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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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(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images) /

1. Frank Shamrock

Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock were among the first stars of mixed martial arts, but they were not the first mixed martial artists. Both men relied on their own version of grappling, yet Ken’s adopted-younger brother Frank Shamrock was a true innovator. He began taking a different approach to training that no one else had really thought of doing before.

Frank, unlike so many others in his era, didn’t just focus on his strength; grappling. Instead, he trained and expanded his skill set to include a more-well rounded striking game. Working under MMA fighter and kick-boxing standout, Maurice Smith, Frank became arguably the most well-rounded fighter in the game at the time.

That shows in his fights, too. When he took on and lost to John Lober at SuperBrawl 3 in 1997, Shamrock was just 11-7-1. While he wasn’t losing to slouches, he was still losing. Then he went to Japanese fighting promotion RINGS, where he would start a 10-fight unbeaten streak where he’d defeat guys like Jeremy Horn, Tito Ortiz, and Enson Inoue. The Ortiz fight was most notable, as that was the fight where Shamrock won the inaugural light heavyweight championship (then recognized as the middleweight championship).

Just in the 90s alone, Shamrock would win the UFC middleweight/light heavyweight championship and the King of Pancrase title. During his time in Pancrase, he also defeated names like Masakatsu Funaki, Vernon White, Minoru Suzuki, and Bas Rutten. The victory over Rutten was especially impressive, as that was Shamrock’s first pro-MMA fight. His record early in his career may be suspect, but unlike so many others on this list, Shamrock didn’t duck big names.

His time in Pancrase and the UFC had arguably the most memorable moments in the sport at the time (see his third fight with Rutten), not to mention he also helped popularize modern-day MMA training techniques.

For the victories, titles, moments, and influence on the future of the sport, you can’t argue that Shamrock was the best and most important fighter of the 90s.

Next. 10 great MMA fighters who have never won a UFC title … yet. dark