The UFC have had a lot of great champions, but who is the greatest of all time? Well, we decided to find out by putting together a list of the 25 best champions in UFC history.
Below you can check out SPORTbible's list of greatest UFC champions, based on their championship reign, dominance and legacy. Buckle up and enjoy!
25-20: Summary
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So, to kick things off we have Frank Shamrock, Cain Velasquez, TJ Dillashaw, Conor McGregor, Tyron Woodley and Israel Adesanya.
First things first, McGregor has to make the list. After all, he is the first fighter in the promotion's history to hold two titles simultaneously. But he's not ranked any higher due to the fact that he's never actually defended any of his UFC belts. Fair, right?
Current UFC champion Adesanya rounds off this section. Though give it a few years and he could easily crack the top ten (hell, even top five) if he continues his prolific form at middleweight or grabs another UFC title.
25. Frank Shamrock
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24. Cain Velasquez
23. TJ Dillashaw
22. Conor McGregor
21. Tyron Woodley
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20. Israel Adesanya
19-13: Summary
A couple of former UFC bantamweight champions and a pair of pioneers who reigned over the UFC light-heavyweight division enter the mix. We're talking about Dominick Cruz, Henry Cejudo, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz.
BJ Penn, who defended his UFC lightweight title three times, and Max Holloway, who also made three title defences of his UFC featherweight title, are ranked 18th and 16th, respectively.
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk (15th) is the first women's UFC champion to enter the fold. She won six UFC women's strawweight title fights.
Cejudo's the highest ranked UFC champion, here, having won UFC titles in two different weight divisions (flyweight and bantamweight).
19. Dominick Cruz
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18. BJ Penn
17. Tito Ortiz
16. Max Holloway
15. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
14. Chuck Liddell
13. Henry Cejudo
12-7: Summary
Ronda Rousey went 6-2 in UFC championship bouts as she cracks the list in at 12th.
Two division UFC champions Randy Couture (11th) and Daniel Cormier (10th) join the discussion too. 'The Natural' won nine UFC championship bouts across two weight divisions while bagging the UFC light-heavyweight and the UFC heavyweight titles.
Just like 'DC' who once held both titles at the same time. Despite winning less UFC championship fights than Couture, Cormier's ranked higher because of his resume which includes stoppage victories over Anthony Johnson and Stipe Miocic.
Jose Aldo's ranked No.8 even though he's lost to McGregor and Holloway, but longevity is the key here.
He made seven consecutive titles defences during his spell as UFC featherweight kingpin before surrendering his crown, beating the likes of Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and 'The Korean Zombie'.
Miocic is the highest ranked UFC heavyweight champion. Easy call because he's the most successful heavyweight champion in UFC history with four UFC heavyweight championship defences to his name.
12. Ronda Rousey
11. Randy Couture
10. Daniel Cormier
9. Matt Hughes
8. Jose Aldo
7. Stipe Miocic
6-1: Summary
Now we get into the business end of the list and this is where it gets very contentious, but here we go.
In at 6th, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Yes, he only has four UFC title fight victories to his name but his dominance can't go unnoticed. He was virtually unbeatable and made it look easy against everyone, including McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
Amanda Nunes comes in at 5th. She has NEVER lost a UFC title bout which is absurd. She boasts eight impressive UFC championship victories across two weight classes, beating the likes of Miesha Tate, Rousey and 'Cyborg'.
Anderson Silva and Demetrious Johnson are ranked 4th and 3rd, respectively. We could have flipped a coin to determine their positions as it's that close between them, but 'Mighty Mouse' just edges it for us based on having the record for most consecutive title defences in UFC history (11).
And, finally - *drum roll please*... Georges St-Pierre is second which means Jon Jones is our greatest UFC champion of all time.
GSP won an incredible 13 UFC title fights. 12 at welterweight where he enjoyed a stunning reign as champion, beating all comers and avenging his two UFC title defeats. He also dabbled at 185lbs, dethroning Michael Bisping of the UFC middleweight title before walking away from the sport.
As for Jones, his numbers don't lie. His body of work is truly on another level. He's 14-0-(1) in UFC championship bouts. No other fighter in UFC history has won more title bouts than 'Bones' who's still active and looking for new challenges in the form of a run at heavyweight.
He walked through a murderer's row of light-heavyweight legends, cleaning out his division in spectacular style earning himself SPORTbible's crown of greatest champion in UFC history.
6. Khabib Nurmagomedov
5. Amanda Nunes
4. Anderson Silva
3. Demetrious Johnson
2. Georges St-Pierre
1. Jon Jones
Featured Image Credit: UFC/UFC/UFC/PATopics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor Mcgregor, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Daniel Cormier, UFC News, Fight News, UFC, Ronda Rousey, Georges St-Pierre