Ever since the start of the UFC, it has been home to some of the most dominant fighters that the world has ever seen. There have been many fighters who aren’t just good at fighting, they’re also good at grabbing onto any belt in sight and holding onto it for dear life.
Today we’re taking a look at five athletes whose careers showed that kind of unstoppable dominance, even if they did get stopped in the end. If you’re part of the betting crowd, you should consider checking out Fanduel’s UFC fights odds. If any of the fighters below show up, you know who to put your money on.
1. Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva holds the longest title reign in the UFC. If that isn’t dominance, we don’t know what is.
Along with being one of the pioneers of the UFC during its rise to prominence, Silva won the UFC middleweight championship in just his second fight, which was against Rich Franklin at UFC 64. Then the challengers came – and he beat them all.
Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Stephan Bonnar, all of them were repelled by Silva across six whole years. He would finally be defeated in 2013, after 16 victories as champion. This was where Chris Weidman scored lucky punches against Silva while he was showboating.
When Silva lost the title, he had held it for 2,457 days.
2. Randy Couture
Sometimes dominance isn’t about holding one title for the longest – it’s about winning two titles in two different divisions. Old-guard fighter Randy Couture managed to do this. Only seven fighters have ever held two different division titles and Couture was the first.
Couture made a splash early in his UFC career after beating Vitor Belfort. That was just the start, however, as he became a contender for the Heavyweight Championship. He then challenged champion Maurice Smith and took the belt after a slow fight.
The title was later taken from him after signing away from the UFC, so Couture came and took it back in 2000, from Kevin Randleman. He then moved to light heavyweight and beat Chuck Liddell to become interim Light Heavyweight champion, becoming the first fighter to win two weight class titles.
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov
In boxing and other fighting sports, ending your career with an unbeaten record is one of the highest achievements. While rare, some UFC fighters achieve this too, and it is definitely a sign of dominance in the sport.
Khabib Nurmagomedov only recently bowed out from the UFC in 2020. Before that, he had lit the UFC on fire with his time as the UFC Lightweight Champion. After making short work of Al Iaquinta, it was Khabib’s 2018 fight against Conor McGregor that shocked the world, along with the brawl that happened outside of the Octagon afterward.
From there, he beat Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje. Then he bowed out after his father’s death with a record of 29 wins and 0 losses.
4. Jon Jones
In terms of winning title bouts, nobody has shown more prowess than Jon “Bones” Jones. While his career was fraught with issues, the numbers don’t lie. With 14 championship bout victories under his belt, he’s the most effective when there’s a title on the line, with his most recent win being in February of 2020.
It helps that he is a powerhouse whose punching power is well-known. Having fought in the light heavyweight division for his career, he later moved into the heavyweight division. Whether he can stay on top form remains to be seen.
5. Amanda Nunes
To this very day, the female division of the UFC is ruled by one woman – Amanda Nunes. Having started out as UFC Bantamweight Champion, she is now the current Featherweight Champion and owned them both for a time. That made her the third fighter to ever achieve this, after Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
She had also never lost a title bout until very recently, in her huge upset fight against Julianna Pena. She held the bantamweight title for 1,981 days. The Lioness still has her featherweight championship, which she has held for 1,073 days, and had held both for longer than 3,049 days.
Conclusion
That’s just five of the most dominant champions that the UFC has seen. With these fighters, you can see the variety of ways that a fighter can make a name for themselves, rise to prominence, and dominate their corner of the UFC.