Mixed Martial Arts has gone a long way since its genesis at UFC 1 in 1993. The sport is now mainstream long after lawmakers in the U.S. wanted to ban the sport because it was like human cockfighting.
Over the years, champions have come and gone. Among the all-time greats who have represented the spot, five names stand out as the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.
Check out the list below:
1. Jon Jones
1/5
Source: nypost.com
If we take personal controversies aside, then Jon Jones is without a doubt the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Bones is the youngest fighter to win a UFC championship, defeating the great Shogun Rua at UFC 128 to win the UFC’s 205-pound title. Jones had two reigns as light heavyweight champion and made a total of 11 successful title defenses across two tenures as 205-pound king.
Jones has a record of 27-1 with one no-contest. But his one loss is disputed because, in that bout, he was dominating his opponent until he was flagged for landing illegal elbows. UFC President Dana White has gone on record to say that Jones should not have been disqualified in that bout and that he should still be undefeated right now. White also acknowledges Jones as the GOAT of MMA.
2. Anderson Silva
2/5
Source: thesun.co.uk
Anderson Silva was the longest-reigning UFC champion in history. The Spider was the UFC middleweight champion from 2006 to 2013 2,457 days. Silva had an incredible stretch where he won 16 consecutive bouts, including 10 successful defenses of the UFC 185-pound title. During his peak, UFC President Dana White and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan called him one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.
The Sao Paulo, Brazil native began his professional MMA career in Japan where he won the Shooto middleweight title and competed for PRIDE. Silva then won the Cage Rage middleweight championship in England before heading to the UFC. In only his second Octagon assignment, Anderson became a superstar when he defeated Rich Franklin to win the UFC middleweight championship.
3. Georges St. Pierre
3/5
Source: @georgesstpierre via Facebook
Georges St. Pierre is widely regarded as the greatest welterweight fighter o all time. Known as GSP, St. Pierre reigned as welterweight king twice and was once an interim welterweight champion. He retired as welterweight champion in 2013 after making 9 total successful title defenses while owning the second-longest combined title reign at 2,204 days.
Four years after he left the sport, St. Pierre returned at UFC 217 to challenge Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. In a sensational comeback, GSP submitted Bisping via rear-naked choke to become the fourth two-division UFC champion. St. Pierre would later vacate the title and retire again. He would later reveal that he suffered from an inflammatory bowel disease called Ulcerative Colitis which ‘took a lot out of him’.
4. Khabib Nurmagomedov
4/5
Source: thesun.co.uk
Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov is one of the greats who retired from the sport without tasting defeat. Nurmagomedov was undefeated in 29 bouts with 8 knockouts and 11 submission victories when he announced his retirement. He also retired on top, doing so after his third successful defense of the UFC lightweight championship.
The Eagle was born, raised, and trained in the mountains of Dagestan. Khabib was a former Combat Sambo world champion and a NAGA grappling world champion. He began his MMA career in Russia, fighting for M-1, Pro FC, Tsumada Fighting Championship, and Pankration Atrium Cup before joining the UFC. Nurmagomedov ended Conor McGregor’s rise in the UFC with a dominant submission win in the highest-earning PPV event in UFC history at UFC 229.
5. Conor McGregor
5/5
Love or hate him, Conor McGregor is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. The Notorious was the first fighter in UFC history to hold two different belts simultaneously. McGregor first became champion with his iconic 7-second knockout of longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo at UFC 194. Three fights later, he sensationally knocked out Eddie Alvarez to become a two-division champion.
The Irishman also ventured into professional boxing. At the height of his popularity, McGregor fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one of the richest boxing matches in the history of the sport. Conor lost the fight via 11th-round knockout but he earned around $100 million ( ~AUD 155.8 million). He’s been inactive as of late and has been more known for his controversies. But there is no denying that aside from his Octagon accomplishments, McGregor is an all-time great for helping MMA reach mainstream status.