3. Carlos Newton
The often-forgotten UFC welterweight champion takes third place here. Newton was a very good grappler for his era, possessing wrestling as well as BJJ skills, a rare combo for the time. He also had some limited striking, though it was a much weaker area for him. Newton's debut in the sport was a crazy mismatch, as the 19-year-old, who by his own estimates, weighed 180 pounds soaking wet, took on 280-pound Jean Riviere. In a surprisingly competitive match, Newton eventually succumbed to exhaustion from grappling the much larger man. Newton then picked up some smaller wins before entering the UFC 17 tournament, taking just 52 seconds to submit Bob Gilstrap before dropping a split decision against Dan Henderson in the finals that same night. (Though it should be noted that Henderson had the far more grueling first fight, being knocked down multiple times by Allan Goes in a battle which went the full 15 minutes to decision.) Newton continued challenging himself, traveling to Japan to face a Kazushi Sakuraba who was one of the very best fighters in the sport, engaging in a classic, back-and-forth grappling battle, with Sakuraba getting the tap via kneebar over five minutes into the second round.
Newton then went on a five-fight winning streak, the most impressive of which were decisions over a very young Dajiro Matsui and a verdict over “The Fire Samurai” Johil de Oliveira. Newton then lost against soon-to-be first UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne by decision, but recovered with the biggest victory of his career, submitting UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich via bulldog choke to become the new welterweight king. Newton then faced challenger Matt Hughes, ending in one of the most famous, talked-about finishes in the sport, where Newton locked in a triangle choke, Hughes picked him up against the cage, and as Hughes went to sleep from the choke, he simultaneously slammed Newton against the canvas, knocking him out as well. While this was a double knockout, referee John McCarthy only noticed that Newton was asleep, and Hughes became the new 170-pound champion. After this, Newton submitted another early great of the sport in Jose Landi-Jons. A rematch was set up with Hughes, but this time there would be no controversy, as Hughes used his superior grappling to continually take Newton down, avoid his submission attempts, and beat him up, finishing him late in the fourth round. Newton bounced back with a quick submission of Pete Spratt but while only he was still just 26 years old, this would be the end of his time at the top, in large part due to the sudden, massive improvement MMA was experiencing. Newton would then go 4-9 before calling it a career in 2010 after a loss to Brian Ebersole. Still, Newton had some notable early success in the sport and is one of only two UFC champions on this list.
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