The 5 Greatest Heavyweights in UFC History

Jon Jones announced his retirement in June, marking an end to the career of one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. While Jones had his best years at light-heavyweight, he retired as the heavyweight champion, having beaten Ciryl Gane for the vacant title in 2023, then successfully defended it against Stipe Miocic.

Jones’ retirement made interim champion Tom Aspinall, who had been vying for a fight with “Bones,” the new champion. While Jones didn’t spend enough time at heavyweight to be considered among the division’s all-time elite, and Aspinall is still making his mark, the shakeup at heavyweight makes this a good time to look back at the greatest heavyweights in UFC history.

Note that, while heavyweights like Fedor Emelianenko deserve consideration when discussing all-time MMA greatness, this list only consists of fighters who competed in the UFC. So which combatant came out on top? Keep reading to find out who experts consider to be the five best heavyweights to ever to step into the Octagon.

5. Randy Couture

Randy Couture didn’t start fighting professionally until he was 33 years old, entering the sport at time before MMA had broken into the mainstream. Despite his advanced age, “The Natural” became a UFC legend and played a key role in making the promotion a household name.

Couture began his MMA career after training to be an Olympic wrestler. While those pursuits ultimately didn’t pan out, his wrestling ability made him a highly dangerous opponent to anybody he fought. And, as UFC fans will tell you, he was willing to fight anybody. A natural light-heavyweight, Couture regularly moved up to heavyweight to face much larger contenders. In fact, his first opponent in the UFC outweighed him by nearly 100 pounds.

Couture won the heavyweight title three times and logged wins over elite heavyweights like Tim Sylvia, whom Couture beat when The Natural was 43 years old. When you add in the fact that Couture was also an interim heavyweight champion and won the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament, there’s no denying his place on this list.

4. Francis Ngannou

What Mike Tyson was to boxing, Francis Ngannou was to the UFC. Blessed with prodigious knockout power, “The Predator” plowed through his opponents during his five-year run in the promotion, finishing seven of his 14 opponents in less than 3 minutes.

Like Couture, Ngannou proved to be a natural fighter. His first MMA bout came when he was 26. Remarkably, not much more than four years later, he was challenging for the UFC heavyweight crown against Stipe Miocic. Ngannou lost that bout, but after beating all-time greats like Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez, Ngannou rematched Miocic at UFC 260. This time, he came away as the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Unfortunately for UFC fans, contract disputes resulted in Ngannou leaving the promotion after only one title defense. He’s since moved to the Professional Fighters League, as well as fought professionally as a boxer, including against then–heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Had he spent more time in the UFC, Ngannou’s spot on the list would likely be higher.

3. Junior Dos Santos

Junior Dos Santos started his UFC career of with a bang by beating fellow heavyweight legend Fabricio Werdum. The victory was the first of a nine-fight winning streak, the longest ever for a heavyweight. The run culminated in a first-round knockout of Velasquez, a victory that made the Brazilian the UFC heavyweight champion.

Dos Santos achieved much of his success thanks to his boxing skills and punching power, both of which were integral in his slugfest win over Miocic in 2014. As Mark Hunt will surely tell you, however, Dos Santos was not limited to dealing out damage with just his fists. To this day, the spinning kick the Brazilian used to knock out Hunt at UFC 160 remains startling in its agility.

Dos Santos lost his rematch against Miocic and his two rematches against Velasquez—part of the reason why these two men outrank him in their careers. He also lost his last five fights, which makes his record look less impressive than it should for a fighter of his stature. In his prime, though, Dos Santos was one of the best.

2. Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez was 6-0 in the UFC—and 8-0 as a professional—when he got his first heavyweight title shot. His opponent? Brock Lesnar, the WWE superstar turned MMA powerhouse who had beaten Couture for the belt in only his fourth professional fight.

Velasquez took full advantage of the opportunity. Employing a disciplined game plan, the challenger finished his monstrously large opponent in the final minute of the first round. The win made him a star among mainstream MMA fans and vaulted him into the upper echelon of the UFC.

Velasquez’s brief title reign ended in his next fight when Dos Santos finished him in only 64 seconds, but he responded by dominating each of his next two bouts with the Brazilian. His matches have included wins against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fabrico Werdum. A former wrestler who developed into a potent striker, Velasquez is an all-time great despite having been hampered by injuries that prevented him from having a longer career.

1. Stipe Miocic

Fabrico Werdum, Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, and Allistair Overeem—Stipe Miocic’s list of knockout victims read like a who’s who of MMA legends. It’s no wonder he’s the consensus pick for the greatest UFC heavyweight ever.

Even Miocic’s losses came almost exclusively against all-time greats. Dos Santos beat him in their first bout, but Miocic turned the tables on the Brazilian in their second contest, knocking him out in the first round. Likewise, Daniel Cormier scored an initial victory before Miocic responded with wins in their next two fights. Even Ngannou, who knocked out Miocic in their second bout, suffered a decision loss in his first matchup with the American.

Miocic finished his career 20-5, with a remarkable 18 of his wins coming by knockout. The fact that his final two fights were losses—to Ngannou and Jones, respectively—doesn’t diminish his standing as the best heavyweight the UFC has ever seen.