Reading Time: 10 minutes

What is a mythical UFC fighter?

A mythical UFC fighter is a fighter who goes through a pivotal change in their career to become hard to beat, just like the final boss in a video game.

Cody Garbrandt achieved mythical status in his title fight against Dominick Cruz. He had a flawless performance that day and has failed to reach that level since then.

Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka are also mythical fighters by nature because anything they do feels like characters in a video game. They just have that quirkiness and public appeal that you can’t teach.

For this list, I have compiled 15 of the ultimate mythical UFC fighters to represent humanity in the Earthrealm and the Outworld. These are the best of the best when it comes to mythical status.

15. Hot Balls Derrick Lewis

Derrick Lewis celebrating after a UFC victory

Derrick Lewis used to be a yo-yo journeyman-type fighter. No one really cared about his fights or his personality. 

But one day, the gods put hot iron on his balls and conferred a mythical aura on him.

This man actually defeated Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov, and Francis Ngannou. Yes, you read that right. He defeated Francis Ngannou, even though not a lot of fighting happened that day.

Whatever the Black Beast lacked in skill, he made up for it in sheer brute power and charisma on the mic. And how about that time he called out Ronda Rousey during his post-fight interview? 

14. Blonde Derek Brunson

Blonde Derek Brunson posing ahead of a PFL event

Derek Brunson always had an unorthodox fighting style that reminded you of a Looney Tunes character. He always looked like he was out on his feet before stumbling his way into winning positions.

But everything changed when he decided to change the color of his hair. 

During that stretch when Brunson dyed his hair blonde, he unlocked some mythical powers never seen before—and went on a tear in his division.

That blonde dye killed off the clumsy Derek Brunson we never took seriously and gave us a fan favorite. 

13. No Brawl Gaethje / Gaethje with Head Movement

Justin Gaethje celebrating a UFC win

Justin Gaethje used to brawl like Michael Chandler. No head movement, no wrestling. Just stand and bang. He was the perfect embodiment of the “Just Bleed” crowd-pleaser.

But once Gaethje started working with Trevor Wittman, he put his brawling days behind him and went on a run to win UFC gold with calculated violence.

Who knew that all you needed to win a title in the UFC was a little bit of head movement?

And of course, the one time he decided to go back to “brawling Gaethje”, he got flatlined by Max Holloway at UFC 300. At least, he gave us an all-time moment, but at what cost?

12. No-Quit Charles Oliveira

Blond Charles Oliveira celebrating after a victory in the UFC

Back in the day, Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira had a reputation for being a quitter. Put enough pressure on him and he’d stop trying in the octagon. Even the commentators used to make fun of him.

To be fair, one of those incidents was due to a freak shoulder injury. He then went on a losing streak and was on the verge of losing his spot on the UFC roster. 

That’s when he had his come-to-Jesus moment. When Do Bronx sorted his mentality and stopped quitting on himself, he started a generational run that propelled him to the title. 

Now the champ has a name, and his name is Charles Oliveira.

11. TRT Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort weighs in for a fight

Vitor Belfort was one of the fighters who used TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) to cheat in MMA. That pre-USADA era of the UFC was something out of this world.

Standing in front of TRT Vitor Belfort during his epic run used to be one of the scariest sights for any fighter in his division. 

This dude was jacked and ripped like a cartoon character—and we all knew he was definitely on some gear. You don’t get that jacked from just hitting the gym.

During his TRT era, Vitor knocked out Luke Rockhold, Dan Henderson, and Michael Bisping. That’s a stacked middleweight resume.

Once Vitor Belfort got popped for PEDs, he lost his mythical aura and started losing a bunch of high–profile fights before finally leaving the UFC.

10. UberReem (Allistair Overeem)

Allistair Overeem weighs in as Joe Rogan watches on

Horse meat Allistair Overeem was a scary dude to face in the UFC octagon and Strikeforce. This dude used to throw haymakers all over the cage. 

His mythical era started when he discovered his love for horse meat—we all know that was no horse meat. 

Once the juice kicked in, Overeem transformed from a normal heavyweight to a supersized cartoon villain. 

Allistair Overeem flexing his muscles before and after USADA

This man was smashing heads and taking names like Hulk. He had an epic run in Strikeforce and Pride FC before destroying a few legends like Sergei Kharitonov and Vitor Belfort. 

Man, thank God for USADA.

9. One-Eyed Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping smiling in UFC octagon

Guess what? Michael Bisping’s eye issues started when he took a clean headkick from TRT Vitor Belfort, whose blood sample was so hot, it could melt the iceberg that struck the Titanic.

And how about Michael Bisping, did you know that this madlad won the UFC belt with one eye? 

How the heck did he even pass the pre-fight tests by the commission?

Don’t even ask me how, but what I know is that one-eyed Bisping managed to knock out Luke Rockhold on short notice to become a champion. 

Conceive, believe, achieve, innit? 

8. Sea-Level Cain Velazquez

Cain Velazquez celebrating after knocking out Junior Dos Santos

Cain Velazquez at sea level was a force to be reckoned with in the heavyweight division. He is definitely up there with Fedor Emelianenko.

Unfortunately, Cain’s biggest kryptonite was any kind of altitude or elevation. He was the king of his division with a 4-fight win streak until he ran into Fabricio Werdum at 7000 meters above sea level.

Let’s just say, Cain Velazquez was out of his depth.

During his fight with Fabricio Werdum, Cain lost the first battle against Mexico City’s elevation by arriving late to training camp for UFC 188. This ultimately cost him his belt and ended his reign as UFC champion.

I’ll go ahead and say it right now: Sea Level Cain in his prime would have defeated any version of Francis Ngannou.

7. Undefeated, Undisputed Chael Sonnen

Chael Sonnen flexing during UFC weigh-ins

Forget what your eyes are telling you: Chael Sonnen is still the undefeated, undisputed light heavyweight champion. Even when he got caught in that armbar, he only tapped because he thought the round was over.

But seriously, Chael Sonnen was an entertaining version of Colby Covington and Sean Strickland. He talked the talk, walked the walk, and won a lot of fans on the way. 

How about this for badass? Chael went after all the Brazilian legends who were around during his era. 

He had beef with Wanderlei Silva, Tito Ortiz, the Nogueira Brothers, and Anderson Silva. There is a reason the whole of Brazil wanted his head on a spike at some point.

And no matter what you try to do, undefeated Chael Sonnen will not let you get close.

6. Nosejob Dricus Du Plessis

Dricus Du Plessis before his UFC fights.

The closest thing to DDP before his nose job was Derek Brunson. Their fight at UFC 285 was a unicorn event that ended in a DDP victory. 

Before the nose surgery, Dricus Du Plessis used to flail and stumble and run out of breath in the later rounds of his fights. Later on, Joe Rogan spilled the tea that this mad South African has been fighting with a deviated septum.

After that nose job, Du Plessis gained the superior cardio infinity stones and has even managed to capture the belt in his division.

Since then, Dricus Du Plessis has defeated Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland (twice). He is now the 4th African King of the UFC.

5. Bald Alex Volkanovski

Alex Volkanovski in the UFC Octagon

Believe it or not, Alexander Volkanovski used to have a good head of hair. And yes, he also used to play rugby before he became a mixed martial artist.

His record as a man with hair was okay, but once he decided to go completely bald, there was no looking back. 

I am absolutely convinced that Volkanovski with hair wouldn’t have survived the deepest guillotine in UFC history against Brian Ortega. But I guess that’s one of the greatest what-ifs in sports history.

Alex Volkanovski survives the Guillotine choke against Brian Ortega

I refuse to talk about those Islam and Topuria fights. They never happened as far as I’m concerned.

4. Patient Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou poses before a PFL fight

Just like Gaethje with no head movement, Francis Ngannou used to rush into fights like he had somewhere to be in 15 minutes. 

BIM BAM BOOP! and the fight was over. 

But after getting his spanked by Stipe Miocic and crapping the bed against Derrick Lewis, Francis Ngannou changed his whole fighting style.

When the “patience” upgrade came, we got Patient Ngannou, who went on to defeat Stipe and become a world champion and the third African King in the UFC.

Since then, the UFC has tried to erase his legacy. But the fans have embraced Ngannou as the people’s champ even during his time boxing in Saudi Arabia.

Read More: How did the Saudis take over sports?

3. Picogram Jon Jones

Jon Jones wins heavyweight title

Before he started ducking Ngannou and Apsinall, Jones was close to Fedor in terms of legendary status. Casual UFC fans even ranked him ahead of The Emperor. 

But with recent events and constant ducking, fans are slowly turning on Jon Jones and looking at his resume with a side eye.

Make no mistakes. Jon Jones is as legit as they come as a mixed martial artist. He has dominated the light heavyweight division since he was 21. The only time he wasn’t champion was when he was in court or UFC jail for pissing hot.

Despite becoming the UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones’ legacy will always have an asterisk for many reasons. But once that Picogram was involved, Jon Jones was unbeatable. 

2. Motivated Conor McGregor

Motivated Conor McGregor in the UFC Octagon

Say what you want about Conor McGregor, but he is responsible for the UFC’s popularity this decade. I can go ahead and say it. He is the most popular UFC fighter of all time. 

But before all the coke rants and assault cases, Conor McGregor used to be Mystic Mac. He said what he was going to do and delivered it with absolute fanfare.

Motivated McGregor knocked out Aldo in 13 seconds and destroyed Eddie Alvarez to become a double-champ. Man, you had to be there to see the Fighting Irish embrace their superstar.

Motivated Conor McGregor knocks out Jose Aldo

Once he touched those boxing millions after fighting Floyd Mayweather, the Motivated McGregor was gone forever.

1. Khabib with Location

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib is the only UFC champion to retire with a flawless record. That makes sense considering the first English word he ever learned was “SMESH!”.

Whatever you do, don’t send Khabib your location. If you’re brave enough to do that, get ready for a mob of Dagestanis pulling up and slapping you across the face. 

Artem Lobov and Conor McGregor learned this lesson the hard way. Their tiny beef somehow managed to spiral into the greatest fight in the history of the UFC.

As the only undefeated fighter (29-0) in the UFC, all the people who answered the location call from Khabib have been sent to the shadow realm.

For me, Khabib’s greatest gift to humanity was choking out Conor McGregor, then jumping out of the cage to go after Dillon Dannis.

Which mythical UFC fighter do you like the most? Let me know in the comments. 

Who wrote this?

Sports Writer | hello@gymclassrejects.com | Website

Ugochukwu is a sports enthusiast with an undying love for underdog stories.

    This author does not have any more posts.
Previous Post
Next article
Ugo
Ugochukwu is a sports enthusiast with an undying love for underdog stories.

You may also like

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in MMA