This is a companion piece to an article that was written by Brian Oswald called MMA's Top 7 Kryptonite Fighters: Will You Still Call Me Superman?, so make sure you check that out.
Just like the first article, this is a list of fighters who are kryptonite to another fighter. For example, Anderson Silva has fought and beat Rich Franklin twice so you could say that he is Franklin's kryptonite, get it?
So in no particular order:
7. Wanderlei Silva over Kazushi Sakuraba
Kazushi Sakuraba was considered to be one of the best fighters in the world before and after his first fight with Wanderlei Silva. With only two losses by way of a much heavier Kimo, and again by another much heavier man in Igor Vovchanchyn(after an epic battle with Royce), Saku's odds of winning weren't very slim against the Axe Murderer.
But after Wanderlei demolished Saku in their first fight in dominating fashion, there didnt seem to be much hope for Kazushi winning in the rematch; and there wasn't. Nor did he win in their third and final battle during the 2003 PRIDE Middleweight GP, ending their trilogy with a record of 3-0 for Wanderlei.
6. Fabricio Werdum over Gabriel Gonzaga
When these two met for the first time in Manaus, Brazil for Jungle Fight 1, neither man had the record or the reputation that they do now. Both men had only three fights under their belt, but that night it was Werdum that left with the victory over Gonzaga.
Fast forward five years to the United States at UFC 80: Rapid Fire when these two met again and you have two of the best heavyweights of the time going at it to get closer to championship gold.
But some things never change and that night Werdum walked away with another TKO victory over "Napao".
5. Chuck Liddell over Randy Couture
When Randy Couture came out of retirement in 2003 to fight Chuck Liddell for the Interim Light Heavyweight Championship it was a great moment in MMA history.
Here you have a former Heavyweight Champ who is also forty years old and he's coming out of retirement to fight one of the baddest guys the UFC had at the time. To top things off, he actually wins the fight, becomes the Interim Champ, and then beats the Champion Tito Ortiz for the title.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Quite the feel good story huh? Well unfortunately Randy had to fight Chuck again, and then another time after that. And unfortunately he got knocked out in both of those fights, ending the Liddell-Couture trilogy at 2-1 for Liddell.
But it doesnt have to be a sad ending, there are rumors that these two will meet again so maybe Randy can even the score.
4. Takanori Gomi over Luiz Azerado
Gomi was PRIDE's top dog in the Lightweight division during the company's existence, and during his tenure there he fought and beat some of the best lightweights in the world.
Luiz Azerado, one of three men to beat Anderson Silva(four if you include Okami), was relatively new to PRIDE during the time of his first fight with Gomi. With only one fight, against BTT member Luiz Firmino at PRIDE Bushido 6(one of the best MMA fights ever IMO), Azerado was already set up to face the Fireball Kid.
Azerado's fellow teammate Wanderlei Silva said that Luiz had what it takes to defeat Gomi prior to the match, but obviously he didn't have enough because in their first match Gomi scored one of the best knockouts in PRIDE history.
The two met again at PRIDE Bushido 9, this time Gomi would win the match by Unanimous decision.
3. Wanderlei Silva over Hedehiko Yoshida
When Wanderlei Silva was matched up against Hedehiko Yoshida in the PRIDE 2003 Middleweight GP most people thought the champ would steamroll the Judo Gold Medalist en rout to the finals to face the winner of Jackson/Liddell.
Yoshida had other plans however, and the fight went to a decision with Wanderlei winning and moving on to face Jackson in the finals. These two would meet again two years later at the PRIDE 2005 Middleweight GP with the same results as the first match.
Although Yoshida fought valiantly, it just wasn't enough to cut the mustard.
2. Randy Couture over Vitor Belfort
When Randy Couture fought and beat Vitor Belfort for the first time at UFC 15 in 1997, it was only the third MMA fight for the Natural. It was also one of his most memorable moments considering the fact that it was the first loss for the fast rising star Vitor, and Randy was more than ten years his elder.
When the two met again for the Light-Heavyweight Title at UFC 46 Randy was the victim of an eye poke at 49 seconds into the first round that kept him from continuing, and Vitor was awarded the belt.
However at UFC 49 Randy defeated Belfort once again and got back what was rightfully his, the championship belt.
1. Fedor Emelianenko over Mark Coleman
Fedor Emelianenko and Mark Coleman fought for the first time at the PRIDE Heavyweight GP in 2004. In that fight Coleman, who was ranked in the top ten at the time, was able to put Fedor on his back and show some of his ground and pound skills. But not for long.
At 2:11 of the first round Fedor transitioned to a beautiful armbar from his back, submitting Mark and moving on to face his teammate Kevin Randleman.
Two years later and Fedor would face Mark again at PRIDE 32: Real Deal, the first ever American show for the Japanese company.
This time around Fedor was clearly the number one fighter in the world after cleaning out PRIDE's Heavyweight division and successfully and convincingly defending his title against the likes of Mirko Cro Cop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira(again).
There were many rumors that heavyweights such as Josh Barnett and more publicly Tim Sylvia were ducking a fight with Fedor, and so Mark Coleman stepped up and took the fight.
This fight ended the same way as the first, only this time Fedor waited until the second round to armbar Coleman after dominating the first.
Honorable Mentions:
Randy Couture over Pedro Rizzo
Chuck Liddell over Renato Babalu Sobral
Tim Sylvia over Andrei Arlovski
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about 1 month ago
I think both Randy and Babalu could beat the Iceman now, what with globalwarming and all. His power has seeped out of the cracks left from Rampage, Jardine and Evans.
about 1 month ago
haha
about 1 month ago
Mike! I had a huge smile on my face when I signed on and saw this article as the latest written =) I'm glad you got to show off Pride a little more in this article. And I gained some more respect for Wanderlei and Fedor, if thats even possible. This was a really cool idea and I think we might have to combine our lists and rank the top 5 or 7 or 10. Glad we got to collaborate!
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Brian, and thanks for letting me write this.
about 1 month ago
HAHA ^ to Dorothy
I honestly think tho you can't throw Sylvia and Arlovski up there
The first time, Arlovski did beautifully, transitioning to the ground and submitting Sylvia, the second fight he was actually dominating and got caught by a shot when he dropped his hands. The 3rd time he wasn't the same fighter and lost to an obvious decision
from about 1 month ago
Good point Travis. However Kyrponite is what it is and his losses to Sylvia reshaped his UFC career and may have played a part in him leaving (despite his 3-0 record after). Its a good thing Mike only put it as honorable mention!
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