Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Light Heavyweights

9. Tito Ortiz

During his 2000-2001 peak as Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder, Ortiz was undisputedly the world’s best light heavyweight and the face of the sport. By 2002, he was the subject of furious debate about whether Pride Fighting Championships’ Wanderlei Silva, whom Ortiz had beaten by decision when Silva was only 23, would win a rematch, and whether it would depend on their promotions’ very different rules. Alas, beginning with his shocking one-sided loss to a supposedly washed up Randy Couture in 2003, Ortiz's career would go steadily downhill. Looking back at his time at the top, many of his victories aged poorly. After being stopped in Round 4 by a much smaller Frank Shamrock—who narrowly missed making this list—Ortiz won the vacant belt against Silva and defended against Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock, winning in dominant fashion each time. However, Sinosic was probably the weakest title challenger in UFC history, with a 1-6 record in the UFC and 7-12-2 losing record in MMA overall, Kondo was at least 20 pounds smaller than Ortiz, and Ken Shamrock never beat a single remotely decent opponent after his return to MMA from pro wrestling in 2000. That leaves just his superb slam knockout of Tanner and a decision over a skilled but limited Matyushenko; both good wins but nothing amazing.

After the loss to Couture, Ortiz would be knocked out twice by former friend Chuck Liddell, draw and then get knocked out by Rashad Evans, by utterly embarrassed by Lyoto Machida, destroyed by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and lost a trilogy to Forrest Griffin of all people. It wasn't all horrible though, as Ortiz won a close decision against Vitor Belfort and even pulled off a guillotine choke against a young Ryan Bader, his sole win between seven losses to close his UFC run. Still, Ortiz deserves credit for being at the top of the mountain for a few years, even if the competition was much weaker, which showed in his performances once the division’s overall skill level improved.

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