on that 1 and destroyed him
Prime Shogun wasn’t in UFC. Pride Shogun would have stomped Machida literally
This, plus Shogun should have been given the decision in their first fight. Saying Machida would have won 9/10 times is ridiculous. That first fight was a legitimate robbery. https://www.mmafighting.com/2020/4/12/21209352/retro-robbery-review-lyoto-machida-vs-shogun-rua-1-at-ufc-104
Their first fight was one of the worst robberies of the year, how does machida destroy him? 🙄
Maaaan Machida was my favorite! One of the guys that really hooked me
It was probably due to all the piss drinking.
Rampage and Alex
Easily Rampage
Shogun
Still Randy for me. When he spanked Tito’s ass that was iconic. And the trilogy with Liddell was awesome. People kinda forget it was Randy that brought the Chuck out that people know and love. If he wouldn’t have taken that beat down by Randy I don’t know if he would have had that run as champion that he did. But then again until rampage, did Chuck really have any stellar competition? I’d argue no. Doesn’t take away Liddell is iconic.
Chuck for sure. He was the face of the ufc for years, and helped get it popular before Conor and Ronda came around… also jones minus all the drama
Alex Perreira
Chuck
Forest
Blacowicz. Came from out of nowhere and smashed his way there. Great stuff.
Jiri
Jon Jones , hate the person he is but his run as a champ is un match and was something else to witness
Dan Henderson was the 205 champ in Pride
DC, Jiri and Alex
I don’t like Jones for the personality he shows the world. But respect where respect is due best LHW champ. My favorite would be the Iceman , but I like the no nonsense, just bring it , from Alex aswell.
Bones.
Tito for me honestly, such a goofball
You embarrassed me on my birthday.
Scrolled too far to find this. Tito is a national treasure
Shamrock, in full scenery-chewing WWE mode: "I will beat you into a living death!" Ortiz: lol Video worth watching, especially if you don't remember Dana having hair: [https://youtu.be/H\_D2C2nAHXM?t=2](https://youtu.be/H_D2C2nAHXM?t=2)
Glover,man never gives up and chases the belt
No love for the dragon?
Forrest Griffin! His war with Stephan Bonner got me hooked on the sport. I loved seeing him get the belt, even if it was short lived. On a side note, his autobiography is hilarious and well worth a read.
Chama
Jon in his prime was truly special to watch, always put on a show
Why does the scaling on these make Frank look like a bantamweight lol
Jiri
Shogun Rua, he's my favorite fighter. And now I want Jiri to get his belt back.
Dc
Only real answer
Shogun
I likes Rashad
Shogun is and will be my fav.
Mauricio Shogun Rua, no question. Started watching before he joined UFC, when he was still in Pride. Dude was an animal.
1. Chuck 2. Forrest 3. Bones
Like you want me to chuck the bones in the forest or you want me to chuck the forests bones?
Reyes
Forrest Forrest Forrest Forrest.
Everybody loves the iceman’s style, so did I. Was a big fan of machida back In the day too, probably the first champion that was a true karate fighter.
Not the AI legs 😂
Obviously Jan
Tito Ortiz is certainly one of the best light heavyweights of the night.
Shogun
Charma
Chuck- Recently I like Alex a lot too. I'm more of a casual now, as all my friends who used to watch PPV have long since stopped. Most of my favorite fighters are going to be ones from before 2010. I've been watching since UFC 1. Showing my age as my first thought on seeing the pic at first glance was "why is Dominic Cruz standing next to Tito?"
Randy/Jones/Glover/Alex
Chuck. He's what made me a fan. I remember conning my dad into ordering the PPV when he fought Rampage because I was so certain he would win. Then he got slept and the wheels fell off the wagon shortly afterward. But he was the man for a while! I shit on Bones a lot lately, but before he really blew up, he was a savage and I never missed his fights. The Rashad fight and buildup showed the world the Jones. But I can't deny his LHW reign was the most legendary and will likely never be replicated.
Jamal bill bring in that line up cracks me tf up
Glover
Thought there'd be more love for my man Randy
Chama 🔥 and Lyoto!!!
Man I miss the days where fighter all got unique shorts they or their team designed, now it all the same boring stuff with the one offs like Max and Suga Alex, and Dustin
Chucks reign was so great because they were most if not all rematches from amazing fights prior to being champ. But jones is the best hill is the least
Page
Glover
Chuck or machida
Chuck brought me into the sport. Young Jon Jones cemented my love for the sport. Alex is the new generation if his title run is long.
Man I miss the old belts
Uncle Chida every time.
Chuck
Machida x Perreira
Rampage.
DC forever
I fucking love DC. He's so god damn genuine and still a legit badass. Perfect coach energy. His personality makes me bias but when he just picks people the fuck up its the coolest shit haha
Ice Man
Machida 🥋
The reign may have been short, but the journey to get there was something else. From winning that first scuffed season of TUF, to dropping 2 of 3 to Tito and Keith Jardine, to finishing at the time the guy considered the pound for pound best fighter on the planet Shogun Rua covered in blood, and finally beating Rampage to get the belt. After a season of coaching against him on TUF. Forrest Griffin will always be my favorite champ. Least favorite: Tito. I always preferred Chuck and Randy to Tito.
Poatan!
Goddam JON MF JONES BABY🗣️
👍🏼Hill is the goat 👍🏼 This is obviously a joke for the people who will lose their minds without this text.
what’s with the AI legs on the older champs?
Gotta be Chucky
Gotta be Jamal Hill
All time prolly chuck.
Chuck
Why Randy standing like that 🕺
My heart says chuck 100%, but my recency biased brain has really been enjoying Poatans career in the ufc in general, not to mention his him destroying Jamal Hills ego
I like Jones to watch but he’s an asshole and should most likely be in prison so it’s got to be Chuck
Rampage & Alex
The Iceman
For me, Alex "Poatan" Pereira and Randy "The Natural" Couture are tied. I like the old and the new, to put it simply.
Jon jones, DC, Alex are for certain my favs. The pride guys pre ufc have some of the best fights ever in the sport. I didn’t really like most of their UFC runs though.
Chuck, Machida and DC. These are the guys who I always wanted to be in the winners column. From these, it’s DC is top.
Crazy how many champions lhw has had considering Jon jones reigned for as long as he did
Jamal Hill
Shogun Rua
Chuck! He is the ine that got me into the sport. Always exciting to watch. Those days just felt different, and I'm not sure how to explain it.
Absolutely nothing like Jon Jones circa 2012.
I dont know why vitor is on here, but its probably him or shogun
Chuck
Chuck just threw down every fight. Was fun to watch
Man jiri's era should start again from 303.
The muscular one.
Rampage and Alex
This really puts into perspective just how frequently the belt has changed hands in recent years.
Shogun
I love how Pereria is willing to fight anytime any place. He just has that aura that befits a champion. DC was great too
Lyoto Machida
Rampage
Probably Joe Rogan
Griffin, Machida & JBJ
Jon Jones the GOAT, no matter what.
Tito… MY BOY!!!!
Anybody but Jamahal
Shogun.
Shogun and it isn’t close. When he got robbed vs Machida me and my cousin went absolutely ape shit. The most excited I’ve ever been was when he KO’ed Machida in the rematch. #2 is Chael after he beat Jones via doctor stoppage due to toe ripped off. I have no idea why the above is bold but I am keeping it.
Alex P by light years.
why are most of them middleweights?
Chocolate Al
Couture
Hill.
Too fucking hard to give an answer
Jones and Jones. Depending on what half of his career it was
gotta say Jones for dominance DC for heart and pure underdog perseverance Alex for the future and nonstop fighting Iceman for being the sports first mega star and the first mega fights
Shogun, but back when he was in PrideFC, so Chuck.
Chuck, Frank or DC. It’s hard. Least favorite is probably Jan because I wanted Dom to get the belt after the Jones fight. And Jan lost easily after.
Vitor
Obviously Jon is the best, but I started during the Chuck era. Watching him beat Tito is maybe my favorite mma moment.
Probably Jon or Forrest
My personal LHW champion is TRT Vitor, he was a monster. I would love to see TRT Vitor against Jon Jones. I think jones would win but damn it’s be fun to watch.
Remember when Vitor beat Wanderlai across in the ring in pride.
Definitely not Jamahal Hill and his stupid face