The UFC is the biggest MMA promotion in the world and it has seen some of the greatest MMA fighters step into its octagon. Here is a list of the top 10.
The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has been delighting fight fans for over 20 years with its cage fights. The promotion's popularity has reached an all-time high in the past decade, with the fighters becoming huge global icons. Many of the fighters proclaim that they are the best UFC fighter ever when they reach the pinnacle of the sport, and that always ignites fierce conversation over who is really the best UFC fighter in history.
With so many different weight categories for fighters to compete in, it is hard to decide who is the best pound-for-pound UFC fighter of all time. But what we can do is take different criteria and apply them to the fighters to help make the decision a little easier. So now we attempt to answer the question of who the best UFC fighters in history are below.
The Criteria
To help guide how we rank the fighters, a criterion was followed. We looked at:
- Performance and achievements
- Influence on the sport
- Consistency and longevity
- The awards and recognitions
From these criteria, the following list was compiled of who might just be the 10 best pound-for-pound MMA fighters ever in the UFC:
The 10 best UFC fighters in history
10. Conor McGregor
Record: 22–6
Titles: Interim UFC Featherweight Championship (One time), UFC Featherweight Championship (One time), UFC Lightweight Championship (One time), First simultaneous multi-divisional champion in UFC history (Featherweight, Lightweight)
For many, the first true global superstar whose popularity transcended the sport. Conor McGregor, as just a fighter, was an elite striker who could talk the talk and, for a time, walk the walk. He was pure entertainment and was the first-ever double champ in the promotion. He has some highlight knockouts, and if remembered only for his UFC career, he will go down as one of the best.
9. Jose Aldo
Record: 32-9
Titles: UFC Featherweight Championship (Two times), Interim UFC Featherweight Champion (One time)
The highlight reel knockout he suffered at McGregor’s hands blemishes people’s perception of one of the greatest MMA fighters the UFC has ever seen. Aldo dominated the featherweight division for a decade, going undefeated from 2005 to 2015. He was the first UFC Featherweight Champion and defended his title against elite competition. This longevity, the fighting skillset, and his resume against the best cement his legacy as an all-time MMA great.
8. Amanda Nunes
Record: 23–5
Titles: UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship (two times), UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship (one time), Simultaneous double champ (Bantamweight and Featherweight)
Amanda Nunes was a double weight champion, but what sets her out is that she is the only dual-weight champion who managed to defend her belts. She dominated two weight divisions and stands out as the greatest female fighter we have ever seen. She beat many of the other best women we have ever seen in the UFC and then retired at the top of her game.
7. Stipe Miocic
Record: 20–5
Titles: UFC Heavyweight Championship (Two times)
Stipe Miocic has a lovely record for most successful title defences in the Heavyweight division’s history. He’s defeated legends like Daniel Cormier, Francis Ngannou, Junior dos Santos, and Alistair Overeem. His boxing prowess has always separated him from the rest, with destructive combos highlighting his ring IQ.
6. Daniel Cormier
Record: 22–3 (1 NC)
Titles: UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time), UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time), Simultaneous Double Champion (Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight)
Another double-weight champ on the list is Daniel Cormier. He held titles at both light heavyweight and heavyweight, dominating the divisions with Olympic-level wrestling and his knockout power. A legend of the sport who only transitioned into MMA from wrestling when he was 30.
5. Demetrious Johnson
Record: 25–4–1
Titles: UFC Flyweight Championship (One time)
Demetrious Johnson made an incredible 11 title defences of the flyweight title between 2013 and 2018, which alone sets him out as one of the greatest in any weight division in the UFC. He has one of the most complete skill sets in MMA history—elite striking, wrestling, and submissions - and is still an immense fighter now.
4. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Record: 29–0
Titles: UFC Lightweight Championship (One time)
The wrestling king, Khabib Nurmagomedov. He is one of a rare breed of MMA fighters who managed to finish his career with an unblemished record, 29-0. He was so good at what he did - wrestling - that he didn’t do anything else, making him another rare breed. A legend and one of the very best to ever do it.
3. Anderson Silva
Record: 34–11 (1 NC)
Titles: UFC Middleweight Championship (One time)
Anderson Silva was one of the greatest champions in the UFC. He held the middleweight championship for seven years and held a record 16-fight win streak. In that streak, there were some highlight-reel knockouts, with each done differently. Every man who stepped into a ring with him feared him, and his legacy will live on.
2. Georges St-Pierre (GSP)
Record: 26–2
Titles: UFC Middleweight Championship (One time), UFC Welterweight Championship (Two times), Interim UFC Welterweight Championship (One time)
GSP dominated two divisions—welterweight and middleweight—and retired as one of the most complete fighters ever. He beat every man who stepped into a ring with him, avenging the two losses that sit on his record. He made nine successful defences of his welterweight belt, blending a variety of skills together in a manner unseen before then. His star power exploded the sport and will always be a star of the Octagon.
1. Jon Jones
Record: 28–1 (1 NC)
Titles: UFC Heavyweight Championship (One time), UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (Two times), Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (One time)
Regarded by some as the baddest man on the planet, Jon Jones has been called by UFC president Dana White the greatest mixed martial artist to ever live. Jones has stayed completely at the top of his game for 16 years, and his only loss is a controversial DQ in 2009. He has beaten all the best and keeps the accolades coming, sitting pretty at the top of the Heavyweight division.
Controversies, debates and the evolving sport
Many controversies follow fighters in the UFC. Whether it be about things they have done in their personal life or to each other, some fighters on this list, like Jones and McGregor, have stains on their reputations, and things like that need to be acknowledged. Whilst people have done amazingly in their careers, the world outside the octagon is relevant to the lore of the fighters and should be spoken about alongside their fighting career.
There are some honourable mentions to people who have helped push the UFC forward and would be on many others' lists. Fighters like Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and BJ Penn in the men’s division, along with Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko on the women’s side.
UFC is only growing bigger and bigger, along with other MMA promotions that are helping progress the sport as a whole and reward the fighters with bigger paydays. The UFC will continue to grow from here, and many of the stars we are seeing born today can make their way onto this list in the near future.