9. T.J. Grant
TJ Grant is an unfortunate example of MMA's “what if” scenarios. He finishes ninth here and I had him even higher, at fifth. Grant was an excellent grappler, combining powerful takedowns with slick BJJ. His striking improved over the course of his career to the point that he was knocking out world-class opponents by the end. Grant entered the UFC with a seasoned record of 13-2, dropping an early decision to Gary Wright and being submitted by Jesse Bongfeldt, but finishing all 13 of his foes in victory, 12 by submission. Among the more notable victims were recent UFC veterans Chad Reiner and Forrest Petz. However, Grant found the UFC tougher going initially, scoring a split decision to tricky grappler Ryo Chonan before dropping a verdict to then-unbeaten Dong Hyun Kim. Grant responded to those setbacks with a first-round knockout of Kevin Burns that showed much improved stand-up and then fought on very close terms with the heavily favored Johny Hendricks, losing via majority decision. Grant then defeated Julio Paulino by decision before dropping a verdict to Ricardo Almeida. At that point, Grant made the decision to drop down from welterweight to lightweight and embarked on a five-fight winning streak that saw him become one of the very best at that weight. After submitting Shane Roller and dominating Carlo Prater for all three rounds, Grant won a verdict over Evan Dunham and then knocked out the very tough Matt Wiman in the first round. That set up a lightweight title eliminator against Gray Maynard, recently removed from his two epic title fights against Frankie Edgar. In a star-making performance, Grant need just over two minutes to knock Maynard out, setting up a showdown with lightweight king Benson Henderson.
Alas, it would never happen, and Grant would never fight again. He suffered a concussion in training and never fully recovered, as symptoms lingered for years. In the interim, he also became a father and, disillusioned with his pay and treatment by the UFC, eventually made the difficult but likely wise choice to step away from fighting, leading many to wonder what could have been had he fought Henderson for the title. We will never know, but Grant had already accomplished a fair amount in his career, and appears to be very happy these days working a normal job, training up-and-coming fighters at his own gym, and providing for his family.
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