So, I needed an extra week to figure out the rest of my list with the changes that had to be made after the Khabib vs McGregor fight. I found myself perplexed in what to do with my list. I realize now that it was foolish of me that I kept Khabib off initially, as I was waiting for him to prove it against Conor since his last fight was only against Al Iaquinta.
Al is a great fighter, but a win over him wasn’t enough for me to see Khabib as one of the all-time greats. This was dumb because he clearly already was, but now it’s obvious. So the only thing to do is bump everyone down one and slide Khabib into the top ten where he belongs. So, this list will actually be #11-6 which will then make every fighter I have already ranked one spot down. Deal with it.
#11 JOSE ALDO
Jose Aldo changed the landscape for fighters in the lower weight divisions. Urijah Faber put the little guys on the map in the WEC, but when Jose Aldo came in the whole way people looked at smaller weight divisions was different. He came in and just rolled on the whole division in dominant fashion. He came into the WEC knocking out everyone on his path to the featherweight championship.
Aldo went 8-0 with seven TKO/KO finishes in WEC before it was absorbed by the UFC, and he was dubbed the inaugural UFC Featherweight Champion. He then defended the UFC belt seven times before famously losing to Conor McGregor.
Jose had some of the greatest performances of all-time. He dismantled Urijah Faber with the most vicious leg kicks anyone had ever seen and beat him to the point where he could barely stand. Aldo needed to get by the great Cub Swanson to get his WEC title shot. He knocked him out with an incredible flying knee only eight seconds into the fight.
Aldo has the most title defenses in UFC featherweight history with seven and was the youngest champion in WEC history. He even had the longest winning streak in WEC history with eight.
With the UFC growing more popular over the last few years and Conor McGregor being the most popular fighter, people only want to remember Aldo for what’s happened recently. Although, he just came back and knocked out Jeremy Stephens in the first round in his last fight. Aldo isn’t done and still wants that rematch with Mcgregor. Let’s see what the future holds for the Brazilian legend that currently has a record of 27-4. That’s good enough to land him at #11 on my list.
#10 NICK DIAZ
This may be the most controversial selection that’s on my list, and it may seem biased. It might be, and I don’t care. When I’m just talking about the best fighters I’ve ever seen, he’s right at the top. He has one of the best boxing and jiu-jitsu combinations in MMA history and the best chin of all-time.
His records and accomplishments may not rank up to some of the other fighters on this list. Not in the UFC anyway. Nick Diaz was a champion in IFC and WEC before he got to the UFC. He jumped on the scene in the UFC when he KO’d their promising up-and-coming fighter, Robbie Lawler.
He then had some miss fortune in the UFC and ended up kicked out. Diaz went to the new organization, Strikeforce. He dominated and became the welterweight champion before defending the belt three times.
Diaz went 6-0 in Strikeforce with five finishes. He beat Frank Shamrock, KJ Noons, and Paul Daley in those six. He then came back to the UFC and had the absolute best they had to offer thrown at him. In his four fights back in the UFC he fought BJ Penn, Carlos Condit, GSP, and Anderson Silva. He was the only fighter at the time to fight GSP and Anderson Silva.
His fight with Silva not only gave us one of the best fights the UFC has ever seen, but it also gave us one of the most memorable moments in MMA history. Nick Diaz laying down in front of Anderson in the octagon. It has to be the greatest taunt in the history of sports.
One of the all-time greatest fights in MMA history was when Nick Diaz fought the PRIDE lightweight champion Takanori Gomi. It was a bloody back and forth that brought excitement from beginning to end, my favorite end to any fight in history. Nick Diaz ended the fight with one of the most incredible submissions of all-time. Gomi went for a takedown, and Diaz countered with a gogoplata, one of the rarest submissions you’ll ever see. It’s similar to a triangle choke, but instead of behind the head they put the foot in front across the throat and use the spot right where the foot meets the ankle to choke the opponent. I believe that fight to be the greatest showcase of boxing and jiu-jitsu together.
Nick Diaz is an MMA master, and it’s doubtful we’ll ever see him fight again. Although, I pray for it every night. I’ve never been more excited for any fight in my life than I was for Nick Diaz vs GSP. Nate’s doing a great job carrying the mantle, but if Nick ever returns he’ll remind everyone that remembers and show everyone that’s forgotten that he’s one of the greatest fighters of all-time.
#9 BJ PENN
BJ Penn was given the nickname “the Prodigy,” and it’s one of the most fitting nicknames ever. He was a prodigy when it came to MMA and jiu-jitsu. He’s thought to have earned the fastest legitimate black belt of all active Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. He earned his black belt in just three years and immediately entered the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships in the black belt division. Not only did he become the first American to win the gold, but Penn was also the first ever non-Brazilian to win gold at the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships. Like I said…Prodigy.
Then he entered MMA. Penn had no warm-up fights or anything, as most fighters do before entering the UFC. His first MMA fight ever was in the UFC, and he’s never left. The only other promotion he’s ever fought in was when he was champion he competed in fights on the side in K1 just for fun.
Penn was a lightweight fighter for most of his career. He took some fights in K1 at all different types of weight classes. He beat Duane Ludwig at middleweight and fought Lyoto Machida at heavyweight! Machida weighed 225 lbs, while Penn weighed 191. BJ just loved competing. He didn’t care where, when, or what weight class.
After fighting to a draw with lightweight champion Caol Uno, his next UFC fight was at welterweight. He fought the champion, Matt Hughes, for the belt. He stopped Hughes via rear-naked choke in the very first round.
Following that fight, he took his hiatus in K1 fighting everyone. When he returned he fought GSP and Hughes again at welterweight and lost both. So, he returned to his natural weight in the lightweight division at 155 pounds. There Penn won his next five lightweight fights (challenging GSP once more for the welterweight belt which he lost). He won the lightweight belt and defended it a record three times. Three times may not seem like a lot, but the lightweight division has long been the most loaded in the UFC, and that belt doesn’t stay in someone’s hands long.
He was the second fighter to win two UFC belts after Randy Couture. All he wanted to do was fight all the time and fight everyone. If he was in his prime today, he’d be in the same breath as Conor, Khabib, or Nate. I just mentioned Nick Diaz having one of the best boxing and jiu-jitsu combinations of all-time. I’d say Nick and Anderson Silva are up there, but BJ Penn had THE BEST boxing and jiu-jitsu style combination. He wanted to stand and box and had some of the best takedown defense of all-time. However, if you got him down you had to be careful because he was going for something right away.
BJ was truly one of my favorite fighters and one of the most exciting fighters I’ve ever seen or will ever see. BJ Penn lands at #9.
#8 CONOR MCGREGOR
I went back and forth with these 8-6 picks. I swapped each fighter in each spot until I finally landed on it. In my mind, Conor “The Notorious” McGregor is the eighth greatest fighter of all-time. I needed to wait a week to watch him come back and fight, and then reflect on it. Everyone gets so low on fighters immediately after losses, but Conor is still a great all-time fighter.
McGregor took over the UFC in every way. He talked his way to the limelight and fought his way to championships. He’s one of the greatest knockout artists in UFC history and arguably the most exciting fighter of all-time. He quickly sprung to superstardom, becoming the biggest draw in UFC history.
In his last two fights in his homeland of Ireland, he won the Cage Warriors Featherweight and Lightweight championships. He came over to the UFC with the confidence of a two-division champ, and he never lost it.
Conor won his first two fights and had to take nearly a year off due to a knee injury. However, he came back with the same confidence and viciousness. He won his next four fights all in TKO/KO in one round or less and captured the interim featherweight title to earn a unifying title match against, at that time, the greatest featherweight of all-time, Jose Aldo.
McGregor promised everyone he was here to take over the division, and Jose was the last man standing in his way to make that come to fruition. He made another promise that he was going to KO Jose Aldo. Not only did he do it, but he KO’d the great champion in just 13 seconds with the first punch he threw. Completely slept him! I know that’s old news because even the “only when Conor McGregor fights” fight fans as I call them, know about that KO.
He killed that division and moved up to lightweight to win that belt, as he promised he would. Conor then had a fight with Rafael Dos Anos, but ten days out the champion broke his foot and had to pull out of the fight. This led to the greatest rivalry in UFC history to blossom, Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz stepped in on ten days notice to fight Conor, and they gave us one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Then they gave us the rematch just a few months later. In my opinion, the rematch was the greatest fight ever.
After the two battles with Nate Diaz, he got his shot at the lightweight title against champion Eddie Alvarez. He completely embarrassed him, KO’d him in spectacular fashion.
With that win, he became the first simultaneous two-division UFC champion. He was both the featherweight and lightweight champion. The double champ. The champ champ. That’s the greatest accomplishment in the history of the UFC.
He came into the UFC from Ireland promising everyone this is what he was going to do, and he fooking did it. Say what you want about Conor after losing to Khabib, but he’s still an amazing fighter with an outstanding striking ability. He’s accomplished more in his few years in the UFC than anyone else. There’s still a long career to go in Conor’s future, and there’s a lot yet to be seen. In five years, he could be out of this top ten, or he could be number one. I truly think both are possible. But for now, I put Conor McGregor as the eighth greatest fighter of all-time.
#7 DAN HENDERSON
Henderson is one of the all-time fan favorites in MMA. You’d have to search to find a fight fan that doesn’t like Dan Henderson. “Hendo” was a must watch fighter. Throughout his entire career, you couldn’t blink during one of his fights, or you might’ve missed a vicious knockout. During his career, he fought in many different organizations and was at the top of every one he went to.
His legend started in PRIDE. Long before Conor McGregor was the champ-champ in the UFC, Hendo was the champ-champ in PRIDE. He was the only PRIDE fighter to be a two-division champion, and he held them simultaneously as the PRIDE middleweight and welterweight champion.
In 2005, he fought four times in the PRIDE Welterweight tournament. Two of those fights were on the same night! He won the tournament and became the inaugural PRIDE welterweight champion.
Dan Henderson was the main event in the second to last event PRIDE ever held before he came to the UFC. He was matched up against PRIDE legend and middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva for the middleweight championship. It was one of the most legendary nights and fights in PRIDE history. It ended in the most dramatic fashion when Henderson landed the classic “H-BOMB” and knocked Wanderlei out cold, making him the double-champ.
After that fight, he came to the UFC and immediately got title shots in both the light-heavyweight and middleweight divisions. His first fight was for the light heavyweight title against former PRIDE colleague Rampage Jackson. He lost to Rampage by decision. Henderson then went to middleweight to try his luck against Anderson Silva. He wasn’t so lucky. The UFC belt eluded Henderson, but it never mattered for the fans. We’d take a Dan Henderson fight any Saturday night.
He even had a stint in Strikeforce for four fights. What can he accomplish in four fights? Oh, just winning the light heavyweight championship and then fighting the legend Fedor at heavyweight, knocking him out in the first round. I’d say that’s pretty good.
His most memorable UFC moment is a tough choice between two unforgettable choices. The first being one of the most vicious knockouts of all-time when he KO’d Michael Bisping with the greatest H-BOMB ever and followed it up with a flying punch on top of his chin. Brutal. Big highlight reel material.
My favorite Henderson moment is not one moment, it’s a whole fight. Henderson vs. Shogun Rua is one of the greatest fights you’d ever see. A back and forth of knockdowns and blood. A full five rounds of destruction with two of the greatest fighters to do it. An epic bout that my words can’t give justice to, and I consider the third greatest fight of all-time.
All of that land Dan Henderson at seventh on my list.
#6 KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
The Eagle. This isn’t recency bias. This man is one of the greatest fighters of all-time. He’s now 27-0 in his MMA career coming off of a destruction of former double-champ Conor McGregor, defeating him in a way no one ever has. He’s been in the UFC for six years now and has compiled a record of 11-0.
Khabib struggled with injuries in the middle of his UFC career right when he started to get recognition. He completely dominated Rafael Dos Anjos in a three-round decision, and then he was out for two years, almost to the day. During that time, RDA became champion. Khabib felt it was just a matter of time until the belt was his.
His last four fights have been against Michael Johnson, Edson Barboza, Al Iaquinta, and Conor McGregor. That tough lineup got him what he deserved, the UFC lightweight title. Winning it while Conor McGregor was away and vacated it, and he then defending it against Conor to unify it in his last fight.
Khabib has been so dominant throughout his career. Before he lost the third round to Conor, he’d never even lost a round. His wrestling is the best I’ve ever seen in MMA, and no one has even been able to come close to stopping it. His takedown and the way he crosses his opponents’ legs with the takedown to immediately go into a mount is a thing of beauty. He forces his will onto his opponents and breaks them. It’s as simple as that. He breaks you.
Arguably the greatest ground-and-pound of all-time, his relentless pressure and top position just beat his opponents down until they give up a bad position and get submitted or get their faces punched in.
There are many big fights in the future for Khabib. We may see GSP, a rematch with Conor, or maybe even a fight with the great Ben Askren who’s lurking in the shadows. His career is still very young and has years to come. The story is far from over, and at the end of it all, Khabib Nurmagomedov could be the greatest fighter of all-time. Only time will tell.