5 forgotten MMA fighters you didn't know were still active

Despite the existence of a ton of smaller promotions across the world, the MMA world remains dominated by the UFC. Sure, Bellator provides some competition and often signs up big-name free agents that the UFC allows to escape, but for the most part, unless you’re in the UFC, you’re largely forgotten.

A handful of years ago the UFC routinely cut swathes of fighters from their roster following losses, but today that has slowed down, largely due to the need for a big roster due to so many events. But the cuts of years ago meant that plenty of big-name fighters disappeared from the public eye, particularly if they never found their way into Bellator.

The following five fighters have been gone from the UFC for some years now, but continue to fight on the smaller circuit – and with every year that passes, the likelihood of them ever returning becomes slimmer. Here are 5 forgotten MMA fighters who you didn’t know were still active.

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#1: Goran Reljic

Goran Reljic (left) is still fighting despite his last UFC appearance being in 2010

A decade ago, the UFC went on a signing spree and brought in a bunch of top prospects at the time, a lot of whom went onto stardom with the promotion – the likes of Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin and Dong Hyun Kim, for instance. One of the hottest was Croatian Goran Reljic. A legitimate Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who also trained his striking with Mirko Cro Cop, Reljic burst onto the scene at UFC 84 and knocked out Wilson Gouveia in what was awarded the Fight of the Night bonus.

A follow-up five months later was quickly scheduled against Middleweight contender Thales Leites in what would’ve been quite a step up in competition, but Reljic injured his back and had to withdraw. He then spent the next two years on the shelf before a trio of disappointing losses to CB Dollaway, Kendall Grove and Krzysztof Soszynski saw him wash out of the promotion, never having lived up to the early hype around him.

You’d probably be shocked to realise then that he’s still active on the smaller circuit today – his last fight took place just three months ago in December. Europe has tended to be his destination of choice – he’s fought all across the continent, from Switzerland and England to Russia – with his most high-profile fights being a loss to current UFC contender Jan Blachowicz and a win over former Bellator champ Attila Vegh.

More curiously, he’s currently the holder of the UBBAD Bare-Knuckle Boxing World Championship at Light-Heavyweight – and he’s scheduled to defend the title against former UFC star Phil Baroni in Liverpool, England this weekend.

#2: Ricco Rodriguez

Former UFC champ Ricco Rodriguez is now one of MMA's most experienced fighters

Ricco Rodriguez is arguably the UFC’s ultimate ‘what if?’ story. He won the UFC Heavyweight championship back in 2002 – three years prior to the TUF boom that saw MMA explode in popularity – but despite being a charismatic and marketable fighter, he was beaten by Tim Sylvia in his first title defence, ballooned in weight and found himself out of the UFC just two fights later.

He was given a chance at redemption in 2005 after going 8-1 on the smaller circuit, but turned down a UFC title shot against Andrei Arlovski due to the UFC’s purse offer being too small. And from there he became one of MMA’s ultimate wanderers, fighting in promotions like Elite XC and the IFL to moderate success in the late 2000’s – after battling drug and alcohol addictions that saw him appear on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab.

At the age of 40, Rodriguez remains active in MMA – his last fight came in January, a victory over former UFC and StrikeForce fighter Nandor Guelmino. The fight was his 80th professional MMA bout – making him one of the most experienced fighters in the history of the sport – and he currently holds a record of 54-25 with 1 no contest. Any chance of a UFC return is naturally long gone, but you’ve got to admire his staying power.

#3: Melvin Guillard

Melvin Guillard is now in his 16th year as an active MMA fighter

While he picked up some huge wins during his eight-year tenure with the UFC – over the likes of Evan Dunham, Dennis Siver, Gleison Tibau and Jeremy Stephens – Melvin Guillard never quite lived up to his seemingly huge potential, usually struggling with both grappling and with his cardio. Despite still putting on exciting fights – like his 2012 classic with Donald Cerrone – by 2013 he was clearly past his best.

A 2014 loss to Michael Johnson proved to be the end of his UFC tenure, but he was quickly picked up by World Series of Fighting – one of the two biggest promotions outside the UFC at the time. He went 1-1 there before signing with Bellator, but his run under Scott Coker proved to be disappointing and he went 0-3 with 1 no contest and missed weight to make matters worse.

His Bellator career ended in January 2017 with a loss to Chidi Njokuani and you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d retired, given the loss was the 54th fight of his 15-year career. But surprisingly enough, he remains active on the smaller circuit.

He lost to current UFC fighters Muslim Salikhov and Israel Adesanya in the summer of 2017 and most recently lost to the unknown Maurice Jackson in February. How much longer he can continue on is a huge question mark given he hasn’t won a fight since 2014.

#4: Thiago Silva

Former UFC contender Thiago Silva fought this month in Russia

When he emerged onto the UFC scene back in 2007, Thiago Silva had a lot of hype – some fans even labelling him the “new Wanderlei Silva”. Initially he lived up to it, too – winning 4 in a row to set him up for a #1 contender’s match against Lyoto Machida in early 2009. He was knocked out by Machida, but bounced back with a win over Keith Jardine before a series of back injuries and failed drug tests saw him go 0-2 with 2 no contests.

2013 saw him bounce back with a pair of wins over Rafael Feijao and Matt Hamill, but in 2014, a nasty incident followed as he was arrested for threatening his ex-wife Thaysa and her boyfriend, jiu-jitsu champion Pablo Popovitch with a gun. That led to Silva’s release from the UFC, with Dana White stating that he’d never compete for the promotion again.

A brief move to the World Series of Fighting saw him lose in his only fight with them, but since then Silva has not retired and has remained active on the smaller circuit. A 2016 win over former contender Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou led to a contract with one of Europe’s bigger promotions – Absolute Championship Berkut – and he’s gone 2-2 with them, most recently losing a fight with Mikhail Kolobegov earlier this month.

#5: Rousimar Palhares

Rousimar Palhares is one of the most controversial fighters of all time

One of the most controversial fighters in MMA history, leglock expert Rousimar ‘Toquinho’ Palhares remains active on the European MMA circuit despite the fact that the world’s biggest promotions – namely the UFC and Bellator – won’t touch him with a bargepole due to his history of holding submissions for too long and purposely injuring his opponents.

Palhares debuted in the UFC in 2008 and by the time of his release in 2013, he was 8-4 with the promotion with all but one of his wins coming via submission. But his refusal to release a heel hook against Mike Pierce – even after Pierce had tapped – was a foul too far for the UFC and so they sent him packing.

‘Toquinho’ was then successful in the World Series of Fighting, winning all 3 of his bouts by submission, but all 3 saw controversy – he held leglocks on Steve Carl and Jon Fitch for far too long and only submitted Jake Shields after gouging his eyes – and even then, he held onto the winning kimura for longer than was necessary.

That was enough for WSOF to release him too, but rather than move away from the sport he’s stayed active – submitting Aleksei Ivanov but suffering knockout losses to current UFC fighter Emil Meek and Polish champion Michal Materla. Most recently he fought Shamil Amirov to a draw in the Fight Nights Global promotion – but the likelihood of him returning to one of the US’s top promotions seems very doubtful.

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