---

It was the decade that gave us “Forrest Gump” and “Titanic,” “Friends” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “Regulate.” Mickey Mantle, Walter Payton and Harry Caray died. Canelo Alvarez, Bryce Harper and Kyrie Irving were born. The Hubble Space Telescope launched, the Cold War ended and scientists cloned a sheep.

Mixed martial arts went from crawling to walking, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship was born in the United States and Pride Fighting Championships followed suit across the Pacific. Pioneers provided a foundation upon which the sport could be built. The latest installment in the Sherdog Top 10 series series shines the spotlight on the best and most influential fighters of the 1990s. In order to be eligible, nominees had to have debuted no later than 1996 or competed in at least 10 fights during the decade.

***

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Rickson Gracie, Hayato Sakurai, Pedro Rizzo, Marco Ruas, Jose Landi-Jons, Mark Kerr, Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith, Masakatsu Funaki, David Abbott, Oleg Taktarov, Kevin Randleman, Rumina Sato

***

Continue Reading » Number 10