The 10 Best MMA fighters from the 2000s

5. Matt Hughes

Matt Hughes may not be the greatest welterweight on this list, but he surely belongs as one of the most dominant forces of the 2000s in MMA.

Hughes was one of the first true wrestling specialists to successfully make the transition to MMA, especially in the smaller weight classes. He would win the welterweight title against Carlos Newton with a vicious knockout slam at UFC 34 before defending it five straight times against the likes of Frank Trigg and Hayato Sakurai, at a time when both were seen as top talents in the 170-pound division.

Despite eventually losing the title to BJ Penn, he would win the vacant title against Georges St-Pierre at UFC 50. He would ultimately get revenge against Penn in his second title reign, along with earning an impressive catchweight win over Royce Gracie at UFC 60.

In 2010, Hughes was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. While he never got back to the title shot, he would still go on to earn wins over former champion Matt Serra and the legendary Renzo Gracie.

Hughes’ win over Royce at UFC 60 also was at the time the greatest selling UFC pay-per-view in the promotion’s history and helped skyrocket the sport’s popularity as a whole. While he was mostly known for his incredible grappling skillset, Hughes also developed quite the standup game later on in his career.

Hughes retired from the UFC as one of the most decorated champions in MMA history. His seven total successful welterweight title defenses are amongst the highest totals in the history of the UFC. Hughes also holds the record for the most finishes in UFC welterweight history, with 11 stoppage victories.

At one point, many believed that Hughes was the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, and has earned a spot amongst the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the sport’s history.