The GOAT of every Country, Region, State

CoffeeAndBeer

OG from 1993
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List of every GOAT by Country, Region, State
(based on place of birth)

Help fill the list.
Who's not listed? Which should be changed?


Best in each category, noted in green.
Fighters raised elsewhere from an early age, noted by (r.Elsewhere)
Fighters descendent from elsewhere, noted by (d.Elsewhere)


_______________________________

AFRICA

af.png

Algeria --
Angola -- Demarte Pena
Benin --
Botswanna --
Burkina Faso --
Burundi --
Cabo Verde --
Cameroon -- Francis Ngannou, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Central African Republic --
Chad --
Comoros --
Congo (Zaire) --
Côte d'Ivoire --
Djibouti --
DR Congo -- Christian M'Pumbu
Egypt --
Equatorial Guinea --
Eritrea --
Eswatini --
Ethiopia --
Gabon --
Gambia --
Ghana --
Guinea --
Guinea-Bissau --
Kenya --
Lesotho --
Liberia --
Libya --
Madagascar --
Malawi --
Mali --
Mauritania --
Mauritius --
Morocco --
Mozambique --
Nambia --
Niger --
Nigeria -- Israel Adesanya or Kamaru Usman
Rwanda --
Sao Tome & Principe --
Senegal --
Seychelles --
Sierra Leone --
Somalia --
South Africa -- Trevor Prangley
South Sudan --
Sudan --
Tanzania --
Togo --
Tunisia --
Uganda --
Zambia --
Zimbabwe --

_______________________________

ASIA

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Afghanistan -- Siyar Bahadurzada
Armenia -- Karo Parysian
Azerbaijan --
Bahrain --
Bangladesh --
Bhutan --
Brunei --
Cambodia --
China -- Zhang Weili
Georgia -- Giga Chikadze
India --
Indonesia -- Fransino Tirta
Iran -- Gegard Mousasi (raised in.Netherlands)
Iraq -- Randa Markos* (G4G)
Israel --
Japan -- Taknori Gomi or Kazushi Sakuraba
Jordan --
Kazakhstan -- Kairat Akhmetov
Kuwait --
Kyrgyzstan -- Valentina Shevchenko* (G4G)
Laos --
Lebanon --
Malaysia --
Maldives --
Mongolia -- Jadamba Narantungalag
Myanmar (Burma) -- Aung La Nsang
Nepal --
North Korea --
Oman --
Pakistan --
Palestine --
Philippines -- Eduard Folayang
Qatar --
Russia (Asia) -- Andrey Koreshkov or Alexander Schlemenko or Petr Yan
Saudi Arabia --
Singapore --
South Korea -- Chan Sung Jung or Dong Hyun Kim
Sri Lanka --
Syria -- Jarjis Danho
Taiwan --
Tajikistan --
Thailand -- Rambaa Somdet
Timor-Leste --
Turkey -- Alptekin Özkılıç
Turkmenistan --
United Arab Emirates --
Uzbekistan --
Vietnam -- Cung Le (r.California/U.S.A.)
Yemen --​

_______________________________

EUROPE

eu.png

Albania --
Andorra --
Austria -- Aleksandar Rakić (d.Serbia)
Belarus -- Andrei Arlovski
Belgium -- Tarec Saffiedine
Bosnia and Herzegovina -- Mirsad Bektić
Bulgaria -- Blagoi Ivanov
Croatia -- Mirko Filipovic
Cyprus -- Costas Philippou
Czechia -- Jiří Procházka
Denmark -- Martin Kampmann
Estonia -- Dennis Smoldarev
Finland --
France -- Cheick Kongo (d.DR Congo, Burkina Faso)
Germany -- Daniel Weichel
Greece --
Hungary --
Iceland -- Gunnar Nelson
Ireland -- Conor McGregor
Italy -- Alessio Sakara
Kazakhstan --
Kosovo --
Latvia -- Misha Cirkunov
Liechtenstein --
Lithuania -- Marius Žaromskis
Luxembourg --
Macedonia --
Malta --
Moldova --
Monaco --
Montenegro --
Netherlands -- Bas Rutten
Norway -- Joachim Hansen
Poland -- Jan Błachowicz, Joanna Jędrzejczyk* (G4G)
Portugal --
Romania --
Russia (Euro) -- Fёdor Emelianenko Khabib Nurmagomedov
San Marino --
Serbia --
Slovakia -- Attila Végh or Ivan Buchinger
Slovenia --
Spain -- Chris Barnett (r.GA, USA)
Sweden -- Alexander Gustafsson
Switzerland -- Volkan Oezdemir (d.Turkey)
Ukraine -- Igor Vovchanchyn (Fedor's place of birth is now part of Russia)
United Kingdom -- Alistair Overeem (r.d.Netherlands, d.Jamaica)
Vatican City --

_______________________________

NORTH AMERICA

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Antigua and Barbuda --
Bahamas -- Kimbo Slice Yves Edwards
Barbados --
Belize --
Canada -- Georges St Pierre^
Costa Rica --
Cuba -- Hector Lombard or Yoel Romero
Dominica --
Dominican Republic --
El Salvador -- Ivan Menjivar
Grenada --
Guatemala --
Haiti -- Yves Jabouin
Honduras --
Jamaica -- Uriah Hall
Mexico -- Brandon Moreno, Jessica Aguilar* (G4G)
Nicaragua --
Panama --
St. Kitts and Nevis --
St. Lucia --
St. Vincent and The Grenadines --
Trinidad and Tobago -- Gary Goodridge
United States of America -- Jon Jones^

DEPENDENT TERRITORIES --
Anguilla (UK) -- Carlos Newton
Aruba (Netherlands) --
Bermuda (UK) --
Bonaire (Netherlands) --
British Virgin Islands (UK) --
Cayman Islands (UK) --
Clipperton Island (France) --
Curaçao (Netherlands) --
Greenland (Denmark) --
Guadeloupe (France) --
Martinique (France) --
Montserrat (UK) --
Puerto Rico (USA) -- Jorge Rivera
Saba (Netherlands) --
Saint Barthélemy (France) --
Saint Martin (France) --
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France) -- Denis Kang
Sint Eustatius (Netherlands) --
Sint Maarten (Netherlands) --
Turks and Caicos Islands (UK) --
US Virgin Islands (USA) --

_______________________________

SOUTH AMERICA

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Argentina -- Santiago Ponzinibbio
Bolivia --
Brazil -- Anderson Silva
Chile -- Ignacio Bahamondes Pablo Villaseca
Colombia --
Ecuador -- Marlon Vera
Guyana --
Paraguay --
Peru -- Luis Palomino
Suriname -- Melvin Manhoef (r.Netherlands age 3)
Uruguay --
Venezuela -- Maximo Blanco

DEPENDENT TERRITORIES --
Falkland Islands (UK) --
French Guiana (France) --
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (UK) --


_______________________________

OTHER
Australia -- Alexander Volkanovski, George Sotiropoulos
New Zealand -- Robert Whittaker, Mark Hunt

DEPENDENT TERRITORIES:
Guam (U.S. territory) -- Joe Taimanglo


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keys and Notes:
GOAT = Greatest in that particular State/Region/Country
Others = Other notable fighters
*G4G = Gender-for-Gender recognizing female fighters
Honorary = Notable contributors to MMA
 
Last edited:
_______________________________

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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The West
  • Alaska -- Bristol Marunde
  • Arizona -- Justin Gaethje or Don Frye(?AZ/FL?)
  • California -- Dan Henderson, Ronda Rousey(?) (G4G) - Bruce Lee, Gene LeBell
  • Colorado -- Benson Henderson (r.Washington)
  • Hawaii -- BJ Penn or Max Holloway
  • Idaho -- Jared Rosholt
  • Montana -- Keith Jardine
  • Nevada -- Ryan Bader or Frank Mir
  • New Mexico -- Carlos Condit
  • Oregon -- Chael Sonnen
  • Utah -- Scott Jorgensen (r.Idaho/Alaska)
  • Washington -- Randy Couture, Meisha Tate(?) (G4G)
  • Wyoming -- Nate Marquardt
The Midwest
  • Illinois -- Matt Hughes
  • Indiana -- Miguel Angel Torres
  • Iowa -- Pat Miletich
  • Kansas -- Bobby Lashley
  • Michigan -- Dan Severn
  • Minnesota -- Sean Sherk
  • Missouri -- Tyron Woodley
  • Nebraska -- Jake Ellenberger
  • North Dakota --
  • Ohio -- Stipe Miocic Rich Franklin
  • South Dakota -- Brock Lesnar
  • Wisconsin -- Anthony Pettis, Rose Namajunas (G4G)
The Northeast
  • Connecticut -- Brennan Ward
  • Maine -- Tim Sylvia
  • Massachusetts -- Kenny Florian
  • New Hampshire --
  • New Jersey -- Frankie Edgar
  • New York -- Jon Jones
  • Pennsylvania -- Eddie Alvarez
  • Rhode Island --
  • Vermont --
The South
  • Alabama --
  • Arkansas -- Alan Belcher
  • Delaware -- Din Thomas
  • Florida -- Jorge Masvidal
  • Georgia -- Ken Shamrock (r.California)
  • Kentucky -- Demetrious Johnson (r.Washington)
  • Louisiana -- Daniel Cormier
  • Maryland -- Sara McMann (G4G)
  • Mississippi --
  • North Carolina -- Jason Miller
  • Oklahoma -- Johnny Hendricks
  • South Carolina -- Stephen Thompson
  • Tennessee -- Rampage Jackson
  • Texas -- Joseph Benavidez (r.New Mexico)
  • Virginia -- Brandon Vera
  • West Virginia -- Brian Bowles

_______________________________

BRASIL

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Norte
  • Acre --
  • Amapá --
  • Amazonas -- Jose Aldo
  • Rondônia --
  • Roraima --
  • Pará -- Helio Gracie, Carlos Gracie
  • Tocantins --
Nordeste
  • Alagoas --
  • Bahia -- Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Amanda Nunes (G4G)
  • Ceará -- Thiago Alves
  • Maranhão -- Zuluzinho
  • Paraíba -- Luiz Firmino
  • Pernambuco -- Raphael Assuncao
  • Piauí --
  • Rio Grande do Norte -- Patrício Pitbull Renan Barao
  • Sergipe --
Centro Oeste
  • D.F.-Brasília -- Antonio Silva
  • Goiás --
  • Mato Grasso --
  • Mato Grosso do Sul --
Sudeste
  • Espírito Santo -- Ronaldo Souza
  • Minas Gerais -- Glover Teixeira Rousimar Palhares
  • Rio de Janeiro -- Vitor Belfort
  • São Paulo -- Anderson Silva
Sul
  • Paraná -- Wanderlei Silva
  • Rio Grande do Sul -- Fabricio Werdum
  • Santa Catarina -- Junior dos Santos
_______________________________

JAPAN
prefecture-map.png

Hokkaidō
  • Hokkaido --
Tōhoku
  • Akita -- Kazushi Sakuraba
  • Aomori -- Masakatsu Funaki, Mitsuyo Maeda
  • Fukushima -- Kazuyuki Fujita
  • Iwate --
  • Miyagi --
  • Yamagata -- Ryo Chonan
Kantō
  • Chiba -- Kazuo Misaki or Hiroyuki Takaya
  • Gunma -- Kyoji Horiguchi
  • Ibaraki -- Hayato Sakurai
  • Kanagawa -- Takanori Gomi
  • Saitama --
  • Tochigi --
  • Tokyo -- Genki Sudo
Chūbu
  • Aichi -- Hatsu Hioki
  • Fukui --
  • Gifu -- Ikuhisa Minowa
  • Ishikawa --
  • Nagano --
  • Niigata -- Yuki Kondo
  • Shizuoka -- Shinya Aoki
  • Toyama --
  • Yamanashi --
Kansai
  • Hyogo -- Dokonjonosuke Mishima
  • Kyoto -- Masakatsu Ueda
  • Mie --
  • Nara -- Satoru Kitaoka
  • Osaka -- Yoshihiro Akiyama
  • Shiga -- Tsuyoshi Kosaka
  • Wakayama --
Chūgoku
  • Hiroshima -- Kazuhiro Nakamura
  • Okayama -- Megumi Fujii (G4G), Kiyoshi Tamura
  • Shimane --
  • Tottori --
  • Yamaguchi --
Shikoku
  • Ehime -- Yasuhiro Urushitani
  • Kagawa -- Yoshiro Maeda
  • Kochi --
  • Tokushima -- Kano Jigoro, Satoru Sayama
Kyūshū
  • Fukuoka --
  • Kagoshima -- Katsunori Kikuno
  • Kumamoto --
  • Miyazaki --
  • Nagasaski -- Mizuto Hirota
  • Oita --
  • Okinawa -- Mitsuhisa Sunabe
  • Saga --
_______________________________

CALIFORNIA
aka MMA Mecca

scaletowidth

The Bay Area

  • Alameda Co -- Chris Camozzi
  • Contra Costa Co -- Ramsey Nijem
  • Marin Co --
  • Napa Co -- Jerry Bohlander
  • San Francisco Co -- Danny Castillo, Bruce Lee
  • San Mateo Co --
  • Santa Clara Co -- Josh Thomson
  • Solano Co -- Mark Muñoz* (born on U.S. base in Japan)
  • Sonoma Co --
Central Coast
  • Monterey Co -- Cain Velasquez (r.AZ)
  • San Benito Co --
  • San Luis Obispo Co -- Tim Kennedy
  • Santa Barbara Co -- Chuck Liddell or Urijah Faber (r.Sacramento Metro/Placer Co)
  • Santa Cruz Co -- Luke Rockhold
Los Angeles/So Cal
  • L.A. Co -- Dan Henderson (r.San Ber Co.), Gene LeBell
  • Orange Co -- Gilbert Melendez or Tito Ortiz
  • Riverside Co -- Ronda Rousey (*G4G), Cub Swanson
  • San Bernardino Co -- Dominick Reyes or Bobby Green
  • Ventura Co -- Tony Ferguson (r.MI)
Lower California
  • Imperial Co --
  • San Diego Co -- Dominick Cruz (r.AZ) or Robbie Lawler
Sacramento Metro
  • El Dorado Co --
  • Placer Co --
  • Sacramento Co -- Tyson Griffin
  • Sutter Co --
  • Yolo Co --
  • Yuba Co --
San Joaquin Valley
  • Fresno Co -- Colby Covington Cole Escovedo, Zoila Frausto (*G4G)
  • Kern Co --
  • Kings Co -- Chad Mendes
  • Madera Co -- Lavar Johnson
  • Merced Co -- Marvin Eastman
  • San Joaquin Co -- Nick Diaz
  • Stanislaus Co -- Michael McDonald
  • Tulare Co -- Joe Soto
Sierra/East
  • Alpine Co --
  • Amador Co --
  • Calaveras Co --
  • Inyo Co --
  • Mariposa Co --
  • Mono Co --
  • Tuolumne Co -- TJ Dillashaw
Upper California
  • Butte Co --
  • Colusa Co --
  • Del Norte Co --
  • Glenn Co --
  • Humboldt Co --
  • Lake Co --
  • Lassen Co --
  • Mendocino Co --
  • Modoc Co --
  • Nevada Co --
  • Plumas Co --
  • Shasta Co --
  • Sierra Co --
  • Siskiyou Co --
  • Tehama Co --
  • Trinity Co --

_______________________________

RUSSIA

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  • Central -- Vitaly Minakov or Mikhail Ilyukhin, Anatoly Kharlampiyev
  • Far East -- Vasili Oshchepkov
  • Luhansk-Crimea -- Fedor Emelianenko
  • Northern Caucaus -- Khabib Nurmagomedov
  • Northwest -- Sergei Kharitonov
  • Siberia -- Andrey Koreshkov or Alexander Schlemenko or Petr Yan
  • Southern --
  • Ural --
  • Volga -- Oleg Taktarov, Viktor Spiridonov
Russia Note:
Fedor Emelianenko was born Luhansk, now part of Russia (after the 2022 referendums)
_______________________________

CANADA

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  • Alberta -- Jordan Mein
  • B.C. -- Rory MacDonald
  • Manitoba -- Joe Doerksen
  • New Brunswick -- Ryan Jimmo
  • New & Lab --
  • NW Territories --
  • Nova Scotia -- TJ Grant
  • Nunavut --
  • Ontario -- Mark Hominick
  • P.E. Island --
  • Quebec -- Georges St Pierre
  • Saskatchewan --
  • Yukon --
Canada Notes:
Carlos Newton was born in Anguilla a territory of the U.K.
Gary Goodridge was born in Trinidad and Tobago

_______________________________

UNITED KINGDOM


250px-UK_Region_Map.jpg

  • England --
    • East Midlands -- Dan Hardy
    • East of England -- Liam McGeary
    • London -- Alistair Overeem tied w/Bisping? (r.Netherlands)
    • North East -- Ross Pearson
    • North West -- Michael Bisping tied w/Overeem?
    • South East -- Linton Vassell
    • South West -- Brad Scott
    • West Midlands -- Tom Breese
    • Yorkshire & Humber --
  • Northern Ireland -- Norman Parke
  • Scotland -- Joanne Calderwood (*G4G)... and/or... Stevie Ray
  • Wales -- Jack Marshman
U.K. Notes:
- Michael Bisping was born in U.K. area of Cyprus; raised in North West, England
- Paul Daley was born in London; raised in East Midlands, England
- Jimi Manuwa was born in the Sacramento, California, U.S.A.; raised in the U.K. (somewhere?)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keys and Notes:
GOAT = Greatest in that particular State/Region/Country
Others = Other notable fighters
*G4G = Gender-for-Gender recognizing female fighters
Honorary = Notable contributors to MMA
 
Last edited:
Austria- Mairbek Taisumov

Turkey-Alptekin Ozkilic

Israel-Noad Lahat?

India- Jaideep Singh?

Dominican Republic- Alex Garcia

Cyprus-Costas Philippou

Lithuania- Marius Zaromskis

Latvia-Misha Cirkunov

Greece- Anthony Christoudolou ? Lol

Argentina- Santiago Ponzinibbio
 
Last edited:
You could have written "Best fighter of each country."

Too much people use too much this word GOAT and it has no meaning.

Btw.. Fedor is the best Russian as well. Or if you don't like it this way, you can write that Igor Vovchanchyn is the best Ukrainian. Khabib can't hold a candle to Sergei Kharitonov's career at this point. So he's not the best Russian.
 
Rambaa Somdet for Thailand.

I do think you have to be clearer on what basis you decide which people to represent a country. Overeem doesn't consider himself British and has always represented the Netherlands, regardless of which flag the UFC uses in the tale of the tape, and Mousasi considers himself Dutch-Armenian, doesn't have an Iranian passport and might not even have an Armenian passport anymore either.
 
I like the idea but that does not make any sense to categorize best brazilian fights according to their home state.. So Aldo is the best fighter in the Amazonas... great.

I think you could have done a ranking by continent :

best in America, Europe, Asia etc.. And then in each one the best by countries or, in the case of the US, the states
 
Also, I would say that Rory McDonald is as worthy of mention as Alan Belcher or Din Thomas- why not add a province or two for Canada?

This might be the case for other countries too.
 
Finland: Anton Kuivanen, Karja Kankaanpaa or Sauli Heilimo. Makwan with a win over Wilkinson takes the honor. Hopefully we can produce better talent in the future, there are some decent prospects like Aleksi Nurminen and Janne Elonen-Kulmala.
 
Rambaa Somdet for Thailand.

I do think you have to be clearer on what basis you decide which people to represent a country. Overeem doesn't consider himself British and has always represented the Netherlands, regardless of which flag the UFC uses in the tale of the tape, and Mousasi considers himself Dutch-Armenian, doesn't have an Iranian passport and might not even have an Armenian passport anymore either.

Meh.... I represent there,he represents this,she represents there. And some represent multiple places.

Too arguable and open to discussion.

Where they were born, on the other hand, is a clear fact and a good basis for this topic.
 
Australia = Robert Whittaker
 
Finland: Anton Kuivanen, Karja Kankaanpaa or Sauli Heilimo. Makwan with a win over Wilkinson takes the honor. Hopefully we can produce better talent in the future, there are some decent prospects like Aleksi Nurminen and Janne Elonen-Kulmala.

Teemu Packalen too.

But Makwan is Iraqi
 
Costas Phillipou - Cyprus
Alessio Sakare - Italy?

Also I think Overeeem is a better fighter than Bas, he deserves Holland
 
You could have written "Best fighter of each country."

Too much people use too much this word GOAT and it has no meaning.

Btw.. Fedor is the best Russian as well. Or if you don't like it this way, you can write that Igor Vovchanchyn is the best Ukrainian. Khabib can't hold a candle to Sergei Kharitonov's career at this point. So he's not the best Russian.

I meant to say Greatest of All Time, so that's how I posed it. Saying "best" could insinuate the best currently, so you would have to specify "best of all time" which is the same as using "GOAT," so there you go.

Fyodor was born in the Ukraine and raised in Russia. See how I went to the trouble to note it (r.Russia).

I considered Sergei, but went with Khabib. Khabib is undefeated. Sergei has 5 losses... and for his entire career, he has 3 wins over Top 10 ranked HWs. I'd like to hear from more people on that one.
 
Costas Phillipou - Cyprus
Alessio Sakare - Italy?

Also I think Overeeem is a better fighter than Bas, he deserves Holland
King of Pancrase and UFC HW champion. I think Bas has this one on lock.
 
Also, instead of putting the UK in one - you should have it - England - Bisping, Wales - ?, Scotland - Joanne Calderwood and Northern Ireland - Norman Parke?.

Good thread, though, thanks.
 
Rambaa Somdet for Thailand.

I do think you have to be clearer on what basis you decide which people to represent a country. Overeem doesn't consider himself British and has always represented the Netherlands, regardless of which flag the UFC uses in the tale of the tape, and Mousasi considers himself Dutch-Armenian, doesn't have an Iranian passport and might not even have an Armenian passport anymore either.
*By place of birth* right in the OP isn't clear enough?
I just edited it to red, so it's more clear.

And... with fighters who were raised in other Countries/States... I make mention of the other State/Country they were raised in. Bro, the bases were covered.

P.S.
The Brian Stann's (Japan/U.S.A.) and Michael Bisping's (Cypus/U.K.) are the rare exceptions; not noted in the OP. Fighters born, geographically, on foreign soil, but technically part of another country.
 
Last edited:
*By place of birth* right in the OP isn't clear enough?
I just edited it to red, so it's more clear.

And... with fighters who were raised in other Countries/States... I make mention of the other State/Country they were raised in. Bro, the bases were covered.

P.S.
The Brian Stann's (Japan/U.S.A.) and Michael Bisping's (Cypus/U.K.) are the rare exceptions; not noted in the OP. Fighters born, geographically, on foreign soil, but technically part of another country.
Sorry, I didn't see that.
 
King of Pancrase and UFC HW champion. I think Bas has this one on lock.

Wins over Kharitanov, Belfort, Lesnar, Werdum, JDS >> a robbery win over Randleman and a career fighting smaller fighters under strange rules in Japan. Overeem also did a hell of a lot more in Kickboxing.

Would you really pick Bas to beat Reem?
 
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