Sherdog's Top 10: Greatest UFC Fighters Never to Win a Title

Lev PisarskyJul 17, 2023


4. Alistair Overeem


The recently retired Dutch champion finishes at a highly impressive fourth on his third Sherdog top 10 list. Overeem also cracked Sherdog's list of the greatest heavyweights ever at No. 10, though in his prime, he could have beaten most of the fighters ahead of him. His overall offense was as overwhelming as the heavyweight division has ever seen. It wasn't just relegated to excellent kickboxing, but the most dangerous clinch striking and vicious ground-and-pound heavyweight has seen yet. Overeem could never maintain consistency, in large part due to defensive flaws and a weak chin, losing many times, but his list of wins is utterly incredible, which includes his 12-8 tenure in the UFC. That includes knockouts of Junior dos Santos, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Hunt, Brock Lesnar, Stefan Struve and even Sergei Pavlovich as recently as late 2018. Overeem also won clear decisions over Frank Mir and Roy Nelson, as well as a controversial one in a rubber match against Fabricio Werdum. Overeem lost by knockout three times while moving up the rankings, including three times in a four-fight stretch against Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Ben Rothwell, but finally got title shot against Stipe Miocic in 2016. In a reflection of his overall MMA career, Overeem started very strong, hurting Miocic badly and nearly knocking him out early in the first round. However, the champion rallied and ended up finishing Overeem with ground-and-pound later that same stanza. Still, the Dutchman's greatness in the UFC was undeniable.

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