The UFC has been the pinnacle of MMA, with the growth of Dana White’s promotion taking cage fighting to a whole new level, with the sport now a global phenomenon.
So that begs the question, who is the greatest fighter of all time, whether that be for the UFC or other MMA disciplines? It can be hard to compare the different disciplines and weight divisions, then you have the added variable in gender.
Thankfully, Tapology have compiled a list of the 100 greatest UFC/MMA fighters of all time, so without any further ado, let’s get into their list.
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (100-91)
100. Donald Cerrone
99. Miguel Torres
98. Cody Garbrandt
97. Ronda Rousey
96. Johny Hendricks
95. Aljamain Sterling
94. Justin Gaethje
93. Gilbert Melendez
92. Stephen Thompson
91. Pat Miletich
Ronda Rousey
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (90-81)
90. Jens Pulver
89. Demian Maia
88. Brandon Moreno
87. Nate Diaz
86. Patricio Pitbull
85. Petr Yan
84. Rickson Gracie
83. Ronaldo Souza
82. Ryan Bader
81. Brock Lesnar
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 9: Brock Lesnar walks to the Octagon for his fight against Daniel Cornier during the UFC 200 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (80-71)
80. Igor Vovchanchyn
79. Andrei Arlovski
78. Colby Covington
77. Jake Shields
76. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
75. Jan Blachowicz
74. Cris Cyborg
73. Chael Sonnen
72. Forrest Griffin
71. Joseph Benavidez
Cris Cyborg
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (70-61)
70. Yoel Romero
69. Ken Shamrock
68. Deiveson Figueiredo
67. Carlos Condit
66. Renan Barao
65. Mark Coleman
64. Frank Mir
63. Takanori Gomi
62. Luke Rockhold
61. Nick Diaz
Ken Shamrock
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (60-51)
60. Rashad Evans
59. Rich Franklin
58. Josh Barnett
57. Anthony Pettis
56. Eddie Alvarez
55. Glover Teixeira
54. Benson Henderson
53. Tony Ferguson
52. Kazushi Sakuraba
51. Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort incredibly calls out Jake Paul and Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (50-41)
50. Urijah Faber
49. Rafael dos Anjos
48. Valentina Shevchenko
47. Francis N’Gannou
46. Michael Bisping
45. Tyron Woodley
44. Frank Shamrock
43. Junior dos Santons
42. Alistair Overeem
41. Gegard Mousasi
Jan 22, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Francis Ngannou (red gloves) before his fight against Ciryl Gane during UFC 270 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (40-31)
40. Bas Rutten
39. Chris Weidman
38. Royce Gracie
37. Robbie Lawler
36. Robert Whittaker
35. Tito Ortiz
34. Lyoto Machida
33. Dustin Poirier
32. Quinton Jackson
31. Fabricio Werdum
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 11: Dustin Poirier during his lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira of Brazil during the UFC 269 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (30-21)
30. Mirko Filipovic
29. T.J Dillashaw
28. Charles Oliveira
27. Mauricio Rua
26. Amanda Nunes
25. Frankie Edgar
24. Anotonio Rodrigo Nogueira
23. Cain Velasquez
22. Wanderlei Silva
21. Conor McGregor
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 10: Conor McGregor of Ireland walks in the octagon before his lightweight bought against Dustin Poirier during UFC 264: Poirier v McGregor 3 at T-Mobile Arena on July 10, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (20-11)
20. Dan Henderson
19. Max Holloway
18. Henry Cejudo
17. Chuck Liddell
16. Israel Adesanya
15. Dominick Cruz
14. BJ Penn
13. Matt Huges
12. Randy Couture
11. Alexander Volkanovski
DALLAS, TEXAS - JULY 30: Israel Adesanya of Nigeria attends UFC 277 at American Airlines Center on July 30, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Top 100 UFC/MMA fighters of all time (10-1)
10. Kamaru Usman
9. Stipe Miocic
7. Fedor Emelianenko
5. Jose Aldo
2. Jon Jones
Georges St-Pierre
It’s certainly a tricky task to rank all of these amazing fighters given all the variables, but Tapology have stuck their neck on the line with their list. The fact McGregor doesn’t even make the top 20 is shocking.
Given everything he has done for the sport to help take to it a global audience and becoming a huge star in his own right, on top of his title triumphs, he deserves to be higher.
Khabib can feel hard done by as well to be outside of the top five, especially when you consider just how good he was coupled with a perfect record in the Octagon. Gracie down in 84th is the only other perfect record in the top 100, but that is only 9-0, with just the one fight since the turn of the millennium.