The 10 Best MMA fighters from the 2000s

8. Rich Franklin

Rich Franklin changed the fight game inside and outside of the octagon and helped grow the UFC at a time in which many around the world criticized MMA for its sheer brutality.

Franklin started his UFC tenure with a perfect 5-0 record; with impressive wins over names such as Ken Shamrock and Jorge Rivera. He would then win the UFC middleweight title over Evan Tanner at UFC 53, before defending it twice over Nate Quarry and David Loiseau.

In his win over Loiseau, he set the record for the most significant strikes in a middleweight championship bout with 127. At one point in his professional MMA career, he won 14 straight fights by stoppage in one of the most dominant runs in the 2000s.

Franklin would then lose the middleweight title to Anderson Silva at UFC 64, before earning back-to-back wins over Yushin Okami and Jason MacDonald in a pair of title eliminators. He would fail to earn a second reign as the UFC middleweight champion but did earn impressive wins over Wanderlei Silva and Travis Lutter in the promotion during the latter part of his career.

In an eventual move to light heavyweight, he would earn a vicious knockout over Chuck Liddell at UFC 115, which put him back into the title conversation at 205 pounds.

In the mid-2000s, when the mainstream media was still a bit uneasy about covering MMA and more specifically the UFC, Franklin paired up with UFC president Dana White in a series of television appearances to promote the sport and squash the pre-conceived notions of it. This came during a time in which many U.S. politicians referred to MMA as ‘human cockfighting’ and was only sanctioned in a few states.

Franklin’s impact goes beyond his dominance inside the octagon, and he’ll be forever remembered as one of the main ambassadors of the sport during his time in the promotion.