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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10. Pat Miletich

While personally, Pat Miletich may not be everyone’s cup of tea, he was arguably the first truly dominant fighter in MMA history. From his start in 1995 to 1999, Miletich fought 25 times, losing just once. During that time he would win the UFC welterweight championship. He won the inaugural title at UFC Brazil, defeating Mikey Burnett in the semi-main event.

Miletich would defend the belt four times against a mix of talent, before finally falling against Carlos Newton. While he defended the belt four times, he lost three non-title fights outside of the UFC during that same time. This is when many claimed that he declined as a fighter and considering he was onto his 34th career fight heading into the Newton bout, that isn’t surprising.

Fighters only have so many fights in them and by the time Miletich lost to Newton, he had been through many violent encounters. After the end of the 90s, Miletich went 4-5 over his last nine, including the loss to Newton, and would fight sparingly over the next decade.

While Miletich had a great record, he did beat up a lot of sub-optimal names. This has been a fact that has not aged well in recent years. It’s forgivable considering the era he was in, there wasn’t a lot of talent, as evidence that one of the UFC’s biggest stars at the time was Tank Abbott. That doesn’t change things, historically speaking.

Miletich never defeated another major name, with his biggest wins coming against Shonie Carter, Chris Brennan, and Burnett. He fought to a draw against Dan Severn, his best showing against a top guy and as mentioned before, lost to Newton. He really just makes the list for two reasons; his overall record and his history-defining title win as the inaugural welterweight championship.