Ufc Wrestlers List
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PITTSBURGH -- This is his home, and these are 18,000 of his friends, so Ben Askren doesn’t hesitate when he sees a pocket of open seats.
’Are these taken?’ he says to three middle-aged dudes in Iowa State gear.
*Join the UFC 259 live discussion; Tapology Picks: Aljamain Sterling 39% Petr Yan 61% Aljamain ’Funk Master’ Sterling (20-3-0) NY, US is the #1st Top Bantamweight MMA fighter. Petr ’No Mercy’ Yan (15-2-0) Omskaya oblast, RU is the #2nd Top Bantamweight MMA fighter. UFC 259 features 15 MMA bouts The event takes place from UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
*Khabib Nurmagomedov. If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.
*Half of the current UFC champions came from a wrestling background: Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Kumaru Usman, and Henry Cejduo. Current UFC star Ben.
The strangers immediately recognize Askren -- the UFC star and former Missouri All-American wrestler -- but they barely look up from the eight matches below. Here at the NCAA wrestling championships in mid-March, Askren is an A-list star, but he’s like a famous person at his own family reunion -- so popular and well-known that nobody really bothers him for selfies or introductions. He’s just good ol’ Uncle Ben walking around.
The Iowa State fans wave for him to come on in and have a seat. One guy squishes his legs to the side, craning his head past Askren’s body so he doesn’t have to miss a single second of the wrestling below.
Brock Lesnar, Mark Coleman and Phil Davis help comprise an exclusive fraternity of college wrestlers who have excelled at the highest level before moving on to mixed martial arts.
Askren offers an important window into the latest evolution in the sometimes delicate relationship between wrestling and MMA. It’s long been accepted that there is no better base for MMA success than wrestling, and more specifically, American folkstyle wrestling.
For just one small snapshot of the impact of college wrestling, scroll through the NCAA brackets from Askren’s junior season in 2006. That tournament featured Askren, Johny Hendricks, Phil Davis, Chris Weidman, Ryan Bader, Cain Velasquez and Gregor Gillespie, to name just a few. That means there is a very good chance that on those eight mats down below Askren, the next wave of elite MMA fighters is probably rolling around. Arbitrage betting uk.
But 15 years ago, when Askren was starting his illustrious Missouri and international wrestling career, many in his community thought MMA was a violent corruption of their craft and only begrudgingly accepted that it was a new career path for the best wrestlers.
’That was still the dark ages of MMA,’ Askren says.
Times have changed. At NCAAs this year, wrestlers, coaches and fans were almost unanimously supportive of the sport. Part of that is the post-grad opportunity it presents.
Askren says even during a heyday of U.S. international wrestling, with an uptick in new wrestling jobs popping up in regional training centers across the country, there still are very few professional tracks for college wrestlers. And almost none that would pay like MMA does.
’Look up what I made for my first UFC fight,’ Askren says. (He got a base amount of $350,000 for his debut against Robbie Lawler in March.) ’It took me a while to get there, but that is a higher ceiling than you’ll find in wrestling.’
Bo Nickal, a Penn State senior and one of the best American college wrestlers to ever put on a singlet, understands what could be ahead. He would eventually close out that weekend in Pittsburgh with a third NCAA title and instant legend status. Nickal and his family offer a perfect window into how dramatically the relationship between MMA and U.S. amateur wrestling has changed over the past 10 years.
’The plan is to do the Olympics in 2020,’ Nickal told ESPN. ’Then start fighting.’
He says it as though MMA is the obvious next choice, like a law school graduate passing the bar and saying he’ll probably be a lawyer. The casualness in his voice is important. Even though it’s still a tough choice for great wrestlers to leave international wrestling and skip the coaching path, Nickal is one of the many wrestlers at NCAAs who spoke of MMA as an exciting next step, not some devastating breakup they needed to initiate in order to pay the mortgage.
A few minutes later, his teammate, NCAA heavyweight champ Anthony Cassar, says he too wants to pursue the 2020 Olympics and will transition to fighting after that.
’I grew up watching Fedor Emelianenko and Vitor Belfort as a kid,’ Cassar says. ’It’s one of my goals, and I’m going to immerse myself in it someday.’
MMA, though, is not for the faint of heart, even by the Nickal family standards. Nickal’s dad, Jason, is a lifelong wrestler and longtime coach who played football at Chadron State. His mom, Sandy, is a former San Diego State basketball player who went 5-0 as an amateur boxer, training out of Jackson Wink MMA in New Mexico. She used to take Bo to the gym when she’d spar, and she says he won the one jiu-jitsu tournament he participated in as a kid. Nickal is Exhibit A of this generation of college wrestler -- not only is MMA a mainstream part of his life, it’s part of his entire family.
But still: Nickal could end up eating elbows, or getting kicked in the face, or choked out ..
His mom interrupts. ’That’s what doctors are for,’ Sandy says with a wave of the hand.
Northwestern wrestler Sebastian Rivera tried to duck into his family’s house this summer without his dad noticing his brand-new broken nose. But it was only a matter of time until the star 125-pound wrestler was busted: He’d been sparring with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, an old family friend of the Riveras, and Rivera hadn’t seen an Edgar knee heading north at breakneck speed. Suddenly, out came the blood.
Rivera says his parents, especially his dad, Steve, worry about his fascination with MMA. His dad is a wrestling lifer and coached Edgar back in the day at Toms River High School in New Jersey. Rivera spent his youth running around the wrestling room, hoping to be just like Edgar someday. That has extended to Edgar’s MMA career -- Rivera fully intends to follow in his UFC footsteps once wrestling is over.
Of all the wrestlers interviewed in Pittsburgh, Rivera had the most MMA training on the side. The majority still said they watched on TV and dabbled in occasional armbars and boxing sparring, but nothing serious. Rivera, though, works hard, especially with Edgar, on jiu-jitsu and striking, and when he talks MMA strategy, he already sounds like a UFC veteran. He struggled at first to adapt to working off his back -- that’s the biggest nightmare position in a wrestling match -- but has adapted to it and now prefers to work submissions off his back.
’I will wake up at 8 a.m. in the summer and just go and grapple and get punched in the face all day,’ Rivera says. ’I love it. I want to fight, ultimately, and Frankie wants me to do it.’ His parents will take some convincing, though. He says they just don’t want to see him get hurt, like he did that day with Edgar.
’I’m gonna send you back to Northwestern for the summer,’ he says his dad told him.
Rivera isn’t the only one with an Edgar connection. When Rutgers coach Scott Goodale took the Scarlet Knights gig in 2007, he immediately made Edgar, a former Clarion University wrestler, one of his assistants. Edgar got his first UFC fight that same year, but he continued to coach and use the Rutgers wrestling room as a way to keep his grappling sharp. Goodale admits he was lukewarm at first but got drawn in over the years, mostly because of Edgar. But he also loved seeing elite wrestlers have a new way to make a living using wrestling.
’This is what young wrestlers are watching as they grow up,’ Goodale says. ’And that’s a good thing for the sport.’
That kind of open-mindedness is certainly benefiting Rutgers, which crowned the first two national champions in school history at this year’s NCAAs. One in particular, Nick Suriano, seems especially intrigued by joining the wrestler-turned-fighter crowd.
’I’ve been doing it off and on since high school,’ Suriano says. ’I’ve worked out with Frankie and really enjoyed it. It’s funny. MMA and wrestling are both fights. And I love to win the fight.’
After winning his national title on March 23 in Pittsburgh, Suriano, a junior, meanders around the floor of the PPG Paints Arena, posing for a relentless stream of photos, one after the other after the other. He has a nice-sized gash above his eye that looks like it’s a gentle breeze away from opening up and bleeding all over. It’s tiring just to watch the constant insta-smiles and handshakes and head nod, then someone is standing there waiting for the next one. It’s a dizzying scene, and Suriano has clearly lost track of who’s asking for what.
But he’s not hustling to get away, either -- he is reveling in this moment. The 133-pounder is a bit of a showman, taking acting classes and never shy about riling up rival crowds when he’s on the mat.
When one man in his mid-20s asks for a photo, the latest in an assembly line of selfie-seekers, Suriano starts to smile and stands beside the guy as a phone camera snaps away. He doesn’t even notice who’s asking for the shot until the guy speaks.
’Congratulations, champ, that win was all heart, all mindset,’ the guy says as a friend takes photos.
There’s something about the man’s voice that causes Suriano to pause and really look at his new biggest fan: It’s Henry Cejudo. ’Thanks, champ,’ Suriano says. Then Suriano gets out of the picture and asks to take a shot of Cejudo, the UFC flyweight champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist wrestler, for himself.
In that moment, it’s not hard to already see the Cejudo vs. Suriano UFC PPV promo video. Maybe one of those photos is on the screen, with the voices of the two champion wrestlers in the background, talking up a chance to punch each other in the face. One generation of star wrestler versus another.
As Askren watches the bouts happening in front of him, he smiles when he’s asked which five wrestlers might be great future fighters.
’I can’t name five,’ he says. He pauses for effect, then finishes his thought: ’Because all 330 guys here could be great fighters. That’s how good the wrestling base is in the fight game.’
And here’s the really scary thing derived from Pittsburgh, a point that Askren agrees with: This generation of wrestlers has grown up with UFC fights and fighters as a mainstream part of their lives, with MMA training facilities right around the corner from their houses. Which means, as good as the Daniel Cormiers and Ben Askrens of the MMA world have been, there is a 2.0 version of those great ex-wrestlers who aren’t just adding on punches and kicks when their careers are over.
’Bo Nickal absolutely, in a heartbeat, could be great,’ Askren says. ’The one thing I would tell him is, don’t wait too long. No matter how good wrestlers are, it’s gonna take them two or three years to get to a big show -- maybe even longer because people don’t want to fight good wrestlers. As good as he is, it’s not looking real rosy for him to beat the other top American Olympic candidates. In my opinion, he’s not beating those guys.’
If Askren is right, that means Nickal would perhaps have a crossroads decision to make next year: Keep chasing international wrestling, or try his hand at MMA?
’It’d be a shame if he doesn’t get to wrestle in the Olympics,’ his mom says. ’But I don’t have any doubts about how well he’ll do in a cage fight. It’ll be bad for that other guy.’
Way of Martial Arts (wayofmartialarts.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to them.
Wrestling might be the single best martial art background for MMA fighters. Today, 6 of 7 UFC male champions have a wrestling background. Better wrestler dictates where the fight takes place, so there is no surprise that MMA fighters with good wrestling make up the best fighters in the UFC.
I have to mention that the given list of best wrestlers in UFC is not ordered. I considered many factors, like their UFC resume, wrestling resume, percentage of takedowns and takedown defenses, etc. [1]
So, let’s take a closer look at fighters who made it to the list.
Also, I made lists similar to this for every martial art. Take a look at the best Muay Thai fighters in the UFC, best boxers in the UFC, best BJJ practitioners in the UFC, and best kickboxers in the UFC.Khabib NurmagomedovUfc Fighters List Retired
Division: UFC Lightweight
MMA record: 29-0
I might have just started our list with the best wrestler MMA has ever seen. Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov is an unprecedented force inside the Octagon. He fought 29 times inside the cage. 29 men have tried, 29 have failed. Khabib is undefeated his whole career. In his UFC career, he has only lost a single round (against Conor McGregor in the biggest fight in UFC history).
Nurmagomedov is the best ground and pound fighter of all time. There is just a matter of time when his opponents will be on the back and Khabib on top of them. Until now, nobody has yet figured how to solve the mystery of Khabib’s wrestling. Khabib also holds the record for most takedowns in a single fight.
He is the current UFC lightweight champion of the world with 3 title defenses to his name. It is uncertain if we will see Khabib step into the Octagon for one more time, to fulfill his father’s wish and to get that perfect 30-0.Daniel Cormier
Division: UFC Heavyweight and UFC Light Heavyweight (retired)
MMA record: 22-3 (1 NC)
Daniel “DC” Cormier is an Olympic and NCAA Division I wrestler. He is one of the, if not the best wrestler in the history of the heavyweight division. In his extraordinary career, he came short of a win only three times. Two of those (actually one, because one is no contest) came from his biggest rival, Jon Jones. Two come from the current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
Cormier is known for his height (only 5 ft 11 in) and reaches (only 72 and a half in). Despite those small sizes, when it comes to dictating the pace of the fight and setting up the pressure on his opponents, he is one of the best to ever do it. With his extraordinary cardio for a weight class, Daniel is always in his opponent’s face, leaving them no room to breathe.
Daniel Cormier retired after the trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic. He lost the fight on the judge’s decision and failed to recapture the heavyweight gold. Still, DC retired as one of the greatest of all time.Jon Jones
Division: UFC Heavyweight, formerly UFC Light Heavyweight
MMA record: 26-1 (1 NC)
Jon “Bones” Jones is arguably the best fighter that has ever stepped foot inside the Octagon. He is the youngest man that has ever won the UFC championship belt (at the age of just 23 years old). Jones is undefeated for his whole career (actually, he has one loss, against Matt Hamill, when he was disqualified for 12-6 elbows in the fight where Jon was dominating completely).
In his first title reign, Jon, a young kid from Albuquerque, completely wiped out the whole UFC Light Heavyweight division. In the process, he absolutely dominated the best fighters and champions from that era, including Shogun, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustaffson, Glover Teixeira, and Daniel Cormier. He defended the belt on seven occasions.
But, in 2015, problems have started for Jones. He was involved in a lot of scandals and illegal substances usages, so he was stripped of the title and took some time outside the Octagon. He had problems for years, and when he finally came back in 2019, he quickly regained the UFC Light Heavyweight throne, and in just over a year, started to clear the division once again. In his second run, he is at 3 title defenses (Smith, Santos, Reyes).
Although nobody in the UFC has a resume even nearly similar to Jones’, people are still doubting his status as the greatest of all time (because of his actions outside of the Octagon). To clear that doubt, Jones said, that in the near future, he will step up, and go to the UFC Heavyweight division to clear that one as well, and secure his status as “the baddest man that has ever walked the Earth”.Yoel Romero
Divison: Formerly UFC Middleweight
MMA record: 13-5Ufc 4 Grappling
Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero is a Cuban Olympic Silver wrestler. When you see him, Yoel is just scary. The UFC Middleweight fighter might just be the most athletic and fittest fighter that has ever lived. At the age of 43, he has a body and strength that absolutely defies all laws of human aging.
Romero’s outstanding wrestling and control of opponent is matched just with his insane one punch KO power. Cuban wrestler is a fighter that absolutely nobody wants to face. Just as Dana White said:
“I never get anybody calling me and saying, ‘Hey Dana, I want to fight Yoel Romero,’” White said. “When do you ever hear a guy call him out? It doesn’t happen. Guys wind up fighting him because the rankings dictate it or whatever, but no one is volunteering for that. [Adesanya] just kept blowing up my phone: ‘I want Romero. I want Romero. I want Romero.’ I respect that. You want to fight a guy like that, I respect it and so we made it happen.”Dana WhiteKamaru Usman
Division: UFC Welterweight
MMA record: 18-1
Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman is the current UFC Welterweight champion of the world. In his title fight against former champion Tyron Woodley, Usman absolutely dominated the whole five rounds. He set an unbelievably high pace, and with his amazing wrestling abilities, Kamaru took Tyron down almost at will.
Worth noticing is that Woodley’s takedown defense before that fight was incredible (94% takedown defense), but Usman still took him down whenever he wanted.
Usman is an NCAA Division II wrestler. His wrestling background enabled him the achieve current success in the UFC. He averages 3.44 successful takedowns per 15 minute fight, which is incredible.
His takedown accuracy is incredible with half of his takedown attempts being successful. When we talk about Usman’s takedown defense, it stands at an extraordinary 100%. No fighter in the UFC has yet managed to take Usman down.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” defended his title three times; against Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns. When it is all set and done, Usman might go in the history as one of the greatest of all time.Colby Covington
Divison: UFC Welterweight
MMA record: 18-2
Colby “Chaos” Covington, an NCAA Divison I wrestler. Probably the most hated guy inside the UFC. After his first nine UFC fights, UFC was set to release him. They said, that his wrestling style and boring personality just weren’t the right fit for the
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PITTSBURGH -- This is his home, and these are 18,000 of his friends, so Ben Askren doesn’t hesitate when he sees a pocket of open seats.
’Are these taken?’ he says to three middle-aged dudes in Iowa State gear.
*Join the UFC 259 live discussion; Tapology Picks: Aljamain Sterling 39% Petr Yan 61% Aljamain ’Funk Master’ Sterling (20-3-0) NY, US is the #1st Top Bantamweight MMA fighter. Petr ’No Mercy’ Yan (15-2-0) Omskaya oblast, RU is the #2nd Top Bantamweight MMA fighter. UFC 259 features 15 MMA bouts The event takes place from UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
*Khabib Nurmagomedov. If playback doesn’t begin shortly, try restarting your device.
*Half of the current UFC champions came from a wrestling background: Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, Kumaru Usman, and Henry Cejduo. Current UFC star Ben.
The strangers immediately recognize Askren -- the UFC star and former Missouri All-American wrestler -- but they barely look up from the eight matches below. Here at the NCAA wrestling championships in mid-March, Askren is an A-list star, but he’s like a famous person at his own family reunion -- so popular and well-known that nobody really bothers him for selfies or introductions. He’s just good ol’ Uncle Ben walking around.
The Iowa State fans wave for him to come on in and have a seat. One guy squishes his legs to the side, craning his head past Askren’s body so he doesn’t have to miss a single second of the wrestling below.
Brock Lesnar, Mark Coleman and Phil Davis help comprise an exclusive fraternity of college wrestlers who have excelled at the highest level before moving on to mixed martial arts.
Askren offers an important window into the latest evolution in the sometimes delicate relationship between wrestling and MMA. It’s long been accepted that there is no better base for MMA success than wrestling, and more specifically, American folkstyle wrestling.
For just one small snapshot of the impact of college wrestling, scroll through the NCAA brackets from Askren’s junior season in 2006. That tournament featured Askren, Johny Hendricks, Phil Davis, Chris Weidman, Ryan Bader, Cain Velasquez and Gregor Gillespie, to name just a few. That means there is a very good chance that on those eight mats down below Askren, the next wave of elite MMA fighters is probably rolling around. Arbitrage betting uk.
But 15 years ago, when Askren was starting his illustrious Missouri and international wrestling career, many in his community thought MMA was a violent corruption of their craft and only begrudgingly accepted that it was a new career path for the best wrestlers.
’That was still the dark ages of MMA,’ Askren says.
Times have changed. At NCAAs this year, wrestlers, coaches and fans were almost unanimously supportive of the sport. Part of that is the post-grad opportunity it presents.
Askren says even during a heyday of U.S. international wrestling, with an uptick in new wrestling jobs popping up in regional training centers across the country, there still are very few professional tracks for college wrestlers. And almost none that would pay like MMA does.
’Look up what I made for my first UFC fight,’ Askren says. (He got a base amount of $350,000 for his debut against Robbie Lawler in March.) ’It took me a while to get there, but that is a higher ceiling than you’ll find in wrestling.’
Bo Nickal, a Penn State senior and one of the best American college wrestlers to ever put on a singlet, understands what could be ahead. He would eventually close out that weekend in Pittsburgh with a third NCAA title and instant legend status. Nickal and his family offer a perfect window into how dramatically the relationship between MMA and U.S. amateur wrestling has changed over the past 10 years.
’The plan is to do the Olympics in 2020,’ Nickal told ESPN. ’Then start fighting.’
He says it as though MMA is the obvious next choice, like a law school graduate passing the bar and saying he’ll probably be a lawyer. The casualness in his voice is important. Even though it’s still a tough choice for great wrestlers to leave international wrestling and skip the coaching path, Nickal is one of the many wrestlers at NCAAs who spoke of MMA as an exciting next step, not some devastating breakup they needed to initiate in order to pay the mortgage.
A few minutes later, his teammate, NCAA heavyweight champ Anthony Cassar, says he too wants to pursue the 2020 Olympics and will transition to fighting after that.
’I grew up watching Fedor Emelianenko and Vitor Belfort as a kid,’ Cassar says. ’It’s one of my goals, and I’m going to immerse myself in it someday.’
MMA, though, is not for the faint of heart, even by the Nickal family standards. Nickal’s dad, Jason, is a lifelong wrestler and longtime coach who played football at Chadron State. His mom, Sandy, is a former San Diego State basketball player who went 5-0 as an amateur boxer, training out of Jackson Wink MMA in New Mexico. She used to take Bo to the gym when she’d spar, and she says he won the one jiu-jitsu tournament he participated in as a kid. Nickal is Exhibit A of this generation of college wrestler -- not only is MMA a mainstream part of his life, it’s part of his entire family.
But still: Nickal could end up eating elbows, or getting kicked in the face, or choked out ..
His mom interrupts. ’That’s what doctors are for,’ Sandy says with a wave of the hand.
Northwestern wrestler Sebastian Rivera tried to duck into his family’s house this summer without his dad noticing his brand-new broken nose. But it was only a matter of time until the star 125-pound wrestler was busted: He’d been sparring with former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, an old family friend of the Riveras, and Rivera hadn’t seen an Edgar knee heading north at breakneck speed. Suddenly, out came the blood.
Rivera says his parents, especially his dad, Steve, worry about his fascination with MMA. His dad is a wrestling lifer and coached Edgar back in the day at Toms River High School in New Jersey. Rivera spent his youth running around the wrestling room, hoping to be just like Edgar someday. That has extended to Edgar’s MMA career -- Rivera fully intends to follow in his UFC footsteps once wrestling is over.
Of all the wrestlers interviewed in Pittsburgh, Rivera had the most MMA training on the side. The majority still said they watched on TV and dabbled in occasional armbars and boxing sparring, but nothing serious. Rivera, though, works hard, especially with Edgar, on jiu-jitsu and striking, and when he talks MMA strategy, he already sounds like a UFC veteran. He struggled at first to adapt to working off his back -- that’s the biggest nightmare position in a wrestling match -- but has adapted to it and now prefers to work submissions off his back.
’I will wake up at 8 a.m. in the summer and just go and grapple and get punched in the face all day,’ Rivera says. ’I love it. I want to fight, ultimately, and Frankie wants me to do it.’ His parents will take some convincing, though. He says they just don’t want to see him get hurt, like he did that day with Edgar.
’I’m gonna send you back to Northwestern for the summer,’ he says his dad told him.
Rivera isn’t the only one with an Edgar connection. When Rutgers coach Scott Goodale took the Scarlet Knights gig in 2007, he immediately made Edgar, a former Clarion University wrestler, one of his assistants. Edgar got his first UFC fight that same year, but he continued to coach and use the Rutgers wrestling room as a way to keep his grappling sharp. Goodale admits he was lukewarm at first but got drawn in over the years, mostly because of Edgar. But he also loved seeing elite wrestlers have a new way to make a living using wrestling.
’This is what young wrestlers are watching as they grow up,’ Goodale says. ’And that’s a good thing for the sport.’
That kind of open-mindedness is certainly benefiting Rutgers, which crowned the first two national champions in school history at this year’s NCAAs. One in particular, Nick Suriano, seems especially intrigued by joining the wrestler-turned-fighter crowd.
’I’ve been doing it off and on since high school,’ Suriano says. ’I’ve worked out with Frankie and really enjoyed it. It’s funny. MMA and wrestling are both fights. And I love to win the fight.’
After winning his national title on March 23 in Pittsburgh, Suriano, a junior, meanders around the floor of the PPG Paints Arena, posing for a relentless stream of photos, one after the other after the other. He has a nice-sized gash above his eye that looks like it’s a gentle breeze away from opening up and bleeding all over. It’s tiring just to watch the constant insta-smiles and handshakes and head nod, then someone is standing there waiting for the next one. It’s a dizzying scene, and Suriano has clearly lost track of who’s asking for what.
But he’s not hustling to get away, either -- he is reveling in this moment. The 133-pounder is a bit of a showman, taking acting classes and never shy about riling up rival crowds when he’s on the mat.
When one man in his mid-20s asks for a photo, the latest in an assembly line of selfie-seekers, Suriano starts to smile and stands beside the guy as a phone camera snaps away. He doesn’t even notice who’s asking for the shot until the guy speaks.
’Congratulations, champ, that win was all heart, all mindset,’ the guy says as a friend takes photos.
There’s something about the man’s voice that causes Suriano to pause and really look at his new biggest fan: It’s Henry Cejudo. ’Thanks, champ,’ Suriano says. Then Suriano gets out of the picture and asks to take a shot of Cejudo, the UFC flyweight champion and 2008 Olympic gold medalist wrestler, for himself.
In that moment, it’s not hard to already see the Cejudo vs. Suriano UFC PPV promo video. Maybe one of those photos is on the screen, with the voices of the two champion wrestlers in the background, talking up a chance to punch each other in the face. One generation of star wrestler versus another.
As Askren watches the bouts happening in front of him, he smiles when he’s asked which five wrestlers might be great future fighters.
’I can’t name five,’ he says. He pauses for effect, then finishes his thought: ’Because all 330 guys here could be great fighters. That’s how good the wrestling base is in the fight game.’
And here’s the really scary thing derived from Pittsburgh, a point that Askren agrees with: This generation of wrestlers has grown up with UFC fights and fighters as a mainstream part of their lives, with MMA training facilities right around the corner from their houses. Which means, as good as the Daniel Cormiers and Ben Askrens of the MMA world have been, there is a 2.0 version of those great ex-wrestlers who aren’t just adding on punches and kicks when their careers are over.
’Bo Nickal absolutely, in a heartbeat, could be great,’ Askren says. ’The one thing I would tell him is, don’t wait too long. No matter how good wrestlers are, it’s gonna take them two or three years to get to a big show -- maybe even longer because people don’t want to fight good wrestlers. As good as he is, it’s not looking real rosy for him to beat the other top American Olympic candidates. In my opinion, he’s not beating those guys.’
If Askren is right, that means Nickal would perhaps have a crossroads decision to make next year: Keep chasing international wrestling, or try his hand at MMA?
’It’d be a shame if he doesn’t get to wrestle in the Olympics,’ his mom says. ’But I don’t have any doubts about how well he’ll do in a cage fight. It’ll be bad for that other guy.’
Way of Martial Arts (wayofmartialarts.com) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to them.
Wrestling might be the single best martial art background for MMA fighters. Today, 6 of 7 UFC male champions have a wrestling background. Better wrestler dictates where the fight takes place, so there is no surprise that MMA fighters with good wrestling make up the best fighters in the UFC.
I have to mention that the given list of best wrestlers in UFC is not ordered. I considered many factors, like their UFC resume, wrestling resume, percentage of takedowns and takedown defenses, etc. [1]
So, let’s take a closer look at fighters who made it to the list.
Also, I made lists similar to this for every martial art. Take a look at the best Muay Thai fighters in the UFC, best boxers in the UFC, best BJJ practitioners in the UFC, and best kickboxers in the UFC.Khabib NurmagomedovUfc Fighters List Retired
Division: UFC Lightweight
MMA record: 29-0
I might have just started our list with the best wrestler MMA has ever seen. Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov is an unprecedented force inside the Octagon. He fought 29 times inside the cage. 29 men have tried, 29 have failed. Khabib is undefeated his whole career. In his UFC career, he has only lost a single round (against Conor McGregor in the biggest fight in UFC history).
Nurmagomedov is the best ground and pound fighter of all time. There is just a matter of time when his opponents will be on the back and Khabib on top of them. Until now, nobody has yet figured how to solve the mystery of Khabib’s wrestling. Khabib also holds the record for most takedowns in a single fight.
He is the current UFC lightweight champion of the world with 3 title defenses to his name. It is uncertain if we will see Khabib step into the Octagon for one more time, to fulfill his father’s wish and to get that perfect 30-0.Daniel Cormier
Division: UFC Heavyweight and UFC Light Heavyweight (retired)
MMA record: 22-3 (1 NC)
Daniel “DC” Cormier is an Olympic and NCAA Division I wrestler. He is one of the, if not the best wrestler in the history of the heavyweight division. In his extraordinary career, he came short of a win only three times. Two of those (actually one, because one is no contest) came from his biggest rival, Jon Jones. Two come from the current UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.
Cormier is known for his height (only 5 ft 11 in) and reaches (only 72 and a half in). Despite those small sizes, when it comes to dictating the pace of the fight and setting up the pressure on his opponents, he is one of the best to ever do it. With his extraordinary cardio for a weight class, Daniel is always in his opponent’s face, leaving them no room to breathe.
Daniel Cormier retired after the trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic. He lost the fight on the judge’s decision and failed to recapture the heavyweight gold. Still, DC retired as one of the greatest of all time.Jon Jones
Division: UFC Heavyweight, formerly UFC Light Heavyweight
MMA record: 26-1 (1 NC)
Jon “Bones” Jones is arguably the best fighter that has ever stepped foot inside the Octagon. He is the youngest man that has ever won the UFC championship belt (at the age of just 23 years old). Jones is undefeated for his whole career (actually, he has one loss, against Matt Hamill, when he was disqualified for 12-6 elbows in the fight where Jon was dominating completely).
In his first title reign, Jon, a young kid from Albuquerque, completely wiped out the whole UFC Light Heavyweight division. In the process, he absolutely dominated the best fighters and champions from that era, including Shogun, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustaffson, Glover Teixeira, and Daniel Cormier. He defended the belt on seven occasions.
But, in 2015, problems have started for Jones. He was involved in a lot of scandals and illegal substances usages, so he was stripped of the title and took some time outside the Octagon. He had problems for years, and when he finally came back in 2019, he quickly regained the UFC Light Heavyweight throne, and in just over a year, started to clear the division once again. In his second run, he is at 3 title defenses (Smith, Santos, Reyes).
Although nobody in the UFC has a resume even nearly similar to Jones’, people are still doubting his status as the greatest of all time (because of his actions outside of the Octagon). To clear that doubt, Jones said, that in the near future, he will step up, and go to the UFC Heavyweight division to clear that one as well, and secure his status as “the baddest man that has ever walked the Earth”.Yoel Romero
Divison: Formerly UFC Middleweight
MMA record: 13-5Ufc 4 Grappling
Yoel “Soldier of God” Romero is a Cuban Olympic Silver wrestler. When you see him, Yoel is just scary. The UFC Middleweight fighter might just be the most athletic and fittest fighter that has ever lived. At the age of 43, he has a body and strength that absolutely defies all laws of human aging.
Romero’s outstanding wrestling and control of opponent is matched just with his insane one punch KO power. Cuban wrestler is a fighter that absolutely nobody wants to face. Just as Dana White said:
“I never get anybody calling me and saying, ‘Hey Dana, I want to fight Yoel Romero,’” White said. “When do you ever hear a guy call him out? It doesn’t happen. Guys wind up fighting him because the rankings dictate it or whatever, but no one is volunteering for that. [Adesanya] just kept blowing up my phone: ‘I want Romero. I want Romero. I want Romero.’ I respect that. You want to fight a guy like that, I respect it and so we made it happen.”Dana WhiteKamaru Usman
Division: UFC Welterweight
MMA record: 18-1
Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman is the current UFC Welterweight champion of the world. In his title fight against former champion Tyron Woodley, Usman absolutely dominated the whole five rounds. He set an unbelievably high pace, and with his amazing wrestling abilities, Kamaru took Tyron down almost at will.
Worth noticing is that Woodley’s takedown defense before that fight was incredible (94% takedown defense), but Usman still took him down whenever he wanted.
Usman is an NCAA Division II wrestler. His wrestling background enabled him the achieve current success in the UFC. He averages 3.44 successful takedowns per 15 minute fight, which is incredible.
His takedown accuracy is incredible with half of his takedown attempts being successful. When we talk about Usman’s takedown defense, it stands at an extraordinary 100%. No fighter in the UFC has yet managed to take Usman down.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” defended his title three times; against Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns. When it is all set and done, Usman might go in the history as one of the greatest of all time.Colby Covington
Divison: UFC Welterweight
MMA record: 18-2
Colby “Chaos” Covington, an NCAA Divison I wrestler. Probably the most hated guy inside the UFC. After his first nine UFC fights, UFC was set to release him. They said, that his wrestling style and boring personality just weren’t the right fit for the
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