Tatsuya Kawajiri
Kawajiri is arguably one of the best featherweights in the world not in the UFC, and was a top tier lightweight before making the drop to 145 pounds. He has fought the likes of Shinya Aoki, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Gesias Cavalcante and Eddie Alvarez throughout his decorated MMA career.
That career, however, began with a loss against Takumi Nakayama via rear-naked choke back in April 2000, then a draw in his next bout.
Despite those initial setbacks, it did not deter Kawajiri and he has gone on to have a very respectable 32-7-2 record in the sport fighting for many of the leading Asian promotions like PRIDE, DREAM and ONE FC.
