Deciding on the top 10 fighters over an entire decade is an invitation for an open-ended debate.
Throw in a mandate from MMA Junkie managing editor Simon Samano that each person on the staff was free to set their own criteria on what qualifies as worthy of consideration for the decade’s best list, and a staff that pulls from a wide variety of ages stationed all around the globe, and you have plenty of leeway for a diverse variety of selections.
The end result was a vibrant list, one that demands more conversation. So we gathered MMA Junkie’s Las Vegas crew — MMA Junkie Radio personalities “Gorgeous” George and “Goze,” fight analyst Dan Tom, and lead reporter John Morgan — to debate the results of our top 10 fighters of the 2010s in a roundtable format.
In this segment, the guys weigh in on those who didn’t make the cut, which brought out heated responses from MMA Junkie readers. Why did Stipe Miocic, the only man ever to successfully defend the UFC heavyweight title three straight times, get skipped over? What about Cris Cyborg, who ruled women’s MMA across multiple organizations for years until a stunning finish in 2018? Or someone like Eddie Alvarez, the first man to wear both UFC and Bellator gold, and defeated former UFC, Strikeforce, and WEC champs on his run to the UFC lightweight title?
Watch the video above to hear what the gang thanks about those who didn’t make the cut. And to watch the full roundtable, check out the video below.
