Jake Shields - I think he is about to get his 15 minutes of fame as it appears signing with the UFC is all but official. He is on a 14-fight winning streak and his last loss was in 2004. During that span he has beaten Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Mayhem Miller and Dan Henderson.
Stephan Bonnar - I think the toughness of this guy is what makes him underrated as he has never been knocked out or submitted despite having fought many of the toughest guys at 205. His losses are all either guy doctor stoppage or decision. You look at his losses and he has lost to Forrest Griffin twice by decision, Rashad Evans by decision, Jon Jones by decision, Lyoto Machida by stoppage due to cut and Krzystof due to a cut as well. So out of those 6 losses 4 of them are to former UFC champions. The others are to a guy many feel is a future UFC champion and a close fight stopped due to a cut.
Vladimir Matyushenko - Just like many of the guys on this list he isn't a very exciting fighter. He also doesn't appeal to the fans from a character standpoint. But that doesn't change the fact that since 2000 his only losses are to Tito Ortiz, Lil Nog and Andrei Arlovski.
Thiago Silva - If you look at his record the only losses are to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans and he had Evans finished but was out of gas. Aside from those fights he has destroyed everybody else put in front of him evident by the fact that out of his 14 wins only one has went past the 2nd round.
Josh Barnett - I don't really care much for the guy but he has done pretty good for himself and hardly ever gets any mention because he has fought mostly overseas. He has beaten both Randy Couture and Big Nog along with Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo, Aleks Emelianenko, Mark Hunt and Semmy Schilt twice.
Karo Parisyan - His career has been on the downside in recent years but at one point he was thought of as a future champion in the UFC. His fight against Diego Sanchez is one of my all-time favorites. He has a 8-3-1 record in the UFC with his only career losses coming against Sean Sherk, Georges St. Pierre, Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves.
Ricardo Almeida - Known for his world class BJJ Ricardo Almeida is often overlooked in the UFC. His only loss since 2002 was a split decision against Patrick Cote. While his only real notable win is against Nate Marquardt he hasn't really had the chance to fight top competition. We will see how he does against Matt Hughes at UFC 117.
Jon Fitch - It's hard to say underrated when talking about Jon Fitch because people say that about him all the time. But all the same he is in fact very underrated as a fighter. The only person that has beaten him in his last 21 fights is Georges St. Pierre. The only other losses on his record were when he was fighting at higher weight classes. The guy is 12-1 in the UFC which is amazing when you think about it because he has more UFC wins than BJ Penn and is real close and likely to pass Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.
Yushin Okami - Another guy that is always said to be underrated but still gets shafted by fans and the UFC for that matter. He is 16-3 since 2004 with the 3 losses to Jake Shields, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen all by decision. Okami is 8-2 in the UFC and looks to improve that record against Mark Munoz.
Yoshihiro Akiyama - The man lost his second professional fight to Jerome Lebanner and hasn't lost a fight since going 12-0-2 since that point. He has wins over Alan Belcher, Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef. Sexyama doesn't have the real big wins but he hasn't fought many big names yet. If he wins against Wanderlei Silva then his stock will go up both in the rankings and in the eyes of the casual fans.
Sean Sherk - I'm sure he is well known and respected by many but many people probably don't grasp what all he has done in his career. I doubt there are too many fighters that can claim having more than 5 wins at lightweight, welterweight and middleweight in their career. He has wins over Karo Parisyan (twice), Manny Gamburyan, Nick Diaz, Kenny Florian and Tyson Griffin. He holds a career record of 33-4-1 with the losses coming to Georges St. Pierre, BJ Penn, Matt Hughes and Frankie Edgar. That's 3 UFC Hall of Famers and the current lightweight champion.
Lyle Beerbohm - This one is really because people haven't heard or had the opportunity to see him fight yet. The guy is 14-0 and just had a big win over Shaolin Ribeiro. That is a good win for Beerbohm because Shaolin's only other losses are to fighters that are top 10 in the division. Another interesting fact here is that Lyle Beerbohm didn't start training for mma until 2005 and over the next two years went 12-0 as a amateur and then went pro in 2007.
Ben Henderson - The current WEC lightweight champion looks better each time we see him fight. He is currently on a 11-fight winning streak and 5-0 in the WEC with wins against Shane Roller, Anthony Njokuani, Donald Cerrone and Jamie Varner whom are all among the tougher fighters in the WEC at 155.
Aleks Emelianenko - While he doesn't boast an impressive resume of wins it's hard to discount some of his accomplishments. He has a 17-3 record and those 3 losses are to Crocop, Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett. Aside from those fights he has won his last 14 fights by either knockout or submission in the 1st round.
