Anderson Silva
Khabib Nurmagomedov
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Anderson Silva leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Anderson Silva at #3 and Khabib Nurmagomedov at #4.
The case for Anderson Silva
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 case for Khabib Nurmagomedov
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.