Pound for Pound is a ranking system often used in combat sports and in UFC too, fighters from different weight divisions do not compete directly. Bouts are setup usually based on a lot of elements like the quality of opposition, how exciting/famous a fighter is and sometimes elements that even go beyond our understanding but under the eagle eye of Dana White. For a UFC fighter to be named as the #1 Pound for Pound fighter is as good as winning the Ballon d’Or in the world of football. So here’s our list of the top five pound for pound fighters in UFC:
5. Francis “The Predator” Ngannou
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At #5 we have the Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou. No other fighter has bounced back in their career the way Ngannou has. After losing two back-to-back fights back in 2018 the fighter from Cameroon returned to the octagon and has been on a knockout spree after first-round knockouts to top fighters like Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Curtis Blaydes, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, all in less than three minutes combined. One of his most recent victories was at UFC 260 when he shocked the whole world by knocking out Stipe Miocic in the second round to win the Heavyweight Title.
4. Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya
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Next up is another fighter from Africa, Israel Adesanya. The middleweight champion lost a few places on the ranking after his bid to become a double-champion resulted in a loss to light-heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Adesanya who is still just 31 years old got his 100th career win in combat sports when he defeated Paulo Costa at UFC 253. He became the 13th fighter to win the title with an undefeated record. Currently, he is just one victory shy of Chris Weidman’s record for the longest title defense streak in the middleweight division.
3. Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski
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Alexander Volkanovski has moved up from sixth position to third in the Pound for Pound fighters standings. Volkanovski who is 32 years old, currently has an MMA record of twenty-two victories and only one loss in his long fighting career. The fighter is very well known for his striking abilities with a striking accuracy of 55.93% and a 72.73% take-down defense. The current Featherweight champion last stepped into the octagon to fight Max Holloway in an incredible five round fight, which the Australian won via split decision.
2. Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman
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The Nigerian Nightmare is at #2. After defeating Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, Kamaru Usman took his win streak to fourteen in a row. In the welterweight division, no fighter has come close to defeating Usman inside the octagon. His 14-fight streak includes a lot of big names like Tyron Woodley, Rafael Dos Anjos, Colby Covington, Demian Maia and Leon Edwards.
1. Jon “Bones” Jones
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Jon Jones is the fighter who replaced the great Khabib Nurmagomedov as the #1 Pound for Pound fighter in the UFC. After years of toiling hard, Jonny Bones finally made it to the top. The former light heavyweight champion has since relinquished his title as he had plans to move up to the heavyweight division. The last time we saw him fight was back in February 2020 against Dominick Reyes, which he won via unanimous decision and since then everyone has been waiting for his return to the octagon. Jon Jones is likely to take on Francis Ngannou next for the heavyweight title which is certainly not long away from us.
Shashank Iyer