10 Best American Fighters In UFC History

It’s likely that any UFC fan will have at least one incredible American fighter on their list of greatest fighters. The talent pool from the US MMA scene is incredible, and it has only continued to get even better with the rise in popularity of both MMA and the UFC.

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Fight camps sprout up across the country and they’re often taught or coached in part by some of the best fighters that have ever stepped into the octagon. Letting rookie talent work with some of the all-time greats is only bound to create the next crop of future legends. It shouldn’t be a surprise to many UFC fans that there have been multiple dominant American UFC champions.

10 Daniel Cormier

It’s easy to see why Daniel Cormier makes many UFC fans' greatest fighters of all time lists when fans take a quick look at his accolades. A UFC Heavyweight Champion, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, multiple fight honors, and other championships across other MMA companies make him a living legend.

While he came out as the loser of his trilogy with Miocic, Cormier had wins against high-profile opponents like Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, and Alexander Gustafsson. His only recorded losses come from Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones.

9 Matt Hughes

There aren’t many fighters who can boast to have had over fifty fights, and there are even fewer fighters who can boast nearly fifty wins, but Matt Hughes can. With numerous fight honors and UFC records that still stand to this day, the two-time UFC Welterweight Champion even racked up an eighteen-fight win streak at one point in his career.

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Hughes has been inducted into two separate wings of the UFC Hall of Fame, and when UFC fans look at his record, it’s not all that surprising. While he took a few smaller losses earlier in his career, Hughes only lost to the likes of BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, and Georges St-Pierre.

8 Urijah Faber

When he’s on top of his game, few fighters are as exciting as Urijah Faber. The man is a UFC Hall of Fame fighter with multiple different fight honors. Throughout his long career, he managed to pick up thirty-five wins and only eleven losses, with none of those losses coming via submission.

When he’d lose, it would be to greats like Dominick Cruz, Frankie Edgar, and Renan Barao. Everyone has to lose sometime, but Faber managed to obtain a thirteen-fight win streak at one point in his storied career.

7 Dan Henderson

There is so much that could be said about Dan Henderson. The legendary UFC Hall of Famer was a champion in multiple promotions, had multiple fight honors, and even won the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Championship.

Henderson is also the oldest competitor to fight for a championship. Many of his losses came from champion-caliber opponents like Micheal Bisping, Daniel Cormier, and Vitor Belfort. With thirty-two wins throughout his career, no one could have blamed any of his opponents for being a bit worried to face a prime Dan Henderson.

6 Tito Ortiz

Tito Ortiz is more notorious to some than he is legendary, but it’s hard to deny everything he did for the UFC. He’s another UFC Hall of Fame fighter who helped bring a spotlight to the UFC while it was still a relatively taboo MMA promotion.

He was a UFC Light Heavyweight Champion with wins over incredible fighters like Chael Sonnen, Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, and of course he had iconic clashes with Forrest Griffin. It often seemed like only the best could beat him with his high-profile losses coming from Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, and Antonio Nogueira.

5 Rich Franklin

One of the most exciting strikers of all time, Rich Franklin is often in the conversation of the best fighters of all time. He was a UFC Middleweight Champion that manages to hold the record for most significant strikes in a middleweight championship bout.

The UFC Hall of Famer managed to pick up decisive victories over fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell, and Travis Lutter. It’s clear that it takes a lot of heart to beat Franklin as some of his major losses come from fighters like Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin, and Cung Le.

4 Dominick Cruz

The two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion managed to only take three losses throughout his career so far, and those losses came from incredible fighters like Henry Cejudo, Cody Garbrandt, and Urijah Faber. In the eyes of many fans, Cruz is one of the most exciting fighters to grace the bantamweight division.

While he has lost to Urijah Faber, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t gotten a win over the Hall of Famer. He’s also beaten legends like Demetrious Johnson and T.J. Dillashaw. With someone as hard to handle as Cruz, it’s not shocking that he’s beaten such incredible talents.

3 Demetrious Johnson

A UFC Flyweight Champion who set multiple UFC records, it’s really only a matter of time before Demetrious Johnson ends up in the UFC Hall of Fame. He managed to successfully defend his title an astonishing eleven times, earning plenty of fight honors in the process.

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While the quality of his opponents wasn’t always as high as fans would have liked, Johnson picked up 30 wins in what felt like no time at all. He has lost on four separate occasions, but losing to fighters like Henry Cejudo, and Dominick Cruz is nothing to scoff at.

2 Randy Couture

Pretty much any major UFC fan can list the mind-blowing number of accomplishments that Randy Couture has under his belt. Saying he’s a UFC Hall of Fame fighter is no surprise when fans remember he is a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, a two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and an Interim Light Heavyweight Champion.

Couture holds the record for the most championship fights with fifteen and he managed to take out some of the greatest fighters of all time. When Couture lost, he usually lost to the best of the best, like Brock Lesnar, Lyoto Machida, and Antonio Nogueira.

1 Jon Jones

While his do-no-wrong image has changed in the eyes of many fans, Jon Jones is arguably one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. His ability to change game plans on the fly has led him to twenty-six wins and only one loss via disqualification.

Jones is a two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and holds the record for the longest Light Heavyweight Championship reign in the UFC. He hasn’t been facing weak competition either with wins over Lyoto Machida, Alexander Gustafsson, and Daniel Cormier. Most days, Jones looks unstoppable.