Sherdog’s Top 10: Biggest Underachievers

8. Lee Murray

Murray is one of the most infamous men MMA will ever encounter. His career as a promising martial artist was overshadowed by constant street fights, including one in which he knocked out then-UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and another where he was repeatedly stabbed in the throat and head, nearly dying. Oh, and he was involved in the largest cash heist in British history. Murray's adventures didn't end there, as he attempted to escape jail, extending his sentence from 10 to 25 years, and somehow fathered a child while incarcerated.

While he might be one of the most fascinating figures in MMA history and the subject of a potentially awesome Guy Ritchie crime caper, I don't think he has any business on this list. Murray was just shy of 27 years old when he had his last pro fight, a one-sided loss to an Anderson Silva who was still years away from his prime. Murray was good and could have potentially become even better, but I never saw anything special about him. He had poor grappling, even by the standards of mid 2000s MMA. He was easily, quickly submitted by Joe Doerksen early in his career and was badly outwrestled and taken down by Jorge Rivera, of all people, before submitting him off his back. Murray fought a lot in Cage Rage, which hid this shortcoming, as the knock against British MMA of that era was that it featured weak, limited grappling. Any good grappler of that period would have likely dominated Murray. His striking was much better, but even there he could be beaten, as Silva toyed with and thrashed him, on top of taking Murray down at will. I believe lesser strikers would have beaten Murray soundly, too. I became aware of a British prospect called Michael Bisping in 2005, before he appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter Season 3,” and considered him a lot more talented than Murray ever was, on top of being over a year younger. Looking at Bisping's career and noting that he is one of the greatest overachievers in the sport's history, I just don't see how Murray would have ever been anything considerable in MMA even if had kept his nose clean and focused on the sport. Not even a Top 10 contender.

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