For over 20 years, the UFC has been entertaining audiences of all ages. The idea stemmed from fighters looking to showcase their talent and included those practising karate, kung fu, judo, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and street fighting. The first fight took place at the McNichols Sports Arena in Colorado and the world’s first UFC Champion was crowned, Royce Gracie. He would go on to win three out of the four tournaments.
Fast forward to recent times and the fighters have incredible skill, talent and the brains needed to navigate their way through the octagon. Over 250 fights have taken place, with both men and women competing for the championship title.
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the game-changers of the UFC game.
Top 10 fighters in UFC
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Georges St-Pierre
St-Pierre is regarded as one of the UFC’s best fighters as a result of his wins as well as the opponents that he has fought against. Back in his heyday, he earned the nickname “Rush”, however, he has adopted a more cautious fighting style in recent times.
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Jon Jones
He has set numerous records for the light heavyweight title and shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. His striking technique and length give him a competitive edge while his wrestling skills and ground attacks have punished many of his opponents.
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Anderson Silva
His blows are deadly, and his ability to dodge strikes has been compared to that of something that you would see in The Matrix. He currently holds the record of 16 wins – 9 of which were title defences – in a row that is yet to be beaten.
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Demetrious Johnson
As a contender in the flyweight division, Demetrious managed to have accumulated 30 wins and 3 loses, this included 11 title defences with a winning streak of 13.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib is the current lightweight UFC champion, although he has technically retired. He has had 13 UFC wins in a row and 16 across other organisations, bringing his winning streak to 29 in a row.
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Amanda Nunes
While UFC is generally male-dominated, Amanda proves that she’s a force to be reckoned with as she currently holds both the bantamweight and featherweight titles in the women’s division.
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Stipe Miocic
Stipe is currently the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He is the fourth fighter in the history of the competition to have won the title from two different fights.
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Daniel Cormier
This former light heavyweight and heavyweight champion is said to be one of the best fighters in the UFC’s history. He has a record of 22 wins and 2 losses with 3 successful title defences.
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Conor McGregor
Before Conor, many people were unaware of the UFC’s existence. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to defend his title on multiple occasions, with no successful defences recorded. He is also famous for going in and out of retirement.
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Chuck Liddell
Chuck is an iconic figure when it comes to the UFC as a result of his head tattoo and Mohawk. At the height of his career, he was able to score 7 consecutive knockouts, however, before his retirement in 2010, he lost five out of six fights, four of which were by knock out.
It’s About What You Put In
This list features some of the best MMA fighters in history that spent years working their way to the top of the UFC ranking. The amount of training and dedication that went into this type of career is immeasurable and is something to aspire to.
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