5 UFC fighters who are legends despite having mediocre records

#2. Randy Couture – 16-8 UFC record

Despite his mediocre record, Randy Couture still holds multiple UFC records

Although he’s now persona non grata with the UFC thanks to a number of clashes with the promotion’s management, it’s safe to say that Randy Couture remains a genuine legend of the octagon.

‘The Natural’ has a number of UFC records to his name. He was the first ever UFC fighter to win titles in two different weight classes. He captured the UFC light heavyweight title in 2003 to go with the UFC heavyweight title he won some years prior.

Across his 14-year tenure with the promotion, he fought in a record 16 UFC title fights, has the most wins in UFC heavyweight title bouts (six) and the most title reigns in UFC history too (six). He also remains the only fighter over the age of 40 to win a UFC championship fight.

However, it’s probably safe to say that Couture’s record of 16-8 is mediocre at best. On the face of it, without understanding his accomplishments, it’d probably be easy to brush ‘The Natural’ off as a fighter who doesn’t belong in the same conversation as the likes of Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva.

The truth, though, is that Couture never fought anything but a top-level opponent during his time in the UFC. In fact, of his 24 fights in the promotion, more than half came against a reigning, future or previous UFC champion.

Simply put, ‘The Natural’ will always be seen as a UFC legend despite holding a pretty average record.

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#1. B.J. Penn – 12-13-2 UFC record

BJ Penn remains one of the most talented lightweights in UFC history despite a weak record

It’s hard to dispute the idea that the UFC legend with the most mediocre record is former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn. In fact, there’s probably an argument that Penn’s record isn’t just mediocre, it’s downright bad.

Back in 2009, though, during his reign as UFC lightweight champion, when he looked practically invincible, the idea that ‘The Prodigy’ would end his tenure with the promotion with a losing record would’ve been absolutely laughable. At that point, Penn was destroying every fighter the UFC put in front of him, from Sean Sherk and Joe Stevenson to Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.

At the time, all four men were looked upon as being amongst the best 155lbers in the world and Penn made defeating them look easy. At his best, ‘The Prodigy’ had a venomous ground game, near-impenetrable takedown defense and one of the best boxing games in MMA.

So what caused him to end his UFC career with such a terrible record? Simply put, ‘The Prodigy’ stuck around for far too long. For some reason, the UFC allowed it to happen.

Had Penn stayed away from the octagon when he first announced his retirement after his loss to Nick Diaz in 2011, his record would’ve stood at a much more respectable 12-7-2, with six of those losses coming to UFC champions. However, Penn’s ill-advised comebacks in 2012, 2014 and from 2017 to 2019, meant that he ended his career with a string of seven losses in a row.

Regardless of thar, though, ‘The Prodigy’ remains a UFC legend, largely because in his prime, he remains perhaps the most talented 155lber to ever set foot inside the octagon, record be damned.