3. Shogun Rua (UFC 76)
Shogun had been unstoppable in Pride, racking up a record of 12W-1L. His only loss was to UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman, and only after Coleman broke Shogun’s arm during the course of a takedown.
Rua was the winner of the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix, and defeated names like Rampage Jackson, Alistair Overeem (twice), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Kevin Randleman while fighting in Pride. He was expected to make an impact when he debuted at UFC 76 against Forrest Griffin, but instead he gassed out early and eventually got choked out in the 3rd.
Rua would win his next 2 fights and then after dropping a controversial decision to Lyoto Machida at UFC 104 he would win the light heavyweight title in the rematch at UFC 113. Shogun dropped the belt in his first title defence against Jon Jones, and has been trading wins and losses ever since.
His UFC record currently is 8W-8L, a far cry from what he accomplished in Pride.
