6. Pat Miletich
The first UFC welterweight champion and smallest fighter on this entire list finishes sixth. Miletich wasn't the most gifted fighter and didn't excel in any area, but he used his brilliant mind and unbelievable strength of will—his interview with Joe Rogan is essential listening for any MMA fan—to mold himself into a champion. Miletich entered the UFC with a 17-1-1 record, though it was against largely weak competition. His sole loss was to another great early coach in Matt Hume, who still trains Demetrious Johnson to this day, as well as a draw and split decision win against Chris Brennan. In the opening round of the UFC 16 tournament, Miletich faced Olympic silver medalist wrestler Townsend Saunders. It was a fascinating match from a judging perspective. Saunders spent 10 of the 15 minutes in top position but did little there. Meanwhile, Miletich was far more effective during the time where he was standing or in top position, landing strikes, ground-and-pound, and attempting several solid submissions. Saunders might have won the match under modern judging, but Miletich took the split decision, which I personally agree with. In the final, Miletich faced rival Brennan but left no doubt this time, choking him out in nine minutes.
That set up a match for the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown—though it was called lightweight at the time—against Mikey Burnett, a man I consider the greatest what-if in MMA history. The 24-year-old Burnett had vastly more natural talent than Miletich in terms of striking and grappling. However, Miletich had a huge advantage in intelligence and related to this, training. Miletich turned the match into a grinding clinch-fest, maximizing his chances for success, though I and most observers still thought Burnett barely edged it out. However, Miletich walked away with the controversial split decision. After that, Miletich proved to be a solid champion, defending his title four times, two of which occurred in the 90s. The first was a dominant pasting of Jorge Patino, beating him up on the feet and stopping his takedowns, and the second a stoppage of another future top coach, Andre Pederneiras of Nova Uniao. Interestingly, Miletich did lose once outside the UFC during this time, being submitted by Jutaro Nakao in the Superbrawl promotion, though he ended the decade with a highly impressive 25-2-2 record. Miletich and Randy Couture were the first mixed martial artists with great fight IQ, and “The Croatian Sensation” was also a seminal pioneer in the lower weight classes.
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