Mixed martial arts (MMA) is arguably the fastest growing sport in the world. Every day the number of his fans is growing inexorably. Despite the fact that this sport is only about 25 years old, for this a short time there were many great champions. It is possible that this list best fighters MMA in another 25 years will look very different, but today it looks like this.
Known by the nickname "Vigor", St. Pierre is one of the most promising fighters in the world of MMA. Canadian participant, former champion UFC welterweight title. He is still in his prime (born 1981) and looking at his superior athleticism and wrestling skills, this is far from the limit. During participation in UFC fights in the welterweight category, Georges Saint-Pierre fought 27 fights, of which he won 25 and only 2 defeats, for both he avenged. In 2008 and 2009 he was named the best athlete of the year in Canada, as well as the best fighter of 2009 according to the Wrestling Observer magazine.
Anderson Silva, also known by the nickname "Spider" (1975 year of birth) - Brazilian participant in mixed martial arts. He recently lost his title to the younger and stronger Chris Weidman. Still, Silva remains one of the best fighters to participate in mixed martial arts. The Brazilian master held the title for the longest in UFC history, defending it in 10 straight bouts. UFC President Dane White has named Silva the strongest mixed martial arts fighter in history.
Five-time UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion (a record three times). Randy (known by the nickname "Natural", "Captain America") became the first fighter to win two UFC championship belts in two different weight categories... Randy Couture (born 1963) is known not only as an American fighter who fought in Greco-Roman wrestling and MMA, but also as an actor and showman.
Chuck Liddell for MMA, someone like Michael Jordan for basketball, David Beckham for football, in a word "SUPERSTAR". It's no exaggeration to say that he is considered the most popular UFC fighter of all time to this day, and probably one of the best. Charles David Liddell, nicknamed "Ice" was born in 1969 - a professional kickboxer, world champion in the light heavyweight division according to the UFC from 2005 to 2007.
The sixth place in the ranking of the best MMA fighters goes to Bas Rutten. This is a Dutch kickboxer who took part in mixed martial arts fights. UFC Heavyweight Champion. Bas Rutten (born in 1965) also known by the nickname "Handsome", ended his career without losing, he had 22 fights, of which 21 wins and 1 draw. Rutten's favorite tactic is to attack the liver with both his arm and leg. His charisma, inside and outside the "Octagon", has helped the Dutch athlete become a celebrity. To date, the former champion is a television commentator and has also starred in several films and video games.
Royce Gracie (born December 12, 1966) is a Brazilian fighter, master of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. His name tops the list in the UFC Hall of Fame. Considered one of the most influential figures in MMA history. He gained his fame thanks to victories over more major opponents with the help of wrestling techniques, thereby drawing the attention of athletes participating in MMA to study more wrestling on the ground. During his career, which ended in 2007, Gracie fought 16 fights, winning 14 of them.
Matt Hughes (born October 13, 1973) - American mixed martial artist, former two-time champion UFC welterweight title. He defended his title a total of seven times, a record for the welterweight division. In his prime, Matt Hughes was literally invincible. During his career, he spent 54 fights, of which he won 45.
Dan Henderson
Words aren't enough to describe Dan Henderson's greatness. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest and toughest MMA fighters of all time. Even more impressive is that he still fights younger athletes to this day. Dan Henderson (born August 24, 1970) nicknamed "Hendo" became the first fighter to win the Pride Championship in multiple weight divisions (welterweight and middleweight). Former Olympic wrestler. He has won more titles than any other fighter in MMA history.
Igor Vovchanchin (born June 8, 1973) - former Ukrainian kickboxer and mixed martial arts fighter, winner and medalist of many tournaments mixed style... Igor (born 1973) is known by the nickname "Cold-blooded" was one of the most dominant fighters of all time, from 1995 to 2000 he fought 32 fights in a row, never losing. In total, the kickboxer fought 87 fights, of which he won 76 fights. Igor Vovchanchin was also one of the shortest (174 cm) heavyweight fighters in the history of mixed martial arts.
Fedor Emelianenko
"The last emperor", "Terminator", these are the nicknames, Fedor Emelianenko (born September 28, 1976), the greatest MMA fighter who ever walked on the "octagon". Four-time world champion in MMA in the heavy weight category, seven-time champion of Russia and four-time world champion in combat sambo... International Master of Sports in Judo and Honored Master of Sports in Sambo.
For almost 10 years, Fedor remained invincible, having spent a total of 32 fights in this period of time, which made him the best fighter in the history of MMA.
10 best MMA fighters in the world. Why is Cormier cooler than Khabib?
What is p4r rating?
In simpler terms, the pound for pound rating is perceived as the rating of fighters from different weight classes, which are compared as if they all weighed the same and were considered potential opponents. When comparing, achievements at the moment, potential, subjective impression and anything else are taken into account - up to the charisma and integrity of the image. We studied the ratings of the top 10 fighters in the world from the sites Sherdog, Tapology, Fightmatrix, ESPN, MMAweekly and the UFC (since only UFC fighters got into the five previous ratings) and made a consolidated top ten.
10. Henry Sejudo (USA)
31 year; over 56.7 kg; 13 wins, 2 losses
What did you do: freestyle wrestling
Short: first Olympic champion to become UFC champion. Sejudo had two attempts - confronted by one of the most dominant champions of the UFC, Demetrius Johnson, and with the second Sehudo defeated Johnson, who defended the title 11 times.
9. Stipe Miocic (USA)
36 years; over 93 kg; 18 wins, 3 losses
What did you do: baseball, wrestling, boxing
Short: about everyone who will be further, by default, you can write "hits well, fights well." Miocic gave the impression of a big, strong smiling man working as a firefighter, until it turned out that nature had given him such data with which he could beat almost the best kickboxer, grappler and boxer in the UFC in two years. Miocic became the most successful heavyweight in the history of the promotion, having defended the title three times, losing only to Daniel Cormier. You will meet him on the first line.
8. Georges Saint-Pierre (Canada)
37 years; up to 77.1 and up to 83.9 kg; 26 wins, 2 losses
What did you do: karate, wrestling
Short: obviously the most controversial position in the ranking. Georges St-Pierre returned to the UFC last November after a 47-month hiatus and immediately beat middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Provided that before that, Saint-Pierre's career was outstanding - a welterweight championship and 9 title defenses - he may well be in the top 10, but at the moment Saint-Pierre does not say anything about continuing his career in MMA and, not it is excluded, will go away completely. It is important that he is not in three of the six rankings studied, but, for example, MMAWeekly puts the Canadian in second place, and if you consider him as an active fighter, it is very easy to accept.
7. Robert Whitaker (Australia)
27 years; up to 83.9 kg; 20 wins, 4 losses
What did you do: karate
Short: Whitaker remains one of the UFC's most mysterious champions, yet one of the youngest on the planet's list of the best fighters. Probably one balances out the other. He has an aggressive striking technique, an excellent ability to endure in a cage and carry out long fights, but so far his frequency of performances is rather alarming: two fights each in 2015 and 2016, one each in 2017 and (most likely) 2018. ...
5-6. Demetrius Johnson (USA)
32 years; up to 56.7 kg; 27 wins, 3 losses
What did you do: fight, pankration
Short: Johnson defended his title 11 times UFC champion, and none of the champions have more defenses. Unfortunately, the flyweight brought the fighter to the lightest spotlight, and even two confrontations with Olympic champion Sejudo and his passion for computer games did not make Johnson more popular. He is now on the doorstep of the UFC as part of a fighter swap deal with the One FC promotion.
5-6. T.J.Dillashaw (USA)
32 years; up to 61.2 kg; 16 wins, 3 losses
What did you do: wrestling
Short: usually, when talking about top fighters, they give some amazing streak of victories, but Dillashaw was the one who interrupted such a streak. He once defeated Renan Barao, who came out to fight Dillashaw for 32 wins in a row. Bookmakers multiplied the bet on Dillashaw by 10 if he wins.
For the past two years, T.J. has focused on facing off against former handsomely tattooed teammate Cody Garbrandt, and has won both times. Dillashaw also sparred with boxer Lomachenko, and he communicates well with Sergei Kovalev.
4. Tyrone Woodley (USA)
36 years; up to 77.1 kg; 19 wins, 3 losses
What did you do: wrestling
Short: Woodley won the title, confidently knocking out the reigning champion, but after that he began to upset. Three of him next fight ended with judicial decisions. When it looked like the UFC could solve the problem with the help of new champion, undefeated Liverpool big Darren Till, Woodley confidently dealt with him, strangling Till in the second round. Woodley's mom personally reassured the young challenger after the defeat.
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov (Russia)
30 years; up to 70.3 kg; 27 wins, 0 losses
What did you do: wrestling, combat sambo
Mentioned but not included
The UFC rating includes Conor McGregor, and this can be interpreted as a political decision: if you have a fighter who brings maximum amount money in fights, it's strange not to advertise it with your own resource.
MMAweekly.com is the only site that offered to view two girls: Chris Justino and Rose Namajunas.
Tony Ferguson was also mentioned - his fight with Khabib had already failed four times, but we would be ready to wait for the fifth attempt.
About Khabib
It is difficult to assess the third place of Khabib, in two last battles he was initially considered an obvious favorite, and this, on the one hand, is an indicator of class, on the other, it will generate distrust of achievements. His competitors in this rating often won fights when bookmakers were in doubt with their choice.
But if you imagine Khabib weighing 100 kg, you can break your head about their fight with Daniel Cormier: with an equal fight, Khabib's endurance would be exchanged for Daniel's knockout ability, and then you can start arguing. At the same time, the candidacy of Cormier does not raise questions from any of the publications: he is the first in six out of six cases.
The fight between Cormier and Derrick Lewis will be the centerpiece of UFC 230. It will take place on November 3 in New York (November 4 Moscow time in the morning). You can watch the live broadcast of UFC 230 on Match TV. The broadcast starts at 5:00 am (Moscow time) on November 4.
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Many famous fighters are known. Among them are the best and most titled ones. In addition, you can find out who is the most strong fighter in the world and who is the highest paid.
The best MMA fighters
There are many ratings that determine the best MMA fighters. All such reports can be called correct, someone agrees with them, but someone does not. One of the best is undoubtedly Fedor Emelianenko. His career in ultimate fighting began in 2000, and in 2001, according to the Rings, he was already the world champion. Two years later, Fedor was awarded the same Pride title. Over the years of his career, the athlete has repeatedly been called the strongest man on the planet. Numerous fans have nicknamed him “ The last emperor". He spent ten years without a single loss, which is unique for fights without rules and for MMA. This unique athlete ended his career in 2012.Fyodor's brother is also a famous fighter without rules - this is Alexander Emelianenko. His career began in 2003. He has four defeats out of twenty-one fights. In 2009, the athlete tried himself in professional boxing, however, limited himself to only one fight, which ended in a draw.
Mike Zambidis is one of the strongest fighters, whose name appears in the Guinness Book of Records. His record is forty-eight knockouts out of sixty fights fought. His name was known in Europe back in 1998. According to the latest data, the athlete fought one hundred and sixty fights, of which only seventeen were lost to him, but eighty-four were won by knockouts. Mike retired in 2011.
Another strong fighter in mixed martial arts is Batu Khasikov. He has over two hundred battles in his career. Dan Henderson, Antonio Silva and Rashad Evans are also the best fighters. Rashad managed to defeat Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Stefan Bonnard and Michael Bisping.
For the entire existence of the UFC championship, John Jones became its youngest winner. His successes are dizzying, it is possible that he will occupy leadership positions in the UFC championship.
Jeff Monson is a famous fighter who is considered one of the strongest in mixed martial arts. Heavyweight fighter for Russia - Sergei Kharitonov. Having started professional career in 2002, the athlete is still performing. In 2004, according to the Pride version, he became the bronze medalist.
Anderson Silva is a fighter who has lost only four of thirty-five fights. The athlete is reigning champion MMA. Often he wins beautiful victories, for which his fans like him.
The biggest MMA fighters
There are huge MMA fighters. This is Emmanuel Yarborough. With an increase of two meters ten centimeters, the weight of an athlete is three hundred kilograms. For such dimensions, he received the nickname "Man of the Mountain". 
When compiling the TOP-10 of the best heavyweights in the history of MMA, Fedor Emelianenko is recognized as the leader. Its weight is one hundred and six kilograms. The big one is Antonio Nogueira. The weight of the athlete is one hundred and five kilograms. In third place in the ranking is the heavy and light heavyweight fighter Randy Couture.
Big MMA fighters are also Mirko Filippovich and Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and Tim Sylvia.
Most titled fighter
One of the most popular and at the same time the most titled in the history of the UFC is recognized five-time champion Randy Couture. He won victories in both the heavy and light heavyweight divisions. 
Randy Couture has been named Natural and Captain America. His career and accomplishments are truly remarkable. It should be noted that Randy became the only fighter who managed to become a champion in two weight categories at once.
Highest paid fighter
Some fighters are not limited to prize money from battles. They also make money on advertising, movie roles, and some kind of investment. The heavyweight champion at one time was a fighter named Brock Lesnar. He is recognized as the highest paid in MMA in 2010. In the list of the highest paid athletes, Lesnar took the thirteenth position. His current state exceeds twelve and a half million dollars. 
Chuck Liddell's income is estimated at thirteen million dollars, and Randy Couture managed to earn fourteen million. Titus Ortizu can boast of a fortune of fifteen million dollars, and Bee Jane Penn owns a fortune of twenty million. I must say that most of Pena's fortune was not earned by him in battles. He co-authored several books on martial arts and wrote his autobiography. The athlete starred in the movie Never Give Up.
The strongest fighter in the world
The most powerful fighter in the world is Fyodor Emelianenko. He was called "Russian Experiment", "Terminator" and "The Last Emperor". In mixed martial arts, he is second to none. The athlete became famous for the fact that over the course of ten years, having spent thirty-two fights, he never lost. 
Defeats in his career began to appear only when he was not young enough. For ten years in his prime, he remained the heavyweight champion, defeating several UFC and Pride champions. No one has yet been able to defeat more champions than Emelianenko did. Most experts consider him the king of MMA.
And the strongest person in the world is not engaged in boxing, but in another sport ..
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Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the first tournament in UFC history. This is a very important anniversary, and you need to prepare for it in advance in order to have time to sum up all the results, with longing to remember the past and hopefully look into the future. To begin with, I invite you to remember the names of the twenty-five main UFC fighters over the past twenty-five years of the company's existence from 1993 to 2016, we will divide the whole history into five "five-year plans". One year - one representative. It will not always be the brightest year of a particular fighter, not always this particular fighter will be the best in a particular year. Important restore the historical process of the formation of sports in persons... This is what we will do.
1993 - Royce Gracie
Now few people remember, but then, 25 years ago, the first The tournament Ultimate Fighting Championship was run by the Gracie family and businessman Art Davey with one goal: to promote Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, whose schools were then opening in the United States. For this, a hero was needed who by his own example would show the full power of his martial art. Royce Gracie became such a hero.
At the first UFC tournament, he simply did not have a chance to lose: before entering the cage, his rivals had no idea what they would have to face. Deceptions, attacks from below, the use of their own clothes - no one prepared to defend against the tricks of jujitsu.
Winning the tournament is not Royce's main achievement. The Brazilian showed the beauty of MMA to the American public, thanks to him a one-time PR event turned into a promotion, and jiu-jitsu became the most popular grappling base for mixed fighters. If it weren't for the Gracie clan, the UFC wouldn't exist. If not for Royce, the first tournament could have been the last for the company.
The Brazilian continued to win and became the champion twice more, although each time it was more difficult. Mixed martial arts developed at a tremendous pace and with the onset of the twenty-first century left Royce overboard. On the day that Gracie lost to Matt Hughes, he could rightfully say: " our sport has grown, and this is my main historical merit".
1994 - Ken Shamrock
If every Batman has his own Joker, then every Gracie has his own Shamrock. To become great, you need to defeat other greats, so Ken was needed for Royce, and Royce for Ken. Two of the brightest MMA stars of the 90s meet at the first Ultimate tournament Fighting Championship, and the Brazilian became the winner. The defeat gave Shamrock an incentive to develop: he learned to defend himself against the jiu-jitsu technique and became the first generalist of his time, equally dangerous both in the standing position and in the ground.
Ken was hungry for revenge and was supposed to fight Royce at UFC 3, but the Brazilian withdrew due to an injury in the quarterfinals. They will meet a few months later outside UFC 5, and Shamrock is hitting the Brazilian with such cuffs that he will lose the desire to fight for a full five years. For nearly forty minutes, the American fighter was in a dominant position, striking his head and punches. Gracie worked his opponent's back with his heel, but visually, this did not bother Shamrock much. Due to imperfect rules, the result of the fight was declared a draw, although the state of the opponents after the gong testified to Ken's victory.
Shamrock was called "the most dangerous man in the world" and at some point this nickname corresponded to reality: in the world of battles, he became the number one figure. Ken ended the era of Gracie domination, proved that MMA was not limited to jiu-jitsu, and showed an example of professional preparation for fights.
And although, like yours main rival Shamrock remained a fighter exclusively of the 90s, viewers remember and love him to this day.
1995 - Dan Severn
Dan was the first true heavyweight to win a UFC tournament. Thanks to his wrestling skills and enormous size, Savern simply swept away his rivals in the octagon. Whether it was the two-ton Abbott Tank or the Russian sambo master Taktarov, Dan simply threw the opponent to the floor and hammered with his huge arms and legs, and then forced him to surrender.
Savern has won two tournaments: UFC 5 and Ultimate Ultimate - the tournament of champions. And then he forced Ken Shamrock to wash with his own blood, got caught twisting his neck in a fight with Mark Coleman and went into the sunset to travel to regional promotions, performing 7-8 times a year for the next fifteen years.
Dan Savern is an example of a person who, speaking in a cage, did not become an MMA fighter, but remained a fighter - an adherent of his style. Refusing to develop, he lost to all serious opponents keeping up with the times. Even so, Savern's performances became some of the most highlights early UFC.
1996 - Mark Coleman
The American fighter nicknamed "The Hammer" is known in our country thanks to two battles with Fedor Emelianenko, but Colman's historical role is not limited to defeating the Pride icon alone. Mark is considered the father of style " ground and pound": he is the first who learned not only to transfer opponents to the ground, but also to effectively score them there. Look at Shamrock and Savern's punches from above and compare them with what Colman did.
He demonstrated to the world one of the most effective fighting styles, laid the foundations of techniques that are still used today. Mark Coleman can be called the first modern MMA fighter: he did not combine a career in the UFC with performances in professional wrestling, like Shamrock; did not use sports popularity to promote his film career, like Taktarov; did not hone one thing to perfection martial arts like Gracie or Severn. "Hammer" became the first professional fighter MMA and brought the attitude towards this sport to a new level.
Coleman won two tournaments and was the first to take the UFC Heavyweight Championship, forcing Dan Severn to surrender. He later became a Pride FC legend and winner of the 2000 Grand Prix, ending the streak from thirty two Igor Vovchanchin's fights without defeat. But perhaps his main merit will forever remain a change in the way of thinking of the fighters.
1997 - Randy Couture
Oh, and here we got to the main person on our list. The only three-time UFC champion in heavy weight, the only one four-time champion UFC, the first UFC champion in two weight classes, the oldest UFC title holder and simply one of the most significant fighters in the company's history.
His career to this day remains the most eventful in the history of MMA. Already in the second fight - the first title, in the third - a victory over Vitor Belfort, in the fourth - the UFC champion belt. From 2000 to 2008, he spent almost all of his fights for the title. He ended his career at the age of 47 with a duel against Lyoto Machida.
In addition to sporting success Couture also became one of the main promoters of the sport, thanks to whose performances the UFC experienced the most difficult period in its history.
And the path of a legend began in 1997.
Honorable Mentions For The Same Period:
Oleg Taktarov - the main Russian in the history of the UFC. He was the first to demonstrate the sambo technique in a cage, the first of the MMA fighters to build a successful career in cinema.
Don Fry- a huge mustachioed piece of muscle and charisma. This is how a real fighter should look like.
David "Tank" Abbott- one of the most colorful fighters of the era, the bench press record holder and the first person in the UFC to wear the gloves we are used to.
The first "five-year plan" of the UFC is, of course, the realm of a very special atmosphere. Fights with bare hands with almost no rules, a tournament system, a variety of styles from boxing to jitkundo. Mixed martial arts were just in their infancy as a sport, and it's incredibly interesting to watch their development. In the next five years, a crisis will occur in the UFC: the best fighters will leave for Japan, a campaign will begin in the United States to ban MMA, which will put the company on the verge of ruin and will be forced to change. We'll talk about the people thanks to whom the promotion survived at the turn of the century.