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Ron Waterman

Superheavyweight is the most underserved weight class in mixed martial arts. It was only ever really a thing during the pioneer age of the sport, before weight classes even existed: Since the adoption of weight classes, especially in America, superheavyweight has ceased to exist as anything but a freakshow--the domain of Butterbeans, Pudzianowskis and Barutos. The only superheavyweight tournament in modern MMA was won by career middleweight Ikuhisa Minowa, because most superheavyweights are better at being very large than they are at fighting. It is only fitting that maybe the most accomplished superheavyweight in the sport, Ron Waterman, was only barely a superheavyweight at all.

Waterman--who was nickanmed "H2O" just to personally anger me--initially wasn't a fighter: He was an art teacher who also happened to be a wrestling coach. His wrestling background and his fascination with martial arts led him to, almost by happenstance, enter the first-ever Bas Rutten Invitational, a one-night tournament that saw him win three matches before pulling out of the final round--it would be won by Eugene Jackson, and brought both men to the attention of the UFC, which was hungry for new stars during its turn-of-the-century struggle to stay afloat. Waterman established himself as a standout, going 2-1-1 and gaining a reputation as a talented heavyweight. Unfortunately, two things ended his UFC run: The UFC adopted the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC was purchased by Zuffa. MMA entered the modern age, and after UFC 28, the UFC never promoted a superheavyweight fighter again. Waterman was close to the heavyweight division--he generally came in at 280 pounds, 15 above the limit--but he was already nearing his forties, and cutting weight was not in the cards.

Waterman tried to turn to professional wrestling, joining the WWE's developmental program, but was released after almost two years of dark matches and house show tours, having never made it to television. However, in fighting at UFC's Ultimate Japan 3, he'd made contacts in Japanese MMA that were more than happy to import another giant, scary gaijin wrestler. He became a Pancrase regular, but most famously made three appearances with Pride, the first a quick submission victory over Valentijn Overeem, the second a hard-fought TKO loss to Mirko Cro Cop, and the third a tough but dominant submission over Kevin Randleman. He almost certainly could have had further success there--he was 12-2-2, a legitimately skilled fighter, and had the look, size and attitude the audience loved. Unfortunately, he had spent two years traveling back and forth between America and Japan and he was turning 40 in a year--and he was ready to stop. He completed a pro-wrestling tour with NJPW in 2005, then returned to the states to fight out the rest of his career.

Ron Waterman retired in 2008 at 16-6-2. It's already a solid record, but more impressive on close examination: His losses came against top 10-ranked Dave Herman, jiu-jitsu phenom Roger Gracie, and world champions Ricco Rodriguez, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka and Mirko Cro Cop, and early MMA pioneer Andre "The Chief" Roberts, himself 14-2-1. The superheavyweight GOAT conversation is basically 280-pound Ron Waterman, 320-pound Eric Pele, or 185-pound middleweight Ikuhisa Minowa, because MMA is magic.

Moveset, stats, logic and four attires (UFC 20 vs Condo / Pride 27 vs Cro Cop / WEC 16 vs Rodriguez / Pancrase: Hybrid 10 vs Ambriz).