Olympians, NCAA champions and cage-first grinders who turned takedowns into title belts. Some smothered whole divisions for years; others are here for one unforgettable upset.
1Daniel CormierTwo-time Olympic wrestler who became a simultaneous UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion.1000pts
2Kamaru UsmanNCAA Division II champion who defended the UFC welterweight title five times behind relentless fence wrestling.969pts
3Khabib NurmagomedovUndefeated 29-0 UFC lightweight champion whose sambo-and-wrestling smothering made him the most dominant grappler the sport has seen.754pts
4Henry CejudoOlympic freestyle gold medalist who went on to hold UFC flyweight and bantamweight titles simultaneously.754pts
5Aljamain SterlingDivision III All-American who became UFC bantamweight champion and defended the belt three times.728pts
6Rashad EvansMichigan State wrestler who won The Ultimate Fighter 2 and the UFC light heavyweight title.728pts
7Merab DvalishviliGeorgian bantamweight who set UFC takedown records en route to winning and defending the 135-pound title.728pts
8Mark ColemanOlympic wrestler credited with inventing ground-and-pound, the first UFC heavyweight champion and Pride's 2000 open-weight Grand Prix winner.673pts
9Johny HendricksTwo-time NCAA champion who paired heavy hands with his wrestling to win the UFC welterweight title.673pts
10Sean SherkMinnesota wrestler nicknamed 'The Muscle Shark' who won the UFC lightweight title with relentless top control.673pts
11Islam MakhachevKhabib's training partner who turned Dagestani wrestling into the longest title reign in UFC lightweight history before moving up to win a second belt.610pts
12Frankie EdgarClarion University wrestler who upset BJ Penn twice to win the UFC lightweight title while fighting far above his natural weight.610pts
13Urijah FaberUC Davis wrestler who became the face of the WEC and the sport's first featherweight superstar.538pts
14Cain VelasquezTwo-time NCAA All-American whose cardio-fueled takedowns and pressure won him the UFC heavyweight title twice.538pts
15Dan HendersonTwo-time Olympian who held Pride's welterweight and middleweight belts at the same time and fought for UFC gold at 41.538pts
16Kazushi SakurabaCollegiate and catch wrestler known as 'The Gracie Hunter' for beating four members of the Gracie family in Pride.538pts
17Tyron WoodleyMissouri All-American who won the UFC welterweight title with a first-round knockout and defended it four times.538pts
18Dominick CruzWrestling-based bantamweight whose footwork and takedown chains made him a two-time UFC champion.538pts
19Curtis BlaydesJunior college national champion whose takedown numbers rank among the highest in UFC heavyweight history.538pts
20Randy CoutureThree-time Olympic alternate who won UFC titles in two divisions and used clinch wrestling to beat bigger men into his 40s.455pts
21Josh KoscheckNCAA champion from The Ultimate Fighter's first season who rode his takedowns to a UFC welterweight title shot.455pts
22Tito OrtizJunior college All-American whose takedowns and ground-and-pound produced a record five UFC light heavyweight title defenses.455pts
23Brock LesnarNCAA Division I champion who became UFC heavyweight champion in just his fourth professional fight.245pts
24Chael SonnenUniversity of Oregon All-American whose takedown-heavy style nearly dethroned Anderson Silva and defined middleweight contention.245pts
25Ben AskrenTwo-time NCAA champion and Olympian whose funky scrambles brought undefeated title reigns in Bellator and ONE Championship.245pts
26Colby CovingtonOregon State All-American whose suffocating pace and takedowns earned him the UFC interim welterweight title and three title fights.245pts
27Matt LindlandOlympic Greco-Roman silver medalist who fought Murilo Bustamante for the UFC middleweight title.245pts
28Michael ChandlerMissouri All-American who won the Bellator lightweight title three times before headlining UFC cards.245pts
29Kevin RandlemanTwo-time NCAA champion whose explosive slams carried him to the UFC heavyweight title and a famous knockout of Mirko Cro Cop.245pts
30Matt HughesTwo-time NCAA All-American whose slams and ground-and-pound made him the UFC's defining welterweight champion of the 2000s.0pts
31Dan SevernAmateur wrestling great who won UFC 5, Ultimate Ultimate 1995 and the UFC Superfight title in the sport's bare-knuckle era.0pts
32Jon JonesJunior college national champion whose unorthodox wrestling and Greco throws underpinned the longest run of UFC light heavyweight dominance.0pts
33Ryan BaderTwo-time Arizona State All-American who held Bellator's light heavyweight and heavyweight titles at once.0pts
Photo credits
- Kamaru Usman — MMAnytt, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Khabib Nurmagomedov — Airotcivss, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Henry Cejudo — Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Aljamain Sterling — MMAnytt, CC BY 3.0
- Mark Coleman — Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Johny Hendricks — Nicknotify, CC BY 3.0
- Islam Makhachev — Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY 3.0
- Frankie Edgar — Jemaleddin Cole, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Urijah Faber — Kelly Bailey, CC BY 2.0
- Cain Velasquez — The Doppelganger (talk) (Adam Etheridge), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Dan Henderson — jamie.lovelock, CC BY 2.0
- Kazushi Sakuraba — Yuzunet, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Tyron Woodley — Atlanta Falcons, CC BY 3.0
- Curtis Blaydes — MMA Zone, CC BY 3.0
- Randy Couture — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Josh Koscheck — Original uploader was East718 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5
- Brock Lesnar — Diego Serrano, CC BY 2.0
- Ben Askren — MMAnytt, CC BY 3.0
- Colby Covington — Cpl, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Matt Lindland — Pete Forsyth, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Michael Chandler — Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Kevin Randleman — Larry Burton on Picasa Web Albums, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Dan Severn — grenwail, CC BY 2.0
- Jon Jones — Senate Democrats, CC BY 2.0
- Ryan Bader — Kris Krüg, CC BY-SA 2.0
