Fighter Profiles

IntroductionJohny Hendricks is the most decorated college-wrestling-pedigree UFC Welterweight Champion in modern history. A two-time NCAA Division I National Champion at Oklahoma State University — the most prestigious individual credential in American collegiate wrestling — Hendricks won the UFC Welterweight Championship on March 15, 2014 at UFC 171 by split decision over Robbie Lawler. The title win came in one of the most controversial decisions of the modern UFC era; many observers, includin

IntroductionDerek Brunson is the most consistent UFC middleweight contender of the post-Weidman era who never held the championship. A Wilmington, North Carolina native and former NCAA Division II All-American wrestler at UNC Pembroke, Brunson built one of the most durable UFC middleweight careers of his generation — competing for over a decade across the Chris Weidman, Luke Rockhold, Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland championship eras. The forward-pressure wrestling-and-stri

IntroductionDemian Maia is the most prolific submission artist in UFC history. A São Paulo-born Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who holds the UFC record for most submission victories in the company's history (sixteen), Maia built a 19-year professional career that produced two UFC title shots across two different weight classes — the April 2010 UFC 112 middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva and the July 2017 UFC 214 welterweight title shot against Tyron Woodley. The defining characteristi

IntroductionGegard Mousasi is the most decorated Iranian-Dutch fighter in MMA history and one of the most consistently underrated top-ten fighters of the past two decades. Born in Hamadan, Iran and raised in Leiden, Netherlands from age four, Mousasi built a career that spanned Pride FC, Strikeforce, the UFC, and Bellator — winning the Bellator Middleweight Championship in 2018 and defending it multiple times, establishing himself as the most decorated champion in the promotion's middleweight hi

IntroductionDarren Till is the most beloved British mixed martial artist of his generation and the most visible personality in modern UFC welterweight and middleweight history. A Liverpool-born southpaw who relocated to Brazil at age 13 to train full-time under Sandro Vianna in Porto Alegre, Till built a 6-year UFC career on the back of one of the most visually spectacular knockout finishes in division history: the 43-second second-round KO of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 127 in March 2018,

IntroductionDarren Till is the most decorated Liverpool-born UFC welterweight in history and one of the most charismatic personalities of the modern British UFC era. A 6'0" Scouse southpaw who trained in Brazil during his late teens with Astra Fight Team and later split his time between Liverpool's Team Kaobon and Florida's Kill Cliff FC, Till built one of the most cinematic 2017-18 rises in modern UFC welterweight history. The path produced the UFC 228 title shot against Tyron Woodley in Septem

IntroductionJared Cannonier is the most decorated three-weight-class UFC contender of the modern era. A 5'11" Dallas-born, Alaska-raised striker who started at heavyweight, dropped to light-heavyweight, and finally landed at middleweight in 2018, Cannonier built one of the most unusual UFC career arcs in modern history. By the time he reached middleweight, the 77.5-inch reach and the Muay Thai-trained power had produced three consecutive first- and second-round finishes — the Anderson Silva TKO

IntroductionJared Cannonier is the most decorated three-division UFC contender in modern middleweight history. A 5'11" Dallas-born, Anchorage-raised fighter who started his UFC career at heavyweight in 2015 before dropping to light-heavyweight and finally settling at middleweight in 2018, Cannonier built one of the most cinematic divisional-drop arcs in modern UFC. The path produced a UFC Middleweight title shot at UFC 276 in July 2022 against Israel Adesanya, a 2021 KO of Robert Whittaker at UF

IntroductionMarlon 'Chito' Vera is the most decorated Ecuadorian fighter in UFC history and one of the most beloved finishers in modern UFC bantamweight competition. A 5'8" Chone native who started training MMA at age 16, Vera built a 12-year UFC career that has produced one of the highest finishing rates in modern bantamweight history (17 of 23 wins by stoppage), wins over Sean O'Malley, Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, and a 2024 UFC 299 main-event five-round title-eliminator against O'Malley.

IntroductionMarlon 'Chito' Vera is the most decorated Ecuadorian fighter in UFC history and the most consequential bantamweight knockout artist of the post-Dillashaw era. A 5'8" Chone-born striker who trained at Marlon Vera MMA in Ecuador before relocating to MMA Lab in Phoenix, Vera built one of the most consistent UFC bantamweight contender runs of the early-2020s era. The August 2022 head-kick KO of UFC Hall of Famer Dominick Cruz at UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego was one of the most decorated f

IntroductionCiryl Gane is the most credentialed French heavyweight in UFC history and the most decorated Muay Thai-base striker to challenge for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in the modern era. A 6'4" La Roche-sur-Yon native who started Muay Thai at age 22 and professional MMA at age 28, Gane built a 10-0 record in under three years to claim the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 265 in August 2021 — a third-round TKO of Derrick Lewis. The unification fight against Francis Ngannou at

IntroductionCory Sandhagen is the most decorated never-undisputed-champion bantamweight of the modern UFC era. A 5'11" Coloradan trained at Elevation Fight Team in Denver under Eliot Marshall, Sandhagen has built one of the most consistent UFC bantamweight title-contender careers of the post-Aldo/post-Dillashaw era. The path includes losses to TJ Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night July 2021 (a title-eliminator) and Petr Yan at UFC 267 in October 2021 (the interim UFC Bantamweight Championship), and a