When you learn more about Ultimate Fighting Championship, you’ll realize there are many different fighters across many divisions that it can be difficult to remember them all and, most importantly, who the most famous UFC fighters are.
This article will list the fifteen most famous UFC fighters of all time. I’m ranking them by their fame on social media because this is one of the most accurate ways to gauge the popularity of each fighter today.
15. Zabit Magomedsharipov
A UFC fighter, Zabit, has won his first six fights and has been undefeated. His success can be attributed to his unique fighting style that difficult for opponents to beat. He boasts over two million Instagram followers.
One of Zabit’s struggles has been to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which could possibly take his professional fighting career in the right direction. But while Zactus teaches his brother, Khasan Magomedsharipov, as a coach, he’s also added to his winnings with victories in Bellator MMA.
Despite some setbacks, Zabit has managed to earn over half a million USD already. We hope he will be able to overcome any issues and continue competing in tournaments.
14. José Aldo
José “Junior” Aldo highly respectes Brazilian fighter. Since his arrival to the UFC in 2011, he battled multiple generations of fighters, and amassed 2.7 million followers on Instagram.
Aldo would often beat his opponents by knocking them out or always winning rounds in boxing. His style of boxing, which he shines in the pocket and exchanging fast blows, is what makes him so lethal.
José made over $9.9 million from competing in competitive fighting.
13. Kamaru Usman
Kamaru “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman has been a whirlwind of the UFC Welterweight division, defending his title several times. With over 2.9 million followers on Instagram, he is one of the most popular MMA fighters in recent years.
Usman competes with Trevor Wittman from ONX Sports and four other highly competitive athletes such as Rose Namajunas and Justin Gaethje.
This fighter has experienced success with a wrestling-mixed-with heavy-hitting style. There has been excitement generated around how he fought against Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and even his own teammate Gilbert Burns.
This fighter has a high level of intensity, which few combatants would dare to challenge.
Kamaru has earned over $8.4 million in his career and is a Nigerian nightmare to opposing pitchers.
12. Max Holloway
Max Holloway, a fighter who is self-proclaimed to be the best boxer in the UFC, consistently amazes fans with his style of never backing down and always throwing a large number of strikes. He has over two million followers on Instagram.
Jared Holloway is usually the fighter in the octagon with the greatest cardio fitness level, because he has a high level of endurance which means he can’t stop.
All his losses were to the luck of decision because he just couldn’t be finished. All except for when he lost to a few other amazing fighters like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Alexander Volkanovski.”
I always love watching Max fight. It’s a legend! His last fight was against Calvin Kattar in 2020, and it was one of the best fights I have seen in 2019.
His career earnings have amounted to $6.3 million
11. Jorge Masvidal
Jorge Masvidal often sees as a player and a fighter in the UFC. His trash-talking, however, helps him get fights far above his level of skill. Jorge has built up a social media following of over 3 million followers on Instagram.
Masvidal has been fighting since he was young, even in the backyard. His natural confidence comes from his experience in martial arts. One of his early fights was alongside Kimbo Slice in the 2000s.
Jorge has a mediocre UFC record, but consistently receives tough opponents as a result of his ability to fight.
Jorge has been able to fight against big names like Donald Cerrone and Kamaru Usman, Nate Diaz, Darren Till, and Colby Covington.
MMA fighter Jorge Masvidal has earned over $5.4 million from his fights.
10. Daniel Cormier
After a successful UFC and Wrestling career, DC Cormier has become a UFC commentator. With 3.1 million followers on Instagram, he gaines worldwide acclaim.
With an undefeated (and regrettably unfinished) career, Daniel Cormier has won 22 fights and only lost three over the course of 22 tournaments.
Daniel is a wrestling champion who has been involved in combat sports for many years. His name has been on people’s mouths since before mixed martial arts was even created.
It’s not surprising to hear Rogan scream from the commentary box on UFC fights anymore.
Over his fighting career, DC earned over $12.5 million. However, I am sure he earnes much more since becoming a public figure and commentator.
9. Islam Makhachev
Makhachev is hailed as the understudy of a famous UFC fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev is another fighter from Dagestan and is followed by over 3.7 million followers on Instagram due to the surrounding hype.
Islam’s fighting style has a clear resemblance to Khabib’s. They both specialize in Sambo-Wrestling and are undefeated MMA fighters, use the same technique, and have that same ability to strike with an opponent right up until the moment they shoot for the takedown and grapple their way to victory.
Makhachev’s most common types of victory are by submission, which he mostly achieves with the rear-naked choke or the triangle choke.
Islam has been victorious with $500,000 in prize money. Out of all the fighters on this list, Islam has won the least amount of money. But if he continues his winning streak and stays undefeated, you can expect to see more money coming in as his career progresses.
8. Francis Ngannou
In the UFC Heavyweight Championship, Francis “The Predator” Ngannou fulfiled his dream and overcoming many challenges from his younger years. This fighter has one of the most popular MMA fighting styles in the world, with over 3.8 million followers on Instagram.
Ngannou has popularity as a result of his KO victories. Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem are on losses to Ngannou and he is undefeated at the moment.
I’m sure Francis has made over $4.1 million from sources such as fight winnings and sponsorships.
7. Dustin Poirier
Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier is one of the UFC famous fighters who earned his nickname because he just seems to get stronger the longer the fight goes on and when put under more pressure. His nature has earned him a fanbase of over 3.9 million followers on Instagram.
Dustin has challenged the Lightweight Championship multiple times, but he submittes by Charles Oliveira and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
As The Diamond steps into the octagon, he shows a lot of finesse as he’s able to dodge punches and attack with his own combinations. The more time that he spends against the cage wall, the less pressured he seems to feel.
Dustin Poirier has made over $11.2 million during his career as a mixed martial arts fighter and as a UFC fighter, having competed for championship belts and faced off with Conor McGregor.
6. Anderson Silva
Anderson “The Spider” Silva is a UFC fighter with over 4 million followers on Instagram. He shows us exciting fights and respectes across mixed martial arts as a pioneer.
A highlight of Silva’s MA career was always the enjoyable experience of watching him fight. Though he had a difficult time in his later career, it was a pleasure to see Silva compete.
Boxers are usually retired once they hit their late 40s, but Silva recently dominates in the ring. Retiring from boxing to focus on his first love was all he needed to do to reignite his passion.
5. Nate Diaz
When Nate Diaz is fighting, he seems to be a favorite among followers of fighters and commentators alike. His carefree attitude during press conferences leading up to the fight has been entertaining for all of us.
Nate Diaz is an entertaining member of the UFC. He can box with fighters with his long reach and knowns for beating opponents with Jiu-Jitsu when ground fighting.
What partly helped Nate to be so successful was his Californian street attitude. An emphatic victory over Conor McGregor also helped.
Nate Diaz has generated over $9 million.
4. Jon Jones
Jones, a UFC fighter, has had trouble staying out of the news. Whenever he does something wrong or if negative information about Jones comes to light, his Instagram followers increase by over 5 million.
Shortly after Jones’ victory at UFC 214, he has been the center of media attention. His skills in the octagon are amongst the best in the world, and his past controversies have not deterred Jones from pursuing his goal to make it to the UFC for 20 years.
Jon Jones was the youngest UFC Champion ever, and has only had one loss way back in 2009. Since then, he’s been unstoppable.
Despite not fighting recently, Jones has earned over $14.3 million throughout his career.
3. Israel Adesanya
Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya has been undefeated as a middleweight and has 6.1 million followers on Instagram. He is one of the rare fighters who can outperform opponents in a striking style on the feet and even nullify grapplers to remain undefeated.
If you love Israel’s high kickboxing skills, his dancing abilities, or his YouTube content, you will love the fact that he’s from there.
While most undefeated UFC fighters have one thing in common–grappling–Adesanya was able to maintain an undefeated MMA fighting record with elite striking and kickboxing. He only lost his first MMA match when he tried to up one weight class while holding two belts, but decided to wrap up his career as a Middleweight fighter.
Anderson Silva has done something incredible. Israel Adesanya is the one that will carry on his legacy and continue to make it as great as possible.
Israel nicknames “Money,” and as a boxer, he’s made $7.4 million in his career. With his fame, he’s likely to have many sponsorships and earned much more than that through advertising deals.
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov is one of the most famous UFC fighters on the planet. He retired from MMA with an undefeated 29-0 record. His wrestling creativity is like something of a legend, and he has more than 33 million followers on Instagram.
One of the most notable moments in MMA this year was Khabib’s conflict with the big-mouthed Conor McGregor.
Khabib beating Conor McGregor, who was on top of the world at that time, set the UFC and wider sporting world on fire. Khabib is well-known all over the world, now.
Khabib earns $21.7 million for his undefeated fight record and fisticuffs
1. Conor McGregor
How Conor McGregor is unstoppable
Andrius Petrucenia, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons — Inkscape/Wikimedia Foundation
Easily one of the most well known sports pages, Conor McGregor is also the highest paid. With 44 million followers on Instagram, Conor has created a celebrity fan club of over 44 million.
He became famous at the UFC. His fame began when he continued to have a winning streak that would last 15 fights in the UFC.
