At the highest level of competition in any sport, having the potential to be the best is never good enough if you don’t realize that potential. This is no different than in the UFC. There have been some fighters throughout the years that many thought would go on to do huge things and then seemingly fizzled out in one way or another without ever getting close to reaching their potential.
1. Melvin Guillard
(source: dailymail.co.uk)
Based on pure athleticism, Melvin Guillard had the potential to be a UFC Champion and control the lightweight division for years. Unforuntately for him, he refused to learn much about wrestling and submissions, which led him to lose a few fights. On top of that, he had numerous out of the cage problems such as drug abuse that kept him from realizing his potential. He still fights, but is a shell of his former self.
2. Phillipe Nover
(source: mmajunkie.com)
It was not Nover’s fault that he couldn’t live up to the hype or reach his potential. This is because Dana White put a ton of pressure on this guy and he just couldn’t live up to it. On numerous occasions (during the season where Nover was on the Ultimate Fighter) White compared Nover to all-time greats such as Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. With thoughts like that in people’s heads, they were shocked when Nover went 0-3 in his first stint in the UFC.
3. Josh Grispi
(source: bleacherreport.com)
Grispi was a young up and come in the UFC earlier this decade and was thought to be a future champion. He was 10-1 when he joined the WEC/UFC and won his first four fights when he got there. He was the number one contender and expected to fight for the title, but had to back out and relinquish his spot due to an injury. After his return, he was never the same and would lose the last four fights of his career. Then, in 2014, Grispi was arrested for assaulting his wife and drug possession, ending his career and showing that he is a terrible human being.
