The UFC has had numerous talented fighters and flamboyant personalities fight in the octagon over the course of its existence. With so many fighters to choose from, it can be hard to decide who the best ever may be, but we've chosen 10 we feel belong in the discussion of best fighters to ever grace the UFC.
Randy Couture could be considered the first true star of the UFC. He was one of the faces of the sport during its infancy, and would be a recognizable presence in the late 1990's and early 2000's.
One of the things that puts Randy Couture on this list is his resiliency and his ability to come back time and time again after the UFC world thought that he was washed up. He even was able to defeat Tim Sylvia to win the UFC Heavyweight Title after making a late career comeback by moving up to the heavyweight division.
Royce Gracie may not be incredibly well known to modern UFC fans, but those who saw him fight during the early days of the UFC would consider him one of the 10 best of all time.
Gracie's stint in the UFC was during an age where the organization didn't utilize traditional weight class limits or adhere to MMA rules as they stand today. Fighting against a varied class of fighters, Royce Gracie won an impressive three out of the first four UFC tournaments ever held.
B.J. Penn has not only been a huge favorite among UFC fans, but has proven that this popularity is warranted by his performance in the octagon.
Penn was the first ever UFC fighter to claim championships in more than one weight division, and he's beaten notable fighters such as Nick Diaz, Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. While incredibly successful early on in his career, some think Penn may have hung around the sport past his prime as he dropped several bouts in a row to end his UFC run.
Over the course of Georges St. Pierre's UFC careers, he's only suffered two defeats, and was able to avenge those by winning rematches against the fighters who had beat him.
Due to his daunting record, GSP is on nearly every fan's top 10 list. Pierre has since transitioned from the octagon to film and television, but since he's never officially released a retirement statement who knows what the future holds.
Chuck Liddell was involved in one of the first super hyped rivalries in early UFC history against Tito Ortiz, and he usually dominated opposing fighters in the early days of the sport.
Liddell was so dominant that he was the biggest UFC star for most of his career, but he's one of those fighters who stuck around past his prime and has quite a few late-career blemishes on his record. His overall body of work, however, nets him a spot on our top ten list.
Even considering Jones' troubles outside of the UFC, we have to put him on this list due to what he's accomplished in the octagon.
"Bones" Jones has the distinction of never losing a UFC bout, the only blemish on his record is from a fight that ended when he was disqualified. Jones has made some noise recently, and we'll see how he stacks up against the best fighters in the heavyweight division.
It wouldn't be prudent to ignore the best female UFC fighter of all time.
Her success, personality and style put the female division of the UFC on the map in the MMA world. "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey is known for dominating her opponents for most of her career until the physical effects of being knocked out on two separate occasions forced her to retire from the UFC and MMA fighting altogether.
"The Spider" Anderson Silva is always near the top of the list when it comes to the best UFC competitors of all time.
Silva's flashy fighting style made him an easy fan favorite, and his dominant performance fight after fight convinced experts that he was a once in a generation kind of MMA fighter. Silva's five year run as the UFC's Middleweight Champion cements his legacy as a legend despite injuries and losses taking away from his record towards the end of his career.
Conor McGregor is undoubtedly the most famous UFC fighter of all time. Even non-UFC fans know who he is, and he's not only the most famous, he's also one of the best.
McGregor has only suffered a handful of losses over his career, and has absolutely owned the octagon nearly every time he took on an opponent. He's always had a brash style and almost always backs up any trash talk he sends his opponent's way. McGregor is currently recovering from an ankle injury, but we don't think he'll stay away from the UFC for too long.
Nurmagomedov was without a doubt the most dominating fighter of the 2010's UFC era, if not in the entire history of the UFC.
Khabib never lost a single one of his 29 UFC fights, in fact, many experts have reviewed his career and some claim that it's possible that he never lost even a single round except for one in his dominating fight against Conor MacGregor. Due to record and dominance alone, Khabib Nurmagomedov is in a class by himself and possibly the greatest fighter the UFC has ever seen.
TapouT is engineered to boost performance, help your body create natural energy and aid in the recovery process after intense competition. TapouT is available in three flavors. Our Citrus Kick flavor has 120 easily usable calories for energy and we offer two zero-sugar, low-calorie, options with our Wild Orange and Cherry Lemonade Blast flavors.