Last Updated on January 21, 2025
There's a 60-pound difference between the UFC heavyweight and the light heavyweight division. If Jon Jones, who weighs 205 pounds and is 6'4" tall, is unmistakable when fighting in a light heavyweight bout, imagine how big fighters who join this championship with over 265 pounds are?
The heavyweight limit in the UFC is 265 lbs, but some fighters are so big that they have to cut weight or miss weight and lose a fight via disqualification. Others even competed in the super heavyweight division. Let's list all of these UFC fighters below.
Biggest Fighters In UFC History
1. Shane Carwin - 255 Pounds
Shane is not a new face to the UFC as he's one of the top heavyweight fighters.
He weighed 280 pounds at the start of his career, but years later, he settled into the heavyweight division with 254 pounds.
Shane Carwin stands out in a match because he's over six feet tall. His MMA fight record boasts eight knockouts from 14 bouts.
2. Grey Hardy - 265 Pounds
He's one of the taller UFC fighters as he's 6' 5". Hardy's UFC career began in 2019 after a football career. He weighed about 280 pounds as a footballer and had to drop a few pounds to fit in the heavyweight division. His MMA record is impressive, with six knockout wins from 13 matches.
3. Roy Nelson - 265 Pounds
We can't have a list of the biggest fighters in the UFC without Roy Nelson. Even his nickname, Big Country, confirms that this six-foot-tall mixed martial artist belongs in the heavyweight division.
He has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a black sash in Kung Fu, probably the reasons he's knocked out opponents 14 times out of the 42 bouts during his mixed martial arts career.
Roy has several awards for his record in the UFC heavyweight division. For instance, he won The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights show and pocketed the Knockout of the Night bonus four times.
4. Mark Hunt - 265 Pounds
Since we're interested in the weight rather than the height, we won't focus on Mark Hunt being 5' 10". He might be short compared to other fighters in this division, but Super Samoan has an outstanding kickboxing record, winning the Grand Prix several times.
He weighed about 300 pounds when his MMA career began; therefore, he lost some pounds to fight in the heavyweight category.
Hunt's skills have brought him the Performance and Knockout of the Night bonuses two times. Plus, he's also bagged the Fight of the Night bonus three times.
5. Dan Christison - 265 Pounds
Dan weighed over 265 pounds when he competed and won the WEC Super Heavyweight Championship. Sometimes, he'd weigh as much as 270 pounds. The Sandman's bouts end either in knockouts or submissions.
He walked away with the Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night bonuses in his first UFC fight, but about three months later, he lost to Mir and decided to leave the UFC for good.
6. Antonio Silva - 265 Pounds
Do you know he's called Bigfoot? Sometimes, his weight lies between 280 and 285 pounds, so he's among fighters who've had to undergo wild weight cuts. Silva participated in the super heavyweight category before moving to the heavyweight category.
Before joining the UFC, he fought under Cage Warriors and Strikeforce.
7. Tim Sylvia - 265 Pounds
He could easily rank as the tallest fighter at 6' 8". Sylvia was a heavyweight fighter from 2001 to 2008. However, before then, he fought in the super heavyweight division.
Half of all his mixed martial arts fights ended in knockout punches, so it's no wonder Tim Sylvia was a UFC Heavyweight Champion twice.
8. Wesley Sims - 260 Pounds
He's not the tallest fighter, but he's taller than most as he's 6' 10". Sims is now retired, but he fought under UFC for about a year since 2003. He only had three matches there, two against Frank Mir and one against Mike Kyle. Unfortunately, he lost all three fights.
The first bout against Mir ended in a disqualification as Sims stomped while hanging onto the fence.
9. Gan McGee - 265 Pounds
Like Sims, McGee fought in several championships, including UFC. He had one bout in the UFC in 2000 and lost, left for IFC and WEC, then went back to UFC in 2002. Unlike his first time there, his return earned him several wins. The Giant was also in the super heavyweight division.
10. John Matua - 400 Pounds
Matua fought in the super heavyweight category, and his style was Kuialua, a martial art tactic that focussed on joint locks. He wasn't lucky in his MMA career, as he lost almost all of his fights.
His only win was against Steve Treadwell during the King of the Cage 2: Desert Storm. He fought Tank Abbott at UFC 6 and lost via a knockout punch.
11. Koji Kitao - 353 Pounds
This Japanese sumo wrestler was 6' 7'' tall. He was the only sumo wrestler who never won a top division championship.
Kitao had an MMA record of three matches, one of which he fought in the UFC, where he lost to Mark Hall via a technical knockout. Kitao was in the lead, taking Hall down with punches. However, the referee stopped the match when Hall punched Kitao's nose and broke it.
12. Derrick Lewis - 266 Pounds
Who loves UFC and doesn't know The Black Beast? As his weight suggests, he's in the heavyweight category.
Lewis joined the UFC in 2014 and leads with the most knockouts in this promotion's history.
He started his career at this championship on a high note by winning via a technical knockout at UFC on Fox: Werdum vs. Browne. But, before he could boast of his wins, Matt Mitrione knocked him out at UFC Fight Night: Jacare vs. Mousasi.
When his wins started trickling in again, there was no way to stop him. He beat Roy Nelson, Travis Browne, and Ngannou, among others. He's walked away with the Performance of the Night bonus four times and Fight of the Night thrice.
13. Semmy Schilt - 256 Pounds
He's 6' 11.5" and fought in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions. Schilt's MMA career began in 1996, and he joined the UFC after competing in Pancrase.
Nonetheless, he didn't stay long in this championship, as he left after this second bout at UFC 32. He won the first one through body kicks and punches that took Pete Williams down. He wasn't lucky in the second match as it was a bloody fight where Josh Barnett locked an armbar and had Schilt tap out.
14. Stefan Struve - 265 Pounds
He's the tallest UFC fighter at 7 feet. Struve was in the light heavyweight category for about a year before switching to the heavyweight division in 2006.
The UFC didn't give him a memorable welcome because he lost his debut bout at UFC 95 after receiving heavy punches from Junior dos Santos. However, he proved he was worth the contract in his next and third fights and earned a new contract.
Most of his wins in MMA are through submissions rather than knockouts. He's won the Submission of the Night bonus three times and the Knockout of the Night bonus only once. One of his unforgettable fights in the UFC was his bout against Chase Gormley, who was undefeated until that encounter at UFC 104.
15. Emmanuel Yarbrough - 600 Pounds
It's funny that one of his other names is Tiny, yet he's a 6' 8" fighter who participated in the super heavyweight category.
On top of that, he was a Guinness World Record holder as the heaviest athlete alive when he reached 704 pounds.
Yarbrough was a sumo wrestler before his mixed martial arts career. He only fought in the UFC once and lost via punches by Keith Hackney.
16. Thomas Ramirez - 410 Pounds
He only had one bout in the super heavyweight category, which he lost just 8 seconds into the bout against Don Frye. He's one of the heavier fighters to have graced UFC events.
17. Teila Tuli - 450 Pounds
This 6' 2" MMA fighter has a longer sumo record than his mixed martial arts career. His only UFC fight ended in a technical knockout due to Gerard Gordeau's head kicks and punches, so we can't compare his record with other great fighters on this list.
You might remember him for his role as Taylor Willy in Forgetting Sarah Marshall or his most recent role as Kameona Tupuola in Magnum P.I. At least his acting career took off, no?
18. Sean McCorkle - 315 Pounds
Since we're listing the biggest UFC fighter ever, we had to have Sean McCorkle here. This retired MMA fighter participated in the heavyweight and super heavyweight divisions.
Out of 27 MMA matches, he won 20. He's the kind of fighter you couldn't miss in an MMA fight because of his 6' 7" body. One of his most memorable fights was his UFC debut against Mark Hunt, which McCorkle won after Hunt submitted.
McCorkle participated in pro wrestling after leaving MMA since he wasn't ready to retire.
19. Paul Varelans - 300 Pounds
Varelans didn't stay long enough in the UFC for many to notice him as the biggest UFC fighter because he was only there for a year. His style was a combination of trap fighting, pro wrestling, boxing, and wrestling.
He was 6' 8", and his opponents included famous faces like Tank Abbott and Mark Hall. He moved to other championships like IFC after his short stint in the UFC.
20. Frank Mir - 262 Pounds
He's not as big as other fighters here, but he's a heavyweight champion. He's six feet and three inches tall and brings his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu style to his MMA fights. Mir has many accomplishments in the UFC.
To mention a few, he was a heavyweight champion, and he was the first fighter to defeat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in a bout that earned him a Submission of the Night bonus. Plus, he holds the record for the most wins via submissions.
21. Brock Lesnar - 265 Pounds
During his professional wrestling career, Lesnar weighed up to 286 pounds. He had a one-fight contract when he joined UFC, but he stayed for a few more bouts. His opponents included famous fighters like Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez.
Brock Lesnar even won the UFC Heavyweight Championship and defended it two times successfully. As much as the MMA world would want to claim Brock Lesnar, his wrestling career made him a household name.
Knock-Out Point: Know the different weight classes for both men and women by viewing our article here -- UFC Weight Classes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the current heavyweight UFC fighter?
The reigning champion since 2021 is Francis Ngannou. It was his second attempt to win the UFC title from Stipe Miocic.
He fought Miocic for the first time in 2018 at UFC 220 and lost. The next time they met, Ngannou was raring to defeat Miocic, who had defended the championship thrice, lost it to Daniel Cormier, won it again, and was in his second title defense bout. Another fighter who has been aiming for this title is Alistair Overeem.
Who are the top 10 heavyweights in the UFC?
Fighters who've won the championship are by far the top heavyweights. Therefore, Francis Ngannou, Stipe Miocic, Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, Junior dos Santos, Frank Mir, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Randy Couture, and Tim Sylvia deserve to be on this list. Some, such as Mir, Couture, Cain, Lesnar, and Miocic, have been champions for more than a year.
Who is the hardest puncher in the UFC?
Francis Ngannou's punching power lands at 129,161 units, which Dana White suggested amounted to about 96 Hp. Other fighters with excellent punching skills are Justin Gaethje, Amanda Nunes, Cody Garbrandt, Derrick Lewis, and Thiago Santos.
Conclusion
The biggest UFC fighters average 265 pounds, but there are exceptional fighters with up to 300 pounds. The weight doesn't always correspond with height, as there are fighters who weigh over 260 pounds and are less than six feet tall.
You might have noticed some of the fighters we listed above, but some, such as Teila Tuli, had the shortest MMA career with one bout. Others, like Wesley Sims, had only a handful of matches at the UFC before moving to other championships.