Khabib Nurmagomedov
Amanda Nunes
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Khabib Nurmagomedov leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Khabib Nurmagomedov at #4 and Amanda Nunes at #6.
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.
The case for Amanda Nunes
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.