Jon Jones
Kamaru Usman
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 Kamaru Usman at #9.
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 Kamaru Usman
'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.