1. Henry Cejudo
Cejudo frequently calls himself the greatest combat sports athlete ever, and while one may disagree, it's a credible claim. He secured two-thirds of the first-place votes and the lowest anyone had him was third. He has had the second greatest success in MMA of anyone on this list, becoming a UFC champ-champ at flyweight and bantamweight and finishing ninth on Sherdog's list of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters ever. That was prior to his return to MMA in 2023 against Aljamain Sterling, though losing by split decision to a great champion at the relatively advanced age of 36 shouldn't hurt his stock much, if at all. However, before all that Cejudo famously won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling in 2008 at 55 kilograms. There are several interesting observations to make about this. Firstly, Cejudo's win was a huge upset. He was a four-time Pan American Games gold medalist but wasn't as successful when facing the best of Europe and Asia. He had managed a bronze medal at the 2007 World Cup but had lost in the very first round of the 2007 World Championships. Furthermore, Cejudo didn't even win gold at the 2008 US championships, being pinned in the finals. Thus, his triumph at the Olympics was a shocking, magical upset. Secondly, Cejudo was at the time the youngest American to ever win Olympic wrestling gold at just 21. There is a good chance that had he stuck with wrestling instead of taking a three-year break, there would have been more gold at either the World Championships or Olympics, if not both, in his future. On the flipside, he likely wouldn't have been as great of a martial artist. Thirdly, there is a tremendous degree of competition in Olympic wrestling, and 55 kilograms is a particularly high-skill division. Thus, Cejudo's gold occurred in a more competitive combat sport than those of any previous fighter apart from Romero. However, Romero won Olympic silver while Cejudo won gold. For achieving the highest pinnacles in MMA and one of the toughest, most competitive combat sports in freestyle wrestling, Cejudo is a worthy pick.