5 Glorious Fighters

Royce Gracie

Royce Gracie won several of the first UFC events. He was a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, whose family had their own style called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. His representation was professional, which helped convince the masses that this was not some type of unorganized free-for-all. His loss to 170 lb. Welterweight Champ Matt Hughes at UFC 60, 13 years after winning UFC 1, was a turning point for the sport. The man who defeated him had over 200 wrestling victories, and was a part of an era where gi garments and sneakers were no longer allowed. The tournament bracket had been dropped, and competitors were at that point typically well-versed in multiple MMA techniques.

Ronda Rousey

Now an American professional wrestler, Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey was a former judoka martial artist who competed in the Olympics, earning the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships. She also was the first American to win an Olympic medal (bronze) in women's judo. The most important thing about Ronda Rousey's career in MMA is that once upon a time, UFC promoter Dana White said that women would never fight in the UFC. Enter Rousey, who compiled a 6-0 record early on in her career that consisted of 6 armbar submissions, 5 of which ended in less than a minute. An armbar is a hyper extension of the elbow joint that applies painful pressure and (usually) leads to a submission.

After the UFC acquired Strikeforce, the promotion which Ronda at the time dominated in, the first ever women's divison was created in the UFC, where Ronda fought a decorated marine for the title. Again she won by armbar, and became a global sensation. She has starred in movies such as Fast and the Furious 7 and The Expendables 3, symbolic of how popular mixed martial arts has become in the mainstream. She finished her career at 12-2, but not before adding six more finishes to her record, 3 of which were knockouts, including two which happened in less than 30 seconds combined. Ronda literally made good pay in this sport possible for women, and it is significant that she was finished in her last two fights by two of the now most dominant women in all of martial arts.

Henry Cejudo

Henry is a former freestyle wrestler. He is an Olympic gold medalist, which signifies that we are now in an era where the best athletes in the world compete in the UFC and other MMA organizations. Although 15-2, Henry at one point lost two fights in a row. One of which was to then reigning Flyweight 125 lb. Champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson. The important thing here was that UFC fighters could easily dispatch Olympic gold medalists. It spoke to the importance of understanding the rules of the sport, and more importantly, the need for having a multi-talented toolkit.

After taking nearly a year off to tone up his game and increase his striking, Cejudo defeated a veteran of the sport with punches in under 30 seconds. He went on to rematch "Mighty Mouse", this time coming back to win via Unanimous Decision. This was an important change in the UFC, because Johnson hadn't lost in 13 fights, and people were afraid that his dominance would actually close out the division, due to its "limited" talent pool. Not only did Cejudo keep the divison alive for other men in his weightclass, he also welcomed the champion from the next highest weight class and defeated him in thirty seconds by knockout. People became a fan of Cejudo more so because his opponent tested positive for EPO, a performance enhancing drug (PED), and was subsequenltly stripped of his 135 lb. belt. Just last month, Cejudo moved up a weight class and nearly got put away in the first round. His comeback was incredible, and in the third round he finished his opponent, becoming only the 4th ever UFC figher to have two weight class titles at the same time.

Khabib Nurmagamedov

Khabib is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He is a 2-time Combat Sambo World Champion and is undefeated at 27-0, with the longest undefeated streak ever. He is also the first Sunni Muslim to win a UFC title, and helped generate the most pay-per-view buys ever in the history of the sport. One of the craziest things about Khabib is that his childhood training included wrestling a bear. He once fought 7 times in a year, winning them all by finish, which is rather unheard of in the sport. After defeating Conor McGregor for the 155 lb. Lightweight Championship and biggest fight of his career, Khabib jumped off the top of the cage and flew and attacked one of his trainers, who had said many offensive things about his family. While this act is frowned upon and highly unprofessional, it is also significant for the sport. The reason being that there are many parts of this world that do not have freedom of speech. People who are blatantly offensive in parts of even highly developed nations risk losing their life. In recent years, the UFC has become somewhat of a spectacle with a lot of its WWE-style trash-talking antics, and fighters like Khabib and Jorge Masvidal remind us that things you say sometimes can get you hurt outside of the octagon as well. This aspect says something about human nature and the importance of respect, more than anything, but it's a very important lesson. To learn more about Khabib, I highly recommend watching this documentary on him.

Amanda Nunes

Amanda Nunes is the first woman in UFC history to become a two-divison champion. She dominates the 135 lb. and 145 lb. weight classes, and is widely regarded as the greatest female fighter of all time. She trained karate as a child in Brazil, followed by learning boxing in her teens, then competing in BJJ. One interesting thing about Amanda is that she started her career with a 35-second submission loss. She then went on to win six straight, including 2 knockouts in less than 15-seconds! After trading wins and losses for a few years, she found her ground and changed gyms from New Jersey to Miami, Florida. Amanda has knocked out or submitted nearly every dominant fighter in her weight classes, including Cris Cyborg, who many thought was unbeatable. Her only potential rival is a woman she has already defeated twice, Valentina Shevchenko. Amanda's abilities and star power now make for women headlining major fight cards, which is something that the division struggled with several years ago. Now that Ronda has left the sport and many more women have risen to levels above that which even she had held, the sport is open to all. I can't wait for her next fight!

Conclusion

Mixed Martial Arts is one of the most popular sports in the world today because of the UFC. It is probably second behind boxing in being the most lucrative for its competitors. Thanks to Royce Gracie and BJJ, smaller people can train self-defense and learn to defend themselves from big people on the street, even people with weapons. Thanks to Ronda Rousey, women can fight on the sport's biggest platform, which is especially remarkable when you consider that gender pay in MMA is now equal, unlike in U.S. Soccer, despite women having now won 4 World Cups to the men's 0. Thanks to the UFC, Khabib has been able to put Dagestan on the map, and show how amazingly powerful and unique his people are. $100,000 goes a long way in Khabib's village, and now he is a millionaire who will be able to live a good life and help out many people in his nation. Henry Cejudo is one of the reasons why the flyweight class still exists, and he is a product of what the child of two undocumented immigrants can become. He is also helping the sport get one step closer to being a recognized Olympic competition, but that is a way's off. Lastly, Amanda Nunes has made women's martial arts more popular than ever. She has destroyed every killer ever to compete in two weight classes, including Ronda Rousey, as well as the first woman to beat Ronda, Holly Holm. I also think that being gay, Amanda Nunes has helped to break down walls in society, even without trying to. A lot of society hasn't caught up in respecting sexual orientation, and Amanda Nunes does what people love most in the sport: she wins viciously, and graciously. By the time people figure out such an aspect of a person's life, they are much more likely now to understand that it doesn't make a difference in a person. Being a two-division champion and openly gay is a testament to how far this world has come, because there are still people who are afraid to live their preferred life openly, unfortunately in some areas out of safety for their life. But her power gives strength to others and changes the way people think about such things. Just as Khabib has placed a spotlight on Islam by competing around Ramedan and exemplifying a discpline and drive that few other fighters seem to possess, audiences around the world are able to see that a fighter is a fighter is a fighter, and it doesn't matter where you come from. If you love the sport, you love everybody who competes in the sport. And isn't that glorious!

Many of the fighters discussed are active on social media, and have really entertaining videos that don't take long to watch. Check out some of their most popular videos on the next page!.