5 legendary former UFC champions who could still succeed today

#4. Cain Velasquez – former UFC heavyweight champion

In his prime, Cain Velasquez remains the best heavyweight the UFC has ever seen

While Francis Ngannou is almost certainly the most terrifying heavyweight champion the UFC has ever seen, possessing knockout power that is practically unheard of even in MMA, it’s arguable that he still isn’t the most skilled big man in the promotion’s history.

That title almost certainly belongs to Cain Velasquez, who held the heavyweight title on two occasions from 2010 to 2015.

A much-hyped prospect even before he arrived in the octagon, Velasquez destroyed the likes of Brock Lesnar, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Junior dos Santos during his time with the promotion. At his best, he was seemingly unstoppable.

His mix of top-level wrestling – he was an NCAA Division I All-American at Arizona State – and brutal kickboxing skills blended together with the ability to push the pace like no other big man could. In his prime, he also appeared to have a remarkably strong chin too.

Essentially, injuries were the only thing that derailed his run at the top. Well over a year separated his title defense over Junior dos Santos and his eventual title loss to Fabricio Werdum, during which he suffered from a number of issues.

By the time he fought Ngannou in February 2019, he’d spent almost three years on the shelf. He was clearly far past his prime, making his knockout loss seem almost inevitable.

Were he still at his best, though, he likely would’ve pushed a pace too hard for ‘The Predator’ to match, forcing him to the ground and beating him into submission.

In his prime, there still hasn’t been a better heavyweight than Velasquez and he’d almost certainly still be able to succeed today.

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#3. B.J. Penn – former UFC lightweight champion

BJ Penn's skills at his best would allow him to dominate today's best lightweights

The UFC’s lightweight division has arguably been the most fluid that the promotion has ever seen, with no fighter really dominating it for a lengthy period of time.

It’s probably fair to claim that the two greatest champions to step into the octagon at 155 pounds were B.J. Penn and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, while we know that Khabib was able to dominate today’s best fighters, could a prime ‘Prodigy’ do the same?

Naturally, a lot of modern fans might scoff at the idea that even in his prime, Penn could beat current stars like Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler. That’s because the version of ‘The Prodigy’ they likely saw was the broken shell who most recently lost to Clay Guida in 2019.

At his best, though, Penn was almost literally a force of nature. His boxing was remarkably sharp for the period in which he fought and he was one of the first fighters to really make good use of a jab in the octagon.

On the ground, meanwhile, he was a genuinely world class Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with incredible flexibility and his wrestling was underrated too. At times he appeared impossible to take down and he managed to plant great wrestlers like Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch on their backs.

The Hawaiian’s only real weakness was his willingness to bounce around through various weight classes. Had he focussed purely on a legacy at 155 pounds, he’d probably be untouchable as the division’s GOAT right now.

So if prime Penn were to arrive in today’s lightweight division, it’s hardly a stretch to say that he could box up the likes of Oliveira and Makhachev and dominate Gaethje on the ground. At his best, Khabib aside, he’s still the best lightweight the UFC has ever seen.