The 10 best fighters to never fight in the UFC

#8 Vitor ‘Shaolin’ Ribeiro

Current UFC referee Vitor Ribeiro was once one of the world's best at 155lbs

Today’s UFC fans might recognise Vitor Ribeiro as a small referee who officiates when the Octagon makes its way to New Jersey – but a lot of them might not realise that when he’s refereeing a Lightweight fight, there's probably a chance that in his prime, he could’ve comfortably submitted the other two fighters in the Octagon with him. Simply put, ‘Shaolin’ was once one of the best grapplers, pound-for-pound, in all of MMA.

The Brazilian rose to prominence in the early 2000's, first in the US-based WFA promotion and then in Japan's Shooto rings – where many of the great Lightweights that eventually competed in PRIDE cut their teeth. During his time in Shooto, Ribeiro picked up huge wins over the likes of Tatsuya Kawajiri, Joachim Hansen and Mitsuhiro Ishida, with his only loss coming to Kawajiri in a rematch.

When those fighters began to migrate to PRIDE – and eventually to the UFC – ‘Shaolin’ took a different path, going on a nine-fight winning streak on the smaller circuit. Quite why the UFC never signed him is a mystery to me – with his incredible top game, dangerous elbows and deadly arm triangle choke, he’d have been tailor-made for Octagon success.

As it was, by the time Ribeiro made his way stateside with StrikeForce in 2010, he was way past his prime – he’d never truly recovered from an eye injury sustained in a fight with Gesias Cavalcante in 2007, and ended his career in 2010 with three disappointing losses. But in his prime, ‘Shaolin’ was a true great – and could definitely have challenged for UFC gold in 2005/06 had the Lightweight division existed at the time. It’s a pity he's only entered the Octagon as a ref, really.