🥋GOAT Rankings

The most dominant welterweight in history and a paragon of preparation, GSP retired at 26-2 having avenged both losses. He first won the welterweight title from Matt Hughes at UFC 65 in 2006, suffered a stunning upset knockout by Matt Serra in 2007, then reclaimed the belt and never lost again, defending it nine consecutive times against a murderer's row that included B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz. Famous for tailoring a specific game plan to every opponent — wrestling strikers and out-striking wrestlers — he combined an elite jab with suffocating top control. After a four-year hiatus he returned at UFC 217 in 2017 to submit middleweight champion Michael Bisping, becoming a two-division titleholder, then retired on top. His run of 13 title-fight wins stood as a record and his professionalism reshaped the sport.

For seven years 'The Spider' was untouchable, holding the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days and a record 16 consecutive victories with 10 straight middleweight title defenses. His striking looked like something from another sport: the front-kick knockout of Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 in 2011, the matrix-like head movement, the finishes of Rich Franklin, Forrest Griffin, Chael Sonnen and Chris Leben. He fought with his hands down and made elite opponents miss by inches before countering with fight-ending precision, and he twice moved up to light heavyweight and won. His aura finally cracked when Chris Weidman knocked him out at UFC 162 in 2013, and the 2013 rematch ended horrifically when Silva broke his leg on a checked kick. He retired 34-11, but at his peak he was the most artistic finisher the sport has seen.

The most dominant grappler the sport has known, Khabib retired flawless at 29-0, having barely lost a round across his entire career. A multiple-time combat sambo world champion from Dagestan, he built a smothering, cage-crushing wrestling style — 'send them off,' as his father put it — that no opponent solved. He won the vacant lightweight title against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in 2018, then defended it in the biggest fight in company history, submitting Conor McGregor by neck crank in the fourth round at UFC 229 before roughly 2.4 million pay-per-view buyers. He followed with submissions of Dustin Poirier and, in his final bout, a third-round triangle choke of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020. He retired immediately afterward, honoring a promise to his mother following his father's death, walking away perfect.

'Mighty Mouse' is arguably the most technically complete fighter of all time, a flyweight who mastered every phase without a defining weakness. As the inaugural UFC flyweight champion he set the record for most consecutive title defenses with 11, a run of dominance from 2013 to 2018 in which he blended world-class striking, wrestling and submissions into a seamless whole. His suplex directly into an armbar against Ray Borg at UFC 216 in 2017 is one of the most spectacular finishes in history. Because he competed in the sport's lightest and least-promoted division, his brilliance was often underappreciated relative to bigger names. Traded to ONE Championship in 2018, he won that promotion's flyweight grand prix and title and delivered a flying-knee knockout of Adriano Moraes in 2022. He retired around 25-4-1, revered by peers as a fighter's fighter and a technician without equal.

The greatest female fighter in history, 'The Lioness' is the first woman to hold two UFC titles simultaneously, reigning over both bantamweight and featherweight. She dismantled an entire generation of stars: a 48-second knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 207 in 2016, a 51-second knockout of the previously unbeaten Cris Cyborg at UFC 232 in 2018, plus wins over Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, Germaine de Randamie and two victories over Valentina Shevchenko. The only blemish in her prime was a shocking submission loss to Julianna Peña at UFC 269 in 2021, which she emphatically avenged with a one-sided decision at UFC 277 in 2022. She retired as the reigning double champion at 23-5, having beaten more current or former champions than any woman in the sport and settling the female GOAT debate for a generation.

'The Last Emperor' was the consensus best heavyweight in the world through the mid-2000s and the defining icon of Japan's PRIDE era. A master of combat sambo, he combined unorthodox looping punches with slick submissions and an unshakable calm, going undefeated for nearly a decade — a run of 28 fights without a legitimate loss from 2000 to 2010. As PRIDE heavyweight champion he beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman and a young Andrei Arlovski, whom he stopped with a flying-punch knockout. He never competed in the UFC, which fuels endless debate about his placement, and his level of competition in some later fights is questioned. But at his peak, against the best heavyweights alive, he was untouchable, and he retired around 40-7 as one of the most beloved and mythologized figures the sport has produced.

The greatest featherweight of all time, Aldo went undefeated for roughly a decade — an 18-fight win streak from 2005 to 2015 — while reigning as WEC and then inaugural UFC featherweight champion. His leg kicks were the most feared in the sport, memorably crumpling Urijah Faber and reducing opponents to hobbling targets, and he paired them with sharp boxing and elite takedown defense. He defended the featherweight crown repeatedly against the division's best before Conor McGregor stunned him with a 13-second knockout at UFC 194 in 2015, one of the most shocking moments in MMA history. He rebuilt himself as a top bantamweight contender in his thirties, challenging for that title too, and retired from MMA around 31-8. For pure divisional dominance over a sustained period, few careers rival his prime.

'The Nigerian Nightmare' built one of the most dominant welterweight reigns in history on a base of relentless, high-level wrestling that evolved into genuine knockout power. He put together a 15-fight UFC winning streak — among the longest ever — and won the welterweight title from Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 in 2019, then defended it five times. He beat Colby Covington twice in grueling wars, avenged an early loss to Jorge Masvidal with a highlight-reel knockout, and outpointed Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards. His reign ended dramatically when Edwards landed a head kick with under a minute left in their UFC 278 rematch in 2022, erasing a fight Usman was winning. He sits around 20-4, a wrestler who became a finisher and headlined the sport's African golden age alongside Israel Adesanya and Francis Ngannou.

A two-time Olympic wrestler and 2008 U.S. team captain, 'DC' translated elite grappling into a two-division championship career, holding both the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts. He captured the vacant light heavyweight title against Anthony Johnson at UFC 187 in 2015, defended it against Johnson again and Alexander Gustafsson, then moved up and knocked out the great Stipe Miocic to take the heavyweight crown at UFC 226 in 2018. His stellar record of 22-3 carries an asterisk that defines his career: every one of his losses came against Jon Jones, and one of those was overturned to a no-contest after Jones failed a drug test. Endlessly durable, technical and cerebral, Cormier would likely be remembered as an all-time great champion in any era that did not also contain his one impossible rival.

The biggest star the sport has ever produced, McGregor changed MMA's economics and reach while backing it up in the cage during his prime. He became the first fighter to hold two UFC titles simultaneously, knocking out featherweight king José Aldo in a record 13 seconds at UFC 194 in 2015 and stopping Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt at UFC 205 in 2016. His left hand was one of the most feared weapons in the sport, and his self-promotion filled arenas and drove the two biggest pay-per-views in company history. He also crossed into boxing for a blockbuster loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2017. Injuries, inactivity and losses to Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov, plus a leg break against Dustin Poirier in 2021, clouded his later years. He sits around 22-6, but his peak dominance and cultural impact are undeniable.

The most accomplished heavyweight in UFC history, Miocic set the record for most consecutive successful heavyweight title defenses with three, a mark that stood alone in the sport's most volatile division. A working firefighter and paramedic, he won the title by knocking out Fabricio Werdum in Brazil at UFC 198 in 2016, then defended against Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou. After dropping the belt to Daniel Cormier he reclaimed it in their 2019 rematch at UFC 241, avenging the loss. Built on crisp boxing, an underrated clinch and championship-round cardio, his reign gave heavyweight a rare stretch of stability. His career sits around 20-5, with the closing chapters — a knockout loss to Ngannou in 2021 and a stoppage by Jon Jones at UFC 309 in 2024 — coming against two of the hardest hitters the division has ever seen.