Best Wrestlers In UFC: 11 Top Grapplers In Octagon History
Contents
- 11 Of The Best Wrestlers In The UFC
- 1. Cain Velasquez
- 2. Chael Sonnen
- 3. Daniel Cormier
- 4. Dominick Cruz
- 5. Georges St. Pierre
- 6. Jon Jones
- 7. José Aldo
- 8. Kamaru Usman
- 9. Khabib Nurmagomedov
- 10. Matt Hughes
- 11. Randy Couture
- Watch This!
- Frequently Asked Questions
- What are takedown and striking accuracy?
- Is Khabib the best wrestler ever?
- Why are wrestlers so good at MMA?
- Are there UFC fighters who competed in the Olympics?
- Conclusion
- Sources
Photo by Lee Brimelow, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mixed martial arts draws on many combat disciplines, such as wrestling, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and more.
Among these…
Wrestling is one of the most useful skills in MMA because it lets you decide where the fight happens and control your opponent.
If you look at the greatest MMA fighters throughout history, you'll notice that many have a wrestling background, developing their striking skills later in their career.
And that's what we're here to talk about! We'll be showcasing some of the best wrestlers in UFC, in no particular ranking.
11 Of The Best Wrestlers In The UFC
1. Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez is a California native who's a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Before MMA, he wrestled in college at Arizona State University.
He made his UFC debut in April 2008 and finished his career with a 14-3 record and 5.13 takedowns per 15 minutes, according to the UFC.
He retired from MMA in 2019 and briefly worked as a professional wrestler.
2. Chael Sonnen
Chael Sonnen is a retired mixed martial artist who competed mainly at middleweight and light heavyweight.
During collegiate wrestling, he represented the Oregon Ducks, becoming a two-time Pac-10 runner-up and a two-time Dave Schultz Memorial International Greco-Roman winner.
Sonnen began his MMA career in 1997 and retired in 2019. He fought for UFC titles three times.
He is also known for his trash talk, which helped build some of the biggest fights of his era.
His game plan was simple: take opponents down and grind them out with ground strikes. Opponents knew it was coming and still struggled to stop it.
3. Daniel Cormier
Daniel "DC" Cormier is a former mixed martial artist and current UFC analyst and commentator. He's a former UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion.
Cormier is the second fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two divisions simultaneously and the first fighter to have title defenses in two divisions.
He is arguably the most decorated wrestler in MMA. He reached the NCAA finals at Oklahoma State University and later wrestled freestyle for Team USA, including at the 2004 Olympics.
He debuted as a professional MMA fighter in 2009 and retired in 2020 with a 22-3 record.
Despite being short for a heavyweight, Cormier is widely ranked among the best heavyweights in UFC history.
His powerful takedowns, aggression, ability to exert pressure and dictate the pacing of the fight, and other qualities leave no room for opponents to breathe.
4. Dominick Cruz
Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz is a retired mixed martial artist and two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. He was also the first UFC bantamweight champion.
Cruz doesn't have the decorated amateur wrestling background of others on this list. He wrestled in high school and built the rest of his game in MMA.
He started his pro career in 2005 and retired with a record of 24 wins and four losses.
Cruz was a formidable opponent due to his unorthodox movement, where he often attacks from angles in a way that others don't.
One of his most notable UFC fights happened in 2016, when he regained the bantamweight championship from T.J. Dillashaw after years of knee injuries. Many fans call it one of the best comebacks in UFC history.
5. Georges St. Pierre
Georges "Rush" St. Pierre is a former professional MMA fighter who won titles in the UFC welterweight and middleweight divisions.
St. Pierre lived a difficult childhood, where he learned Kyokushin Karate when he was seven to defend himself against a school bully. Around age 16, he took up various combat sports, such as boxing, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
He went on to earn black belts in Kyokushin karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
St. Pierre fought in the UFC from 2004 to 2013 and returned once in 2017. He retired with a record of 26 wins and two losses, including a 13-fight win streak.
He is widely considered one of the greatest fighters in MMA history, and his wrestling was a big reason why, even though he never wrestled in college.
He also won the middleweight title in 2017 but vacated it about a month later, citing his health (ulcerative colitis).
6. Jon Jones
Moving to the light heavyweight division, we have American mixed martial artist Jon "Bones" Jones. He's a two-time UFC light heavyweight champion who later won the UFC heavyweight title, which he vacated in June 2025.
He started as a high school wrestler and became a state champion in upstate New York. Eventually, he won the National Championships at the NJCAA out of Iowa Central Community College.
Jon Jones made his UFC debut in 2008 and dominated the light heavyweight division for more than a decade.
He holds a 28-1 record, and his only loss is a disqualification for illegal elbows.
He also became the youngest winner of the UFC championship belt at 23 years old!
Jon Jones is one of the best fighters to step into the Octagon, and he was never beaten in a fight that wasn't stopped for a foul. He has even defeated some of the fighters on this list, such as Sonnen and Cormier.
7. José Aldo
José Aldo is a former UFC featherweight champion who also competed at bantamweight late in his career.
Aldo was interested in football but was tired of getting beat up on the streets, so he decided to learn capoeira. This Brazilian art form combines martial arts, dance, acrobatics, and music.
Eventually, he trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where he earned a black belt and won competitions.
He turned pro in 2004 and made his UFC debut in 2011, winning the featherweight title in that first UFC fight.
Aldo is better known as a striker than a wrestler, with heavy leg kicks and sharp boxing. He makes this list for his takedown defense, which let him keep fights standing against elite wrestlers.
He is considered one of the best featherweights of all time.
8. Kamaru Usman
Kamaru "The Nigerian Nightmare" Usman is a former freestyle wrestler and a former UFC Welterweight Champion.
He wrestled at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where he was a three-time All-American and the 2010 NCAA Division II national champion.
Usman made his UFC debut in 2015 after winning The Ultimate Fighter 21.
He held the welterweight title from 2019 to 2022, defending it five times with a mix of wrestling pressure and hard combinations.
His takedown defense has been among the best in the division, and few opponents have managed to take him down.
9. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib "The Eagle" Nurmagomedov is a former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the lightweight division. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022 and now works as a coach and cornerman.
He has a background in sambo, judo, and wrestling, which he started training as a child. A widely shared video even shows him wrestling a bear cub as a boy.
He started his MMA career in 2008 and retired in 2020 with a perfect 29-0 record and 5.32 takedowns per 15 minutes.
He once landed 21 takedowns in a single fight, against Abel Trujillo in 2013.
Khabib's wrestling is about relentless pressure, often described as "mauling." He is widely considered the most dominant grappler in UFC history, wearing opponents down until they broke or got submitted.
10. Matt Hughes
Photo by Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Matt Hughes is a former mixed martial artist widely regarded as one of the best in MMA history. He is a two-time UFC Welterweight Champion and a UFC Hall of Fame inductee.
He was a two-time state champion wrestler in high school and went on to become an NCAA Division I All-American at Eastern Illinois University.
Hughes made his MMA debut in 1998 and fought for the last time in 2011, competing at welterweight. He won more than 40 pro fights.
His wrestling, ground strikes, and submissions make him one of the greatest welterweights of all time. He has victories over Georges St. Pierre, Matt Serra, and B.J. Penn.
During his title reign, many outlets ranked him among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
11. Randy Couture
Randy "The Natural" Couture is a former mixed martial artist and Greco-Roman wrestler. He won UFC titles at heavyweight and light heavyweight, with six title reigns in all, counting an interim belt.
After serving in the Army, he wrestled at Oklahoma State University, where he was an NCAA Division I All-American, and later competed internationally in Greco-Roman wrestling.
He made his UFC debut in 1997 and retired in 2011, combining his wrestling with dirty boxing in the clinch to overwhelm his opponents.
Couture finished with a 19-11 record, but many of those losses came in title fights against the best of his era.
He won the heavyweight title in 2007 at 43, after he had already been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Knock-Out Point: Want to meet some of the women who have made their mark in the Octagon? Read Hottest UFC Fighters.
Watch This!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are takedown and striking accuracy?
If you visit the official UFC website and look at the profile of a particular fighter, you might see "striking accuracy" and "takedown accuracy" in their stats.
Accuracy is the share of attempts that succeed. For example, takedown accuracy is successful takedowns divided by total takedown attempts, multiplied by 100.
Is Khabib the best wrestler ever?
He has a strong case. Khabib retired undefeated at 29-0 and controlled almost every opponent on the mat. Still, picking the single best wrestler in UFC history is a matter of opinion.
Why are wrestlers so good at MMA?
Wrestlers often dominate the MMA scene because they can use their wrestling abilities to grapple and take down their opponents.
For example, a kickboxer who started training wrestling in his twenties to compete in MMA will have little chance of stopping the takedowns of someone who has been wrestling since childhood.
Are there UFC fighters who competed in the Olympics?
Yes. Henry Cejudo (2008) and Kevin Jackson (1992) both won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling and later fought in the UFC. Daniel Cormier also wrestled at the Olympics.
Conclusion
As you can see, many UFC champions today and throughout history have an excellent background in wrestling.
With the growing popularity of MMA, will there be more youth who first train as wrestlers before adapting to the sport? Or will they train with the goal of being a mixed martial artist?
Only time will tell.
That said, these are 11 of the best wrestlers in UFC history. Did your favorites make it to the list? If we missed other great wrestlers, we'd love to hear all about it!
.jpg){kind=link}