It's always fun to speculate about the top MMA fighters in the world, and we're always having that discussion at TAPOUT. While our list may vary from yours we thought we'd explore our eight favorites.
Kamaru Usman, also known as the Nigerian Nightmare, has an NCAA wrestling background as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu making him a formidable multi-faceted grappler. He began his MMA career on the regional circuit after failing to qualify for the US Olympic wrestling team in 2012, and quickly transitioned to the UFC thanks to participating in The Ultimate Fighter in 2015.
Throughout his career, Usman has amassed a 20 and one record with nine knockout wins. He also has held the UFC Welterweight Championship from 2019 to the time of writing, successfully defending his title on six occasions.
The second Nigerian on this list, Israel Adesanya competed in the middleweight division since 2012 with a light heavyweight appearance in 2021. Adesanya utilizes a boxing and kickboxing style having had success in both sports up until his debut in the UFC in 2017.
In 2019, Israel Adesanya faced Kelvin Gastelum for the UFC Interim Middleweight Championship. Adesanya came away the victor and has to this date been able to successfully retain the title. In March of 2021, Adesanya moved up a weight class to challenge for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. He lost that bout to Jan Blachowicz by unanimous decision.
Valentina Shevchenko is considered to be the top pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world today. She's had success in many different disciplines including Muay Thai, Judo, boxing and kick boxing. Her southpaw stance has been known to change opponents strategies and approach as opposed to facing right-handed fighters.
In September 2018, Shevchenko won the UFC Women's Flyweight Title by defeating Joanna Jędrzejczyk for the then vacant title. She is still the champion and has a career 22 and three professional MMA record at the time of publication.
Prior to MMA competition, the Australian Alexander Volkanovski began his professional fighting career as a boxer and has gained a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu as well as trained Muay Thai extensively. He also played semi-professional rugby prior to fighting, which may have helped contribute to his toughness in the octagon.
Volkasnovski has only one blemish to date on his pro-MMA record winning 23 fights while only losing one. Alexander Volkanovski is the current UFC Featherweight Champion, and has an upcoming title defense against Max Holloway at UFC 272.
Amanda Nunes has made a name for her as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet by competing at both the bantamweight and featherweight classes. Since 2008, she has 21 wins and only five losses, with 13 out of the 21 one wins coming by KO.
Nunes has utilized the skills of a Jiu-Jitsu black belt and a Judo brown belt to capture both the UFC Bantamweight and Featherweight title belts. She dropped the bantamweight title in a major upset to Juliana Pena. Nunes will take her fighting expertise to the Ultimate Fighter 30 where she has been named one of the coaches for the upcoming ESPN+ program.
Also known as "The Predator," the 35 year old Francis Ngannou is still competing at an incredibly high level, and is still part of any discussion concerning the best of the best. Active in pro-MMA since 2012, Ngannou's record currently stands at 17 wins with only three losses.
The height of The Predator's success came when he recently won the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship by decision over Ciryl Cane earlier this year. The win by decision was the first time Francis Ngannou has won by points in his UFC career.
Charles Oliveira's MMA record currently stands at 32 and eight with an impressive 20 wins via submission. Oliveira has a 3rd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is capable of competing in the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions.
Oliveira is the current UFC Lightweight Champion, and he holds several UFC records. Charles had had the most submissions in UFC history, he's tied for the most wins in the lightweight division and he holds the record for most finishes in UFC history.
A two-time UFC Strawweight Champion and current title holder, Rose Namajunas is a force to be reckoned with in the UFC's women's division. She is known for her striking style and employs techniques from multiple disciplines making her hard to predict. She has several black belts, including belts in Taekwando and karate, as well as a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Since emerging on the MMA scene in 2010, Namajuanas has gained a record of 11 wins and four losses and will be defending her strawweight title in the near future.
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