The 19-year DoMMA Sim

[Guest mr. potato head]

I'm tired of putting everything in the Blurcat thread. NUTS TO YOUR RULES, MAN!

So as I've mentioned elsewhere, I started a Dawn of MMA game and simmed it through to the present (actually, January 2012) to see what the world would be like. What I found was a world not entirely unlike our own - some major changes, but nothing unrecognizable. Here are some far too many highlights of that world:

The world itself

I don't think a single company has gone bankrupt so far in this sim. Some of them haven't run many shows (UCC, six shows in 11 years, MWVT, four shows in 11 years, RAW Combat and Adrenaline, no shows at all), but everybody else is still around. PRIDE had a great run and has been High Level National for the past few years, easily the top company in the world for most of the last decade. UFC was the big dog in the early days, but EF was always close at its heels and suddenly SuperBrawl has really sprung up, becoming the first American company to reach Mid Level National.

The pioneers

The UFC 1 card was as follows:

Orlando Weit beat Teila Tuli by Knock Out (Punch) in 2:07

Trent Jenkins beat Ray Wizard by Submission (Guillotine) in 13:21

Frank Hamaker beat Sean Daugherty by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 4:49

Art Jimmerson beat Zane Frasier by Knock Out (Punch) in 5:40

Ken Shamrock beat Oleg Taktarov by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 4:09 to win the UFC Openweight Title

It's worth noting that, due to the data, UFC in this game never added rounds or weight classes, which will lead to some pretty funky results later on. The 10 listed in the spoiler box can be considered the original 10 mixed martial artists, so let's look at their careers.

Orlando Weit would have the honour of winning the first fight in UFC history, but would never reach that peak again. He lost to Ron Van Clief in 23 seconds at UFC 2, and lost to Minoki Ichihara, also in 23 seconds, at UFC 4. When EF started up, they brought in Weit, who picked up his second career victory with a unanimous decision over David Hood, but Weit would go 1-4 over the rest of his career, bouncing between SuperBrawl, PRIDE and EF, and retiring after a loss to Pat Miletich in 2000.

Despite losing to Weit, Teila Tuli's career would ultimately be much more successful, though it would take a while. He wasn't brought back until UFC 5, where he was submitted by Art Jimmerson, the same way he'd lose to Mark Schultz a year later at UFC 10. After a couple local show victories, Tuli would move to Japan to compete with the new PRIDE company when they opened shop, and somehow rattled off a five-fight winning streak between 1998 and 2000, until losses to Gary Goodridge and Mark Kerr saw him leave the company. Tuli resurfaced in 2003 as a freak show attraction for the newly-opened Cage Rage, where he won his first four fights by submission before going on a three-fight losing streak, ultimately getting kicked out of the company after a knockout at the hands of Mirko Cro Cop in 2006. Tuli returned to PRIDE, losing to Seth Petruzelli and beating Kevin Randleman, moved to Strikeforce where he beat Ruben Villareal and Hong-Man Choi, and then jumped to DREAM where, in August 2008, he stunned everybody by beating Soa Palelei to win the DREAM Heavyweight Championship! Tuli even defended the title once, against Bobby Lashley, before losing it to Alistair Overeem. Came back in May 2010 to submit Semmy Schilt, and then retired.

Trent Jenkins compiled a 3-9 career record while fighting in four different promotions before retiring in 2002. Notable losses were to the likes of Rafael Carino and Ebenezer Fontes Braga.

Ray Wizard also went between four promotions in his career, compiling a 2-7 record with both victories coming later on. Fought Miletich and Maurice Smith among others.

Frank Hamaker fought for no fewer than SIX companies, but retired with a 4-9 record after losing to Joey Guel at the first WEC show. Somehow won both his fights in KOTC.

Still active as of 2012, Sean Daugherty is a journeyman with a 10-8 record. He flamed out completely in UFC, losing not only to Hamaker but also to Oleg Taktarov and Tank Abbott. Beat Mark Hall at EF 7 and then began a nine-year run in SuperBrawl, where in his second fight he beat Vitor Belfort to win their light heavyweight belt. Defended the title against Todd Medina but lost it to Guy Mezger. Beat Mark Hughes in 2002. Seemingly retired after a 2005 victory over Felix Mitchell, but was brought back to lose to Alexander Otsuka in 2007. Resurfaced in EF in 2009, beating Brian Foster and losing to Matt Hughes.

Art Jimmerson was everywhere in the early days of the UFC, beating Remco Pardoel in the UFC 2 main event but losing to Ken Shamrock at UFC 3. Returned at UFC 6, infamously submitting Tuli, but was cut from UFC after losses to Fred Ettish and Patrick Smith. Lost to Katsuhija Fuji at a SuperBrawl show in 1996 and then hung up his gloves for good.

Luck never smiled on Zane Frasier. Lost to Jimmerson, rebounded at UFC 5 with a victory over Jason Delucia, and then lost the remaining five fights in his career, including a TKO at the hands of Don Frye.

After winning the title at UFC 1, Ken Shamrock took UFC 2 off to let a challenger be crowned. TKOed Jimmerson at UFC 3 and submitted Patrick Smith at UFC 4, but was caught in a Royce Gracie heel hook in only 40 seconds at UFC 5. Earned a rematch at UFC 10, but this time it only took Gracie 28 seconds to get the heel hook. Went on another winning streak, but left UFC after a TKO at the hands of Tank Abbott at UFC 13. Spent a couple years in the WWF () and then returned to MMA at PRIDE 12 (October 1999). Won his first three PRIDE fights to get a shot at heavyweight champ Tom Erikson, who beat Shamrock via unanimous decision. Rattled off another three-fight win streak, but couldn't get passed Josh Barnett. Returned to UFC in 2003, losing to Quinton Jackson and Thiago Alves. Went 3-1 in bush-league companies KOTC and UCC. Returned to PRIDE and improbably submitted Dan Evensen, but lost to Fedor Emelianenko in 2007 and Brock Lesnar in 2008, both in under two minutes. Has gone 1-2 in PRIDE since then and is still active.

Also still active is Oleg Taktarov. After losing to Shamrock, Oleg rattled off a 10-fight win streak, seemingly being groomed for a title shot that never came. Streak lasted for over three years before being stopped by a Bas Rutten rear naked choke at UFC 15 (September 1997). Began a pattern of winning fights to get back in contention and then falling just short, going 5-3 over the rest of the decade with the losses coming in high-profile bouts aganist Carino, Severn and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Fought on every card between UFC 9 and UFC 22, and 28 of the first 34 UFCs. Finally got his big break at UFC 27, in November 2000, knocking out Pedro Rizzo to win the title. Lost to Frank Shamrock in his first defense. Compiled a four-fight win streak and then jumped to PRIDE in 2002. Fought sparingly in PRIDE but rededicated himself in 2005, beating Maurice Smith, Kristof Midoux and Kohsaka in a rematch to win the PRIDE heavyweight championship...which he immediately lost to Fuji. Lost to Schilt and was out of the game for a couple years, returning in the early days of DREAM to lose to Bobby Lashley and Aleksander Emelianenko. More recently showed up in EF and picked up a couple submission victories.

More to come! Feel free to request info on specific fighters and I'll try to deliver.

[NobBe Nobbs]

FRED ETTISH.

Current half-baked diary idea - Fred Ettish goes back in time and becomes his younger self's trainer, trying to avert the terrible events of UFC 2 and help him become the star he always could have been!

[Guest mr. potato head]

The UFC Championship

In the early days, and really through most of the 90s, the UFC Championship represented the title of baddest man on the planet. But as the decade changed and new promotions began instituting all sorts of rules (like weight classes) that the UFC didn't have, fighters began gravitating to those other promotions instead. After all, put a small guy against a big guy with an otherwise equal skill set, and the big guy will win 9 times out of 10. Thus more recently, the UFC Championship represents who's the best at a specific kind of David-versus-Goliath fighting that most fighters don't see as legitimate compared to the weight classes of PRIDE or SuperBrawl.

As already mentioned, Ken Shamrock was the first UFC Champion, and he defended the title twice before losing it to Royce Gracie at UFC 5. Royce fought on each of the next six UFC shows, spaced three to four months apart, defending the belt with submissions over Minoki Ichihara, Patrick Smith, Bas Rutten, Dan Severn, Shamrock again, and Frank Shamrock. Then, in late 1996, he jumped to SuperBrawl (more on that later).

A new champ was crowned at UFC 12, with Tank Abbott beating Mark Schultz for the belt. Abbott defended successfully against both Shamrocks, but lost to a Dan Severn armbar at UFC 15.

Severn was 42 years old at this point, but managed to defend the belt against Kevin Randleman before losing to Bas Rutten at UFC 17 in one of the best MMA matches in history up to that point. In an equally good match, Rutten lost the belt to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Through the latter part of 1998 and 1999, Kohsaka successfully defended the belt against the likes of Randleman, Taktarov, Steven Graham and Maurice Smith, and then was lured over to PRIDE with big money.

With the belt vacant again, Rafael Carino beat Severn with a kimura to win it at UFC 25. Carino defended against Marco Ruas before losing the belt to Pedro Rizzo, who lost to Taktarov, who lost to Frank Shamrock.

Shamrock's reign as champ straddled the year 2001, as he beat the motley crew of Drew Fickett, Brad Gumm and John Lewis, then lost via knockout to young upstart Andrei Arlovski at UFC 33. Arlovski (who, it should be noted, has stayed in UFC ever since) lost in his first defense to Fedor Emelianenko.

Fedor proved to be every bit the dominant champ Royce was, holding the belt for four years and 14 defenses. In that time, he beat Lewis, Quinton Jackson, Rich Franklin, Severn, Carino, Thiago Alves, Frank Shamrock, Bob Sapp, Carino again, James Irvin, Pete Williams, Hugo Duarte, Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian.

I digress from the title lineage here to talk a bit about Randy Couture. Couture debuted at EF 9 (June 1997), and after only two fights found himself TKOing Paul Varelans to win the EF Heavyweight Championship. Over the next four years, he would defend the title against Wanderlei Silva, John Matua, Cal Worsham, Josh Barnett, Gary Goodridge, Dan Bobish, Patrick Smith, Pedro Otavio and Roberto Traven. The giant Bobish was the only one to take him out of the first round. With the division cleaned out, Couture announced his retirement after EF 34.

Fast-forward three years to May 2005. UFC is starting to get the "freak show" label, and convinces Couture to come out of retirement to lend them some legitimacy. He makes short work of Alves and Severn, setting up a title shot at Fedor at UFC 50, in March 2006. Whatever anyone thinks of the rest of UFC, Fedor vs. Randy is pretty much the biggest fight available in the US at that time. Fedor wins by TKO in 4:13.

Unfortunately, Fedor also gets lured by the big bucks of PRIDE.

So at UFC 51, enter Quinton Jackson. Rampage lost to Rizzo and Fedor early in his career, but is riding a three-year, ten-fight winning streak, including victories over both Shamrocks, Sapp, Tito Ortiz and Diego Sanchez among others. Rampage needs all of 3:24 to TKO Jermaine Andre and become UFC Champion.

Rampage puts on some fantastic matches as champ, defending the belt against Sapp, Enoch Wilson, Carino and Josh Hendricks. At UFC 60 (September 2007), he loses the title to Arlovski. (Rampage has fought slightly less than once per year since then, losing a rematch to Arlovski, losing to Tim Sylvia, and beating Sokoudjou in EF.)

Arlovski's second title run doesn't go much better, as he loses the belt immediately to Sapp, who turns around and, in this universe's Couture/Sylvia moment, gets submitted by Severn.

No Rocky VI story quite yet, as 53-year-old Severn loses to Florian at UFC 67. Florian drops the belt to Arlovski, who in turn drops it to Carino. Carino bolts for PRIDE, and we again have a vacant belt, which Robert Drysdale beats Rafael Dias for at UFC 73 (August 2009).

Nobody knows Drysdale very well, so Severn is brought back to give him some credibility...but, at UFC 75, the 55-year-old Severn catches Drysdale in a rear naked choke and again becomes champion. Severn goes on to defend the belt against Huerta, Duarte and Shane Carwin before again dropping it to Florian. (Severn would fight once more, a loss to Arlovski in August 2011, and then retire for good.)

In his first defense, Florian loses the belt to Benji Radach, who then drops it to Drysdale at UFC 86 (July 2011). Drysdale defends against Huerta, and that's where we are today!

Edited October 2, 2011 by mr. potato head

[Guest mr. potato head]

Didn't mean to post this one yet

Edited October 2, 2011 by mr. potato head

[Guest mr. potato head]

The Gracies and the Linear World Championship

We've already been over Royce Gracie's story in part. Burst onto the scene at UFC 2, submitting Ron Van Clief, beat Johnny Rhodes to get a shot at champ Ken Shamrock, beat Shamrock and then defended the UFC Championship for two-plus years before defecting to SuperBrawl.

Was thrown right into the fire in SuperBrawl, beating Igor Zinoviev for their middleweight championship and then retaining it over Kazushi Sakuraba, Amaury Bitetti, Dave Berry and Jorge Patino (all but Sakuraba by kneebar, every victory he's ever had has been via submission). Left SuperBrawl over a monetary dispute.

Returned to MMA in January 2001 at PRIDE 22. Beat Hayato Sakurai to earn a title shot, then beat Akihiro Gono to win the PRIDE welterweight title. Defended the title against Ikuhisa Minowa, Antonio McKee, Gono, Carlos Newton, Chris Lytle, Mikey Burnett, Diego Sanchez, Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan. All these fights followed a similar pattern - Gracie might even get beat up for a while, but he would always find an opening for some sort of submission, even if it was an Achilles lock.

Gracie chose to vacate the title after the Takase fight, citing no more challenges left for him in the MMA world. He took the Chonan fight as a favour to PRIDE management, and January 2006 saw him return to face Antonio Schembri, a BJJ whiz who had been trash-talking Gracie and claiming Gracie was scared of him. More on that in a moment.

Gracie vacating the belt was just the opening Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra had been waiting for. GSP debuted at PRIDE 48 (March 2003) with a submission victory over Hidetaka Monma, and moved up in the ranks with follow-up wins over Eldo Dias Xavier, Brad Gumm and John Alessio. Serra had debuted in SuperBrawl, won a couple fights there, jumped to the new WEC and beat Alessio to become their first welterweight champion, then moved to PRIDE where he beat Brodie Farber and Sanchez. In May 2004, at PRIDE 59, the two battled for Gracie's belt, and GSP won with a third-round triangle choke.

GSP defended his belt against Minowa, Jake Shields and Shungo Oyama before getting caught in a triangle/armbar combination by...Antonio Schembri, who had been thought by most to be cannon fodder. (A respected submission fighter, Schembri had a 3-2 career record with losses to McKee and Benji Radach.)

Not only did Schembri beat GSP, but he tapped out Royce four months later with the same move. Even more amazingly, he would go on to lose to Shields in his next fight by getting caught in a triangle.

So at this point in time, May 2006, Jake Shields was considered the linear world MMA champion, by virtue of beating the guy who beat the guy who beat the first UFC Champion (or beating the guy who beat the guy who beat the guy who beat the first winner of a UFC fight). Shields did enhance his stock with a title defense over Chonan, but lost the belt to GSP (who, remember, had already beaten him once) in April 2007.

GSP went on another tear through the division, beating Lytle, Dong Hyun Kim, Thiago Alves, Takase, Schembri in a hot rematch, Donnie Liles, Koji Oishi, Alves, Minowa and Jae Suk Lim. There seemed to be no challengers left...

Not wanting to end his career on a loss, Gracie made short work of Carlo Prater at PRIDE 84 (September 2006). He didn't return to fighting until PRIDE 122 (March 2010) when a rematch with Schembri was finally put together. Gracie won via arm triangle.

It took nearly a year's worth of negotiations, but in May 2011 at UFC 132, Royce took on GSP in the biggest fight in MMA history. The winner would have every single plausible claim to being the best fighter in the history of MMA, and it was Royce who got the claim with a second-round submission victory.

Since that fight, Royce has defended his title against Jake Shields (who, after dropping the title to GSP, beat Schembri for a second time to kick off a nine-fight win streak), while GSP won a tune-up fight against Ross Pointon and is now set to fight Gregor Gracie in a few weeks' time.

And what of those other Gracies?

Gregor Gracie has a 3-2 career record, with losses to Liles and Alves in PRIDE.

Rickson Gracie never fought professional MMA in this universe.

Renzo Gracie is the only Gracie to have anywhere near Royce's aura of invincibility. He was a part of EF from the beginning, beating Bitetti, Trent Jenkins and Keith Mielke, then Chris Brennan to win the EF middleweight title. Renzo defended the title against Gono, Pat Miletich and Masakatsu Funaki before getting TKOed at the hands of Matt Lindland. At that, Renzo jumped to SuperBrawl, where he beat Sakuraba and Berry. In November 1999, he was lured back to EF for a rematch with Lindland, which he lost by split decision. Renzo went to TKO and won three fights, then joined Royce in PRIDE, beating Chuck Liddell among others to get a shot at middleweight champ Frank Trigg. He caught Trigg in a rear naked choke to win the title, which he successfully defended against Keichiro Yamamiya before losing in 1:07 to a rampaging Anderson Silva at PRIDE 61 (July 2004). Took some time off and returned to PRIDE in 2006, picking up five wins and earning another shot at Silva, who this time needed most of the fight before catching Renzo in an armbar at PRIDE 98 (January 2008). Renzo eventually resurfaced in TKO, where he's won six fights.

Ralek Gracie is 1-2 in fights for Canada's TKO, but has never been finished.

Rodrigo Gracie has been a constant in TKO since its beginnings in 2001. Lost to Igor Zinoviev early on and despite beating Jason Day to win the TKO middleweight title in 2002, didn't defend the belt for over two years and then got knocked out by Fabio Leopoldo. Won three fights to earn a rematch with Leopoldo at TKO 41 (January 2008), which he won by fourth-round kneebar, and has since successfully defended the title four times.

Roger Gracie debuted in 2007 by submitting Wesley "Cabbage" Correira at the inaugural EliteXC show, then won a unanimous decision over Mike Kyle to become their first heavyweight champion. Defended the title with submissions over Brett Rogers and Fabricio Werdum, then jumped to TKO where in November 2010 he beat Ben Gallant for their heavyweight belt.

Rolles Gracie has a 1-5 career record and was eventually asked to leave TKO by the rest of his family. He hasn't done any better in the US, most recently losing a decision to a 50-year-old Maurice Smith.

Ryan Gracie was a mixed bag when he started out in PRIDE in 2002, beating Funaki and Evan Tanner but losing to Yamamiya and Silva. Joined the rest in TKO as of TKO 29 (October 2005) and has compiled a 9-3 record in that company.

Royler Gracie was briefly SuperBrawl lightweight champ in 1997, but contract demands took him out of the MMA world until he resurfaced in PRIDE in 2000. Went 4-1 in PRIDE against mostly Japanese opposition, only loss was a September 2002 submission to Caol Uno.

[Blehschmidt]

Tell me about Don Frye!

[EddieG]

Like I say with any of these threads, talk to me about Bas Rutten! And considering you're in 2012 .. any other Dutch fighter.

[Gazz]

I demand stats, awards and records.

Who's had the most fights in history?

[Guest mr. potato head]

Intermission: The Guys You Asked About

Fred Ettish actually had a winning record at one point. It wasn't after he lost to Patrick Smith in 29 seconds at UFC 5. He returned a year later at UFC 9 to knock out Art Jimmerson, but his quest to move above .500 floundered when he lost to Andre Roberts at UFC 14. Resurfaced in EF in 1998, winning two fights, then beat Steve Berger at PRIDE 10 to move to a career-best 4-2. Lost three straight fights in PRIDE. Inexplicably returned to UFC in 2002, losing to Pedro Rizzo and Dan Severn. Returned to PRIDE and went 1-3 before hanging up his gloves in 2004.

Don Frye fought twice in the early days of EF, but became better known as a fixture in SuperBrawl's heavyweight division from 1997 to 2003, during which he went 10-3, losing both times he had shots at Remco Pardoel and once to Ian Freeman. Had a disastrous 1-3 run in PRIDE, beating only Seth Petruzelli, and after an August 2005 loss to Jeff Monson appeared on the verge of retirement. Reappeared twice, dropping unanimous decisions to Roman Zentsov in UCC and Sean O'Haire in Strikeforce, but made a more full-time return with Affliction in 2010 (and EF in 2011), where he's gone 3-1 including a win over Matt Hamill.

After a pair of local show wins, Bas Rutten debuted at UFC 7 with a 24-second TKO of Andy Anderson. This earned him, way too soon, the shot at Royce Gracie I mentioned in a previous post. Bas took nearly two years off, returning at UFC 15 with a submission over Oleg Taktarov, a knockout of Jon Hess and a submission over Severn to win the UFC Championship in a great fight. Equally great was his loss, three months later in June 1998, to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Couldn't finish Julian Sanchez before the time-limit draw kicked in (Sanchez retired with a 0-3-1 record, for perspective), but then went on a three-fight win streak stopped at UFC 23 by Rafael Carino. After beating Travis Fulton at UFC 24, was out of MMA for a year, returning with PRIDE late in 2000. Went 4-1 in PRIDE before retiring, finishing up his career with a loss to Frank Trigg and a win over Jason Miller.

Gerard Gordeau compiled a career record of 0-3, losing to Patrick Smith at UFC 3, Severn at UFC 7, and Taktarov at UFC 11.

Hans Nijman had a bit more luck, debuting in 1996 with a win over Smith for SuperBrawl, then beating Mark Coleman to become SuperBrawl Heavyweight Champion. Lost the belt to Marcus Silveira in his first defence. Retired with an 8-2 record (3-2 in-game).

Remco Pardoel was TKOed in 30 seconds by Jimmerson in the main event of UFC 2, but returned a year-plus later at UFC 7, submitting Maurice Smith. Left UFC after a UFC 8 loss to Jason Delucia. Eventually emerged in SuperBrawl, where a four-fight win streak (victims including Frye and Joe Son) earned him a shot at heavyweight champ Katsuhija Fuji, who he beat in August 1999. Defended the title against Frye in 2000, then Ben Rothwell in 2004, then lost it to Frank Mir in 2007. Beat Bob Landry a few months later to retire on a high note.

Rodney Faverus started his career in TKO in 2001 with a win over Yan Pellerin, but retired with a record of 12-14-2 (4-8 in-game) while bouncing from TKO to WEC to EF to Cage Rage to UCC to PRIDE. Among his bestors were Dennis Hallman, Jeremy Horn and Renato Sobral while in 2006 he beat local hero David Loiseau in his lone UCC fight.

Antoni Hardonk lost his first four career fights, but two were in PRIDE, two in UFC, and he was facing the likes of Severn and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. First career victory came in Cage Rage in 2005 when he submitted Teila Tuli. Went 4-6 from then out, going from PRIDE to KOTC to Affliction to SuperBrawl to Strikeforce and not really fighting anyone of note (though he did beat Mark Kerr in 2011). Now back on PRIDE's roster.

Gilbert Yvel started his MMA career in 1999, but has only really gotten serious recently. Went 4-6 before 2007, and is 6-4 since that year. Early career included losses to Kohsaka and Fuji in PRIDE. In March 2009, beat Rex Richards to become Cage Rage Heavyweight Champion, but bolted for SuperBrawl before defending the belt. Currently on a three-fight losing streak at the hands of Antonio Silva, James Thompson and Rothwell.

Melvin Manhoef was part of Cage Rage from the beginning, beating Amar Suloev and Paul Cahoon on their first two shows before Siyar Bahaduraza put an end to his momentum. Fought a few more times in the UK but then began moving around, first a brief 1-1 run in KOTC including a loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama, then 2-0 in EliteXC, then found a home in PRIDE where he gained a reputation of always being up for a fight. In Japan, he beat Nate Quarry, Evan Tanner and Patrick Cote among others, but among those getting the better of him were Thales Leites, Yushin Okami and Jon Jones. Fought five times in 2010 and recently jumped to Affliction.

Having jumped from SuperBrawl to PRIDE to EF to TKO to PRIDE to UCC to PRIDE to EF to EliteXC to Dream to EliteXC to Affliction, Semmy Schilt is a real journeyman. Schilt has compiled a record of 15-12 and was briefly TKO's heavyweight champ before losing the belt to Travis Wiuff, but his only major fights of note are a 2006 split decision over Taktarov and a 2010 loss to Tuli. Also lost to Junior Dos Santos in 2009 for DREAM, but Junior hasn't done much in this game.

I'm holding off on the Overeems for now because they come into play elsewhere.

Stats leaders will come at a later point, as will short histories of big fights from PRIDE, EF and SuperBrawl. And if need be, another post highlighting other fighters worth mentioning.

But most fights? The top five include Patrick Smith and Dan Henderson on 34, Rafael Carino at 35, and Dan Severn's 38 falling just short to Oleg Taktarov's round 40.

[Gazz]

Joe Son!

I've never seen that guy win a fight.

[Blehschmidt]

I would also like to know how Harold Howard and Kimo did!

[OctoberRaven]

Steve Jennum!

[Guest mr. potato head]

Actually none of the other companies histories are nearly as interesting as UFC's - although I love that from February 2008 to December 2009, PRIDE's champs were BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and Randy Couture so I'm just going to do a few batches of fighter bios and leave it at that.

If Gazz has never seen Joe Son win a fight, he must not have been at the American Local Show in November 1995 where Son beat Local Fighter (on his third try). He somehow stuck around until 2004 before retiring with a 1-10 record, being booked against among others Remco Pardoel, Ken Shamrock, Teila Tuli, and Patrick Smith twice - once in 1998 for SuperBrawl, once in 2004 for Cage Rage!

Steve Jennum actually retired with a perfect 3-0 record, but all of those wins were over Local Fighters.

Harold Howard has a system ... which allows him to retire with a respectable-for-the-early-days record of 6-6-1. Three of those wins came on local shows before his first big break in EF. After he went 0-2 in EF, PRIDE nonetheless brought him in and Howard even picked up two victories before getting submitted by Teila Tuli. UFC took a chance on him after that, and he took Kevin Randleman to a time limit draw at UFC 27 (August 2000), then TKOed Scott Adams in 19 seconds, leading to his biggest career fight...a 25-second knockout at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko. Lost two more fights in EF before retiring.

Kimo Leopoldo fought some of the best in MMA - Dan Severn, Oleg Taktarov, Don Frye, Valentijn Overeem and Pedro Rizzo - and lost to them all. Did manage to beat two local fighters and somebody named Scott Bessac, but retired 3-5.

In real life, Antonio McKee has in recent years earned a reputation as the most boring fighter in MMA. In this game he was relatively exciting, but active much earlier, beating Ray Wizard for the SuperBrawl Welterweight Title in his MMA debut! After defending the title against Sean Pierson, McKee jumped to PRIDE, where he beat Phil Baroni and two others to earn a shot at Royce Gracie - which he lost. Five more wins, including one over wunderkind Antonio Schembri, were followed by losses to Mikey Burnett and Carlos Newton. Going 1-4 in his final five PRIDE fights led him out the door. In 2006 he caught on with Cage Rage, where he went 4-0, and then fought twice on DREAM undercards before retiring.

Cal Worsham was EF's first heavyweight champion, beating Asbel Cancio to become the first non-UFC title holder. He defended the title three times before losing it to Mark Kerr, and then still beat Gary Goodridge and Dave Beneteau, but his loss to Randy Couture in February 1999 was the beginning of the end - from that point, he went 2-9 before finally retiring in 2004.

Dan Henderson had four reigns as EF champion - the first starting in 2000 and the last starting in 2010. Most remembered for his third reign, lasting from September 2004 to June 2007 and comprising eight defenses before a loss to Andrei Semenov. Final reign was a brilliant bit of storytelling as he beat Nick Diaz to win the belt, but lost it to Nate Diaz three months later. Beat Jerry Bohlander in his final fight, this one (in SuperBrawl) was his only fight not under the EF banner. Among those he beat over the years were Jon Fitch, Matt Serra (twice), Matt Hughes (twice) and Matt Lindland, but his Achilles heel was Pat Miletich, who was responsible for three of his six losses.

Eric "Butterbean" Esch fought twice in Cage Rage, getting submitted by a Enson Inoue heel hook in 32 seconds, and a Royce Alger armbar in 3:46.

Frank Shamrock's UFC career is detailed above, but after losing to Fedor in 2004, he jumped to PRIDE, where he didn't fight often, but rattled off a five-wins-in-five-years winning streak, beating Frank Trigg, Robbie Lawler, Ricardo Arona, Renato Sobral and Evan Tanner. Dropped a split decision to Daijiro Matsui in 2010 and then retired.

A journeyman through most of his career, Kevin Randleman was the first TKO heavyweight champion, but never defended the belt. Had a great 2008, fighting for PRIDE and beating Shane Del Rosario, Michael Russow, Cheick Kongo, Mark Hunt and Kristof Midoux. Streak was snapped by Jay White, and after a loss to Christian Wellisch, Randleman retired.

Marcus Davis had no success at all, retiring with a record of 4-7 (1-5) in-game - lone in-game win was a split decision over Che Mills in TKO.

Ditto for Mark Coleman, who actually was SuperBrawl's first heavyweight champ, but lost the belt to Hans Nijman and retired in 1998 with a 2-3 record.

Matt Hamill didn't do much either, spending most of his career in EF and retiring with a 5-5 record and no impressive victories. Did lose to Don Frye, Mirko Cro Cop and Brandon Vera among others.

Matt Lindland was the first person to dent the Gracie mystique by beating Renzo twice, but losses to Pat Miletich twice and Dan Henderson once stopped him from ever breaking into the elite of EF's middleweights. Late-career moves to TKO and KOTC didn't help, and he retired with a 15-6 record.

After beating Nobuhiko Takada at PRIDE 5, Naoya Ogawa was expected to be PRIDE's homegrown star. Unfortunately, he lost in his title challenge against the always-underrated Tom Erikson and then dropped a rematch to Takada. Emerged stronger in the new millennium, beating Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by split decision to earn a title shot, and then winning the belt by knocking out Mark Kerr at PRIDE 31, but lost the title right away to Josh Barnett. Fought sparingly after 2002, and dropped a rematch to Erikson.

Speaking of Takada, his career was simple. Beat Moti Horenstein at PRIDE 2, lost to Ogawa, beat Ogawa, lost to Kerr at PRIDE 16, retired. Returned in 2004 at EF 45 for inexplicable reasons, getting submitted by Brandon Vera.

The great hope of english MMA, Paul Cahoon retired with a disastrous 2-13 record (at one point he was 0-9). Among those who beat him were Trigg, Tanner, Bas Rutten, Renzo, Sakuraba, Melvin Manhoef, and Zelg Galesic.

I mentioned Eriksen above. He won his first seven fights by unanimous decision, including over Valentijn Overeem at PRIDE 6 to become PRIDE Heavyweight Champion. Defended the title five times, including over Ogawa and Ken Shamrock, before dropping it to Kerr at PRIDE 28. Was out of action for over two years, but returned at PRIDE 57, beating Kazuyuki Fujita and Ogawa to earn a shot at champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who he beat by unanimous decision to win back the belt. Lost to a Kohsaka submission in his first defence. Fought a few more times, always in PRIDE, retired 19-4-1.

Tony "Ludvig Borga Halme went 2-3, but both wins were over local fighters.

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More! More! MORE MORE MORE!

Akihiro Gono started out Stateside, even losing to Renzo Gracie in only his second professional fight, and won the SuperBrawl Welterweight Title before jumping to the still-pretty-new PRIDE, where he debuted at PRIDE 4 with a 48-second TKO over Eldo Dias Xavier. Returned at PRIDE 7, beating Steve Berger to win the PRIDE Welterweight Title, which he retained over Fred Ettish and Daiju Takase among others before losing to Royce Gracie at PRIDE 26. Lost a rematch to Gracie in 2002, took a couple years off, fought a couple more times in PRIDE and then showed up in the IFL, where he won his first three fights including beating Erik Apple for their welterweight belt in 2007, but he has yet to defend the belt as IFL rarely runs shows.

The current #4 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Aleksander Emelianenko has a 9-0 record and his size makes him every bit the threat his brother is. Debuted in SuperBrawl, later moved to DREAM, beat Oleg Taktarov and Dan Bobish to name two, and most recently submitted Alistair Overeem to become DREAM Heavyweight Champion.

Speaking of Alistair Overeem, he debuted in 2002 with a split decision loss to Ricco Rodriguez in SuperBrawl, then wasn't heard from again until moving to PRIDE in 2004. A three-fight win streak was snapped by Marcio Cruz, and Overeem moved on to Strikeforce - where he beat Justin McCully for their heavyweight belt and then immediately jumped to EF. Went 3-0 in EF and became one of DREAM's first stars, beating the likes of Bobish and Ruben Villareal before pulling out a unanimous decision over Teila Tuli in October 2009 to win their heavyweight belt. Lost to Emelianenko, but has since gone on a three-fight win streak.

Anderson Silva debuted in SuperBrawl in March 2001, but moved to PRIDE in 2002 after two victories there, and has remained with PRIDE ever since. First three fights in PRIDE were unanimous decision victories (including over Jason Miller and Chuck Liddell), next three were knee-assisted knockouts. In seventh PRIDE fight, TKOed Renzo Gracie in just 1:04 to win the Middleweight belt, which he defended over Ryan Gracie, Lance Gibson, Dave Menne, Robbie Lawler, Keichiro Yamamiya, Kazushi Sakuraba, Ryo Kawamura, Renzo, Daijiro Matsui, Jeremy Horn, Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, and Demian Maia in a nearly six-year run on top. Was shockingly caught in a triangle choke and lost his title to Thales Leites in June 2010. Beat Brendan Seguin and is now once again looking to come out on top of the world.

In the middle part of the 2000s, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was considered one of the top heavyweights in PRIDE, if not the world. Won nine fights in a row between 2001 and 2005, including over Josh Barnett for the heavyweight title and over Mark Kerr to retain said title. Lost the belt to Tom Erikson at PRIDE 68, but was back in contention a year later and submitted Katsuhija Fuji in just 2:14 to win the belt. Defended aganist James Thompson before being stopped by the Fedor Emelianenko juggernaut. Actually fell into a losing streak after that, losing to Couture and Brock Lesnar, beat Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at PRIDE 107 (November 2008) on his way out of the company. Recently signed a deal with EF and debuted by catching Jefferson Silva in a kneebar.

Promoters have frequently tried to turn Antonio Rogerio Nogueira into the same star as his twin brother, but his career 4-4 record would suggest that they've had little success. Has fought less than once a year throughout his career, between EF, SuperBrawl, Cage Rage and TKO. Has never been finished and is actually on a two-fight win streak dating back to 2007.

Antonio Silva began his career in MWVT with a win over Bobby Hoffman and split-decision loss to Sergei Kharitonov. Moved to SuperBrawl in 2007, where a four-fight win streak (victims including Junior Dos Santos) earned him a title shot against Frank Mir, where Bigfoot fell to a kneebar. Has since rolled off another five wins in a row.

Ben Rothwell has spent his whole career in SuperBrawl, losing only to Mir (twice) and Remco Pardoel. Has wins over, among others, Mirko Cro Cop, Tank Abbott and Gilbert Yvel.

BJ Penn debuted at PRIDE 28, but needed six victories over three years (including a unanimous decision over Sean Sherk) before he got a title shot, at which point he submitted Cristiano Marcello to become PRIDE's lightweight champ. Held the belt for over five years, defending against Genki Sudo, Luis Azeredo, Sherk, Yves Edwards, Marcello, Takanori Gomi, Caol Uno, Joe Stevenson, Gesias Cavalcante, Jess Liaudin, Koutetsu Boku, Jorge Gurgel, and Shinya Aoki (almost all by submission). At PRIDE 119 (December 2009), had a rematch with Cavalcante, the only fighter to take him to a decision as champion, and Cavalcante won by TKO in just 1:49. Penn took nearly two years off after that fight, but recently returned with a 52-second submission of Paul Daley.

Bobby Lashley has fought occasionally for DREAM since they began, compiling a 3-1 record including a TKO of Taktarov in his debut and a unanimous decision over Shane Del Rosario, but also dropped a decision to Tuli.

Debuting in EF in 2003 to much fanfare, Brandon Vera beat Vladimir Matyushenko, Pedro Otavio and Nobuhiko Takada to earn a shot at the EF heavyweight crown, in which he pulled out a unanimous decision over Heath Herring to win the belt. Retained over Dennis Hallman before losing to Pedro Rizzo at EF 51 (February 2005). Tim Sylvia became a constant stumbling block, twice keeping Vera from winning the title, but he finally got a second reign at EF 84 (October 2008) with a submission over Sokoudjou. Immediately lost the title to Carl Seumanutafa and was out of the company after losses to Hallman and Cain Velasquez. Has since moved to PRIDE, where he's 1-1 so far.

Brock Lesnar has only fought in PRIDE, but is considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world with his record of 11-1. Beat Big Nog in only his second pro fight, then Ken Shamrock in a symbolic passing of the torch, but Couture ruined the script by catching Lesnar in an armbar and retaining his title. Undaunted, Lesnar beat Herring, Nick Penner and then Fedor before TKOing Couture in a rematch to win the title, which he's since defended over Barnett, Rodriguez and Jake O'Brien.

[IDOL]

Kimbo?

[Guest mr. potato head]

Despite being 29 years old, Cain Velasquez has yet to emerge as a real super-threat. He has an 8-4 career record, but only 6-4 in-game, and the only decent names he's beaten are Dennis Hallman, Brandon Vera and Mirko Cro Cop. Won a couple fights in IFL, had a lengthy run in EF and now fights for PRIDE, where he lost to Josh Barnett on his debut.

Caol Uno is a real pioneer in Japanese MMA. He debuted at PRIDE 3, and at PRIDE 11 beat Din Thomas via guillotine to become PRIDE's lightweight champ. He lost to the belt to Cristiano Marcello in his first defense, but took some time off and returned to PRIDE in 2001, ultimately beating Takanori Gomi to recapture the belt, which he defended against Luiz Azeredo and Royler Gracie before losing to Yves Edwards. Has been a mainstay in PRIDE ever since, beating the likes of Sean Sherk and Shane Roller, but falling short against BJ Penn, Gesias Cavalcante and others.

Carina Damm is the best women's fighter in the world (keep in mind this game only has like eight). She has wins over Gina Carano, Tara LaRosa and others, all by submission, has never lost, was Strikeforce women's champ before leaving that company and is currently EliteXC women's champ. Hasn't fought since 2008 though.

Chael Sonnen debuted in EF with three straight losses (admittedly, one was to Matt Hughes). He returned to MMA in 2006 in PRIDE, submitting Ricardo Arona and Joey Guel, but then jumped to EliteXC where he has been since their inception. Has gone 3-3 in EXC, including a recent knockout at the hands of Nate Marquardt.

After winning a split decision over Mark Hunt in TKO, Cheick Kongo was used by PRIDE as an impressive-looking heavyweight jobber, falling to Fedor Emelianenko, Kevin Randleman and Marcio Cruz in 2008 and 2009. Moved to Strikeforce in 2010 and has gone 4-0 there, beating Marco Ruas to win their heavyweight belt and retaining it over Jon Murphy.

Chris Leben also started out his career 0-3 in EF, and then 1-1 in UFC, but had more success in Strikeforce, beating Gegard Mousasi by split decision and then TKOing Joey Villasenor for their middleweight strap. Never defended the belt, or even fought again until showing up in PRIDE in April 2009 and submitting Marquardt. Lost to Evan Tanner but has since rattled off a five-fight win streak and could be in line for a title shot.

Chuck Liddell's career got off to a good start with a KO of Guy Mezger at UFC 19, followed by a 31-second TKO of Alex Andrade. At UFC 21, went to a time-limit draw with Yuri Vaulin, but rebounded by knocking out Geza Kalman Jr. in 50 seconds. After a 55-minute submission loss to Frank Shamrock, beat Yoji Anjo and Maurice Smith and then headed for PRIDE, debuting in August 2002 with losses to Renzo Gracie, Anderson Silva and Jeremy Horn, sending his stock into freefall. Had a couple rebound wins in TKO in 2004, then signed a contract with EF. Two victories there earned him a shot at heavyweight champ Pedro Rizzo, who he knocked out at EF 53. Retained over Heath Herring but lost to Kazuyuki Fujita. Could never get back into the title picture due to an inability to beat Brandon Vera. Returned to UFC at UFC 65 (June 2008) and got submitted by Kenny Florian. Later moved to DREAM where he's gone 5-1 against sub-par competition.

Daniel Puder actually fought one MMA fight before his WWE Tough Enough stint, dropping a unanimous decision to Ricco Rodriguez in SuperBrawl. Returned to the company in 2008 after the pro wrestling thing didn't work out, and went 3-1 including a win over veteran Patrick Smith. Moved to Strikeforce and more recently Affliction, where he's 3-0 and just beat Bob Landry for their heavyweight belt.

Demian Maia lost his debut fight to Rory Singer, but then rattled off a seven-fight win streak to earn a shot at PRIDE middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Among those he beat on the streak were Robbie Lawler, Jon Jones and Hector Lombard. Lost to Silva, but three more wins, including one over Silva-beater and former champ Thales Leites granted him another title shot, in which he picked up a unanimous decision over Jeremy Horn to win the championship.

Diego Sanchez debuted in PRIDE with a win, but was quickly fed to Royce Gracie and Matt Serra. Jumped to UFC where he won his first three fights including one over Nate Diaz but then lost David-vs-Goliath battles to Quinton Jackson and Bop Sapp. Had a short run in PRIDE in 2008, then moved to Affliction where he's done well, including beating Che Mills for their welterweight title.

Dominic Cruz went 4-1 in EliteXC, losing to Mike French, and recently signed with SuperBrawl.

Eddie Alvarez is 17-0 (9-0 in-game) and ranked #5 pound-for-pound. He started his career in Strikeforce, including wins over Terry Etim for their lightweight belt and Luiz Firmino to retain it, then jumped to the new Affliction promotion, where he beat Buddy Clinton for the title he has since defended over Gray Maynard and Diego Saraiva.

Forrest Griffin has spent his entire career in SuperBrawl, where his record is 13-4 (10-3 in-game). Known for fast finishes to fights and an early-career decision loss to Rashad Evans, Griffin rattled off four submission victories (including over Jason Brilz and Houston Alexander) but then lost to a Vitor Belfort armbar in August 2009. Has since won four more in a row, including a rematch over Belfort and a TKO over Stephan Bonnar.

Frank Edgar debuted in UFC but probably rethought that decision after two of his first three fights were with Randy Couture and Andrei Arlovski. Did manage to submit Roger Huerta though. Bolted for PRIDE in mid-2009 where he won his first five fights, over the likes of Melvin Guillard, Josh Thomson and Jorge Gurgel, earning a title shot at Cavalcante but being finished off in five minutes. Has won two more since that fight.

Frank Mir is a true favourite of the Blurcat crowd who has only ever fought for SuperBrawl. Beat Ben Rothwell in May 2002 and Ian Freeman in December 2003 in a combined 5:53, but then took a lot of time off. Upon returning, submitted Ricco Rodriguez in January 2006 and Remco Pardoel in June 2007 to win the SB heavyweight crown, which he has defended against Kerry Schall, Rothwell, Antonio Silva and Dan Christison.

Frank Trigg is a two-time PRIDE middleweight champion, losing the belts to Tito Ortiz and Renzo Gracie. Left PRIDE in 2006 amid a three-fight losing streak (to Frank Shamrock and Jason Miller) and wandered around EliteXC, SuperBrawl and TKO before returning to PRIDE in 2010. In January 2002, submitted Bas Rutten.

[OctoberRaven]

Want to hear more about Cro Cop, Arlovski, and Akiyama

[Gazz]

Who is #1 p4p?

[IDOL]

Kimbo?