Misha Cirkunov

Misha Cirkunov arrived in the UFC in 2015 with a judo black belt, a BJJ pedigree and a knack for ending fights fast, and for a while he looked like a genuine light heavyweight prospect. His ground game was the draw: trips into dominant position, then a submission before the round was out.

The top of the division proved tougher. Losses to the likes of Glover Teixeira and Volkan Oezdemir checked his climb, and a late move to middleweight didn't spark a revival. By the early 2020s the losses had piled up and his contender days were behind him.

For fans, Cirkunov is remembered as a finisher rather than a points fighter, a grappler whose best nights produced the kind of clean, quick submissions that make you rewind the replay.