Fansided MMA
FanSided

The 10 best MMA fighters from the 1990s

By Chad Porto

LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 06: Actor Bas Rutten arrives at the premiere of "The Zookeeper" at the Regency Village Theatre on July 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JULY 06: Actor Bas Rutten arrives at the premiere of "The Zookeeper" at the Regency Village Theatre on July 6, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Markus Boesch
Mandatory Credit: Markus Boesch /

2. Royce Gracie

Royce Gracie was always going to be on this list, just where was the question. His story is well known; his family was major backers of the UFC in its infancy and he was hand-selected by the Gracie family to compete in the competition. The entire first tournament was nothing more than a way for the Gracies to sell their brand of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the masses, and it worked. Seeing the average-sized Royce go out there and beat up some of the combat sports world’s most impressive athletes in other disciplines was all the world needed to believe in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.

During the 90s, Gracie would go undefeated with a record of 11-0-1, with his lone non-win being a rematch with Ken Shamrock.

Arguably his best wins were against Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Kimo Leopoldo. A lot of Gracie’s early wins were against guys who weren’t as talented as the rest of the field or had no business being in the same ring as him, like 51-year-old karate world champion Ron van Clief.

Gracie won three of the first four UFC tournaments to ever exist and could’ve gone four for four had he not spent his gas tank against Kimo Leopoldo in the UFC 3 tournament opening round bout.

While the book on beating Gracie would come out in 2000, that won’t affect his standing at all. He was hugely influential in his career, which is why he’s No. 2, but outside of three or four fights, Gracie never fought anyone on his level or even close to it. Beating up soup cans is frowned upon here.