The most intimidating MMA fighters ever

MMA fighters have to be amongst the most dreadful combat sports athletes in the world, well at least that is what we would expect.

And yet, some fighters are more forcing than others, whose simple stare can send shivers down the spine of the most intense fighters.

However, when it comes down to what genuinely makes a threatening fighter, no specific elements make a fighter intimidating.

It comes from a combination of personality, attitude, fighting style, in_cage records, brutality, appearance, sheer strength, and size of the fighter. Other variables may contribute as well.

In case you are wondering to recall these massive MMA fighters who have not entered the cage unless the audience was quaking in their boots, you are landed on the right path.

The most intimidating MMA fighters ever to step into the cage

Here we would go through the list of the top 10 scariest fighters in mixed martial arts so as to find out the reason why they have such a killer instinct.

Quinton Jackson

The American former UFC light-heavyweight champion is one of the pioneers who made the sport so popular around the world, being widely hailed as one of the 10 Most Intimidating MMA Fighters Ever in the light of his aggressive fighting style.

Not to mention that his eccentric character, the huge chain around his neck as well as his menacing gaze, have made him look even more savage.

He was not a destructive fighter just in the Pride FC of Japan, since after he even joined the UFC, he succeeded to grab the light heavyweight title. Amazingly he knocked out the reigning champion Chuck Liddell with one of his incredible trademark looping hooks.

Then he went on to cope with Wanderlei Silva in an epic grudge rivalry as he insanely knocked him out, while in their previous match he was beaten by his opponent.

In essence with his special skill in wrestling and street fighting, as well as his distinctive walkouts where he would howl like a wolf, he would be deemed as one of the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

Cris Cyborg

Although it is a bit bizarre to include a woman in the list of the most intimidating MMA fighters ever, in as much a great majority of them would not live up to the fans' expectations, there are some female fighters that are known for their aggressiveness and brutality too.

But among these several standout female fighters, nobody has been compared to the ferocity and violent power of Cris Cyborg.

Cristiane Justino Venancio, widely recognized with his ring name of Cris Cyborg, has established a true dominance between the years of 2005 to 2018, in the women’s featherweight category.

Being among the

, nobody had ever dared to approach her for such a long run. With her physically potent body frame in a thin division of featherweight, everyone who was set to cope with her in the cage knew how a rough time awaits them with Cyborg's savage beating during the fight.

However, the UFC’s current bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes dethroned her at UFC 232 with barrages of punches in the very first round. Yet nobody denies that she would be widely revered as the 

most avoided UFC fighter ever

.

Alistair Overeem

He is one of the most successful, not just MMA fighters, but combat sports athletes in the world, in the light of his Strikeforce, DREAM, and K-1 championships as well as his being the first fighter to hold world titles in MMA and K-1 kickboxing at the same time.

Although he became a professional fighter in 1999, his UFC career was started in 2011 when he knocked out one of

who was Brock Lesnar in the Heavyweight division.

It is notable to suggest both Overeem and Lesnar have been nominated to take a spot in this list of

the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

While previously he was a middleweight, with the passage of time, he managed to add some serious additional muscle with help of his diet and some additional banned ingredients as he was tested positive for grossly elevated levels of testosterone in 2012.

Although he was suspended for a while, anyway he settled himself at heavyweight, so as to experience his most prolific span of career when he went on a twelve winning streak, as he turned out to be unbeatable for a while.

With a cosmetic, genetically modified physique, he went down as one of the scariest UFC fighters 2021, sweeping the board to beat five former UFC champions while he is still assumed to be among the

Yoel Romero

The Cuban MMA fighter and former freestyle wrestler, still competes in the Light Heavyweight category of Bellator MMA, while he previously challenged the UFC Middleweight Championship on four occasions.

Yet, notwithstanding his never grabbing a UFC championship, his achievements in Olympic wrestling and his illustrious UFC performances, have seen him bear a lot of resemblance to the greatest fighters in MMA.

Owing to his vicious explosiveness and power, he is widely hailed as one of the most athletic fighters in MMA history, having wins over a number of outstanding former world champions.

Therefore it is of little surprise to see him as the most avoided UFC fighter, especially had you known how he would miraculously drag his opponents to the ground or how he would knock them down with a blink of explosive dynamism. Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold have tangibly savoured how hard and quick he can hit.

How did Michael Bisping try his utmost to evade fighting against him with whatever excuses that existed, is a shred of mounting evidence to certainly add him to our list of

the most intimidating MMA fighters ever

.

Anthony Johnson

The American MMA fighter currently competes for Bellator MMA in the light heavyweight division as in 2021 he has come back from his retirement so as to beat Jose Augusto by knockout to make his glories career 23- 6.

His grabbing 17 number of his 23 wins through knockouts, speaks volumes about his insane one-punch knockout power.

While he edged his name as one the scariest UFC fighters 2021, he was the #1 ranked light heavyweight contender in official UFC rankings, as he was ranked #2 in the world by Sherdog and ESPN as well.

In fact, he was the Francis Ngannou of his day and division due to his menacingly powerful strikes in his prime that earned him an awful lot of victories via stoppage so as to leave his opponents in a crumpled mess.

Therefore his toned physique, as well as his killer instinct, are assumed to be the main reasons why he is widely dubbed as one of the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

Chuck Liddell

As one of

, Chuck Liddell was once the UFC light-heavyweight champion, spending his days knocking out his opponents very easily as they were trembling in fear.

As he was boasted from a terrific trademark mohawk, a cool calm demeanour, a devastating striking, as well as an ability to get back to his feet, it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is an indispensable member of

the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

He had an insane, brutal and relentless fighting style, yet this was not the case towards the end of his career when he was beaten by KO in his last six fights.

Be that as it may, he still goes down as the most avoided UFC fighter, being immortalized as one of MMA’s true pioneers who helped develop the sport to what it looks like today.

Wanderlei Silva

The former Pride middleweight champion who was the product of the bare-knuckle Brazilian Vale Tudo scene, rose to prominence with his sheer unbridled aggression coupled with an insane knockout power as well as a solid base in Muay Thai.

This is his ferocious attitude inside the ring and the style of fighting that led him to dominate the Pride middleweight division, between a long span of 2001 and 2007, cementing his place among the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

At the prime heyday of his career which was a long period for itself, he seemed to be a true unbeaten force while he only underwent some consecutive defeats after he lost his title.

Yet with his trademark hand warm-up exercises, head tattoo and bulging physique from all manner of supplements along with his epic battles against Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson, it is undeniable that he would go down as one of the most intimidating MMA fighters ever.

Mirko Cro Cop

The Croatian MMA fighter is the deadliest warrior in the history of MMA and has a special place in our list of the 10 Most Intimidating MMA Fighters Ever, while he was honoured to become the only fighter to contest in almost all the biggest MMA and Kickboxing promotions.

There must be something in his brutal fights and destructive stopping power that has made him such a vicious monster, and this was nothing but his trademark kick.

His well-known signature move was notoriously dubbed as “right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery" while it had a miraculous power to put trained MMA beasts to sleep instantly.

While he is considered to be the

best MMA fighter ever

, he earned a number of 71 triumphs just through knockouts. Yet unfortunately he was knocked out by his own trademark technique of the left high kick and went into retirement.

Fedor Emelianenko

With the possession of dynamic striking and elite level Russian Sambo techniques, he was so potent that he could beat some of the best American wrestlers and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu players in the sport.

With his agile and influential striking, he was too of a challenge for his opponents especially when it came to his establishing dominance on the ground that had forced them back to their feet and that is the main reason why he is considered to be one of the

10 Most Intimidating MMA Fighters Ever

.

As one of the most iconic fighters of the twenty-first century, he proved that he could beat any fighter in his era when he was at prime heyday of his career, as he has some spectacular wins over some of the MMA giants as the likes of Mark Coleman (twice), Kevin Randleman, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mirko Cro Cop and Mark Hunt.

These amazing feats in the most dangerous division of the bouts are enough to consider him as the best MMA fighter ever who managed to scare his opponents terrifically.

Francis Ngannou

When it comes to the insane modern-day fighters, there is no peer for the Cameroonian reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion who could carry just a bit of his aura of destruction.

While he is enlisted among

, he is widely hailed as the hardest recorded puncher in history so as to get a spot among the

scariest UFC fighters 2021

.

As the best MMA fighter ever and the most physical specimen to ever enter the octagon, he is blessed with a knockout power like Mike Tyson on steroids that has turned him into an absolute monster.

In his battle against Alistair Overeem, many had expected to witness the first death in the octagon, while he has spectacularly knocked out the giants like Junior dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Curtis Blaydes and Andrei Arlovski in his stellar career.

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