They Fought In UFC!? List of Fighters Who Fought in UFC That You May Have Forgotten or Didn't Know About

They Fought In UFC!? List of Fighters Who Fought in UFC That You May Have Forgotten or Didn't Know About
July 14, 2018
By Ryan Porzl

When last I left off, I looked at well known fighters who came close to coming to the UFC but never did. Now, I figured a good follow up would be to look at fighters that did make it but people may have forgotten. With this being the 25th Anniversary of the UFC, it's safe to say that UFC has held hundreds of events and thousands of fighters have come through. Many fighters had long careers while others came and went. Some of the fighters who didn't stay long are known but others aren't or have been forgotten. Here is a list of fighters that competed in the UFC that you may have forgotten about.

                             

Enson Inoue
Appeared at: UFC 13 (May 30, 1997)

Inoue is a legend from the early years of MMA during the 1990s and early 2000s mostly for the Shooto promotion where he has become their first and (to date) only Heavyweight Champion as well as Vale Tudo Japan where he holds a win over Randy Couture and PRIDE Fighting Championships. Inoue would fight in the UFC once when he fought at UFC 13 on May 30, 1997 where he participated in the four man lightweight tournament. Inoue defeated Royce Alger by submission and was set to face fellow MMA legend Guy Mezger in the finals but was forced to withdraw due to injury. His UFC appearance was overshadowed due to the man who replaced him, who made his UFC debut that show, and would become one of UFC's biggest names ever: Tito Ortiz.

                                                 

Genki Sudo
Appeared at: UFC 38 (July 13, 2002), UFC 42 (April 25, 2003), & UFC 47 (April 2, 2004)

Sudo is a legend in Japan who competed in Pancrase, Fighting Network RINGS, and later for K-1 HERO'S where he's scored wins over Nate Marquardt, Royler Gracie, Kazuyuki Miyata, & Hiroyuki Takaya while being a runner up in HERO'S 2005 Middleweight (165.3 lbs) Grand Prix. Unlike most of the fighters in this article, Sudo actually made more than one appearance as he fought in UFC post-Pancrase and RINGS but pre-K-1 HERO'S. Sudo's first appearance was at UFC 38 on July 13, 2002 where he defeated Leigh Remedios by submission. He returned in his next fight at UFC 42 on April 25, 2003 where he lost to Duane Ludwig by a close split decision. After taking time away, he fought one more time at UFC 47 on April 2, 2004 where he scored one his biggest wins by defeating future WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown by submission.

Mark Schultz
Appeared at: UFC 9 (May 17, 1996)

Schultz is an interesting case as he wasn't a fighter. Schultz achieved his biggest fame as a legendary amateur wrestler alongside brother Dave with the two winning many honors including gold medals at the 1984 Olympics and being the most decorated brothers in wrestling history achieving many firsts. They also became famous as coaches for John du Pont's "Team Foxcatcher" which later led to tragic results when du Pont murdered Dave in 1996. Schultz would debut in MMA at UFC 9 on May 17, 1996, less than four months after Dave's murder. Debuting as a replacement, he faced UFC 8 Tournament Runner up and legendary gatekeeper Gary Goodridge and won via TKO due to a cut. Schultz would suffer a back injury and largely left MMA only returning seven years later for a Jungle Fight event.

                                   

Andre Pederneiras
Appeared at: UFC 21 (July 16, 1999)

When Andre Pederneiras is brought up, it's usually as a trainer and as someone who led the Nova Uniao gym and it's fighters like Jose Aldo and Renan Barao to greatness. However, what a lot of people don't know is that Pederneiras was a fighter before he became a trainer. Ultimately, Pederneiras' MMA career never panned out or lasted long. After winning his debut fight against future Shooto champion Rumina Sato, Pederneiras made his one and only appearance at UFC 21 on July 16, 1999 when he challenged Pat Miletech for the UFC Welterweight Championship. Of course, Pederneiras came up short as he lost by TKO by doctor's stoppage which marked Miletech's second of four successful title defenses.

                                                        

Kazuo Takahashi
Appeared at: UFC 12 (February 7, 1997)

Takahashi is best known for competing in Pancrase. Though his record leaves a lot to be desired at 30-27-3, 1 No Contest, he does hold wins over Minoru Suzuki and inaugural Pancrase Light Heavyweight Champion Keiichiro Yamamiya, has fought the best in MMA of the 90s & 00s, and is the inaugural Pancrase Heavyweight Champion. Takahashi has also earned respect for his toughness and heart during fights as he would still be determined to win fights despite suffering serious injuries during the bouts. Takahashi appeared at UFC 12 on February 7, 1997 as he entered that night's lightweight tournament. He faced Wallid Ismail in an infamous fight with Takahashi seemingly not understanding the rules while Ismail didn't care about the rules. Takahashi would do enough to score a win by decision to advance to the finals against Lion's Den fighter Jerry Bohlander but was forced out due to breaking his hand and was replaced by alternate Nick Sanzo.

                                          

Ikuhisa Minowa
Appeared at: UFC 25 (April 14, 2000)

Minowa originally gained fame in Pancrase as the winner of the 1999 Pancrase Neo Blood Tournament and runner up in the 2000 Light Heavyweight Championship tournament but became a legend during his time in PRIDE and DREAM as "The Punk" and "Minowaman" where he became a semifinalist in the 2005 PRIDE Welterweight (183 pounds) Grand Prix & the winner of the 2009 DREAM Super Hulk Openweight Tournament along with his freak show fights where he took on opponents 200-300 pounds heavier and even scoring wins over them. Long before he became known for running to the ring wearing a Japanese flag like a superhero cape or dropkicking Butterbean, Minowa entered the world famous Octagon during the UFC's third visit to the land of the rising sun at UFC 25 on April 14, 2000. At the event, Minowa faced IFC 6 Tournament Runner Up & Extreme Challenge veteran Joe Slick and won by TKO due to doctor's stoppage.

Emmanuel Yarborough
Appeared at: UFC 3 (September 9, 1994)

Yarborough is not only one of the most famous but is literally the biggest freak show fighter of all time. Standing 6'8 and weighing 600 pounds, Yarborough has done a lot including training in judo to being an All-American amateur wrestler to a professional wrestler to an amateur sumo champion. In MMA, Yarborough had three fights and two are famous but not in a way he would like to remember as he defeated Tatsuo Nakano in Shooto by literally smothering him with his fat and against famous tomato can Daiju Takase at PRIDE 3 where he tapped due to punches despite having a 400 pound weight advantage. However, PRIDE 3 wouldn't be the only third event of a major promotion that Yarborough fought at. Yarborough fought at UFC 3 on September 9, 1994 by participating in the event's tournament. In the first round, he face Keith Hackney who was making his debut in MMA and who eventually gained his own measure of fame by using groin strikes on Joe Son during their fight at UFC 4. The fight had a memorable moment with Yarborough actually pushing Hackney through the door which called for a time out. After the fight restarted, Yarborough eventually was TKOed less than two minutes into the fight.

Mark Hughes
Appeared at: UFC 28 (November 17, 2000)

Did you know Matt Hughes has a twin brother? If you did, did you know that he too competed in the UFC? Yes, both are true. Like his legendary brother, Mark was a successful amateur wrestler (even defeating Matt in the finals of a tournament) before embarking on an MMA career. Mark went 4-1 mostly fighting for Extreme Challenge before competing in his one and only UFC fight. Mark appeared at UFC 28 on November 17, 2000 where he took on Alex Stiebling and won by unanimous decision. The fight would be Mark's only one in the UFC as he fought two more times before retiring feeling MMA wasn't for him and instead runs a construction company.

Hayato Sakurai
Appeared at: UFC 36 (March 22, 2002)

Sakurai is one of the greatest fighters to come out of Japan. Sakurai originally broke out in the Shooto promotion where he became Shooto Middleweight (168.9 pounds) Champion while later competing in PRIDE & DREAM becoming the 2005 Lightweight Grand Prix Runner Up & a semifinalist in the 2009 DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix. Sakurai appeared at UFC 36 on March 22, 2002 where he was the first challenger for new welterweight champion Matt Hughes. At 19-1-2 (his only loss being to future legend Anderson Silva) and a former Shooto champion, he looked like somebody who could offer the future legend a challenge. Unfortunately for Sakurai, he wasn't able to take the title and while he was game as he took Hughes to the fourth round, he came up short by TKO becoming the first of many to fail to take the championship from the future Hall of Famer.

Kevin Jackson
Appeared at: UFC 14 (July 27, 1997), UFC Ultimate Japan (December 21, 1997), & UFC 16 (March 13, 1998)

Like Mark Schultz, Jackson was a decorated amateur wrestler winning many honors and was an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, winning his medal at the 1992 games. After winning his debut against future UFC Light Heavyweight Title contender John Lober, Jackson debuted in the UFC at UFC 14 on July 27, 1997 where he won the event's middleweight tournament defeating Todd Butler by submission due to strikes and then defeated Tony Fryklund by submission due to choke to become the UFC 14 Middleweight Tournament Winner. His next fight would be his biggest as he took on the debuting former Interim King of Pancrase Frank Shamrock at UFC Ultimate Japan on December 21st for the inaugural UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (then Middleweight Championship) but Jackson came up short, submitting to an armbar in only 16 seconds. His last appearance was at UFC 16 on March 13, 1998 as he took on UFC 12 Lightweight Tournament Winner Jerry Bohlander but Jackson lost by technical submission again due to an armbar but lasted 10 minutes. The fight was well received as it was voted by the readers of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as the Fight of the Year for 1998. Jackson only fought 1 more time as he defeated UFC 8 Tournament Semifinalist Sam Adkins before retiring and became a wrestling coach.

Bobby Southworth
Appeared at: UFC The Ultimate Fighter Finale (April 9, 2005)

Southworth is best known to UFC fans for his participation in season one of the Ultimate Fighter where he was the first pick in TUF history when he was first chosen on Team Liddell and for his infamous confrontations with Chris Leben. He later became known for his run in Strikeforce and becoming their inaugural light heavyweight champion as well as, ironically, becoming the only fighter to successfully defend the title despite being the "weakest" on paper to ever hold it (Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Rafael "Fejao" Cavalancante, & Dan Henderson would be the other champions). After losing to eventual Light Heavyweight Runner Up Stephan Bonnar, Southworth was brought back along with the other cast members to compete on UFC The Ultimate Fighter Finale on April 9, 2005 where he faced fellow TUF Fighter Sam Hoger but lost on a unanimous decision which resulted in the UFC passing on signing him. Southworth eventually attempted to return to the UFC in 2009 when he tried out for the eleventh season of the Ultimate Fighter back when the season would consist of middleweights and light heavyweights but was forced out when UFC decided to only have middleweights.