Sherdog’s Top 10: Fighters Without UFC Gold

For a time, Takanori Gomi was untouchable at 155 pounds. | D. Herbertson/Sherdog.com

8. Takanori Gomi

Gomi may never capture a UFC title, but for many, he reached the lightweight summit during his reign of destruction with Pride Fighting Championships.

There was a point when Gomi could reasonably be called MMA’s most accomplished lightweight -- even ahead of B.J. Penn. From Feb. 15, 2004 to Dec. 31, 2005, “The Fireball Kid” went 10-0 with Pride, finishing eight of his victims inside of a round. In addition to being Pride’s first and only 155-pound champion, Gomi also won the promotion’s 2005 lightweight grand prix. Earlier in his career, he authored a 12-fight winning streak while competing for Shooto, where he also captured organizational gold.

With all that in mind, it is not difficult to see why facing Gomi remains a dream for many current UFC lightweights. Unfortunately, Gomi has been mostly inconsistent since his remarkable run through Pride. He has not sniffed the lightweight top 10 since signing with the UFC, posting a 3-4 mark in the sport’s premiere organization.

Occasionally there are flashes of the old Gomi -- a blistering 64-second knockout of Tyson Griffin and a rousing second-round rally past Eiji Mitsuoka come to mind -- but for the most part, his best was left in the Pride ring years ago.

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