The following is a list of the “Top 10 Judoka In MMA” using again like the previous post, no particular scientific formula, just going with general consensus. These are ranked not in order of their accomplishments but in the order in which they represent Judo exclusively, or made big shifts in consciousness towards awareness of Judo’s practical use in real fighting situations:

1. Ronda Rousey (Strikeforce / UFC)
2. Yoshihiro Akiyama (K1 / UFC)
3. Karo Parisyan (UFC / Bellator)
4. Hidehiko Yoshida (PRIDE / Sengoku)
5. Rick Hawn (Bellator)
6. Kazuhiro Nakamura (PRIDE / DREAM)
7. Hector Lombard (UFC)
8. Dong Hyun Kim (UFC)
9. Shinya Aoki (OneFC / RizinFF)
10. Fedor Emelianenko (PRIDE / Strikeforce / RizinFF)

WARNING: below there will be videos (non auto-playing) that depict scenes of violence that may be unsuitable for some audiences. These scenes are from legal, sanctioned, refereed combat sports events such as MMA, Judo, Combat Sambo, etc… and/or related supervised training activities.

1. Ronda Rousey (Strikeforce / UFC)

Despite her polarizing personality (most people typically either love her or hate her), it goes without saying that this woman has probably done the most for Judo in MMA, as well as women’s MMA being given the attention it deserves.

She ran through the female divisions of Strikeforce & UFC without any serious competition until finally being stopped by Holly Holm, and later Amanda Nunes. Nothing can take away her amazing accomplishments though, having some of the fastest submissions and shortest (as well as most exciting) fights in MMA history, all against the best female competition of her generation.

In the gym, she even throws, pins and/or submits top MMA legends twice her size including:

• Bas Rutten
  
  
• Nick Diaz & Nate Diaz
  
• Luke Rockhold
  
• Gegard Mousasi
  
  
  
  In case that wasn’t convincing enough of a resume, here’s an analysis of some of her best Judo techniques used in MMA:
  

  2. Yoshihiro Akiyama (K-1 / UFC)

  Perhaps known more for his pop musical talents (with a massive following in Korea where he is known by his birth name “Choo Sung-hoon“) as well as his theatrics and elaborate ring entrances than his fighting skill, Akiyama was actually once Gold medal Judo champion at the Asian Games and represents both South Korea and Japan (he was born in Japan to “zainichi Korean” but nationalized Japanese parents).

  He has pulled off some of the most impressive Judo throws in the history of MMA. Here are but a few examples:
  

   

  3. Karo Parisyan (UFC / Bellator)

  Karo “the heat” Parisyan is well known for being one of the first to substantially represent and Judo in the UFC with some beautiful throws.

  He was also quite vocal in saying that Judo deserved respect as a martial art for self-defense, and in particular, that his combined Gene Lebell “rough & tumble” American-style Judo and Gokor Chivichyan style of “freestyle wrestling-inspired” Armenian Judo could handle anything the BJJ community could throw at it.

  4. Hidehiko Yoshida (PRIDE / Sengoku)
  Olympic gold medalist in Judo, Hidehiko Yoshida was the first judoka to cross-over into MMA (other than “Judo” Gene Lebell in his early cross-over matches against boxers, wrestlers and other martial artists in some real and some exhibition bouts). He is certainly the highest profile to do so, having one All-Japan championships, and Olympic gold twice. He faced an executioner’s list of heavyweights giants, muscle-bound light heavyweights and athletic middleweights, while himself fighting as what would be equivalent to a welterweight throughout his entire Judo career.

   

  He is also very humble despite being at the top echelon of the Judo community in Japan, here’s an interview after his infamous match with Royce Gracie:
  http://judoinfo.com/yoshida2/
  
  This was a match most of the world considers him to have won, however the Gracies disputed the claim and insisted the match result of a “Win by TKO” be reversed to a “No Contest” or their would never compete in Japan again.

   

  5. Rick Hawn (Bellator)
  
  Rick Hawn was a US national champion in Judo and a member of the US olympic Judo team in 2004 and competitor for a spot in 2008, although he failed to medal he always performed quite well on the international stage with a dynamic and exciting style of Judo. He has become the top modern Judo representative in MMA today.

  6. Kazuhiro Nakamura (PRIDE / DREAM)
  Kazuhiro “king kaz” Nakamura was an All-Japan champion and had a successful MMA career, very much inspired by and trying to follow in the footsteps of, Hidehiko Yoshida, someone he looked up to and whom eventually became a coach and mentor to him. In fact, the two of them fought in what was surely a bittersweet moment meant to be Yoshida’s farewell and “passing of the torch” to the next generation, but Yoshida out-pointed the younger fighter.
  

  7. Hector Lombard (PRIDE / UFC)
  Hector Lombard is not what you typically think of in a Judo practitioner showing how weaker opponents can overcome stronger by diverting their force and using their own strengths against them. Rather, he is an extremely intimidating presence in any MMA ring or cage as he is a physical specimen, but this means he is also a unique application of the efficiency of Judo techniques thanks to Olympic Judoka training, coupled with an overwhelming amount of strength. While he is getting into the twilight of his career, he’s still known as “one of the scariest fighters that no one wants to go up against” to paraphrase UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
  

  8. Dong Hyun Kim (UFC)
  Not to be outdone by fellow Korean Judo practitioner Yoshihiro “sexyama” (Akiyama), he is known as the “stun gun” because fans claim he has stunning good looks, but also quick hands and can execute a variety of Judo and wrestling techniques with stunning agility. Unlike many Korean fighters who got their start in Taekwondo and other traditional Korean martial arts, he competed in Judo into his teenage years, and earned a black belt before moving over to competing in MMA. He still combines a large amount of Judo takedowns into his attacks and defences, whether to setup his striking or to gain a positional advantage.
  

  9. Shinya Aoki (One FC / RizinFF)
  Shinya “tobikan judan” Aoki was somewhat of a black sheep of the Judo community in Japan, frequently finishing opponents with ne waza techniques on the ground rather than engaging in tachi waza (standing up). He was particularly fond of chokes and painful joint locks, and was the subject of a few controversial matches and long-debated topics that lead to rule changes, such as whether or not “flying armbars” (which is what his nickname translates to being the master of, in case you needed an idea of his proficiency) should be allowed.
  
  Eventually the flying armbars were indeed banned, not because of how easily he was injuring folks’ arms using the technique, but how easily folks all over the world were hurting themselves by attempting the technique and landing on their own head/neck/shoulders too hard due to not adequately planning their falls and/or practicing to get the timing and limited maneuvering options you have while airborn as close to perfect as possible to make this somewhat high-risk maneuver safe enough to attempt.
  

  10. Fedor Emelianenko (PRIDE / Strikeforce / RizinFF)

  Fedor “the last emperor” Emelianenko ruled the heavyweight division for over a decade. He is extremely experienced in Judo techniques, mostly through his Sambo background. Sambo was the culmination of an effort by the Russian government and military to study several martial arts of the time in the 19th-20th century and strategically combine Russian folk style martial arts to give its citizens a sense of pride in their own discipline. Since Judo had become so well-known, it featured prominently in its technique set and still does today, where there are Russian names for almost all the 40 Kodokan throws and also some very unique Russian variations (such as “Russian grip”/2-on-1, cross-side attacks, etc).

  The real goal though, was to create a new competition ruleset that would be useful in hardening Russian troops for hand-to-hand combat. Sambo (grappling) and Combat Sambo (grappling + striking) was born and Fedor emerged as its modern undisputed champion, before moving on to MMA and becoming the most feared heavyweight of his time.