With the victory, Riggs' career will likely continue with Zuffa under the banner of the WEC, the sister-company of the UFC.
While the win was clearly a positive, it still left me wondering how the enigmatic Riggs ended up as an afterthought on a show that was conducted miles away from the epicenter of MMA. He is clearly one of the sport's biggest underachievers, and it got me thinking: Where does Riggs rank on the list of biggest underachievers currently in MMA?
Based on the Riggs question, I decided to compile a list of the 10 biggest underachievers in MMA and rank them in order. For the purposes of this article, I decided to present them from 10-to-1 instead of 1-to-10 because I always find countdowns that open with their No. 1 choice to be anti-climatic.
Before I get to my list, I wanted to issue a disclaimer. While some people might consider this list to be negative, a fighter wasn't able to make this list unless he had talent to begin with.
The odd thing is, despite the string of disappointing performances by the fighters on this list, I consider myself a fan of most of them.
There's also no denying that the sport of MMA would be even more enjoyable to watch if any of the names on this list were able to compete to their full potential.
10. Alistair Overeem: The Dutch-born kickboxer is a tremendous athlete who has lost to the likes of Chuck Liddell, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (twice), Ricardo Arona, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Fabricio Werdum. On the verge of breaking into the world's elite at 205 pounds, it seemed like the only thing that prevented Overeem from doing so was his lack of conditioning. After a 14-fight career in Pride, he is now competing for K-1's MMA promotion, Hero's. The problem is that Overeem is just fighting to keep himself relevant in MMA when he should be fighting to prove that he's one of the sport's best.
9. Carter Williams: Williams shocked the kickboxing world in 2003 when he won K-1's U.S. Grand Prix at the age of 23. Entering the tournament as an 18-to-1 underdog, Williams took out the likes of Michael McDonald, Rick Roufus and Dewey Cooper on the way to the tournament title. The sky appeared to be the limit for Williams following his strong showing, but he's never come close to reaching his full potential in the years since. His disappointing ways have carried over into MMA when he showed up 20 pounds overweight for his June 22 bout on the undercard of the Frank Shamrock vs. Phil Baroni main event. Williams was knocked out by Paul Buentello at 0:10 into the second round and it was later revealed he had tested positive for cocaine during a pre-fight drug screening. If "The Beast" spent less time at the club and more time at the gym, there's no telling how far he could go.
8. Kevin Randleman: Considered a contemporary to fellow former standout college wrestlers such as Randy Couture and Mark Coleman, Randleman has failed to achieve even a small fraction of the success that they've accomplished in MMA. Randleman's downfall has been his insistence of relying almost exclusively on his world class wrestling ability. If he had devoted himself to a standup discipline he would have joined Coleman and Couture as world title holders. Currently on suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after attempting to cheat a urine test, Randleman is rumored to be mounting a comeback while training under the guidance of Shawn Tompkins. Tompkins is currently one of the best striking coaches in MMA and could be exactly what Randleman needs.
7. Frank Mir: Once the poster boy of the UFC's heavyweight division, Mir is currently known more for his excellent work as a commentator on WEC WrekCage on the Versus network. Mir hasn't been the same since being involved in a serious motorcycle accident several years back and based on his appearance during his comeback fights, looks to have slacked off on his conditioning. Few heavyweights have better submission skills than Mir so it would be a mistake to write him off just yet. Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, and if he doesn't show something against kickboxing standout Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74: Respect on Aug. 25, then it might be time for Mir to focus solely on his broadcasting career.
6. Evan Tanner: An original Team Quest member, Tanner is a well-rounded fighter with good submission wrestling and strong boxing skills. Unfortunately, personal demons outside of the fight game have derailed a brilliant career that has seen Tanner not only hold the UFC middleweight title but also defeat Phil Baroni, Robbie Lawler, Paul Buentello, Heath Herring and David Terrell. Now 36, time is not on Tanner's side. However, there still could be time for one more run at the title; he's reportedly back in training with Chute Boxe USA and might be making a comeback in the UFC this September.
5. David Loiseau: A talented striker who has a rare ability of defending himself when he gives his back to a fighter, Loiseau was on top of the world following a TKO victory over Evan Tanner at UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 2 in October of 2005. However, "The Crow" has been caught in a downward spiral ever since, beginning with a lackluster performance against Rich Franklin during a UFC middleweight title bout at UFC 58: USA vs Canada. Loiseau was then unceremoniously dropped by the UFC following another tentative effort during a unanimous decision loss to Mike Swick at UFC 63: Hughes vs Penn. Things seemed to be turning around for him after signing a lucrative three-fight deal with EliteXC. However, Loiseau looked like he was sleep walking during yet another unanimous decision loss, this time against Joey Villasenor at EliteXC's debut card on February 10. After snapping a three fight losing streak while fighting for the Art of War promotion on May 11, Loiseau will look to rebuild his once promising career. He's still only 27 and has been relatively injury free during his career. As such, there's a realistic opportunity for him to regain everything he lost so long as he starts fighting aggressively again.
4. Yves Edwards: Watching Edwards in person compete for Bodog Fight in Trenton, N.J. on July 14 triggered a range of emotions as I watched him enter the ring to fight Jorge Masvidal. A personal favorite for several years, I was excited just for the chance to see Edwards fight but was depressed that he was doing so in an arena that was only one third full. Once one of the top lightweight strikers in the world, I was at a loss when trying to figure out why he wasn't competing for the UFC lightweight title in the middle of a packed arena. My perplexed state ended after Edwards was knocked out at 2:19 into the second round following a high kick by Masvidal. With five losses in his past six fights, Edwards needs to do some soul searching and see if he can get back to being the fighter who holds wins over the likes of Hermes Franca (twice), Josh Thomson, Rich Clementi and Dokonyjonosuke Mishima.
3. Joe Riggs: The inspiration for this column, Riggs is considered a beast when it comes to training. When I hear fighters who have trained with Riggs talk about him, they describe him as a future world champion. Injuries and issues outside of the cage have no doubt held him back, but there has to be a bigger reason why the fighter so many others have raved about comes up small in actual fights. Only 24, it's way too early in the game to write off a guy who once weighed over 300 pounds and has also had to deal with the death of an infant child. If Riggs can stay healthy, fight exclusively as a middleweight and remain focused, there's no reason why he still can't develop into an elite fighter. The tools are all there, he just needs to utilize them.
2. BJ Penn: You might be asking, what is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world doing on this list? But that's the issue; why are we talking about him as one of the best and not the best?
Penn is the Roy Jones Jr. of MMA: he's a multi-dimensional fighter capable of being dominant in multiple weight classes. Like Jones, Penn possesses a level of athletic prowess unrivaled by most of his peers.
If Penn dedicated himself to conditioning to the extent he did in his preparation for his fight against Jens Pulver at the TUF 5 finale he'd be capable of being the first fighter in history of holding the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight title on a simultaneous basis. There might be those who consider that a melodramatic statement, but how many fighters are out there who posses both Abu Dhabi grappling ability and K-1 standup skills?
The fact that so many pundits talk about him in the past tense speaks volumes because he's only 30. If Belfort had solved the mental aspect of fighting we might be referring to him as the top 205-pound fighter in the world. He's one of the best natural boxers in the light heavyweight division and received a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu from Carlson Gracie.
His next fight is scheduled for Sept. 22, but it won't be for the UFC in Anaheim, Calif. Instead, he'll be headlining for the UK-based Cage Rage promotion. There's still plenty of time for him to get it together and make another run, but it's unlikely to happen for a major promotion in North America. That's because Belfort tested positive for steroids following his loss to Henderson at Pride 32: The Real Deal and defied the Nevada State Athletic Commission's mandate by fighting before fully serving his nine-month suspension.
Others who received consideration
Karl James Noons: Noons is a prodigy, having practiced martial arts since the age of five and being the son of a former professional kickboxer. He hasn't fought in an MMA bout since a disappointing loss to Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett during EliteXC's inaugural card on Feb. 10. Noons might be best served by putting his boxing career on hold and focusing solely on MMA. He'll get a shot at redemption when he competes in the main event of Showtime's debut ShoXC card on July 27 against Edson Berto. Once Noons improves his ground game, he'll be capable of competing for any promotion in the world.
Ricco Rodriguez: A former UFC heavyweight champion, Rodriguez has let himself go and now languishes on the small promotion circuit as a super heavyweight (265 pounds plus). He has more than enough ability on the ground to still be a relevant commodity as a light heavyweight for a major promotion if he would just get serious about his career.
David Terrell: Terrell was considered the future of the UFC's middleweight division after knocking out Matt Lindland just 24 seconds into the first round during his UFC debut on Aug. 24, 2004. He's fought just twice since the win due to various injuries but is rumored to be considering a comeback as a light heavyweight.
Gabe Ruediger: His TUF 5 meltdown has obscured his credentials: a fighter who had competed in the UFC prior to his failed foray into reality TV that also is a strong fighter on the ground. With a pro MMA record of 10-3, Ruediger was actually one of the favorites to win TUF 5 and would likely still have a valid UFC contract had he made weight. I don't think we've heard the last of him.
Chris Lytle: Known for his excellent standup, Lytle's ground game is extremely underrated. A fighter with his talents is capable of a lot more than what he has accomplished thus far.
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