UFC’s Top 25 fighters in the history of TUF
The UFC recently named the top 25 fighters to come out of TUF: 25. Matt Mitrione (season 10) 24. Roy…
The UFC recently named the top 25 fighters to come out of TUF:
25. Matt Mitrione (season 10)
24. Roy Nelson (season 10)
23. Cole Miller (season five)
22. Kendall Grove (season three)
21. Stephan Bonnar (season one)
20. Joe Lauzon (season five)
19. Ross Pearson (season nine)
18. Brendan Schaub (season 10)
17. Melvin Guillard (season two)
16. Joe Stevenson (season two)
15. Mike Swick (season one)
14. Matt Serra (season four)
13. Krzysztof Soszynski (season eight)
12. Matt Wiman (season five)
11. Chris Leben (season one)
10. Nate Diaz (season five)
9. Matt Hamill (season three)
8. Josh Koscheck (season one)
7. George Sotiropoulos (season six)
6. Diego Sanchez (season one)
5. Kenny Florian (season one)
4. Michael Bisping (season three)
3. Forrest Griffin (season one)
2. Gray Maynard (season five)
1. Rashad Evans (season two)
Looked at differently, by season, and applying higher points for placing closer to first on the list, a clear trend emerges
season one: 114 points, 7 winners
#1 Best Fighters
23. Forrest Griffin
21. Kenny Florian
20. Diego Sanchez
18. Josh Koscheck
15. Chris Leben
11. Mike Swick
5. Stephan Bonnar
season two: 44 points, 3 winners
#3 Best Fighters (tie)
25. Rashad Evans
10. Joe Stevenson
9. Melvin Guillard
season three: 43 points, 3 winners
#3 Best Fighters (tie)
22. Michael Bisping
17. Matt Hamill
4. Kendall Grove
season four, 12 points, 1 winner
12. Matt Serra
season five: 63 points, 5 winners
#2 Best Fighters
24. Gray Maynard
16. Nate Diaz
14. Matt Wiman
6. Joe Lauzon
3. Cole Miller
season six: 19 points,1 winner
19. George Sotiropoulos
season seven, 0 points, 0 winners
0
season eight: 13 points, 1 winner
13. Krzysztof Soszynski
season nine, 8 points, 1 winner
8. Ross Pearson
season ten, 10 points, 3 winners
#5 Best Fighters (tie)
7. Brendan Schaub
2. Roy Nelson
1. Matt Mitrione
Season eleven: 0 points, 0 winners
0
Season twelve: 0 points, 0 winners
0
The methodology is obviously flawed as it takes time for the best fighters from a season to establish themselves in the UFC, however, a clear pattern none the less emerges. Given that season 1, most notably the epic clash between Griffin and Bonnar, was central to the growth of the sport, and that seasons 2 and 3 as well as 10 earned outstanding ratings, maybe the way to return to record ratings is to get the best fighters possible on there.
