Who had hardest and most successful start to their MMA career?

Guile said:
Some guys get thrown to the wolves right away and not many have success but some do. What are some examples of fighters who had a tough lineup of opponents at the start of their MMA career? (8 fights or less)

Mark Hunt: started his career 5-1 with wins over Wanderlei, Cro Cop and Kohsaka

Joe Warren: started his career 7-1 with wins over Beebe, Kid Yamamoto, Karakhanyan, Patricio Freire, Soto and Marcos Galvao.

Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal: started his career 7-0 with wins over Travis Wiuff, Mark Kerr and Gegard Mousasi.

Brock Lesnar: started his career 5-1 with wins over Herring, Mir, Couture and Carwin.

Ronda Rousey: started her career 8-0 with wins over Julia Budd, Tate x2, Kaufman and Carmouche.
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King Mo may have a W on his record against Mousasi but he got his ass kicked.

Judges gave him that fight simply for TDs and being on top, Mousasi literally landed 3x as many strikes and Mo's entire face was a swollen bloody mess.

Mo was given the decision, he got whooped in that fight.
 
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There's only 1 fighter in history to defeat a top 5 ranked fighter in their MMA debut.
Fujita%20Vs%20CroCop%20Scan.jpg
 
welcometohavoc said:
The only people who think GSP isn't GOAT are PED lovers and delusional retards who think Fedor is GOAT.

There's a reason the vast majority of MMA journalists, ranking sites, fans, and fighters consider GSP GOAT
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Maybe gsp was on peds too? Why did he quit after hendricks destroyed his face? I am not denying that gsp is a great fighter but i dont think he is clean either tbh.
 
punky brewster said:
Gotta agree about Pawel....

Can you imagine your first MMA fight ever being against Big Nog? (who had a 25-3-1 record at the time).
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followed by Aleks, then Drago (who was 8-0 i think at the time) then Barnett, that's just a murderers row for a newbie.
 
Guile said:
were talking first 8 fights
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OK my bad, but Machida's first 8 is still very impressive:
  1. Kengo - can
  2. Bonnar - solid prospect
  3. Franklin - future UFC champ, 14-0
  4. McDonald - HW K-1 champ
  5. Greco - SWH WAKO/WKO champ
  6. BJ Penn - already UFC WW champ at the time
  7. Wanderley - can
  8. White - solid veteran
That's 2 cans, 2 solid fighters, 2 HW kickboxing champs, 2 UFC champs.
 
Brock lesnar, even though he was roided up, still a tough walk !
 
Guile said:
Some guys get thrown to the wolves right away and not many have success but some do. What are some examples of fighters who had a tough lineup of opponents at the start of their MMA career? (8 fights or less)

Mark Hunt: started his career 5-1 with wins over Wanderlei, Cro Cop and Kohsaka

Joe Warren: started his career 7-1 with wins over Beebe, Kid Yamamoto, Karakhanyan, Patricio Freire, Soto and Marcos Galvao.

Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal: started his career 7-0 with wins over Travis Wiuff, Mark Kerr and Gegard Mousasi.

Brock Lesnar: started his career 5-1 with wins over Herring, Mir, Couture and Carwin.

Ronda Rousey: started her career 8-0 with wins over Julia Budd, Tate x2, Kaufman and Carmouche.
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Ronda fought cans.

JDS has the hardest and most successful start of anybody. Werdum was the no1 contender and got murdered by JDS on his debut. Then JDS took out everybody before winning the belt from Cain.
 
A.S. Deep said:
Lesnar became HW champ with 2 defenses (tied the record until Stipe)
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Fought a former World champ in his second fight, became champ in his 4th and avenged his first career loss in a unification bout in his 5th. Add in Carwin, Cain, Overeem and Hunt .. Hard to argue against Lesnar, especially since he was removed from combat sports for nearly 8 years when he went into MMA.
 
JoeRoganade said:
Yeah and they're now retired now or out of top 5 for a reason. They were cans. Also she never once beat a fought a striker until finally getting exposed. Rousey was a one dimensional overhyped overrated can fed fraud.
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Zigano has wins over two UFC champs and was pretty much praised for her striking until she fought Ronda. Kaufman is currently 4th in her weight class with wins over multiple women that Ronda fought.
Budd is the bellator 135 champ, 11-2 losing to only Nunes and Rousey, 2nd and 4th pro fights btw.
McMann has three of her four losses to 135 champs and Ketlen Vieira, who's currently undefeated. Might not be world beaters, but far from cans
 
Hotora86 said:
You mention Soko but not Machida himself?

Machida went 15-0 up to the UFC belt vs MMA and K-1 greats, experienced veterans, undefeated prospects, future/ex-champions and hype trains!
  • Bonnar: future TUF finalist.
  • Franklin: future UFC champ, 14-0 at the time.
  • McDonald: HW kickboxer, 3-time K-1 Grand Prix Champ.
  • Greco: SuperHW K-1 kickboxer, WAKO and WKO champ.
  • BJ fucking Penn: future UFC champ in 2 weight classes!
  • Vernon White: experienced MMA veteran.
  • Heath: undefeated 9-0 at the time.
  • Sokoudjou: just KOd Lill'Nog and Arona, super hyped.
  • Tito Ortiz: ex UFC champ, experienced veteran.
  • Thiago Silva: undefeated 13-0 with 12 brutal finishes!
  • Evans: undefeated 13-0 champ.
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Naturally you bring up Machida
 
Came here to make sure Brock was given his due.

Nicely done!

And some very impressive lists all around.
 
BJ Penn fought Din Thomas in his 2nd Pro Fight, who was 12-1 at the time with his only loss against Caol Uno. Then he fought Uno in his 3rd fight, who was ranked 3rd in the world. Then he fought Pulver in his 4th Pro MMA fight who was the UFC Champ and ranked #2 in the world.

If that's not getting thrown to the wolves, I don't know what is...
 
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