# The 33 Greatest Wrestlers in MMA History

> 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.

*By YPB Team · Published October 24, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-33-greatest-wrestlers-in-mma-history*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Daniel Cormier** — score 1000/1000
   Two-time Olympic wrestler who became a simultaneous UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion.
2. **Kamaru Usman** — score 969/1000
   NCAA Division II champion who defended the UFC welterweight title five times behind relentless fence wrestling.
3. **Khabib Nurmagomedov** — score 754/1000
   Undefeated 29-0 UFC lightweight champion whose sambo-and-wrestling smothering made him the most dominant grappler the sport has seen.
4. **Henry Cejudo** — score 754/1000
   Olympic freestyle gold medalist who went on to hold UFC flyweight and bantamweight titles simultaneously.
5. **Aljamain Sterling** — score 728/1000
   Division III All-American who became UFC bantamweight champion and defended the belt three times.
6. **Rashad Evans** — score 728/1000
   Michigan State wrestler who won The Ultimate Fighter 2 and the UFC light heavyweight title.
7. **Merab Dvalishvili** — score 728/1000
   Georgian bantamweight who set UFC takedown records en route to winning and defending the 135-pound title.
8. **Mark Coleman** — score 673/1000
   Olympic wrestler credited with inventing ground-and-pound, the first UFC heavyweight champion and Pride's 2000 open-weight Grand Prix winner.
9. **Johny Hendricks** — score 673/1000
   Two-time NCAA champion who paired heavy hands with his wrestling to win the UFC welterweight title.
10. **Sean Sherk** — score 673/1000
   Minnesota wrestler nicknamed 'The Muscle Shark' who won the UFC lightweight title with relentless top control.
11. **Islam Makhachev** — score 610/1000
   Khabib's training partner who turned Dagestani wrestling into the longest title reign in UFC lightweight history before moving up to win a second belt.
12. **Frankie Edgar** — score 610/1000
   Clarion University wrestler who upset BJ Penn twice to win the UFC lightweight title while fighting far above his natural weight.
13. **Urijah Faber** — score 538/1000
   UC Davis wrestler who became the face of the WEC and the sport's first featherweight superstar.
14. **Cain Velasquez** — score 538/1000
   Two-time NCAA All-American whose cardio-fueled takedowns and pressure won him the UFC heavyweight title twice.
15. **Dan Henderson** — score 538/1000
   Two-time Olympian who held Pride's welterweight and middleweight belts at the same time and fought for UFC gold at 41.
16. **Kazushi Sakuraba** — score 538/1000
   Collegiate and catch wrestler known as 'The Gracie Hunter' for beating four members of the Gracie family in Pride.
17. **Tyron Woodley** — score 538/1000
   Missouri All-American who won the UFC welterweight title with a first-round knockout and defended it four times.
18. **Dominick Cruz** — score 538/1000
   Wrestling-based bantamweight whose footwork and takedown chains made him a two-time UFC champion.
19. **Curtis Blaydes** — score 538/1000
   Junior college national champion whose takedown numbers rank among the highest in UFC heavyweight history.
20. **Randy Couture** — score 455/1000
   Three-time Olympic alternate who won UFC titles in two divisions and used clinch wrestling to beat bigger men into his 40s.
21. **Josh Koscheck** — score 455/1000
   NCAA champion from The Ultimate Fighter's first season who rode his takedowns to a UFC welterweight title shot.
22. **Tito Ortiz** — score 455/1000
   Junior college All-American whose takedowns and ground-and-pound produced a record five UFC light heavyweight title defenses.
23. **Brock Lesnar** — score 245/1000
   NCAA Division I champion who became UFC heavyweight champion in just his fourth professional fight.
24. **Chael Sonnen** — score 245/1000
   University of Oregon All-American whose takedown-heavy style nearly dethroned Anderson Silva and defined middleweight contention.
25. **Ben Askren** — score 245/1000
   Two-time NCAA champion and Olympian whose funky scrambles brought undefeated title reigns in Bellator and ONE Championship.
26. **Colby Covington** — score 245/1000
   Oregon State All-American whose suffocating pace and takedowns earned him the UFC interim welterweight title and three title fights.
27. **Matt Lindland** — score 245/1000
   Olympic Greco-Roman silver medalist who fought Murilo Bustamante for the UFC middleweight title.
28. **Michael Chandler** — score 245/1000
   Missouri All-American who won the Bellator lightweight title three times before headlining UFC cards.
29. **Kevin Randleman** — score 245/1000
   Two-time NCAA champion whose explosive slams carried him to the UFC heavyweight title and a famous knockout of Mirko Cro Cop.
30. **Matt Hughes** — score 0/1000
   Two-time NCAA All-American whose slams and ground-and-pound made him the UFC's defining welterweight champion of the 2000s.
31. **Dan Severn** — score 0/1000
   Amateur wrestling great who won UFC 5, Ultimate Ultimate 1995 and the UFC Superfight title in the sport's bare-knuckle era.
32. **Jon Jones** — score 0/1000
   Junior college national champion whose unorthodox wrestling and Greco throws underpinned the longest run of UFC light heavyweight dominance.
33. **Ryan Bader** — score 0/1000
   Two-time Arizona State All-American who held Bellator's light heavyweight and heavyweight titles at once.

Tags: ufc, wrestling, all time, fighters, mma