MMA has grown like no other sport in the past 30 years. At the top of the tree, the UFC leads the way for edge-of-your-seat action, with highly tuned athletes delivering unrivalled entertainment.
Boxing has a ring; the UFC has the Octagon.
Within the Octagon, the best take on the best. There are no battles for the biggest purse, no dodging opponents, and no opportunities to take easier fights. Just one governing body across 12 weight classes – eight for men and four for women.
An ongoing debate across all sports, not just the UFC, is who’s the best? With people fighting in different eras and in different weight divisions, it’s a topic that could run on for hours.
Whether it’s their personality with the fans and media, their technical ability to break down opponents, or just their tenacity when they step into the cage, we’ve dug into the data to see who comes out on top.
Five categories: win percentage, search volume, Instagram followers, TikTok hashtags, and title defences. These are the metrics that have ranked the top 10.
All five scores for each category were then averaged and multiplied by 10 to get a score out of 10.
The Best UFC Fighters of All Time
Who had Jon ‘Bones’ Jones top of the list? Namechecked by UFC president Dana White as the greatest mixed martial artist to ever live, Jones became the youngest fighter to win a UFC championship in 2011. He racked up the most wins in light heavyweight history (20), stamping himself as a UFC Hall of Famer. These accolades are the reason why he’s the best UFC fighter of all time according to the data, with a score of 7.16/10.
The most famous UFC fighter of all time, some might say. Irishman Conor McGregor ranked as the second best MMA fighter of all time, scoring 6.55. A former featherweight and lightweight champion, the southpaw fighter then lost his titles to third place Khabib Nurmagomedov (6.23) – a man that needs no introduction.
The UFC Fighters with the Best Win Percentage
The reason why Khabib needs no introduction? His flawless record. 29 fights, 29 wins. He has the longest reign in the UFC lightweight division’s history, winning the title in 2018 and defending three times after. The Russian’s superpower on the canvas meant that he was relentless in taking down opponents. His wrestling skills earnt him 19/29 wins by submission or KO/TKO.
Another man with a 100%-win percentage is Ilia Topuria. The Georgian-Spanish fighter ranks as the third UFC’s men’s pound-for-pound list and has won the featherweight championship before vacating his belt and moving up to lightweight permanently.
In third, lightweight Islam Makhachev has a near perfect record of 27 wins from 28 fights, while Jones has won 28 of his 30 fights – one loss and one no contest.
The Most Searched UFC Fighters
As expected, Conor McGregor is the most searched UFC fighter, averaging 2.7 million searches every month.
Despite not having fought since 2021, ‘The Notorious’ has made a huge name for himself outside of the Octagon. He’s signed major endorsement deals in his career, including Monster Energy and Beats by Dre.
McGregor has also launched Proper No. Twelve Irish whisky and Forged Irish Stout as well as making his Hollywood debut, cast alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the remake of Road House.
Jon Jones is Googled less half the number of times that McGregor is per month with 1.2 million searches.
In third, Francis Ngannou and Islam Makhachev both have around 823k searches a month.
The UFC Fighters with the Most Instagram Followers
Surprised to find Conor McGregor is the most followed MMA star? Us neither. He’s racked up just shy of 47 million followers on Instagram.
On 39 million followers, McGregor’s old dance partner, Khabib, might have taken some by surprise, but as one of the greats in UFC we can see why so many are keen to follow him.
Either side of the 10 million mark, Makhachev and Jones have built big followings in their careers, while Israel Adesanya makes up the top five.
The UFC Fighters with the Most TikTok Hashtags
Another huge social media platform, TikTok can have a serious impact on fans’ opinions of fighters.
But with most lauding Jon Jones as their G.O.A.T, he tops the list with 198,000 tags to his name.
After him it’s Islam Makhachev in second with 166k hashtags, Khabib in third with 155k, and Alex Pereira in fourth on 148k.
The UFC Fighters with the Most Title Defences
Jones and Demetrious Johnson hold the current record for the most title defences in MMA (12).
Nicknamed ‘Mighty Mouse’, Johnson was arguably the fastest MMA fighter in history, dominating the flyweight division as the belt holder from 2012 to 2018. His dominance was so overwhelming that after being sent to ONE Championship, he captured the flyweight world title there too.
Another legend in the game, Anderson Silva recorded 10 title defences as UFC middleweight champion. A career that started in 2006 and finished in 2020, the Brazilian won the title in just his second visit to the Octagon and recorded a perfect record for seven years straight.
In single figures, Georges St-Pierre and José Aldo sit on nine, while Amanda Nunes is just behind on eight.
Who’s the Best UFC Fighter to You?
Agree with the results? All we know is that the stats don’t lie.
When the next debate comes up, you know you’ve got the evidence to back the best.
Whether you’re training to be the next Jon ‘Bones’ Jones or want to try your hand at MMA, we’ve got you covered with the latest fitness picks from big brands like Under Armour, adidas and Nike.
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