Jon Jones
Daniel Cormier
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Jon Jones leads 4 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Jon Jones at #1 and Daniel Cormier at #10.
The case for Jon Jones
Widely regarded as the most complete fighter the sport has produced, Jones holds a record of 28-1 with the lone loss a controversial 2009 disqualification for illegal downward elbows against Matt Hamill — a fight he was dominating. He became the youngest UFC champion in history at 23 by stopping Shogun Rua at UFC 128 in 2011, then ruled light heavyweight for nearly a decade, beating Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Glover Teixeira, Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. In 2023 he moved up to heavyweight and submitted Ciryl Gane for the vacant title at UFC 285, then stopped former champion Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body at UFC 309 in 2024. His unmatched reach, creativity and fight IQ are shadowed only by suspensions and legal issues outside the cage.
The case for Daniel Cormier
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.