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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(Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
(Photo by Etsuo Hara/Getty Images) /

6. Masakatsu Funaki

When talking about the sport of MMA in Japan, as well as the creation of Pancrase, you can’t forget about Suzuki’s partner and Pancrase’s other co-founder, Masakatsu Funaki. Funaki, like Suzuki, created and competed in Pancrase, and like his partner, found a lot of success battling it out with the Shamrock brothers, Guy Mezger, Semmy Schilt, Vernon White, Bas Rutten, and even Suzuki himself.

Like Suzuki, Funaki won the King of Pancrase title but unlike Suzuki, Funaki also got the win in the duo’s lone fight. Funaki defeated his partner Suzuki at Road to the Championship 5 on October 15, 1994. The fight didn’t make it past the second minute, with Funaki submitting Suzuki with a rare-naked choke to get the finish in the first round.

Funaki and Suzuki are interwoven into the fabric of MMA history and each man helped make it possible for J-MMA (Japanese MMA) to survive and thrive into the early 2000s, where PRIDE FC became the toast of not just Japanese MMA but all of MMA worldwide.

Unlike PRIDE, Pancrase is still in operation today, though they’re not turning out top talent like they did years ago. Neither man is involved in the promotion any longer but their creation and involvement remain today one of the best things to come out of 90s MMA.