A Dying Breed: Profiling The Last Of The MMA Old School
Our generation was fortunate enough to witness the beginning of a new sport back in the 1990’s, as MMA, cagefighting as known back then, started to become a mainstream attraction. It wasn’t until late in the decade that the sport began to gain any notoriety, and many of the fighters from the dark ages of MMA have retired now, but not all of them.
Guys like Ken & Frank Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, Don Frye and Tank Abbot were the attraction in the early days of the UFC, and most hardcore fans can remember the day that the Gracie family came in to prominence at UFC 1. November 12th 1993 was the day a scrawny grappler from Brazil submitted three men in one night to become the first UFC tournament winner, but who is left from the old school MMA stars?
Now aged 37, “Vai Cavalo” is another Pride FC throwback that continues to impress after may years of competition. Currently the UFC interim heavyweight champion, you could argue that he is the (currently) most decorated of the old school MMA faces. He beat Mark Hunt by knockout at UFC 180 to win the title, in a far cry from his old days as a grappler.
The first man to ever submit, and properly beat Fedor Emelianenko, starts his second decade of fighting as a well-rounded and scary UFC heavyweight. “Big Nog”, Travis Browne, Alex Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and many more have fallen to “VAi Cavalo”, but will he have the same success against the next generation, Cain Velasquez?
The famed Brazilian striker made his MMA debut way back in 1996 against Jon Hess at Superbrawl 2, making his current position in the UFC all the ore impressive. Now 37, “The Phenom” has a 24-10 record, and stands to be the next middleweight champion if he can beat Chris Weidman at UFC 184. His line of victims include Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold, Anthony Johnson, Yoshihiro Akiyama and many more.
Check out some ferocious Vitor Belfort highlights below:
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
Debuting in 1999, Jackson rapidly became known as a dangerous striker, and came in to the Pride FC era as a highly touted and charasmatic fighter. He became the UFC light-heavyweight champion back in 2007 by knocking out Chuck Liddell at UFC 71. Now, having left for Bellator and returned, “Rampage” will serve his twilight years once again under the Zuffa banner.
There is no timeline for the 36-year old’s next bout, but you could argue that a title run is unlikely for a guy like Jackson, who has openly admitted that he only wants to fight strikers. Nonetheless, ‘Page is still doing it for the MMA old school at the highest level.
Alistair Overeem
K-1, Pride FC, Strikeforce, UFC, Alistair Overeem and has fought all over the globe and for the best organizations since his debut in 1999. Victories over Mark Hunt, Vitor Belfort, Fabricio Werdum, Frank Mir and many others keep “The Demolition Man” in business today, although his recent form has been sketchy at best.
If he can get past Roy Nelson next, we may see Overeem win another title, but it may be time to call it quits if “Big Country” cleans his clock. Now aged 34, “The Reem” is arguably the youngest of the MMA old school still competing.
Dan Henderson
A fan favorite since his early days with the UFC and Pride FC, “Dangerous” Dan Henderson is still fighting on at the ripe old age of 44. Hendo first fought back at the Brazil Open ’97, and has since gone on to become the UFC tournament 17 winner, and held the Pride welterweight and middleweight titles, as well as the Strikeforce light-heavyweight championship.
Now set to face the much younger Gegard Mousasi at UFC On FOX 14, you could argue that this may be the last fight of the ageing legend’s illustrious career should he get stopped.
Anderson Silva
“The Spider” came from humble beginnings, fighting for the first time at BFC 1 in 1997, and went on to experience super stardom in the UFC. After stints in Pride FC, Cage Rage and Shooto, Silva joined the UFC with a bang in his knockout win over Chris Leben. Next he knocked out Rich Franklin at UFC 64 for the middleweight title, and so began the legend of one of the biggest names in the sport today.
“The Spider” went on to defend his title a record 10 times, he has the most finishes in UFC title fight history (nine), the most knockout of the night awards (seven), the most finishes in the UFC (14) and countless other records. Now eyeing another title shot against the man who took the belt from him, providing AS beats Nick Diaz, Silva is another old school MMA icon that still competes at the top level.
The name Tito Ortiz may not hold much weight these days, as he has taken up the role of WWE villain over at Bellator, but he was once a very dangerous UFC light-heavyweight champion. Ortiz started his path in MMA with a two-fight debut at UFC 13, beating Wes Albritton by TKO and getting submitted by Guy Mezger. Beating Wanderlei Silva by decision at UFC 25 to win the 205-pound title, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” gained a ton of exposure during his three-fight feud with Ken Shamrock.
The bad times really started for Ortiz when he faced Chuck Liddell for the second time at UFC 66, and have progressively gotten worse. In the last 8 years Ortiz has won 3 from 11 fights, and will likely be heading for the golf course soon at 39 years of age.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
The former Pride heavyweight champion made his name in the Japanese MMA scene during it’s boom around the late 90’s/early 00’s. He won the promotion’s first hw strap by beating Heath Herring at Pride 17, and has beaten Mark Coleman, Fabricio Werdum, Randy Couture, Mirko Filipovic and many more during his epic career.
Now on a pretty harsh downturn, the 38-year old legend has suffered a run of 1-3 in his last four, getting finished rather brutally in all three defeats. He has held the UFC interim title since joining the promotion in 2007, but only fought once in 2014. We salute you “Big Nog”.
Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko Filipovich debuted in MMA in 2001, coming in from the world of K-1 kickboxing, where he’d been a legitimate force since 1996. He fought most actively for Pride FC, where he beat such talent as Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Kazushi Sakuraba, Igor Vovchanchyn, and many others. It wasn’t until 2006 that he won his first major title though, as he claimed the Pride Openweight Grand Prix with a win over Josh Barnett.
A disappointing five-year stint in the UFC saw Cro Cop finished in five from his six defeats, and he eventually retired upon leaving the promotion after three straight defeats. The Croatian “Tiger” has since come back to MMA and kickboxing, going 4-1 in K-1 and winning the 2012 GP, and racking up 3-1 in MMA. Old school MMA personified; Mirko Cro Cop, aged 40 now and still banging.
The Honor List
Guys like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Wanderlei Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko and so many more retired with illustrious careers behind them, and also helped pave the way for a new generation of athletes. Without the blood that these men spilt for next to nothing in the early days of MMA, the sport wouldn’t be anywhere near as popular as it has become now.
With the last of the MMA old school stars beginning to fade away and burn out, appreciate them while you can, and look forward to the next generation of legends.
