The Best Italian UFC Fighters Of All Time
Italy is one of the most recognizable countries on earth. It’s unique shape, cuisine and architecture make it one of the most desirable tourist destinations. However, Italy is not just culture and sightseeing. For a small population, there are actually a lot of Italian MMA fighters who compete at the highest level of the sport.
Anyone who follows boxing or freestyle wrestling will surely already know of at least one or two Italians who have done very well in their respective sports. Considering MMA is still a very young combat sport, these two skills are arguably the most important when becoming a professional fighter. Without a good grappling and striking base, other skills will simply not be good enough on their own in modern day competition. It’s for this reason that Italy has a small, but solid stable of MMA fighters that have represented their nation at the highest level in the UFC.
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Marvin Vettori
Without a doubt the most successful Italian UFC fighter of all time. Vettori is not a spectacular knockout artist and instead wins most of his fights by either submission or decision. The masterful fight planning and tactics of Vettori alongside his iron jaw make him an incredibly difficult opponent to finish. Beating almost everyone in the middleweight division, Vettori had the chance to become the first Italian born champion of the UFC but lost to the future hall of famer Israel Adesanya. This does not take away from the performance or career of Vettori which has been nothing short of exceptional.
With an 18-5 record, Vettori has acheived more than 99.9% of fighters will ever dream of and still has a good number of years left in his career before retirement.
Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara
Ending his career with a very respectable 21-13 record, Alessio Sakara fought in a variety of national level promotions, as well as both the UFC and Bellator. A 15 fight veteran of the UFC, Sakara came up against some of the toughest fighters in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions including Chris Weidman and Dean Lister.
An avid lover of Roman history, Sakara has “Senatus Populusque Romanus” (an old Italian soldiers tattoo) tattooed on his arm proving that he is a true patriot of Italy. Whilst Sakara does not really have any signature wins or highlights on his record, he has still beat very respectable opposition and is a pioneer of Italian MMA.
Alessio Di Chirico
Although Alessio Di Chirico has not had too much success in the UFC, the fact that he went 9-0 to get there in the first place with 8 stoppages is very impressive. Since joining the UFC, Di Chirico has 4 wins and 6 losses which will likely mean he will be released should his results not improve.
Di Chirico has publicly stated that he does not like the comparison between MMA fighters and gladiators. Referencing that gladiators were once slaves and that MMA fighters should behave as gentlemen.
Carlo “Semento” Pedersoli
Although the translation of Carlo Pedersoli Jr’s name is “seed”, he got this name after training in Japan, with the meaning being something more akin to “cement”.
Pedersoli was 10-1 at the time he was signed by the UFC, with 6 of these wins being by various stoppages. His time in the UFC was certainly not how he would have wanted it to go with 1 win and 3 losses before being released from the promotion.
