The Top 10 Biggest Gatekeepers of UFC
The Gatekeepers. An interesting community of fighters within the UFC. We know them and we love them. They have solid records and show that they can go toe to toe with the best when they want to. Yet, they just can’t seem to break that last bit of resistance to achieve the belt. There is always one or two fighters that are just a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, a little bit better. As a result the gatekeepers, silent and loyal, find their place in the UFC to test up and coming fighters as well as verify seasoned veterans. We count down the top 10 gatekeepers in the UFC today.
10. Chuck Liddell – Chuck comes in last on this list because his gate keeping status appeared very late in his career. Chuck is one of the greatest champions we have had in the UFC so it’s not fair to place him high on this gate keeping list. However, after he lost his title to Rampage things unfortunately became stale for the Iceman. His loss to Rashad Evans allowed Evans a shot at Griffin for the title which he eventually went on to win, and his loss to Shogun now allows Shogun to fight Machida for the heavyweight title at UFC 104. Chuck at the tail end of his career was a perfect example of the gate keeper, but with his extreme success in his prime we can easily forgive him for it.
9. Joe Lauzon – Where the heck is this kid’s title shot? He’s 5-1 in the UFC with notable victories over fighters like Jens Pulver and Jeremy Stepeans. His only loss came at the hands of the much talented Kenny Florian who would go on a couple wins later to fight BJ Penn for the lightweight championship. Since his loss Joe has been going back to work consistently flying under the radar testing fighters as they come into the octagon. With the amount of talent Lauzon has it’s a mystery to when he will get his time to shine. But once he does (as i’m certain he will) I will get to happily take him off this list.
8. Heath Herring – The Texas Crazy Horse definitely has some key wins to his name both from Pride and the UFC. The heavyweight division is only now picking up steam so it make sense that there are not many gate keepers in this division. However when we look at Herring’s record it for certain fits one. His main losses in the UFC include a loss to Nogueira which lead to Antonio winning the interim title match against Tim Sylvia. He also lost that infamous match against Brock Lesnar that put Lesnar on the path to facing Randy Couture for the title shot. While Herring’s performance has seemed to have plateaued since the days of pride it’s never smart to count out The Texas Crazy Horse.
7. Matt Hamill – A solid fighter by no doubt Matt is an inspiration to deaf people everywhere that you can do anything you want. That being said, Hamill has shown that he is no slouch in the UFC with a record of 8-2 with going to decision only twice. So what’s holding him back from greatness? Well his two losses were pretty big ones. The first was to Bisping in a controversial call by the judges. That set Matt back a little. Then his loss to Rich Franklin not long after kept him in his gate keeping status. However with two wins a row after that loss to Franklin and with a match coming up against Jon Jones, Matt has the chance to break through the barriers that have been holding him back. However, a loss to Jones will put him right back so he needs to be careful.
6. Joe Stevenson – It might be a little unfair to have Joe as high on this list. After all he did work hard in the beginning to get his title shot against BJ Penn which he would go on to lose. It’s more so what happened after the title shot that gives him a gate keeper’s label. He had two losses in a row both to Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. Kenny’s title shot was directly from his win over Joe and Diego’s win in the very next fight put Diego right behind Kenny. Joe is on docket to currently fight Spencer Fisher and if he wins this match I’d be willing to bet money that he will be in the running for the title once again.
5. Stephan Bonnar – I feel bad putting Stephan on this list. Why? Cause this guys had SUCH freaking potential. After his fight against Griffin on TUF 1 finale, I knew that I was going to see great things from this fighter. After 3 wins in a row right after that I was starting to feel good about my prediction. Then things started to slide. He had two losses in a row to future champions Evans and Griffin. Even though he won his next two fights, his loss to Jon Jones a newcomer to UFC began his gate keeping status again. With a match against Mark Coleman it was clear that Dana was testing to see if Mark was fit to stay in UFC and Bonnar was the perfect pick for that. A long with that loss Bonnar has once again slipped back into limbo. My fingers are crossed though for a Stephan Bonnar comeback.
4. Chris Leben – We all know when Chris’s gate keeping status first got it’s start, does the name Anderson Silva ring a bell? In my opinion that fight was the turning point for Chris, after that loss which allowed Silva to fight Franklin for the middleweight belt Chris losses started to rack up. He lost matches to relative newcomers like Jake Rosholt and Kalib Starnes effectively saving those two fighters from being cut from the UFC. His loss to Bisping allowed Dana to put The Count as a coach for the 9th season of the ultimate fighter leading up to one of the most anticipated matches at UFC 100. Fans of the crippler are hoping that soon he’ll be able to get his stuff together to get back on top.
3. Josh Koscheck – This fighter has been in the UFC since 2005. A clear veteran of the octagon Josh has shown very good success over his 4 year career since the ultimate fighter 1. With a record of 11-4 in the UFC you would think Josh would be further ahead then he is. That is until we take a look at the losses he DID have. First, there was his loss to GSP who would get to go on to face Matt Huges for the interim WW title and win. Then there was his loss to Thiago Alves who got to then go on to face GSP for the title only to lose. His recent loss against Paul Thiago also shows gate keeping as it was Thiago’s debut in the UFC. His win over Frank Trigg will hopefully allow Josh to pick up steam once again, but given how long this guy has fought it might be hard to tell when, if ever, he will finally get a chance to make a move.
2. Keith Jardine – Keith is essentially the same thing as Josh just in the LHW division. Also fighting since 2005 Jardine is a seasoned veteran of the octagon with a record of 6-5 in the UFC. Not bad. However this medicore record has simply kept Keith in one spot and I haven’t seen him really budge from it since. Granted he has a couple nice wins over fighters like Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, but his losses have consistently been to fighters he should have been able to get over like Stephan Bonnar and Houston Alexander. Throw in his two recent losses to Rampage and Silva and we find Keith in a tight spot. Assuming he still keeps his job we have to reasonably think that Keith is going to be stuck in that spot for a long time.
1. Rich Franklin – There are fighters who just end up as gatekeepers in their own division. There are even fighters who move away from a division only to become a gatekeeper in another division. But there are gatekeepers that are so good at doing their job that an ENTIRE division is made just for them to do it. Enter in Rich Franklin. Rich sports an incredible MMA record of 26-5 with a 12-4 record in the UFC. Two of which were lost to the greatest pound for pound fighter today Anderson Silva. After the second title loss Rich was hoping to find movement in the Light Heavyweight division only to find himself testing Matt Hamill and Dan Henderson. The icing on the cake comes when a 195 catchweight division was created so that he could verify Wanderlei. Once that was done it was time for the moment of truth. A catchweight fight with Vitor Belfort, to which Rich lost badly. Now Vitor is first in line for a title shot against Anderson Silva. Rich is by no question one of the best in the game and still has some fight left in him, but we have to ask ourselves how much further he is able to get in ANY division he’s placed in and whether or not he’s doomed to keep gates for the rest of this contract. Sorry St.Peter, but you got nothing on Rich Franklin.
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