# What was the best MMA fight of the 1990s?

> Tournament nights with no weight classes, a couple of sold-out Tokyo Dome cards and the first real title bouts. Back then nobody knew which fighting style would come out on top.

*By YPB Team · Published October 27, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/what-was-the-best-mma-fight-of-the-1990s*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Royce Gracie vs. Dan Severn** — score 1000/1000
   The UFC 4 tournament final in 1994, where Gracie absorbed nearly 16 minutes of punishment from the much bigger wrestler before finishing him with a triangle choke.
2. **Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie** — score 1000/1000
   The Pride 8 fight in 1999 where Sakuraba's kimura forced a stoppage, the first loss for a Gracie in decades and the start of his 'Gracie Hunter' legend.
3. **Rickson Gracie vs. Nobuhiko Takada** — score 952/1000
   The main event of Pride 1 in 1997, where Rickson armbarred Japan's pro-wrestling star in front of a huge Tokyo Dome crowd and launched Pride.
4. **Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock** — score 844/1000
   The UFC 1 semifinal in 1993, where Gracie choked out Shamrock in under a minute and announced Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the world.
5. **Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz** — score 844/1000
   The UFC 22 middleweight title fight in 1999, a back-and-forth war Shamrock won with strikes in the fourth round before retiring as champion.
6. **Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort** — score 555/1000
   The 1997 UFC 15 bout where the veteran wrestler Couture wore down the feared young striker Belfort and stopped him on the ground.
7. **Bas Rutten vs. Kevin Randleman** — score 555/1000
   The 21-minute UFC 20 heavyweight title fight in 1999 that Rutten won by a hotly disputed split decision after a bloody start.
8. **Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva** — score 555/1000
   The 1998 Ultimate Brazil fight in which a 21-year-old Belfort chased down Silva with a flurry of punches and won in 44 seconds.
9. **Ken Shamrock vs. Bas Rutten** — score 555/1000
   Their 1995 Pancrase rematch, where Shamrock submitted the Dutch striker with a kneebar to keep the King of Pancrase crown.
10. **Mark Coleman vs. Dan Severn** — score 0/1000
   The UFC 12 bout in 1997 where Coleman submitted fellow wrestler Severn to become the first UFC heavyweight champion.
11. **Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn** — score 0/1000
   The UFC 6 Superfight in 1995 where Shamrock caught the bigger Severn in a guillotine choke inside three minutes to win the Superfight title.

Tags: 90s, ufc, mma, pride fc, fights