The UFC is the most well-known and popular mixed martial arts promotion there is. All the greats have competed in it, the likes of Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Amanda Nunes, and Anderson Silva are just a few.
While the UFC hasn't been around for long, there are still some very impressive records that we don't see being broken for some time. From fastest knockouts to most consecutive wins, we have it all.
These records are all as of April 2022 and some of them are new as of this same year. We have some incredible achievements on this list so without further ado, here are the top 25 most impressive UFC records!
25. Most finishes (Charles Oliveira)
A "finish" in mixed martial arts is when a fighter wins a fight before the fight time expires. This can be by submission or strikes, mostly knockouts. Charles Oliveira is a Brazilian fighter who currently holds the UFC Lightweight Champion belt.
Charles Oliveira has the most finishes in UFC history with 17 and he achieved the record when he beat Michael Chandler to win his Lightweight belt, which he later raised to 18 in his last fight against Poirier. He also holds the record for the most submission wins at 15.
24. Highest win percentage (Khabib Nurmagomedov)
There are fighters who have quite literally only ever fought once, won that fight, and then retired. We aren't talking about those fighters though. This record is the highest win percentage with the most fights.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has the highest win percentage at 100% with 29 bouts. He retired at the age of 31 after his victory over Justin Gaethje, leaving the question of how far he would have gone if he had continued fighting.
23. Most takedowns in a single bout (Khabib Nurmagomedov)
A takedown is when a fighter gets his opponent on the floor to try to grapple them into submission. Khabib Nurmagomedov was an expert grappler and a fighter who retired undefeated while beating some big names like Conor McGregor.
Khabib is ranked as the #1 lightweight of all time and in one match he successfully pulled off 21 takedowns in the same bout. Sean Sherk came "close" with 16 takedowns in one match, but Khabib is at a different level.
22. Most wins by split decision (Gleison Tibau)
A split decision win occurs when two judges pick a fighter as the winner, while the third judge picks the other fighter. Split decisions are rare as it is. Most fights will be won by knockout, submission, or unanimous decision.
Gleison Tibau is a Brazilian fighter who currently competes in the Lightweight division. He has the record for the most split decision wins at 5. Tibau has an impressive 50 fights under his belt and he doesn't look like he's stopping anytime soon.
21. Most bouts in the Heavyweight division (Andrei Arlovski)
Heavyweight fighters are of the weight class that takes the biggest beatings and damage, so as a whole their cycles are usually pretty short lived. Most Heavyweight UFC fighters have an average of 10-15 bouts throughout their career.
Andrei Arlovski is a Belarusian-American fighter who has the record for the most bouts in the heavyweight division with an outstanding 55 bouts. He is a former Heavyweight Champion and the most impressive part is that he is still competing.
20. Most total fight time (Frankie Edgar)
As previously stated, most UFC fighters as a whole don't rack up many bouts throughout their careers. The record for the most bouts in a calendar year is 5 and even then that is an absurd amount for a fighter.
Frankie Edgar is a former UFC Lightweight Champion who currently competes in the Bantamweight division. He is still competing and he has the record for the most total time fighting at 7 hours, 40 minutes, and 51 seconds.
19. Most consecutive wins (Anderson Silva)
Even the best of the best have received a loss or two in their career. It is particularly impressive when a fighter is on a hot streak and looking like no one could possibly stop them. That was the case for 7 years in this occasion.
Anderson Silva is a Brazilian fighter who has the record for the most consecutive wins at 16 in a 7 year span. At one point, Anderson Silva was the face of the UFC and he looked unstoppable. One of the hardest records to break for sure.
18. Latest finish in a title bout (Demetrious Johnson)
Late finishes aren't very common as a whole, but what makes this one impressive is that it was in a title match. Demetrious Johnson is a former UFC Flyweight Champion who now competes for ONE championship.
Johnson has the record for the latest finish in a title bout and he got that title in the last round in minute 4:59. This means that there was only one second left for the entire fight to be over, this record is quite literally impossible to beat.
17. Most finishes in a title bout (Anderson Silva)
Finishing a fight before an official decision is impressive enough as it is. Fighters always try to finish off their opponents as fast as possible. This record is particularly impressive because all of these were to gain or retain a title.
Anderson Silva has the record for most finishes in title bouts with 9. No one is even close to beating this record currently and it just shows how dominant Silva really was in his prime. He is currently still competing so he has the chance to extend and break his own record.
16. Fastest knockout (Jorge Masvidal)
Everyone loves a good fight but not as much as a good knockout. Most people watching UFC fights want to see some sort of insane knockout that will make highlight reels and be talked about for a while.
Jorge Masvidal is a Welterweight fighter that has the record for the fastest knockout in UFC history. This was in his bout against Ben Askren. Only 5 seconds into the fight Masvidal catches Askren with a flying knee that instantly ended the bout.
15. Most knockout of the night bonuses (Anderson Silva)
Knockout of the night is given to the most spectacular knockout in each fight night. This is impressive to get as it is because there are usually more than 10 fights per night. To even land a knockout on your opponent is impressive, but to get the knockout of the night too is something else.
Anderson Silva has the record for the most Knockout of the night bonuses with 7. The next fighter in line that is still actobve only has 4 KOTN bonuses. This is just another very impressive record that Silva has.
14. Most significant strikes landed (Max Holloway)
A significant strike in MMA is a power strike in the clinch and on the ground, as well as all strikes from a distance. This means that all short strikes don't classify as significant strikes, those are just total strikes.
Max Holloway has the most significant strikes in all of UFC history. Holloway has landed 2618 significant strikes in his career and second place is Donald Cerrone with 1727. Holloway is still competing so he will keep expanding this record and no one is even close to reaching him.
13. Most knockdowns (Donald Cerrone)
A knockdown is when a fighter touches the floor with any part of their body that isn't their feet. A fighter can get knocked down by a hit or if the other fighter brings them to the floor to try to grapple them into submission.
Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone has the record for most knockdowns with 20. He also has the record for most wins in UFC history and is known for his aggressive fighting style. This record should hold its ground for a while.
12. Total fight time in a title bout (Jon Jones)
Total fight time in title bouts is one of the most impressive records a fighter can hold. This means that whoever holds this title has the most amount of time competing for a Championship Belt, so they have spent the most time fighting in the biggest stage.
Jon Jones has the record for the most total fight time in title bouts with 4 hours, 39 minutes, and 47 seconds. He is a former two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion who is still competing in the UFC and can keep extending his record.
11. Most knockouts in title bouts (Anderson Silva)
Winning a Championship Belt via knockout in a title match is impressive enough as it is, but the record for the most knockout wins in title bouts is 7. Having that many knockouts in title fights is a crazy achievement.
Anderson Silva with yet another record here. All 7 knockout of the night bonuses that he got were all from title bouts so having both of those records is extremely impressive. No one holds more records than Silva and he's still active to break more.
10. Most significant strikes in a title bout (Max Holloway)
We've already talked about significant strikes and what they consist of. This record is more impressive than the other one because this is the most significant strikes in title bouts. These are the biggest hits landed only in title fights.
Max Holloway holds the record with 1208 hits and he is a master at landing significant strikes. He will come up on our list one more time for an even more impressive record that shows just how good he is.
9. Most performance of the night bonuses (Charles Oliveira)
The performance of the night bonus is awarded to the fighter who puts on the best and most thrilling individual performance of the night. To be the most impressive fighter among around 15-20 fighters in a night is already an achievement as it is.
Charles Oliveira is a Brazilian fighter who has won the performance of the night bonus 13 times. The second fighter with the most performance of the night bonuses is Conor McGregor who has 7.
8. Most significant strikes in a single bout (Max Holloway)
When we're talking about significant strikes, there is only one person we can count on and thats Max Holloway. His other two records are also about significant strikes and while they are impressive, this record beats the rest for one reason.
Max Holloway has the record for the most significant strikes landed in a single bout with 445. While that as it is, is incredibly impressive, what's even more impressive is that the second most is 290 significant strikes. Who has the 290? Max Holloway also.
7. Fastest submission (Oleg Taktarov)
A submission is when a fighter pins the other one and makes them yield, or "tap out", hence winning the match immediately. Submissions usually take some work and really good techinique to drop your opponent and catch him in the right combinations.
Oleg Taktarov has the fastest submission in UFC history, having done it in only 9 seconds. This is insanely impressive because fighters can literally spend minutes on the ground before they actually tap out. So to get an opponent on the floor and into submission in less than 10 seconds is very impressive.
6. Highest pay-per-view buys (Khabib vs McGregor)
Pay-per-view events are usually reserved for the biggest fights. Two huge names fighting against each other for the title. Conor McGregor has the first and second most PPV buys of all time which should really be no surprise to anyone.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor was the fight with the most pay-per-view fights in history. The fight had 2,400,000 PPV buys which beat the previous record of Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz 2 which had 1,600,000 buys.
5. Most title reigns (Randy Couture)
A title reign is how many times a fighter challenges the current champion and beats them to strip them from their Championship Belt. It is very hard to fight a current champion for a title and come out on top as it is.
Randy Couture has done this 6 different times. That is facing a world champion 6 different times and stripping him from his belt which is something incredibly impressive. When you face the champion, you have to beat the best of the best to get that belt.
4. Longest title reign (Anderson Silva)
Reaching the top is incredibly hard. Fighters have to win numerous bouts to even get a shot at a championship belt and then winning that fight is another story. Once at the top, defending your title from hungry competitors is a massive challenge.
Anderson Silva is a fighter who knows what it's like to be at the top, and stay there. He has the record for the longest consecutive title reign having held his belt for 2457 days. This means Silva remained the champion for almost 7 years.
3. Oldest champion (Randy Couture)
When they reach the top, most champions average being in their early-to-mid thirties. The average age of a UFC fighter is 31 years old with many retiring way before that. That's what makes this record so impressive.
Randy Couture has the record for being the oldest champion in UFC history. Couture became a champion when he was 45 years old! He is the only fighter to have reclaimed his title 3 different times and to have won a title after being inducted into the Hall of Fame.
2. Longest combined title reign (Amanda Nunes)
This record is the person who has the longest combined time as the champion. It is particularly impressive because the fighter with this record is consistently at the top. It is no surprise to anyone who this record belongs to.
Amanda Nunes has the record for the longest combined title reign with 2697 days. Nunes is widely regarded as the best female UFC fighter of all time and tops our own countdown in our top 25 best female fighters of all time list.
1. Fastest knockout in a title bout (Conor McGregor)
Knockouts are impressive as it is and even more so in a title bout to earn you the a championship belt. Most fights for the title of champion are tough bouts between two of the best fighters that often goes to a decision by judges.
Conor McGregor has the record for the fastest knockout in a title bout. He knocked out Jose Aldo in only 13 seconds to become the UFC Featherweight Champion and strip Aldo of his belt. The most impressive achievement in UFC history!
