Since the sport of mixed martial arts blasted from the fringes to a huge mainstream event, there’s been a rise of impressive athletes, many of home have grown to become household names. In the last 25 years, UFC/MMA has become a vital part of TV scheduling and there’s a lot of interest in UFC betting as well, so this is a big business all around the world.
Many MMA fighters have helped to shape this sport in the time, but who actually stands out? The UFC ranking came in place in Feb 2013 and is done by a panel of several media members.
Here we will take on the tough task and answer the question—who are the top male MMA/UFC fighters?
1. Jon Jones
No top MMA list would be complete without Jon Jones and many would agree that he’s simply the best that there’s ever been. He is a vastly experienced UFC fighter today but the American is widely known for being the youngest UFC champion in history after winning the light heavyweight belt back in 2011.
He has shown unparalleled skill time again against other top fighters like Lyoto Machida, Daniel Cormier, and Chael Sonnen. The 32-year-old UFC fighter has set a 26-1 record, his only loss was due to an illegal elbow that led to disqualification.
His legacy in this sport has been questioned, particularly after his latest fight against.
Jon’s win was boosted by the unanimous decision although many fans were not happy with the judges’ ruling as they felt Dominick Reyes would have won the fight.
Other controversies that have negatively affected this superfluous fighter’s career include doping violations and multiple arrests.
However, his undeniable track record coupled with his fighting ability has stood the test of time, making him the best MMA fighter there’s ever been.
2. Georges St-Pierre
This Canadian athlete is mostly dubbed as the greatest Male UFC fighter of all time, for the good reason. This fan-favorite fighter came to be a two-division champion in both welterweight and middleweight divisions.
He has an impressive 26-2 resume in UFC fighting, defeating even the UFC legends like BJ and Penn Michael Bisping.
He has only suffered two losses in his career against Matt Serra and Matt Hughes but he bounced back in both rematches and proved his fighting prowess.
St-Pierre has a very clean record in terms ofdoping violation issues in his entire 15-year career. He holds the record for the most title wins with 13 consecutive victories before hanging his MMA gloves in 2019.
3. Anderson Silva
He is one of the top UFC male fighters who has faced the toughest opponents in the middleweight division.
“Spider” (his nickname) fought top prospects like Stephan Bonnar James Irvin, and Forrest Griffin tallying a 16-fight win streak. Also, he has pocketed 10 successful titles defenses earning him the longest title rein in the MMA history.
But the doping violations for steroids along with consecutive losses towards the end of his career tainted an otherwise phenomenal record.
4. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Since clinching the lightweight title against Al LaQuinta in 2018, “the Eagle” has earned a place into the list of the greatest UFC fighters in history.
During his first title defense, Khabib made history against Conor McGregor, his arch-nemesis. He also used the same trademark grappling skill to submit “The Notorious” and in the same fashion defeated Dustin Poirier a year later.
Despite his encouraging 28-0 track record, the 31-year-old has only defended the lightweight title only twice.
Due to the current Covid-19 restrictions, he was forced to withdraw from the highly anticipated bout against Tony Ferguson, who recently lost to Gaethje at UFC 249.
Nurmagomedov is a rising star and am sure he’ll soon face up with other top-ranked MMA fighter to become the MMA king.