Robert Malcolm Sapp is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined fight record of 24–39–1, mostly fighting in Japan. He is well known in Japan, where he has appeared in numerous commercials, television programs, and various other media, and has released a music CD, Sapp Time. He is known there as a gaijin tarento. He is currently working sporadically for various MMA promotions in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.
Mirko Filipović, better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a Croatian former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro Cop fought in the UFC, K-1, RIZIN and Bellator. He is widely considered one of the greatest Heavyweight Kickboxers and MMA fighters of all time.
Mark Hunt is a New Zealand former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. He is known as "King of Walk-Offs" due to his popularization of walking away and stopping attacks before the referee officially ends the match.
Igor Yaroslavovych Vovchanchyn is a retired Ukrainian mixed martial artist and kickboxer, who competed in early no holds barred MMA contests. After making his professional MMA debut in 1995, he won nine openweight mixed martial arts tournaments and 3 superfights. As of July 2024, Vovchanchyn holds the longest unbeaten streak in MMA history and is the second most successful MMA fighter ever by number of wins achieved by way of knockout. Vovchanchyn has an MMA tournament named after him, the Igor Vovchanchyn Cup.
Evangelista Santos is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. A professional from 1997 until 2016, Santos competed for Strikeforce, Bellator MMA, the PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, International Vale Tudo Championships, Pancrase, Jungle Fight, Legacy FC, and World Victory Road. Known for his exciting fighting style, 14 of his 21 wins ended via knockout. Santos is a former runner up for the Strikeforce Welterweight Title.
Alistair Cees Overeem is a Dutch former professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He is a former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Dream Heavyweight Champion, K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, and was the first fighter to hold world titles in MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time. Overeem is also a one-time challenger for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Tatsuya Kawajiri is a Japanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division. He is a former Shooto Lightweight Champion, and has also competed in the UFC, PRIDE, DREAM, Strikeforce, ONE FC, and Rizin Fighting Federation. Kawajiri also participated in the Yarennoka! event as well as Dynamite!! 2009 and Dynamite!! 2010, representing DREAM in both events.
Ikuhisa Minowa is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler currently competing in IGF as Minowaman. A professional MMA competitor since 1996, he was a longtime veteran of PRIDE and Pancrase and has also competed in other mixed martial arts promotions such as K-1 Hero's, Cage Rage, the SFL, Vale Tudo Japan, UFC, DREAM, and DEEP. He is the former DREAM Openweight Grand Prix Champion. Often undersized and a huge fan favorite in Japan, Minowa earned his nickname "The Giant Killer" by participating in many openweight contests, often submitting much larger opponents. Also renowned for his durability, he is a veteran of 117 fights, and is known for his trademark red speedo and mullet.
Gary Henry Goodridge, nicknamed "Big Daddy", is a Trinidadian-Canadian former heavyweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist fighting out of Barrie, Ontario. Prior to kickboxing and MMA, he was also one of the top ranked contenders in the world of professional arm wrestling. In early 2012, Goodridge was diagnosed with early onset of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Nickolas Robert Diaz is an American professional boxer and mixed martial artist who competed in the welterweight and middleweight divisions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Diaz is a former Strikeforce, WEC and IFC welterweight champion and a UFC title challenger. He also notably competed in PRIDE, EliteXC, DREAM, and Shooto. Nick is the older brother of former UFC fighter Nate Diaz, with the pair of brothers being one of the biggest influences in the sport of MMA.
Sergei Valerievich Kharitonov is a Russian professional boxer, mixed martial artist and former kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor since 2000, Kharitonov has previously fought in Japanese MMA organizations PRIDE Fighting Championships & DREAM, Bellator MMA, M-1 Global, Strikeforce, and GLORY.
Tom Erikson is an American former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist who competed in the super heavyweight division. Weighing between 125 kg and 139.8 kg throughout his career, "The Big Cat" began wrestling at an early age and was twice National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Junior Collegiate Champion at Triton College before achieving National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I honors twice at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. Erikson was the 1997 U.S. National Champion, and a member of the 1997 U.S. Senior Freestyle World Team, placing fourth in the World Championships at 130 kg. He embarked on his career in MMA in 1996 and went on to fight in the Pride Fighting Championships, being a founding member of the prestigious RAW team.
Shinya Aoki is a Japanese mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and grappler currently competing in ONE Championship's Welterweight division. He also competes in DDT Pro-Wrestling where he is a former three-time DDT Extreme Champion. A professional competitor since 2003, he is noted for being the DREAM Lightweight Champion, former two time ONE Lightweight World Champion, former WAMMA Lightweight Champion and former Shooto Welterweight Champion. Aoki is an A-class Shootist and BJJ black belt, both under his long-term mentor Yuki Nakai, as well as a black belt Judoka. As of 2008, Aoki, along with DEEP champion Masakazu Imanari, and Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka have founded the "Nippon Top Team" as a group of elite Japanese grapplers competing in MMA. As well as his MMA credentials, Aoki has garnered several submission grappling accolades including two All Japan Jiu-Jitsu Championships, a Japan Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship, a Budo Open Championship, and an ADCC Japan Championship.
Murilo Milani Rua, also known as Ninja, is a Brazilian retired mixed martial artist. He is the older brother of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua. He was the inaugural EliteXC Middleweight Champion and also competed in Pride Fighting Championships.
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua, mostly billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Sokoudjou is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, and has also competed for PRIDE, the UFC, WEC, Affliction, Strikeforce, K-1, DREAM and Bellator.
Alexander "Sasha" Ustinov is a Russian professional boxer, former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In boxing, he has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2017.
Masayuki Naruse is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, competing in the light heavyweight division who fought most of his career in Fighting Network RINGS (RINGS). As a professional wrestler, he notably competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). In MMA, Naruse was the first and only RINGS Light-Heavyweight Champion and a former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion in professional wrestling.
Yoshihisa Yamamoto is a Japanese mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. A professional MMA competitor from 1995 until 2012, he competed for RINGS, WEF, PRIDE, Vale Tudo Japan, DEEP, and K-1 HERO'S.
Ewerton Teixeira is a Brazilian professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and Kyokushin Kaikan karateka. Teixeira obtained his first K-1 title in 2008 at K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Fukuoka by beating Keijiro Maeda in the final. He is training K-1 at the Ichigeki Academy Kyokushin Kaikan in Tokyo, Japan. Despite the short career for a kickboxer, Teixeira has notable wins against K-1 legends: Jerome Le Banner, Errol Zimmerman and Musashi.
Brian Johnston is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who competed throughout the mid 1990s, most notably in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. His effective mix of precision striking and ground fighting, as seen with other fighters such as Erik Paulson, Matt Hume, and Marco Ruas, would set the standard for what are now common traits in modern-day fighting styles. Johnston holds a black belt in Judo and was a former Golden Gloves champion with an undefeated amateur Kickboxing record of 12-0 as well as an experienced Wrestler.
South African 
