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In the UFC, what makes a fighter underrated or overlooked? There can be plenty of factors at play.
Right now, there are a number of fighters on the UFC roster who could be considered underrated, even if they often sit highly in the rankings.
A fighter can become underrated by both the fans and the promotion for multiple reasons, from a lack of charisma to a perceived dull fighting style.
Here, then, are the five most underrated fighters on the current UFC roster.
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#5. Aljamain Sterling - former UFC bantamweight champion
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It's arguable that Aljamain Sterling is not only one of the most underrated fighters on the current UFC roster, he's one of the most underrated fighters of all time, period.
'Funk Master' is a former bantamweight champion, and in fact, he holds the record for the most consecutive successful 135-pound title defenses in the promotion's history.
Between April 2018 and August 2023, Sterling put together an unbeaten run of nine fights, defeating the likes of Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Cory Sandhagen, T.J. Dillashaw, and Pedro Munhoz.
Sure, Sterling lost his title badly to Sean O'Malley last summer, but it's now emerged that he was injured going into the fight. Since then, of course, he's moved to 145 pounds and has beaten Calvin Kattar to break into the featherweight top 10.
Despite this, 'Funk Master' remains underrated by many fans.
He often has to bat off accusations that he got lucky in winning his title when Yan was disqualified - despite beating the Russian in a rematch. And nobody is talking about him as a featherweight title contender despite how good he looked in beating Kattar.
Quite what Sterling needs to do in order to become less overlooked is a mystery, but it's fair to say that he is definitely being underrated right now.
#4. Mateusz Gamrot - UFC lightweight contender
The UFC's lightweight division is filled with both longtime stars like Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler, and Dustin Poirier, as well as fast-rising prospects like Arman Tsarukyan and Benoit Saint Denis.
Right now, it looks like Tsarukyan is probably next in line for champion Islam Makhachev. The Armenian will hope to avenge one of his two career losses in the bout, but what of his other loss?
That came at the hands of one of the UFC's most underrated fighters, Poland's Mateusz Gamrot.
Despite being ranked at No. 5 in the division, 'Gamer' still seems to be overlooked by both the fans and the promotion when it comes to potential title contenders. In all honesty, it's baffling.
Gamrot has won seven of his nine octagon bouts, with his only two losses coming in tight decisions against Guram Kutateladze and Beneil Dariush. Along the way he's beaten Tsarukyan, Rafael Fiziev, Rafael dos Anjos, and Jalin Turner.
It's true that 'Gamer' probably lacks the charisma - and the exciting fighting style - to become a mainstream star like a Gaethje or Chandler. However, in terms of skills, he doesn't really have any weaknesses, and could be a match for any other fighter at 155 pounds.
As long as he continues to fly under the radar, though, he will remain one of the promotion's most underrated fighters.
#3. Curtis Blaydes - UFC heavyweight contender
Next month will see Curtis Blaydes face off with Tom Aspinall in a fight for the interim heavyweight title. In the eyes of many fans, this should be considered the division's "real" title fight, with full champion Jon Jones having been absent for well over a year.
Despite this, a lot of fans - and arguably, Dana White - still tend to underrate Blaydes, with plenty of them writing off his chances of defeating Aspinall.
The fact that 'Razor' is looked at this way is insane when his record is taken into consideration. Standing at 18-4-1 overall, Blaydes has won 13 fights in the octagon.
His only losses have come to three of the heaviest hitters in the game - two knockout defeats to Francis Ngannou, one to Derrick Lewis, and one to Sergei Pavlovich.
These losses might suggest Blaydes doesn't have the best chin, but in reality, those three have the ability to knock any opponent out. There's no shame in a loss to any of them.
Outside of those losses, 'Razor' has probably the best wrestling and takedowns in the heavyweight division, hits extremely hard in his own right, and has a killer instinct when he gets a foe hurt, too.
Realistically, it doesn't matter if he isn't always exciting to watch. If he can beat Aspinall, he should be considered one of the best big men of his generation, if not of all time. At that stage, nobody should underrate him like they do today.
#2. Robert Whittaker - former UFC middleweight champion
It seems baffling to suggest that a former UFC champion could be underrated, but somehow, Robert Whittaker has slipped into that zone in recent years.
The former middleweight titleholder has an absolutely fantastic record that stands up against any other 185-pounder in octagon history. At worst, he's probably a top five middleweight of all time.
'The Reaper' holds wins over Yoel Romero, Derek Brunson, Jacare Souza, Paulo Costa, Jared Cannonier, and Marvin Vettori. All of those fighters were considered greats at their peak, and all were well-beaten by the Australian.
More to the point, though, Whittaker has lost to just two fighters at 185 pounds - former titleholder Israel Adesanya and current champion Dricus du Plessis.
Those losses have meant that 'The Reaper' has technically been out of title contention for some time. However, most fans would still probably favor him to beat most middleweights on the planet.
So why is he underrated? In this case, it's because he ought to be looked at as an all-time great, and somehow, that isn't the case.
In a world without Adesanya, 'The Reaper' would probably be second-only to Anderson Silva in the overall pantheon. Instead, he's seemingly looked at in a similar light to Luke Rockhold and Sean Strickland, which just isn't really fair.
#1. Magomed Ankalaev - UFC light heavyweight contender
Right now, it's almost a certainty that the most underrated fighter on the UFC roster is Magomed Ankalaev.
The light heavyweight contender is riding a ridiculously long unbeaten streak that dates back to 2018. He's lost just once in 12 bouts in the octagon, and even then, Paul Craig pulled off one of the all-time great comebacks to beat him.
The native of Dagestan has beaten the likes of Anthony Smith, Nikita Krylov, Volkan Oezdemir, Johnny Walker, and Thiago Santos.
If the judges had seen things just slightly differently, in fact, in his 2022 draw with Jan Blachowicz, he'd probably be light heavyweight champion right now.
Despite this, there still seems to be a chance that Ankalaev might not have done enough for another title shot, one that would see him take on current champion Alex Pereira. More bafflingly, most fans are not even up in arms about this.
What's the reason? Some observers would argue that the Dagestani does not fight in exciting fashion. However, he has actually finished six of his 10 victories in the octagon!
The truth is that he suffers from a combination of a lack of charisma, and doing what it takes to win, which sometimes means not necessarily going for broke.
If he can finally claim the title though - and realistically, he ought to be favored to beat 'Poatan' - it'd be hard for anyone to continue to overlook him.
