10 of the Best Fighters From the Dark Age



It is hard to imagine a world where MMA was frowned upon and barred from the main stream. Unless you where a fan of the UFC from the early to mid 90's; if you where than you remember how the sport was virtually shut out of the United States from 1998 to 2000. It sucked, the UFC went from being a huge cash maker for SEG to being a financial failure that wasn't worth the hassle. By the time politicians where through bashing the sport SEG couldn't even get their product on PPV air waves (which is incredible considering SEG WAS A PPV BROADCASTING COMPANY!!!) To make matters worse major market cities (and their constituents) barred the promotion from putting on show's in their cities.
All of these accumulating factor's led to low pay (fighters like Jens Pulver and Matt Hughes made $1,000), small shows (1,100 fans sometime) and a somewhat (ok a very) forgotten product.

This era in mma history has come to be known as the Dark Age. No one can put an exact finger on the moment the Dark Age began or ended, but everyone can agree that UFC 23 through 29 was the darkest period during the dark age. Those UFC events weren't even sold on VHS by SEG at the time (I dont believe Zuffa sells them either). Everyone can also agree that the problems started before UFC 23 and lasted longer than UFC 29; Dana White had some PPV events fail to even have 40,000 buys. I personally think it started after the Ultimate Ultimate 1996 and didnt really end until Randy Couture, TIto Ortiz and Chuck Liddell became stars. But, since some (or many) would disagree with that claim, I am sayin for my criteria that the Dark Age was 1998 through 2000. So here it is, 10 of the best fighters (too hard to nail down the top 10) from the Dark Age.

10. Jose Landi-Pele - Pele was on top of his game during this period. He fought to a 30 minute decision loss to a much bigger Chuck Liddell and defeated Pat Miletich and Matt Hughes. Was one of the best if not the best 170 pounder in the world during this time period. He is know known for being Anderson Silva's friend, but at one time he was one of the best.

9. Kevin Randleman - ya it's true; at one time the 17-14 fighter was one of the best and scariest fighter's (not just heavyweights) in the world. Had a controversial loss to Bas Rutten, wins over Pete Williams and Pedro Rizzo followed by a loss to Couture. Nothing wrong with that at all.

8. Murillo Bustamante - I have a hard time ranking him because he was basically inactive from this time period, but he had wins in 1997 and then won the UFC title in 2000, he was definitely on of if not the best example of a great fighter's prime being wasted because of the Dark Age. He simply would not fight if the money wasn't right and at the time the money in the sport wasn't right.

7. Jens Pulver - Easily the top lightweight during this time, beat Caol Uno, BJ Penn and every other fighter that he faced in the UFC. Simply put, his hands where too much for the caliber of fighters in the UFC's Lightweight Division at the time. Wins over Uno and Penn are extremely impressive.

6. Igor Vovchanchyn - Igor was butchering everybody during this time and it's too bad because nobody really got to see it. Only loss during this time was his loss to Mark Coleman in the Pride Grand Prix Finals. 17-1 1 NC from 1998 to 2000, beating the likes of Mark Kerr, Enson Inoue, Kazushi Sakuraba and Gary Goodridge. His prime literally ended after this run when Tra Telligman dominated him. Igor never returned to his top form IMO.

5. Rickson Gracie - Another guy that is hard to rank because he was fighting Takada for the most part during this time period. But Rickson was undefeated and remained undefeated during this time period and he was a threat to anyone in his division at the time.

4. Tito Ortiz - His only loss in this era was to Frank Shamrock, after Frank left the UFC Tito grabbed the now Light Heavyweight Belt and held onto it for three and a half years. Wins over Wandy, Kondo and the Janitor during this time period.

3. Randy Couture - before Randy was a star he was still one of the best fighters out there. He won his title back from Kevin Randleman during this time. Had 2 losses though but got back on track in 2000 beating Jeremy Horn, Ryushi Yanisagiwa and Kevin Randleman.

2. Bas Rutten - Ok he was 3-0 from 1998 to 2000 but damn it he was 10-0-1 from 1995 to 1996 (beat Mezger and Frank). Won UFC's Heavyweight Title, planned to face Frank Shamrock then literally seemed to blow his body up in training injuring damn near everything.

1. Frank Shamrock - You had to see this coming, and for good reason, Frank is commonly referred to as the best fighter from the Dark Age. 5-0-1 during this time beating undefeated Igor Zinoviev, Jeremy Horn, John Lober, Tito Ortiz and Elvi Zinosic. Also was undefeated in 1997, simply put he was the best fighter and most entertaining fight inthe UFC. He was also the most complete fighter in MMA.

Honorable Mention : Chuck Liddell, Pete Williams, Pat Miletich, Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo.