The Greatest MMA Column 12.29.09: Fighter of the Decade

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 12.29.2009

Who is the fighter of the decade? Is it Anderson Silva, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St. Pierre, Matt Hughes, or Wanderlei Silva? Check out the full column for details!

It has been quite the decade for mixed martial arts. The first half was highlighted by the immense popularity of the sport in Japan, while it was looking for a place in the American sports landscape. In April of 2005, that started to turn, as the UFC began an ascent to the top of the MMA world. Now, the UFC is king while MMA is fighting to stay alive in Japan. So many things can happen in this sport that even the most promising of things, such as PRIDE, can fall. The same is true with the ones who put it all on the line, the ones we pay to see, the ones who make this sport what it is: the fighters. It only takes one punch to put a blemish on even the best fighter's record. Throughout the decade, these seven fighters, the nominees for fighter of the decade, are all incredibly talented and have accomplished amazing things in this decade. More importantly though, when they suffered a loss, they got back up and kept chugging along at the highest level of the sport. Here are the nominees:

Anderson Silva


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 25-4
Promotions: UFC (current), PRIDE, Cage Rage, Shooto
Weight Class(es): Welterweight, Middleweight, Heavyweight
Notable Wins: Hayato Sakurai, Carlos Newton, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin
Accomplishments: UFC Middleweight Champion (current), 5 consecutive title defenses, 10-0 UFC record (best all time), Cage Rage Middleweight Champion, Shooto Middleweight Champion.

Anderson had a solid first half of the decade. He defeated Hayato Sakurai (#1 welterweight in the world at the time) in just his sixth fight. From there he went on to PRIDE where he defeated ‘The Brazilian Killa' Alex Stiebling and the underrated Carlos Newton before being upset by Daiju Takase. Silva then took a break from PRIDE and defeated Jeremy Horn and Lee Murray, the latter winning him the Cage Rage Middleweight Championship. At Shockwave 2004 "The Spider" returned to PRIDE only to be upset by Ryo Chonan via an amazing flying scissor heel hook. Cage Rage came calling once again and Anderson successfully defended his title against Jorge Rivera and Curtis Stout. After a DQ loss to Yushin Okami, Anderson defended his Cage Rage belt for the last time, knocking out Tony Fryklund with an elbow thrown like an uppercut from the standing position. Even after a thrilling knockout such as that, things were only going to get better for Anderson.

The UFC soon snatched up Anderson and put him in a number one contender fight against Chris Leben, who was 5-0 in the UFC. It took all of 49 seconds for Silva to overwhelm Leben with his speed and precision, setting the tone for the rest of his UFC career. Silva then moved immediately into a title fight against Rich Franklin. Franklin was the top middleweight in the world at the time and coming off a dominating victory over David Loiseau. The former Chute Boxe trained Silva decimated Franklin in the clinch and stopped him in just three minutes. The Anderson Silva Era had arrived. After submitting Travis Lutter in a non-title bout, Anderson made his first title defense against Nate Marquardt. Marquardt, who trains with Greg Jackson's team, was TKO'd late in the first round. Next for Silva was a rematch against Rich Franklin, who had been working on his clinch game in the year since their first fight. While Franklin did perform better, he was still thoroughly dominated and finished in the second round.

At the time PRIDE was sold to ZUFFA, Dan Henderson held both their middleweight (205 pounds) and welterweight (183 pounds) titles. This set up two consecutive superfights for the former Olympic wrestler. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson edged out Henderson for a decision victory, and then it was Silva's turn. Anderson dropped the first round to Henderson, but came back in the second to hurt him with strikes. Shortly after, Anderson took Hendo's back and choked him out, unifying the titles. By this point Anderson was considered by many to be the top fighter in the world pound-for-pound, but he looked to prove it when he moved up in weight to take on James Irvin. The fight didn't last very long, as Silva caught one of Irvin's kicks and knocked him down with a punch. Multiple unanswered punches later Anderson had defeated James Irvin just 61 seconds into the bout.

With Silva having dominated his past seven opponents inside the Octagon, there weren't many contenders left at middleweight. When he fought striker Patrick Cote, nobody gave the heavy handed Canadian a snowball's chance in hell at dethroning Silva. While the fight ended disappointingly with Cote injuring his knee in the third round, it may have been for the best, as there was little of the action that fans expected to see in the fight. It was as if Anderson was playing with Cote. After that Anderson fought Jiu-Jitsu black belt Thales Leites. The common thought was that if Leites could take Silva to the ground, he would have a chance to win the fight. Well Thales couldn't take Silva to the ground but was so intent on not striking with him that he made multiple half-assed takedown attempts before just falling to his back. Anderson resorted to punching Thales' leg, which would have been cool had the fight not been so boring. Silva won the clear-cut decision, but he was hardly impressive.

Searching for redemption, Silva moved up in weight to take on Forrest Griffin. Griffin had just lost the light heavyweight title to Rashad Evans and was considered a top five heavyweight. Anderson once again toyed with his opponent, but the result was much more exciting this time. Silva dropped his hands showing no regard for Forrest's striking skills, knocked him down three times, and finished him in the first round. Once again, Anderson had made a worthy case of being the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and that's a case I certainly wouldn't argue against.

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Chuck Liddell


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 19-4
Promotions: UFC , PRIDE
Weight Class(es): Light Heavyweight
Notable Wins: Kevin Randleman, Murilo Bustamante, Vitor Belfort, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, Renato Sobral, Wanderlei Silva
Accomplishments: UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Four consecutive title defenses.

By the dawn of the millennium, Chuck Liddell had already fought in the UFC three times, but had yet to make his mark. In a battle of winter themed nicknames, Liddell fought Jeff "The Snowman" Monson in his first UFC bout of the decade. Liddell defeated Monson by decision and was then matched up against former heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman. Randleman was one of the most athletic fighters in the sport and a very good wrestler. "The Iceman" was too much for him though as he notched his first big knockout just a minute into the fight. Next Liddell was sent to Japan by the UFC to fight Guy Mezger. Mezger, a good striker in his own right, did well in the first round, but it was not enough as Liddell knocked him out in the second. Back in the UFC, Liddell won decisions over future middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante and Amar Suloev.

Liddell was then matched up against a returning Vitor Belfort, who was riding a four fight win streak in PRIDE. Surprisingly, the fight went to a decision, with Liddell getting his hand raised. At the time, Tito Ortiz was dominating opponents as UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He and Chuck had been training partners and Tito stated they had an agreement not to fight, while Liddell claimed no such agreement was in place. Now with Liddell as the #1 contender, Ortiz couldn't avoid Chuck for long. Liddell was supposed to get his title shot at UFC 40, but he passed it up in order for Ken Shamrock to settle his rivalry with Ortiz. Instead, Liddell took on Renato Sobral at the event and knocked him out with a head kick in the first round.

After the event was over, Ortiz got in a contract dispute. Since the light heavyweight title was being held up by Ortiz, Liddell fought former heavyweight champ Randy Couture for the interim strap. Liddell was the favorite heading into the fight, but he was controlled by Couture throughout the fight's duration and stopped in the third. Not wanting to dwell on the loss for too long, Liddell went over to Japan to participate in the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix. The fight everybody wanted to see was Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, but it was held off to be the possible final. "The Iceman" took on a young Alistair Overeem in the first round and knocked him out three minutes into the fight after a hard fought battle. Next, Liddell was set to take on Quinton Jackson. If he got past "Rampage," Liddell would get his wish in fighting Wanderlei Silva. It wasn't meant to be however, as Liddell was beaten badly by Rampage to the point where his corner was forced to throw in the towel.

While he wasn't able to get the Wanderlei fight, Liddell was finally able to get his hands on Tito Ortiz at UFC 47. Even though Ortiz was no longer the champion, the fight was still highly anticipated. Chuck knocked out Tito early in the second round with a brutal flurry of punches that remains a staple in his highlight reels today. After a first round knockout of Vernon White, Liddell was ready for a rematch against Randy Couture. Prior to their second meeting, the two coaches opposite one another on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, which was a major step in the UFC becoming a popular commodity. As for the fight, Liddell avenged his loss by knocking out Randy Couture, establishing himself as the premiere fighter in American mixed martial arts.

After that Liddell avenged another loss, this one against Jeremy Horn. Randy Couture came calling once again for a rubber match, but the result was the same as the second bout. The only difference was that this time Couture went into a short-lived retirement following the fight. Next Liddell knocked out Renato Sobral again, this time even quicker than the first. Then at UFC 66, Liddell took on Tito Ortiz in what was at that point the biggest fight the UFC had ever put on. Once again, Liddell knocked out Ortiz, though the ending was nothing to write home about.

Extending his streak of rematches, Liddell took on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 71. While the last fight was long and brutal, this was short and decisive. Rampage caught Liddell with a right hook less than two minutes into the first round. "The Iceman" had been dethroned. He's gotten back up from losses before though, right? He'll just do it again. This time, it just wasn't meant to be. Chuck took on Keith Jardine next in what was supposed to be an easy fight for him to win, but his increasingly predictable style lead him to a decision loss.

Despite two consecutive losses, Liddell's next fight was anticipated as any other in his career. Wanderlei Silva had finally signed with the UFC and the dream match was about to happen. The warriors slugged it out for three rounds with both fighters getting knocked down. In the end, Liddell won a decision. To date, this is his last win. Since, he has been knocked out by Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua.

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Dan Henderson


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 19-5
Promotions: UFC , PRIDE, RINGS
Weight Class(es): Middleweight, Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight
Notable Wins: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Renzo Gracie, Murilo Bustamante, Kazuo Misaki, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Michael Bisping
Accomplishments: RINGS King of Kings 1999, PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix Winner, PRIDE Welterweight Champion, PRIDE Middleweight Champion.

Henderson started out the decade by winning the 1999 RINGS King of Kings tournament, defeating Gilbert Yvel, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and then Renato Sobral on the same night. The Team Quest co-founder was then picked up by PRIDE, where he was matched up against Wanderlei Silva in his first fight. He lost a decision, but rebounded three months later with a quick knockout over Renzo Gracie. After two more wins, including one over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Henderson was thrown in against Brazilian Top Team stars Ricardo Arona and once again Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. After losing a close decision to Arona, Henderson was submitted by Nogueira, marking the first time he'd been finished in his five year career.

Then Henderson got back on track, racking up four straight wins, one of them by knockout over Murilo Bustamante. Henderson's win streak was stopped in the first round of the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix at the hands of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Five months later Henderson entered the PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix, where the winner would be crowned PRIDE ‘s first welterweight champion. At PRIDE Bushido 9 Henderson knocked out Ryo Chonan and Akihiro Gono to advance to the finals of the tournament. On New Year's Eve 2005, Henderson defeated Murilo Bustamante once again to win the Grand Prix along with the PRIDE Welterweight Championship.

In his first fight of 2006, Henderson took on Kazuo Misaki, winning a decision. Four months later, in the first round of that year's welterweight grand prix, Misaki defeated Henderson by decision. Less than two months later Henderson returned to U.S. soil to take on Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 32. Henderson won a decision and was rewarded with a shot at Wanderlei Silva's middleweight championship at PRIDE 33. The battle was the culmination of an epic card hailed by many as one of the best of all time> Stunningly, Henderson knocked out Silva in the third round to win the PRIDE Middleweight Championship and became the first man in a major organization to hold belts in two different weight classes simultaneously.

Then came the UFC's purchase of PRIDE and Henderson moved his home from the ring to the Octagon. In his first fight, Hendo took on Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a title unification bout. In the end, Rampage won a unanimous decision, leaving Henderson with only the PRIDE Welterweight Championship. Six months later, Henderson took on UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva to unify those belts. "Hollywood" Henderson won the first round, but Silva came back and submitted him in the second round.

At UFC 88, Henderson returned to take on dangerous submission fighter Rousimar Palhares. Henderson was able to do enough to win a decision, and it set him up to take on another winner from UFC 88, Rich Franklin. Franklin had been in limbo since losing his second bout against Anderson Silva, moving between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions. In January 2009, Henderson took on Franklin in a light heavyweight bout, the winner of which would coach opposite Michael Bisping on The Ultimate Fighter. Henderson ended up winning a very close decision, giving him a big opportunity to make himself known to the casual fan on the reality show and at UFC 100. After the season was over, Henderson fought Bisping at UFC 100, which went down as the biggest event in UFC history. Henderson knocked out Bisping in the second round, a clip which will surely find a home on Dan Henderson highlight reels everywhere.

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Fedor Emelianenko


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 31-1, 1 NC
Promotions: Strikeforce, Affliction, BodogFight, PRIDE, RINGS
Weight Class(es): Heavyweight
Notable Wins: Heath Herring, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Filipovic, Mark Hunt, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, Brett Rogers
Accomplishments: PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, WAMMA Heavyweight Champion, PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix Winner, Universally considered #1 heavyweight in the world for six years.

Fedor Emelianenko made his MMA debut in May of 2000. He won his first four fights, the last of which over Ricardo Arona. Then came his infamous fight against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. The seventeen second fight has been the subject of much controversy. Kohsaka elbowed Fedor accidently just seconds into the bout, opening up a large cut over his eye. The fight was stopped, and Kohsaka was named the winner. Now, many don't look at fights that are stopped due to cuts that quickly and say it's a legitimate loss for the person getting cut. A prime example of this would be Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 46. Looking back at the fight, nobody will say Belfort actually beat Couture. Fedor vs. Kohsaka is different though. Under Rings rules, elbows are illegal. Thus, Kohsaka should have been disqualified, or at the very least it should have been ruled as a no contest. However, the fight was a part of a tournament, so Rings felt they had to have a winner that could move on and fight later that night. Since Fedor obviously couldn't fight that same night, Kohsaka was declared the winner.

After that fight, Fedor remained in Rings for about a year-and-a-half. During that time, his most notable victory came over Renato Sobral. In 2002, Fedor was picked up by PRIDE and took on the giant Semmy Schilt in his first match. Fedor ended up winning a unanimous decision. With the victory, Fedor found himself in a #1 contender fight against Heath Herring. At the time, Herring had beaten such fighters as Tom Erickson, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn, and was considered one of the most promising fighters in the sport. Fedor, the underdog in the fight, absolutely brutalized Herring with ground and pound, forcing the doctor to stop the fight after the first round.

Next, Fedor was set to take on heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Minotauro, the favorite in the fight, had been ruling the heavyweight division since making his PRIDE debut and had just avenged his only loss to Dan Henderson. The thinking was that Fedor, a ground fighter, simply wasn't as good on the ground as Minotauro, who would eventually catch him in a submission. Unfortunately for Nogueira, fights aren't won on paper. Fedor assaulted Minotauro with vicious ground and pound en route to a decision victory. It was the beginning of an era.

Fedor's next big fight was against Kazuyuki Fujita, who was famous for his thick skull and wrestling ability that allowed him to defeat Mark Kerr. Fujita rocked Fedor with a right hook, but Fedor quickly regained composure and submitted Fujita soon after. In 2004, the heavyweight grand prix came along and Fedor was the odds on favorite to win. He defeated Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and then Naoya Ogawa to advance to the finals. His opponent would be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was looking to avenge his earlier loss. Unfortunately, an accidental head-butt opened up a huge cut on Fedor, causing the end of the bout. The fight was ruled a no contest and the two would fight again on New Year's Eve, this time with Fedor's heavyweight title on the line as well. While not as dominating as the first fight, Fedor won a clear cut decision over Minotauro at Shockwave 2004, earning him the title of heavyweight grand prix champion.

After Fedor destroyed Kohsaka in a rematch, he took on Mirko Cro Cop in what was arguably the biggest fight in MMA history. Fedor was the top ranked heavyweight in the world taking on the #2 ranked Cro Cop who had won seven fights in a row, including one over Fedor's brother Aleksander. The fight itself didn't quite live up to the anticipation, but it was an epic battle nonetheless that Fedor won by decision. Over the next couple of years, Fedor's toughest challenger was Mark Hunt. Hunt was coming off a loss to Josh Barnett but had been considered a top ten heavyweight. Fedor had some trouble with Hunt, but eventually submitted him with a kimura late in the first round.

In 2008, Fedor finally started fighting the best in the world again. He took on Tim Sylvia at the inaugural Affliction event and utterly destroyed him in 36 seconds. In early 2009, he took on #2 ranked heavyweight Andrei Arlovski. Despite being in some trouble, he scored a thrilling knockout while "The Pitbull" was in midair. In November, he took on top ten heavyweight Brett Rogers. While Rogers' size gave him some problems, Fedor knocked him out in the second round.

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Georges St. Pierre


Active Years: 2002-2009
Record in the 00's: 19-2
Promotions: UFC, TKO
Weight Class(es): Welterweight
Notable Wins: Frank Trigg, Sean Sherk, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck, Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves
Accomplishments: Two-time UFC Welterweight Champion (current), 3 consecutive title defenses, TKO Welterweight Champion.

It only took St. Pierre five fights in two years to make it to the UFC. After defeating Ivan Menjivar in his MMA debut, GSP defeated Justin Bruckmann in his second fight to win the UCC (later TKO) Welterweight Championship. After two consecutive title defenses and a win over UFC veteran Pete Spratt, St. Pierre got the call up to the big leagues.

In his first fight, GSP took on Karo Parisyan, winning by decision. Then he took on Jay Hieron, knocking him out in the first round. The UFC decided that was enough for St. Pierre to earn a shot at the vacant welterweight title against Matt Hughes. Despite putting up a good fight, St. Pierre lost by armbar with just one second remaining in the first round.

On the comeback trail, GSP first defeated Dave Strasser in TKO. Back in the UFC, he won a decision over Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Eager to earn another title shot, St. Pierre accepted a fight against Frank Trigg, who was a top welterweight at the time. GSP dismantled Trigg and submitted him in the first round. Three months later he took on another top welterweight in Sean Sherk, whom he destroyed with elbows and stopped in the second round. After the fight Georges begged for a title shot, but he wouldn't get one yet. First he would have to defeat the returning BJ Penn, who had never lost the welterweight title. Penn bloodied St. Pierre in the first round, but GSP rallied to win rounds two and three, earning him a decision victory.

At UFC 65, GSP got his second shot at Matt Hughes and made the most of it. He dominated Hughes in the striking game and finished him with ground and pound after a vicious head kick. The title reign was short lived though, as GSP was upset by Matt Serra at UFC 69.

Right back where he started, St. Pierre was more determined than ever not just to be the champion, but to successfully defend the belt. His first fight back was against top welterweight Josh Koscheck, an accredited collegiate wrestler. The first round with close with each fighter spending some time on top, but in the second and third rounds St. Pierre took Koscheck down at will. GSP took home the decision victory. At UFC 79, Matt Serra was supposed to defend his welterweight title against Matt Hughes, but he pulled out due to injury. Needing a replacement, the UFC called St. Pierre, who agreed to take on Hughes in the main event for the interim belt. St. Pierre ended the fight fittingly with an armbar after dominating Hughes for nearly two rounds.

At UFC 83 in his hometown of Montreal, St. Pierre was set to rematch Matt Serra for the undisputed title. GSP wanted to prove that the first fight was nothing more than a fluke and he was infinity times better than Serra. He did a good job of proving that by ravaging the champion with knees that forced a stoppage in the second round. This time, the GSP era was here to stay.

In his first title defense, GSP took on Jon Fitch, who had won eight straight UFC fights. It wasn't much of a contest, as GSP dominated the #2 ranked welterweight for five rounds. Next, St. Pierre was set to rematch BJ Penn, who since their last meeting had moved back down to lightweight and looked better than ever. It was champion vs. champion, top pound-for-pound vs. top pound-for-pound, it was going to be an epic, back and forth fight. Turns out, it wasn't. St. Pierre dominated Penn for four rounds before BJ's corner stopped the fight. Six months later at UFC 100, St. Pierre took on #1 contender Thiago Alves. Alves was the #2 ranked welterweight at the time, but he couldn't seem to put up much of a fight against St. Pierre either, as GSP won another dominating decision.

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Matt Hughes


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 30-6
Promotions: UFC, Extreme Challenge, RINGS
Weight Class(es): Welterweight
Notable Wins: Carlos Newton, Hayato Sakurai, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Georges St. Pierre, Royce Gracie, BJ Penn, Matt Serra
Accomplishments: Two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, 5 consecutive title defenses, 7 title defenses overall.

Matt Hughes started the decade with a 9-0 record. Then he ran into Dennis Hallman and Pele. After those defeats, he rattled off seven consecutive wins, earning him a UFC welterweight title shot against Carlos Newton. The controversial fight ended when Hughes, stuck in a triangle choke, had Newton, who was holding onto the fence, lifted in the air. Hughes then passed out from the choke, while Newton had to let go of the cage and went plummeting to the canvas with Hughes on top of him. Newton got knocked out on impact and the referee, seeing an unconscious Newton, waved off the bout without noticing Hughes was just waking up from the choke. In the end, Matt Hughes was crowned the UFC Welterweight Champion.

In his next fight Hughes defeated Hayato Sakurai, who had been considered the best welterweight in the world before losing to Anderson Silva. After defeating Newton in a rematch and beating Gil Castillo in the first round, Hughes took on Sean Sherk at UFC 42. Sherk was pretty much a mirror image of Hughes if you shrunk the mirror. While both were skilled wrestlers, Hughes, being the bigger man, was able to get on top more and win a decision. Next for Hughes was Frank Trigg, ranked as the #2 welterweight in the world at the time. Trigg was able to take Hughes down in the early going, but Hughes soon took his back and won by standing rear naked choke.

There weren't many challengers for Hughes since he had cleaned out the division, so BJ Penn, who had expressed interest in fighting Hughes prior to the Trigg fight, moved up in weight to take on Hughes. Penn was the underdog in the fight, but he was known to have world class Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, though it was thought at the time that Hughes was more than comfortable on the ground with anybody. Hughes found himself on his back early in the fight and never got up. Penn landed a big right hand from the top that opened up Hughes' guard. BJ soon took his back for the rear naked choke victory.

In his next fight, Hughes defeated Penn's BJJ instructor Renato Verissimo by decision. Since Penn was involved in a contract dispute with the UFC, who stripped him of his title, Hughes took on Georges St. Pierre at UFC 50 for the interim belt. Hughes had some trouble with St. Pierre but was able to win by armbar late in the first round to regain the championship. Next up was a rematch against Frank Trigg. In one of the most exciting fights in UFC history, Matt Hughes came from behind to submit Trigg once again.

At UFC 60, Hughes fought the biggest fight of his career against Royce Gracie. Gracie only competed about once a year and it was a mismatch on paper, many couldn't stop themselves from thinking it was going to be a classic battle. In reality, Hughes demolished Royce in the first round. After that Hughes looked to avenge his loss to BJ Penn. Penn was able to defend Hughes' takedowns in the first two rounds and win them on the scorecards, but he was completely gassed by round 3. Hughes then took over and became the first man to finish BJ Penn.

By the time UFC 65 came along, Hughes had cemented himself as the greatest welterweight in MMA history. That night, Hughes was destroyed by Georges St. Pierre in a rematch of their out two years earlier. After an unimpressive win over Chris Lytle at UFC 68, Hughes was given another title shot at UFC 79. Since champion Matt Serra was forced to pull out of the fight, Hughes fought St. Pierre a third time instead. St. Pierre dominated Hughes once again, and extinguished any hope that the Matt Hughes era could start up again.

At UFC 98, Hughes finally fought rival Matt Serra, winning a decision.

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Wanderlei Silva


Active Years: 2000-2009
Record in the 00's: 22-8-1, 1 NC
Promotions: UFC, PRIDE
Weight Class(es): Light Heavyweight, Heavyweight
Notable Wins: Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Quinton Jackson, Ricardo Arona, Kazuyuki Fujita, Keith Jardine
Accomplishments: PRIDE Middleweight Champion, Held title for 6 years, 2003 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix Winner.

"The Axe Murderer" began the decade in a UFC Light Heavyweight (then middleweight) Championship bout against Tito Ortiz. Silva lost the fight by decision and wouldn't return to the UFC for seven years.

Four months later, Silva returned to PRIDE and began one of the most remarkable runs in MMA history. He first knocked out Guy Mezger and then defeated Dan Henderson by decision. Wanderlei then took on Kazushi Sakuraba, who was on an incredible run that would define his career. Silva destroyed the legendary "Gracie Hunter" in little more than a minute. Eight months later, Wanderlei and Sakuraba met again, this time to crown the first ever PRIDE Middleweight Champion. Sakuraba lasted the duration of the first round this time, but the result was the same. The Wanderlei Silva era had begun.

Five months later Wanderlei would take on striker Mirko Cro Cop in a special rules bout. The brutal contest went the distance and was ruled a draw. The next year, the first ever PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix took place, and guess who was fighting in the first round? That's right, Silva vs. Sakuraba III. This time around, Wanderlei knocked out Sakuraba midway through the first round. In the second round Wanderlei took on judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida and won by decision. That victory moved him to the finals where he took on Quinton Jackson. Silva won the first of their three encounters by knockout to win the grand prix.

One year later, Wanderlei and Quinton fought again, this time with the PRIDE Middleweight Championship up for grabs. The fight was more evenly matched than the first, but the result was the same. Silva knocked Rampage out with a knee, sending the future UFC Light Heavyweight Champion through the ropes unconscious. Next Wanderlei faced super heavyweight Mark Hunt in a fight many think should have went the other way, but Hunt ended up winning a decision, ending Silva's 15 fight undefeated streak.

By this time the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix had rolled around and Silva defeated Hidehiko Yoshida once again in the first round. After knocking out Kazuhiro Nakamura, he was set to take on Ricardo Arona in the semi-finals. Arona won by decision ("lay and pray") and marked Wanderlei's first loss at middleweight since the Tito Ortiz fight. In a rematch four months later, Wanderlei got his revenge and defeated Arona by decision.

Fedor Emelianenko had dropped out of the 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix, so Wanderlei took his place. In the first round, he knocked out Kazuyuki Fujita. In the semi-finals, Silva was dominated and knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop. Five months later; he was knocked out by Dan Henderson to lose his middleweight title. Wanderlei then signed with the UFC and fought Chuck Liddell in his first fight. It was a war, but Liddell won a decision. In May of 2008 Wanderlei took on Keith Jardine and knocked him out in 36 seconds. He hasn't won a fight since.

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And the Fighter of the Decade is....



FEDOR EMELIANENKO! This is the part where you scroll down and leave an angry comment that he hasn't fought a top heavyweight in four years and don't read the rest of the column. If you do scroll back up, I'm more than happy to wait so I can explain why Fedor is the Fighter of the Decade. Really I'll wait. Back? Okay. Nobody in MMA has ever done what Fedor did this decade. The 33-year-old Russian went virtually undefeated and fought in some of the biggest fights of the decade.

Minotauro Nogueria was supposed to dominated the heavyweight division for years to come, and in hindsight would have (and probably would have won this award as well) had Fedor not been around. Fedor absolutely destroyed Nogueira twice. Fujita was considered a very solid heavyweight fighter when Fedor fought him. The best? No, but pretty good. Kevin Randleman had really only lost to some of the best in the world (Sakuraba, Rampage, Liddell, Couture, Rutten) when he fought Fedor. The Cro Cop fight was absolutely huge. Believe it or not, Mark Hunt was a solid heavyweight when he fought Fedor. Tim Sylvia had only lost to Couture and Nogueira before Fedor beat him and was a top five heavyweight. Sure, he lost to Ray Mercer, but it's MMA, shi*t happens. I still think an in-shape; motivated Tim Sylvia can be a top 10 heavyweight. Andrei Arlovski was the #2 ranked heavyweight at the time Fedor beat him. He got knocked out by Brett Rogers, who hits very hard. Arlovski is still a good fighter. Brett Rogers has big power, sure, he was young and untested, but Rogers was voted on Sherdog as the guy people most wanted to see Fedor fight in place of Josh Barnett at Affliction. That's why Fedor's camp wanted that fight.

Hong-Man Choi, Mark Coleman (second time), and Zuluzinho? I won't defend those. Regardless, Fedor is the Fighter of the Decade, and the greatest fighter of all time as of this writing.


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