Who is the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time? (Part one)

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This is my first edition of five of the greatest UFC-bred heavyweights.
Ultimate Fighting Championship has been around a mere 18 years and has seen some of the best fighters to date swing by its Octagon door.
The most notable fighter to not yet compete inside the "Sin City" cage has to be Fedor Emelianenko, who may also be the greatest heavyweight of all time.
This time last year fight fans were raving about how stacked the UFC heavyweight division was with the likes Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin and Junior Dos Santos leading the pack.
With the recent plight of injuries, the promotion's heavyweight division was overshadowed by the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix which features Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, "Bigfoot" Silva, Brett Rogers, Sergei Kharitonov and Josh Barnett.
Between 1998-2005 Japanese promotion Pride FC had three of the very best heavyweights ever in Emelianenko, "Minotauro" Nogueira and Mirko "Cro Cop." Those three would fight each other for the top spot which was undoubtedly held by "The Last Emperor."
I would love to see who you guys felt are the top five UFC heavyweights of all time were and at least choose the one you think outranks them all.

Candidate #1: Frank Mir

Notable Wins: Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Nogueira, Brock Lesnar, Tank Abbott, Tim Sylvia, Cheick Kongo, Antonio Hardonk, Wes Sims (x2), Pete Williams.
Notable Losses: Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar, Marcio Cruz, Brandon Vera and Ian Freeman.
Notable accomplishments: One time UFC heavyweight champion, one time UFC interim champion, first man to KO/TKO Antonio Nogueira.

The cocky and brash Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) based heavyweight is in a league of his own when it comes to wins over noteworthy heavyweights. Of his 14 wins, he has won eight by submission making him a legit threat on the ground.
He has subbed the likes of former UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Brock Lesnar.

His submission win over Sylvia in fact snapped "The Maine-ac's" arm in several locations causing a long layoff and basically the reconstruction of Sylvia's arm.
His shoulder lock submission over Pete Willaims was very painful to watch and was the last time Williams graced the cage. He was the UFC's version of "Minotauro" in the sense of being a great heavyweight BJJ wizard.
He holds wins in the 2007 NAGA absolute division and a black belt under Ricardo Pires. Mir's biggest flaw has been poor decisions outside the gym and the Las Vegas lifestyle.
He crashed his motorcycle after winning the UFC heavyweight title over Tim Sylvia. The wreck had Mir in a dark place with pills and a lack of effort. He came back in losing efforts against the likes of Marcio Cruz and underdog Brandon Vera.
He had lackluster wins over Dan Christison that didn't inspire much faith with fans.
Many fans started to question Frank Mir and where this once great fighter had faded to. The pundits thought we had lost the star forever. Mir's lowest point was being demoted to the untelevised prelim card of UFC 74 against K-1 striker and Dutch kickboxer Antoni Hardonk.
Fired up with something to prove, Mir easily dispatched Hardonk by Kimura in the early minutes of round one. Mir felt that the world had given up on him and now it was time to get back on top.
The UFC brass gave him an opportunity to either sink or swim. He would face former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar in his Lesnar's second ever MMA fight.
The MMA-WWE world watched with great suspense not knowing how Lesnar would fair against a former UFC champion inside the Octagon. The size advantage was in Lesnar's favor who also owned a very great resume in NCAA Division One wrestling
.
The fight lasted all of 1:30 minutes and we learned a lot in that hot minute.
Lesnar proved he had a hell of a base to start his career with: Great wrestling and brute power. He smashed Mir's face from the guard but was forced to be stood up by Steve Mazzagatti for illegal punches. He took Mir down at will but when he tried to escape an armbar, Mir locked in a kneebar for the unbelievable win.
Mir would go on to coach the Ultimate Fighter Season Eight against Pride FC counterpart Antonio Nogueira. The two were very respectful of each other's talents but the confident Mir came off as very cocky to the viewers.

At UFC 92 he would do the unthinkable and be the first man to stop "Big Nog" by way of TKO (strikes). Pride legends Emelianenko and "Cro Cop" could not stop the Brazilian which spoke volumes of Mir. The stories came out that "Minotauro" was sick and had a bout with Staph prior to the fight, making for a poor training camp.
Mir at one time was thought of nothing more then just a BJJ fighter with basic knowledge of boxing. He started to throw crisp and tight combos.
His footwork wasn't so flat-footed as he began using more of a jump and swagger to create ever improving head movement. He was also starting to harbour his size into devastating uppercuts and even a decent thai plum.
At UFC 100 he would get his wish and opportunity to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion against his rival Brock Lesnar. Mir was vocal in his dismay leading up to the much-anticipated fight even using a death threat towards Lesnar.
Mir, like Bisping, ate a whole lot of crow that night.
Except for a decent thai plum exchange early in the second round, Mir was beaten soundly and dropped far down the heavyweight ladder.

Mir would go 2-1 against strikers who seemed to have been his Achilles heel in the UFC but a new sense of confidence in his striking was also shown. He would dominate French striker Cheick Kongo on the feet with a blistering overhand right followed by a guillotine choke.
At UFC 111 Mir would get handled with ease by the heavy-handed Shane Carwin.Mir was finding it hard to hold his ground with the ever increasing talent in the heavyweight division.
At UFC 119, in what many call the worst main event for a UFC show in quite some time, knocked out legend Mirko Filipovic with a knee in the late and final round.
He is now set to face Roy "Big Country" Nelson at UFC 132 which will be a test of elite grapplers. If Mir can stop Nelson, he will face a top-tier opponent and inch ever so close to another title shot.
Whatcha Maniacs think of Frank Mir as one of the greatest UFC heavyweights?