You’re probably aware that Khabib Nurmagomedov retired as an undefeated UFC fighter and are wondering if he’s the only one.
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Undefeated UFC Fighters
Let’s take a look at all current and retired undefeated UFC fighters, ranked in order of the best to worst.
This list takes into consideration that many of these fighters will not be undefeated forever, but their achievements as undefeated UFC fighters for a certain period will be remembered here.
They’re also listed in order of who is most likely to continue the unbeaten streak.
Khabib Nuragomedov (29-0-0)
By far the best undefeated UFC fighter to grace the UFC and MMA, Khabib likely would’ve stayed undefeated if he were to have stayed in the UFC til at least 35-0, before he started to slow down as he aged. However, the UFC legend is only 33 and retired at the age of 32.
What made him supreme was his elite-level wrestling, takedowns, and ground-and-pound, where it looked like he was a weight class above all of his opponents.
Every opponent knew his game was to take them down and control them this way, but it was impossible to stop Khabib as he was always one step ahead – he had more strength, fight IQ, energy, and ability.
While his game was to secure a takedown so he could smash everyone he fought, he also stood toe to toe with them to display his proficient boxing and forward pressure; before his opponent slowed and he’d take them to the ground.
In 29 fights, he has 8 knockouts, 11 submissions, and 10 decision victories, making him an all-around great fighter, who would win no matter the direction the fight went in. In a game of blood, we as fans witnessed a man who never bled.
While fighters can come back from retirement and we’ve seen it many times over, it’s unlikely Khabib will return and he goes down as a great and the best Undefeated UFC fighter of all time.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’10” | Reach: 70” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Lightweight
- Featured in the UFC’s highest PPV fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 229, which has 2.4 million PPV buys.
- Undefeated and undisputed UFC lightweight champion
- Longest UFC lightweight champion reign of 1077 days
- UFC Hall of Famer
- 3 successful title defenses and 4 title fight wins
- Two-time combat sambo world champion
- In 13 UFC wins, he only lost 2 rounds
Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0)
Shavkat Rakhmonov, also known as Nomad, is a former M1 welterweight champion and an undefeated mixed martial artist. Since joining the UFC in 2020, Nomad is on a 5-fight win streak, which has seen him earn 2 performance of the night bonuses.
Shavkat is an extremely skilled martial artist with killer instincts, he has a 100% finish rate in 17 professional fights, 8 by knockout, and 9 by submission; where he’s only been to a third-round twice in 17 fights. He’s extremely well-rounded and highly polished in all facets of MMA, without any evident weaknesses.
What sets him apart is his skill of striking a balance between not rushing to finish fights, which put a lot of naive fighters in danger, and not hesitating to pounce on an opening or an opponent’s mistake; he’s extremely calculated, composed, and unemotional.
His striking is slick, powerful, and scarily precise; you never see him wildly swinging or wasting movements because his fight IQ is superior. Another asset of his is cardio, but we’re yet to see this tested because he finishes everyone too early.
He’s also a brilliant grappler, who can take an opponent down any way he chooses and keeps top control very well, where he then executes submissions seemingly out of nowhere. Not only this, but defensively his grappling is also exceptional, and he’s yet to be taken down in the UFC; yet another 100% record.
So far in his UFC tenure, he’s beaten Alex Oliveira, Michel Prazeres, and Carlston Harris, while most recently he easily dismantled Neil Magny. The fact he’s been immediately put in the deep end and beaten opposition this good while being mostly unknown shows how highly the UFC rate Shavkat.
Only time will tell if Shavkat has what it takes to become the UFC welterweight champion, but so far he’s looked impenetrable during his undefeated streak.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 6’1” | Reach: 77” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Welterweight
- Undefeated in MMA and UFC
- Former M1 welterweight champion
- Combat sambo & MMA master of sport
Khamzat Chimaev (12-0)
Khamzat Chimaev, or “Borz”, moved to Sweden aged 18 where he’s now a Swedish national – although he was born in Chechnya, Russia, where he competed in junior wrestling at the Russian National Championships.
He’s only been in the UFC since July 2020 and has inspired one of the biggest UFC hype trains in recent memory. This was caused by his undefeated record, being compared to Khabib, and 5 straight UFC wins – across his first 4 fights he dominated everyone and landed 252 strikes while receiving only two.
Coming as no surprise due to his comparison to Khabib, what gives him an edge over his opponents is his insane strength and wrestling ability, where he’s a three-time Swedish National Champion wrestler.
He combines this with relentless pressure and explosive energy; coming out of the gates very fast and overwhelming his opponents.
Also, Khamzat stands at 6’2” and is huge for a welterweight, where he also manages his weight cuts extremely well. He has knockout power in his punches, which are thrown with lethal precision and speed; as evidenced by his one-punch knockout of Gerald Meerschaert where he’d even moved up to middleweight.
Not only this but Khamzat has the drive of a future UFC champion. He practically lives in the gym and outworks all of his opponents; often having 5 training sessions a day. He limits his daily activities to eating, sleeping, and training – making the occasional detour for a UFC fight on the weekend.
Although early into his UFC career, we’ve seen him dominate 4 opponents and have an incredible fight with #2 ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns, where we saw Chimaev’s ability to take a punch and stride forward with the same pressure and energy.
His best wins have been over Gilbert Burns and Gerald Meerschaert, and he’s well on his way to a welterweight title shot where he’ll have to dethrone current king Kamaru Usman if he’s to remain undefeated.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 6’2” | Reach: 75”
- Undefeated in the UFC and MMA
- Three-time Swedish National Champion wrestler
- Fastest 3-fight win streak in UFC history (66 days)
- Fastest consecutive win streak in UFC history (2 wins in 10 days)
Movsar Evloev (17-0)
From Russia, Evloev is an undeniable talent. Keeping him undefeated so far has been his dominant grappling, exquisite technical boxing, and his high fight IQ; he’s very intelligent and has degrees in law and computer programming.
It’s hard to say he’ll remain undefeated as in 16 wins he has only 3 knockouts, 4 submissions, and 9 decisions, so he’ll need to work on finishing his opponents because everyone knows how decisions can go one way or another in MMA.
And while he recently comfortably beat Dan Ige to jump to rank #10 in the UFC featherweight rankings, the step-up in competition he’s about to face is gigantic.
But dominating in all 16 of his fights, anyone stepping up to face him is sure to be intimidated by his undefeated MMA and 6-fight UFC win streak.
His first MMA fight was November 25, 2014, and his last was June 4, 2022, so he’s close to being undefeated for 8 years since his professional debut.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’7” | Reach: 72” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Featherweight
- 6-fight UFC win streak
Umar Nurmagomedov (15-0)
Following in the footsteps of his cousin, Khabib, Umar has been untouchable so far in his MMA and UFC career. It’s also unsurprising that Umar is extremely proficient in the wrestling department, where in his first three UFC fights he has a takedown average of 5.
The timing of his level changes is second to none, usually ducking under his opponent’s jab or hook. He then likes to take the back of his opponent and be aggressive with submissions – 6 out of his 7 submission wins are by rear-naked chokes.
Umar also has competent striking abilities, split between average boxing and elite kicking. His kicks are very dynamic, snappy, and powerful, while his teep and question mark kicks are things of beauty.
His kicks are so effective because his opponents are focused on takedown defense and therefore leaning forward into his kicks – which he throws equally impressively from both sides.
Whether he’ll remain undefeated like his cousin is yet to be seen, and we’ll have to wait another couple of years before he’s really tested as he’s early in his UFC career.
However, he’ll likely have to improve his boxing if he’s to become a bantamweight champion because he won’t be able to dominate with grappling against the best.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’8” | Reach: 69” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Bantamweight
- 6 out 7 submission wins by rear-naked choke
Sean Brady (15-0)
Since joining the UFC in 2019, Sean Brady has been a heavily tattooed steam train through the welterweight division, quickly rising to prominence and establishing himself as the #9 ranked UFC welterweight (2022).
He’s a former CFFC welterweight champion, and when fighting he’s very stoic and calm, which helps him remain focused on the task at hand. Against his toughest opponent yet, #6 ranked Michael Chiesa, he was the favorite and won the fight via unanimous decision.
In the fight, it was pretty equal when the two were striking, but his strength in the grappling was the separator, as it so often is. He had 5 takedowns against Chiesa who’s a strong and tall (6’1”) welterweight.
Brady is a Bjj black belt under Daniel Gracie and on the ground prefers to control and look for submissions because of the faith he has in it.
However, for him to become the welterweight champion and remain undefeated, he’ll have to improve his striking and change his mentality to be more comfortable striking, rather than looking to grapple when he’s in trouble.
This is because against Chiesa he didn’t have much damage output on the ground, and when he fights harder opponents who have great takedown defense and can shove him away, he’ll need to outstrike them to keep his streak.
Having said this, he remains undefeated and will likely contest a top 5 opponent in the next fight and for the title in 2023.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’10” | Reach: 72” | Stance: Orthodox | Weight Class: Welterweight
- Bjj black belt
- 87% takedown defense in 5 UFC fights
- Former CFFC welterweight champion
Mark Madsen (12-0)
One of the few Danes in the UFC, “The Olympian” is currently 12-0 where 4 have been in the UFC against decent opposition, in Vinc Pichel and Clay Guida.
In his 12 victories, Madsen has 3 knockouts, 3 submissions, and 6 decisions; where his last 3 wins in the UFC have all been decisions.
This is likely to prove his downfall as close fights in the UFC are a coin toss, and if he wants to remain undefeated in one of the most highly contested divisions (lightweight), he’ll need to improve his finishing capabilities.
However, keeping him on this undefeated streak so far is his ridiculous wrestling as a former Greco-roman Olympic wrestler having won 5 Olympic medals; most recently he won the silver at the 2016 summer Olympic games.
However, winning at the Olympics doesn’t pay too much and Mark is transferring this huge skill into the UFC. On top of this, he has relentless ground-and-pound and amazing cardio, so it’s hard for anyone to keep up with him.
Despite this, Mark is now 37 years old so it’s going to be hard for him to become the UFC lightweight champion. He’s sure to meet his match on his route there, but only time will tell. His streak so far has been very impressive.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’10” | Reach: | Stance: | Weight Class: Lightweight
- Former M-1 Global bantamweight champion
- 5-time Olympic medalist as a Greco-roman wrestler
Alexander Romanov (16-0)
Despite looking on the chubbier side, make no mistake about it, Romanov is a quality fighter if being undefeated didn’t already prove it.
He doesn’t mind holding the extra fat as he formerly competed as a sumo wrestler and won silver at the OPEN European Cup in 2016 – it clearly doesn’t negatively affect his performance.
Hailing from Moldova, Romanov is a serious threat in the UFC heavyweight division, going 5-0 since joining the UFC from Eagles FC in Moldova.
Most impressive is the way he’s winning, as in 16 wins he has 6 knockouts, 9 submissions, and only 1 decision victory – this is the kind of form you want in an undefeated fighter if they’re to continue the streak.
Keeping Romanov undefeated so far is his background in wrestling which he started at the age of 7. As a wrestler, he’s made the Moldovan World Team 4 times, and the European Team 8 times, with his best result a bronze medal in the 125 kg competition (275 lbs), just above the UFC heavyweight limit of 265 lbs.
In his short UFC tenure, he’s beaten good opponents such as Chase Sherman, Jared Vanderaa, and Marcos Rogerio de Lima, and is the #12 ranked UFC heavyweight.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 6’2” | Reach: 75” | Stance: Southpaw | Weight Class: Heavyweight
- Former sumo wrestler winning silver at the OPEN European Cup in 2016
Bryce Mitchell (15-0)
Easily identified as the only UFC fighter wearing camouflage shorts and for his “cook him to the bone” phrase, Bryce is 6-0 in the UFC and recently defeated UFC legend Edson Barboza in his toughest test to date.
Bryce is from Arkansas and is also known for being a farmer having 40 acres of crops and animals, while he’s also a rapper. With all of this on his plate, how does he remain undefeated as a martial artist?
The confidence he has in his ability is key, particularly as a submission wizard; 9 of his 15 wins have come this way. However, since joining the UFC and winning his first 6 fights, he only has 1 submission and the rest of his wins have come by decision.
This is likely because of the step-up in competition, but he continues as an undefeated UFC fighter because of his immense grappling.
He’s one of the best at evading strikes, changing levels, and securing takedowns where he has great control and balance in everything he does. In 6 UFC fights, he has an average takedown per fight of 3.4.
Combined with this is his submission attacks on the ground, which keep his opponent in defense and mean Bryce racks up the control time of his opponent.
So far in the UFC, he’s beaten Edson Barboza, Andre Fili, and Charles Rosa, showing how talented this man is. The undefeated record isn’t the result of favorable matchmaking and now that he’s the #9 ranked featherweight, we’ll continue to see him tested.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’10” | Reach: 70” | Stance: Southpaw | Weight Class: Featherweight
- 6-0 in the UFC
- Black belt in Bjj
- 1 of 2 twister submissions in UFC history earning him the 2019 submission of the year UFC Honors
Aliaskhab Khizriev (14-0)
Another skillful Dagestani fighter who trains with Khabib’s team there, he earned a UFC contract after winning his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series and securing the third fastest submission in the competition in just 50 seconds.
Known as “The Black Wolf”, he’s extremely well-rounded and fights with a very high pace, during his undefeated streak he has 5 knockouts, 5 submissions, and 4 decision wins.
All of his submissions have been rear-naked chokes because once he gets his opponent down he is extremely dominant and tires his opponent out fast. When striking he throws with great versatility so his opponent is always guessing. He also strikes with great power, and his technique is crisp.
At 31 years old and still undefeated, the time is now for Khizriev and he’ll likely be a top #10 middleweight in a very short timeframe. However, it’s possible he cuts some body fat and moves down to welterweight where he’d be an even bigger threat. Hilariously he was calling for a title shot after winning on his debut.
Fighter stats:
- Height: 5’9” | Reach: 74” | Stance: Southpaw | Weight Class: Middleweight
- 4/4 submissions by rear-naked choke
The Bottom Line
These are all incredible undefeated UFC fighters, and while Khabib is the only one to have retired and guarantee his undefeated status, the other fighters on this list have the potential to become undisputed UFC champions and remain undefeated – only time will tell.
However, even if they lose, this article stands to show the impressive unbeaten streaks they once had.
