MMA fans like yourself know that the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or the UFC, is the world’s number one MMA organization with the best mixed martial artists. However, there are other elite fighters from MMA promotions like Bellator, ONE Championship, or former PRIDE who’ve never fought in the UFC octagon.
Moreover, these non-UFC fighters could’ve easily stood toe-to-toe with the UFC superstars.
Top 10 List Of The Best Fighters Who Have Never Stepped Into The UFC Octagon:
- Bibiano Fernandes
- Sergei Kharitonov
- Douglas Lima
- Paulo Filho
- Ricardo Arona
- Shinya Aoki
- Rickson Gracie
- Igor Vovchanchyn
- Patricio Freire
- Fedor Emelianenko
Related: 10 Best MMA Fighters of All Time – Ranking the Greatest
#10 – Bibiano Fernandes
This top ten list starts with the former bantamweight Brazilian champion of ONE Championship, Bibiano Fernandes. This MMA fighter has a background in Brazilian jiujitsu, having won five world titles in that sport. Besides being an elite jiujitsu expert, Fernandes also excels in wrestling and striking.
He started fighting in MMA when he was 24. In the second match of his career, he fought the well-known Urijah Faber, to whom he unfortunately lost. His path to great success started with the MMA promotion DREAM, where he became a champion in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions.
After his stint at DREAM, Bibiano nearly signed with the UFC. However, negotiations fell apart, and he got a more rewarding offer from ONE Championship, which he ultimately accepted. In his second fight in ONE, he won the bantamweight title with a unanimous decision against Masaketsu Ueda.
He defended his titles eight times. His most notorious rivalry was with Kevin Belingon, whom he defeated once, then lost the title to Kevin via split decision and regained it with a win because Belingon got disqualified using illegal elbows.
Bibiano Fernandes will surely go down in history as one of the best bantamweights not to win the UFC title.
#9 – Sergei Kharitonov
This Russian heavyweight is one of the best fighters to never step into the UFC octagon. At the start of his career, Sergei Kharitonov was a part of the legendary MMA promotion, PRIDE, where he beat big names like Fabricio Werdum and Semmy Schilt.
However, when PRIDE was sold to the UFC, Sergei had back-to-back losses against Alistair Overeem and Aleksandar Emelianenko, which is why the UFC didn’t sign him at the time.
He also fought at MMA promotions like DREAM, Bellator, and Strikeforce, beating notable fighters such as Murilo Rua, Alistair Overeem, Roy Nelson, Andrei Arlovski, Tyrone Spong, etc. Unfortunately, this heavyweight hard-hitter has never won a championship title, although he was close a couple of times during his career as a mixed martial artist.
Even in his 40s, Sergei Kharitonov still hits hard like a ton of bricks, and he’s a part of Bellator MMA organization. Besides being a power-puncher, he also has some impressive submissions via techniques like ankle lock, key lock, and armbar.
#8 – Douglas Lima
Douglas Lima earned his reputation as one of the leading non-UFC welterweight mixed martial artists by winning three championship titles at Bellator and one at MFC. In addition, he has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. When it comes to his style, at his peak, he could crush his opponents with devastating leg kicks and his strong left hook. Lima started his professional career early at the age of 18, amassing 11 wins out of 12 fights in just two years.
During his career, Lima beat well-known former UFC fighters like Ben Saunders, Rory MacDonald, Paul Daley, and Lorenz Larkin. Besides these fighters, he also fought and won against notable mixed martial artists like Steve Carl and Andrey Koreshkov.
Lima probably didn’t sign with the UFC since their biggest rival at the time – PRIDE didn’t have a welterweight division. On the other hand, his brother Dhiego Lima was signed by the UFC back in 2017.
In his last 5 fights, Lima lost 4, and the end of his career may be near. Nevertheless, he’s still probably the best welterweight who didn’t sign with the UFC.
#7 – Paulo Filho
One of the most vicious middleweights in the MMA world outside of the UFC was the Brazilian Paulo Filho. He had a strong physique, good takedown offense, and a crushing top game when he fought.
Having successful stints at fighting organizations like Pancrase, Deep as well as Heroes were more than enough for PRIDE to sign him.
From his pro debut in 2000 until 2007, he was unstoppable in the ring, with 16 consecutive wins. He triumphed over well-known MMA fighters like Murilo Rua, Chael Sonnen, Melvin Manhoef, Kazuo Misaki, etc. In 2006, he almost reached the Middleweight Grand Prix final in PRIDE, but an injury forced him out of that tournament, leaving him with no title.
What’s also interesting about Filho is that he could’ve signed with the UFC after they bought out PRIDE. Still, rumors were spreading that he could potentially fight his teammate, the legendary Anderson Silva, and he declined to go to the UFC. Instead, he went to WEC, where he won the middleweight title against Joe Doerksen.
Unfortunately, his successful career went sideways due to the fact that Filho had issues with substance abuse and depression. Nevertheless, he was a truly feared middleweight during his prime.
#6 – Ricardo Arona
A light-heavyweight MMA Brazilian legend, Ricardo Arona, takes the no. 6 spot. He’s a PRIDE legend and, unfortunately, mostly forgotten by MMA fans. Arona wasn’t a great striker, but he was, in fact, an elite wrestler and a BJJ expert. Before going to PRIDE, he fought at an MMA promotion called Rings, where he won 5 out of 6 fights.
Then he joined PRIDE, where he etched his legacy as one of the top fighters in the promotion’s history. As a 205lber, he was superb, beating renowned MMA fighters like Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Alistair Overeem.
His last match was against UFC veteran Marvin Eastman, which he won. After the match, he never fought again. He retired in 2009 at the age of 28. Who knows how good Arona would be if UFC signed him when they took over PRIDE?
#5 – Shinya Aoki
One of the greatest grapplers in MMA history is the Japanese fighter Shinya Aoki. He competed in many MMA organizations and won championships in three of them—DREAM, ONE, and Shooto. He also fought in RIZIN and Strikeforce. Aoki is a judo and Brazilian jiujitsu black belt.
He’s highly creative and captivating to watch since, given his superb flexibility and athleticism, he can pull submissions from basically any position. He won via rear naked choke, brabo choke, armbar, triangle choke, twister, neck crank, and many other fascinating grappling and jiujitsu techniques.
Out of 47 wins, he won with a submission 31 times during his career. Despite being great on the ground, Aoki’s weak point was always striking.
He beat the likes of elite MMA fighters like Joachim Hansen, Eddie Alvarez, Vitor Ribeiro, Antonio Mckee, and others. Although Aoki never competed in the UFC, many MMA experts consider him one of the best lightweight mixed martial artists ever.
#4 – Rickson Gracie
Member of the legendary Gracie family, Rickson is one of the top MMA fighters to never sign for the biggest fighting organization, the UFC. Also, many fans think that Rickson is the no. 1 fighter in the Gracie family, apart from Rorion and Royce.
Even though Rickson only had 11 fights as an MMA professional, he etched his legacy as one of the best in the business with no losses and all 11 wins ending with a submission. He won his fights with mostly rear-naked chokes and armbars.
What’s even more fascinating about Rickson Gracie is that he claims to have won over 400 fights in multiple combat sports, including judo, jiujitsu, sambo, freestyle wrestling, and street fights.
He competed during the 90s for organizations like Vale Tudo Japan, where he won two tournaments and was a part of PRIDE.
During his career, he beat the likes of Casemiro Martins, Nobuhiko Takada, Bud Smith, Masakatsu Funaki, etc.
Rickson is definitely one of the biggest “what ifs” in the sport, had he signed for the UFC.
#3 – Igor Vovchanchyn
The No. 3 spot deservingly goes to the Ukrainian MMA pioneer—Igor Vovchanchyn. Even with his relatively small frame, 5’ 8” and around 220 pounds, he took on more than a few giants in the MMA world, like Fred Floyd and Paul Varelans. Those two were both about 350 pounds!
His background was in kickboxing, although he started to get better in other areas, like wrestling and jiujitsu, as time passed. Igor was a true knockout artist, and in his fighting career, he won 41 fights via KO. Vovchanchyn spent most of his career at the well-known MMA organization PRIDE. In that fighting promotion, he won 18 fights in a row and competed in 27 bouts.
In his illustrious MMA career, Igor beat the likes of fighters such as Mark Kerr, Garry Goodridge, Akira Shoji, Gilbert Yvel, etc.
Riddled with injuries that he got in many hard-fought bouts, Vovchanchyn decided to retire back in 2005 at the age of 32. Maybe if Vovchanchyn fought for two more years, the UFC could’ve signed him, since they took over PRIDE back in 2007. He’s undoubtedly one of the best heavyweights and light-heavyweights in MMA history.
#2 – Patricio Freire
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire is possibly the best fighter in Bellator history, and he is one of the greatest fighters to compete in the featherweight division ever if we exclude the fighters in the UFC. He was a three-time featherweight champion and one-time lightweight champion in Bellator. He defended his championship titles three times.
Regarding his fighting style, he’s a solid striker and an elite grappler with a high fighting IQ.
Patricio’s best fighting years were from 2016 to 2021, during which time he was unbeaten and won seven consecutive fights.
When we look at his fighting resume, it’s quite impressive, with wins over fighters like Michael Chandler, A.J. McKee, Pedro Carvalho, Daniel Strauss, and many others.
The last couple of years have been turbulent with both wins and losses, but still, Freire will go down in history as one of the best mixed martial artists on the planet.
#1 – Fedor Emelianenko
Without a doubt, the best MMA fighter to never grace the UFC octagon is the Russian fighting superstar Fedor Emelianenko. Nicknamed “The Last Emperor,” he was a force like no other in his prime, winning via knockouts, vicious ground-and-pound, and submissions. For a heavyweight, he was lightning-fast, had great cardio, and had an impressive ability to recover from dangerous situations.
His career as an MMA fighter began in 2000 in the MMA fighting organization Rings, where he won two Openweight titles. Then, he was the champion at PRIDE from 2003 to 2007, undefeated in 16 fights in a row. He also fought in Strikeforce and Bellator.
When we look at his fighting resume, it seems unreal. During his fighting days, Fedor beat true MMA legends like Mark Coleman, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Mirko “Cro Cop,” Kevin Randleman, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Frank Mir, Chael Sonnen, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Semmy Schilt, and Ricardo Arona.
No one can deny that if Fedor fought in the UFC heavyweight division, he could’ve beat anyone.
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