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Unless you're a diehard MMA fan, chances are you somehow missed a Hardcore Championship Fighting event that took place in Edmonton, Canada this past weekend in which former UFC welterweight contender Joe Riggs defeated Dan Chambers.
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For Riggs, it was a much needed win. He had not fought since a loss to Diego Sanchez at UFC Fight Night 7 following a knee to the head at just 1:45 into the first round. That was last December.
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 matched Coleman and Couture's level of success. 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 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 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. Loiseau was then unceremoniously dropped by the UFC following another tentative effort during a unanimous decision loss to Mike Swick at UFC 63. 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.
