Top 10 UFC Fighters of All Time

10. Royce Gracie

Starting off this list we are going to go back to the beginning. Royce Gracie standing at 6ft tall, weighing 176 lbs entered a martial arts tournament that he was largely out-sized by most men competing against him. Sporting a gi, he went and defeated 3 opponents with relative ease and introduced the world to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His MMA record stands at 15-2-3 (11-1-1 in the UFC). Royce held the record for longest win streak in the UFC with 8 wins (now rectified at 11 consecutive wins) for well over a decade. For what he’s accomplished as a pioneer of the sport, that lands him within the top 10.

9. Khabib Nurmagomedov

29-0 (13-0 UFC) is no easy task in MMA let alone a standout division such as 155lbs. Khabib came into the UFC undefeated and stayed that way until his retirement in 2020. Capturing UFC gold, tying for the most lightweight title defences and steam rolling through the who's who of the modern day lightweight fighters are all reasons why Nurmagomedov appears on this list. It's unfortunate his career didn't last longer as he surely could have extended his winning streak and reach a higher spot. 

8. BJ Penn

The Hawaii native, BJ Penn was donned "The Prodigy" early in his career and was a lightweight staple in the earlier days of MMA and the UFC. While his record of 16-14-2 (12-13-2 UFC) doesn't look good, it does not justify just how significant of a force a primed BJ Penn was. He was the definition of “fight anyone, anywhere, anytime”. During his career he fought as low as featherweight and as high as heavyweight. After capturing gold at welterweight he left the UFC to pursue other opportunities in other organizations. Once he returned and dropped back down to lightweight, it wasn't long before he became only the second fighter at that time to win belts in two weight classes. BJ looked unstoppable during his reign as the lightweight champ and even ventured back to welterweight to take on GSP in a champion vs champion match up. Unfortunately like many fighters he didn't get to have a storybook ending to his career with 7 consecutive losses and winless in 8 years of competition, but for what he did accomplish and being the face of the UFC lightweight division for some time, he deserves everyone's respect. 

7. Randy Couture

"The Natural'' started his MMA career later in life than most, debuting at 34 years old he managed to win two fights in the same night to secure tournament gold before moving on to capture his first heavyweight belt in 1997. As previously mentioned, BJ Penn was the 2nd fighter to win belts to two different weight classes, Randy made history by being the first when he won his second title, the light-heavyweight belt in 2003. Over the course of his UFC career, he earned the title of champion five times, three at heavyweight and another 2 at light-heavyweight. Not including the interim belt he won against Chuck Liddell. Retiring with a record of 19-11 (16-8 UFC) and truly a man that would take on all challenges no matter what the task at hand. Couture was one of the original 5 UFC hall of fame members and a fighter many young up and comers still look up to today.

6. Alexander Volkanovski

If given some more time, it's very possible Volkanovski could be placed higher on this list. Sitting on an astonishing 26-2 (13-1 UFC), his only loss was when he decided to go up in weight class and contend for the lightweight title in a closely contested match up. Making a stamp on his division by defeating all previous title holders is something not most can hope to accomplish. Perhaps one of the more well-rounded fighters of the modern area, his knowledge of movement and timing have taken him to reach levels of the game that most cannot fathom. 

5. Jose Aldo

When you think about the featherweight division most instantly go to Jose Aldo. It was his division, plain and simple. Starting his title reign in the WEC and having it carried over into the UFC, he held the belt from the introduction of the division in 2010 up until 2015. Within that 5 years he amassed an impressive 7 fight win streak, which only added to his total 18 fight win streak over 9 years. Leaving the UFC with a 31-8 record (13-7 UFC) his tenure saw him regain the interim belt (later to be promoted to undisputed) and be donned "The King of Rio" after stunning performances in his home country. There will only be one person to claim they got the belt first, for featherweight that man is Jose Aldo. 

4. Anderson Silva

This is when these lists tend to get a bit tricky. These next 4 spots can easily be mixed and mingled in any order you'd like and there would be fair reasoning behind it all. Anderson SIlva, a man loved by all during his reign. Quiet, respectful, friendly but most importantly deadly with the tools he brought to the octagon. Known for his precision striking capabilities, he also proved to be a danger off of his back. 16 wins in a row, 12 by TKO or KO, 2 by submission. He was truly the middleweight king for 8 years which saw 10 title defenses. People would question if he would ever lose? He truly looked invincible in almost all his outings, and even when he didn't, he still managed to pull off come from behind victories. Even venturing up to light-heavy weight on 3 separate occasions all resulted in TKO or KO wins for "The Spider". With a record of 34-11-1 (18-7-1 UFC) eventually father time caught up with Anderson adding a few more losses to his record. People often discuss their "Mount Rushmore of MMA", simply put you cannot have one without including this man. 

3. Demetrious Johnson

Imagine a fighter that could do everything well. That's not Demetrious Johnson. "Mighty Mouse" does everything perfectly. There are no weak spots to his game. He is the perfect fighter. Being coached by the brilliant mind of Matt Hume, while he was starting out in his career he competed in all different styles of martial arts separately. Wrestling, boxing, muay thai, karate and Jujitsu-stu, making sure he truly understood all the different facets of fighting. Demetrious was one of 4 men put into a tournament to be crowned the inarguable flyweight king. After a slight hiccup in the opening round of the tournament that saw a draw, he continued on to not only win the tournament and the flyweight belt but keep that momentum going for the next 7 years which included beating Anderson Silva's record of 10 title defenses, extending the record to 11. The only knock that people would make towards Demetrious was that he was "too small to care about", unfortunately this stigma meant he didn't receive the proper attention and respect that he deserved. Currently holding a record of  25-4-1 (15-2-1 UFC) he was a part of a historic trade which saw him go over to ONE and earn their belt as well. Seemingly on the brink of retirement, a true top 10 list cannot, not include Demetrious Johnson. 

2. Jon Jones

Who knew watching cool moves on Youtube back in the late 2000's could mean actually being able to pull them off in a fight, let alone a professional MMA fight in the UFC. A talented athlete since a young age saw him do impressive work on the wrestling mats and football field, eventually finding his way into a cage in 2008. In his first 4 months of professional MMA competition he managed to see 6 victories all by stoppage and an invitation to fight for the UFC. From there the ball kept rolling, he won his next 3 fights before a small hiccup via DQ loss but he kept moving forward, never losing again. 19 fights in a row without seeing a loss puts his record at 27-1-1 (21-1-1 UFC). He would become such a dominant fighter he would lose interest in actually preparing for fights properly and yet still managed to keep winning. Due to circumstances outside his in-octagon career, he would be stripped of the belt multiple times but always came back to win it. Winning the undisputed belt twice, winning an interim belt once,11 light-heavyweight title defenses and moving up to heavy weight to capture the belt is a feat that won't be replicated anytime soon by anyone.  

1. Georges St-Pierre

There isn't a career that could be considered more of a perfect storybook ending like Georges St-Pierre. He came to the UFC an unstoppable force and lost in his first bid for the title. He regroups, comes back and rips through the welterweight division earning the belt by finishing the man that defeated him during his first title chance. He immediately loses the belt in his first defense. Again, time to regroup and come back stronger. Not only does he yet again come back and win the belt from the man that took it from him but he continues on and becomes the most dominant champion in UFC history by winning the next 12 fights in a row before deciding to step back and take a break from the sport. A few years later he decides it's time to come back, going up a weight division to challenge for the middleweight title and winning it by submission, pushing his win streak to 13. With an overall record of 26-2 (20-2 UFC) he managed to avenge his only 2 losses and earn belts in two divisions. Georges is the reason why Canadian MMA blew up and became such a hot market for the UFC. He was one of the first men to take MMA as a serious professional sport. Always respectful of his opponents, dressing in suits, finding different methods of training including gymnastics and track and field as well as completely analyzing all his opponents weaknesses, working out gameplans and following them to a tee. GSP was the first of his kind and set a standard for all MMA athletes going forward. He was a large part in changing the public's perspective of the sport from human cockfighting to a professional sport with real professional athletes.