10 Best Lightweights in UFC History [Ranked]

The UFC‘s lightweight division has been the promotion’s most stacked and entertaining division for the last decade, and it continues to be exactly that in 2025. From legendary fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, to the new dominant force on the block, Islam Makhachev, it has produced some of the greatest fights ever seen in the Octagon.

Below is a ranking of the 10 best lightweight fighters in UFC history.

Ranking Factors

• Whether they won the title
• Title defences (current champion Ilia Topuria is excluded on the basis of his limited resume at 155 pounds).
• Career record
• Who they fought
• Style of fighting
• How exciting their fights were.

10

Donald Cerrone

Donald Cerrone may have never won himself UFC gold, but he has definitely cemented himself as one of the best lightweights the promotion has had to date. ‘Cowboy’ has an excellent resume in the lightweight division and has wins over some extremely high-level fighters such as Charles Oliveira, Edson Barboza, and Eddie Alvarez.

Not only is Cerrone one of the best the 155lb division has seen, he is also one of the most active and entertaining. Throughout his career, Cerrone was known for his incredible activity, sometimes fighting four, if not five times a year, which made him a much-loved fan favourite. ‘Cowboy’ doing what he did at lightweight while fighting so regularly is extremely impressive.

9

Justin Gaethje

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Justin Gaethje arrived in the UFC in 2017 with huge hype around him and a reputation for being one of the most brutal and entertaining fighters alive, and it is fair to say that he lived up to the hype, as well as his nickname, ‘The Highlight.’ After three fights in the UFC, Gaethje had a losing record in the promotion, but this surprisingly turned him into a much better fighter.

He learned from his losses and changed his style to a more patient and technical approach and this is when we saw the best of him. At his very best, Gaethje is one of the best strikers the lightweight division has seen and has put on so many classic fights in a short period of time against fighters such as Max Holloway, Michael Chandler, and Dustin Poirier.

8

Conor McGregor

If Conor McGregor had stayed in MMA after becoming the first-ever simultaneous two-weight world champion in the UFC, he would more than likely find himself much higher than he is in this ranking. Prior to taking a huge crossover fight against Floyd Mayweather, the Irishman produced arguably the greatest title fight performance in UFC history, where he completely dominated and dismantled Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.

Off of this performance alone, McGregor has to rank among some of the best ever. If he had stuck around and fought the division’s best at the time, such as Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, ‘The Notorious’ could’ve been much higher, however, a $50m payday came calling, and he couldn’t turn it down.

7

Rafael dos Anjos

Despite going on to have a rocky career after losing the UFC lightweight title, the names which Rafael dos Anjos defeated on his way to and during his title reign puts him among the best lightweights of all time. Prior to losing his title to Eddie Alvarez, Dos Anjos was on a five-fight winning streak and four of those wins were extremely impressive.

The Brazilian was on an absolute tear and completely smashed Benson Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis, and Donald Cerrone who, at the time, were all elite-level fighters. RDA’s relentless grappling style was almost impossible for fighters to deal with and the manner in which he was victorious against some of the best in the world firmly cements him as one of the best lightweights the UFC has ever seen.

6

Tony Ferguson

One of the saddest parts of Tony Ferguson’s long losing streak is the fact that people are starting to forget just how good he was. In his prime, ‘El Cucuy’ was on the longest winning streak in the lightweight division and, despite being undeniable for an undisputed title shot, he never got one, and it was down to sheer bad luck.

Ferguson managed to win interim gold at 155lbs, but failed to claim undisputed gold. This might have been different if he had managed to step into the Octagon with Khabib just once out of the astonishing five times it was booked. Khabib vs Ferguson is the biggest what-if fight in UFC history and if it had happened with both men at their peak, ‘El Cucuy’ may well have stood much higher in this ranking.

5

Dustin Poirier

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You will struggle to find a fighter who has a resume anywhere close to Dustin Poirier’s in the UFC lightweight division. ‘The Diamond’ has a resume as stacked as anyone’s with victories against Max Holloway, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Dan Hooker, as well as two dominant wins over Conor McGregor. Poirier may have never achieved undisputed status at 155lbs, but his resume speaks for itself and just shows how good he was in his prime.

Even outside his prime, ‘The Diamond’ went toe-to-toe with Islam Makhachev and gave the talented Russian a lot of problems even at the age of 35. The fact that Poirier defeated all of those great names while also being one of the most entertaining fighters alive is what has made him such a beloved figure in the UFC.

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4

Charles Oliveira

In terms of post-fight bonuses, there is nobody who comes close to Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira. The Brazilian has earned over $1m during his UFC career in post-fight bonuses and has the most finishes and most submission wins in the promotion’s history. Oliveira took a while to really get going in the UFC, but once he did, he was and still is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters alive.

Just like some other fighters included in this ranking, Oliveira’s resume speaks for itself and throughout his UFC career he has defeated greats such as Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson, and Justin Gaethje and has shared the Octagon with several greats of different eras. ‘Do Bronx’ is one of the greatest lightweights of all time and his style and general demeanour have made him one of the biggest fan favourites in the sport also.

3

BJ Penn

Despite having a losing record in the UFC, BJ Penn is absolutely one of the best fighters the lightweight division has ever seen. The reason why Penn is so highly rated is due to the fact that for pretty much every fight he ever had, he had a significant size and reach disadvantage and his success at both lightweight and welterweight is even more impressive given the fact that he was built like a featherweight.

‘The Prodigy’ was as well-rounded as any fighter who has ever stepped in the cage. His crisp and technical boxing skills combined with his toughness and elite-level jiu-jitsu saw him secure wins over some true greats of the sport at 155lbs, such as Diego Sanchez, Jens Pulver, and Caol Uno.

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2

Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev is right up there in the conversation as being one of the GOATs of the lightweight division. The Russian’s rapid improvement is phenomenal to watch as, despite him starting his UFC career as a relatively one-dimensional grappler, he is now absolutely world-class everywhere the fight takes him.

Makhachev is statistically the greatest lightweight champion in UFC history as the only champion ever to defend the belt four times (before his move up to welterweight). However, his one loss inside the Octagon keeps him off top spot.

1

Khabib Nurmagomedov

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Who else? No fighter in the history of the UFC has ever come close to the sheer dominance and greatness of Khabib Nurmagomedov, and it will take something very special for anyone to ever come close to it. Khabib called time on his career in 2020 when he was at the peak of his powers, but nobody could really be against his decision to retire, as nobody really posed a threat to him as he was just dismantling everyone who was in front of him.

His crushing ground and pound and unstoppable takedowns made him a nightmare match-up for absolutely anybody in the lightweight division, and even if he had continued to fight, he would’ve probably done the same to the current crop of fighters at 155lbs. Despite retiring early, ‘The Eagle’ finished his career with an unbelievable, undefeated professional MMA record of 29-0 and defeated some of the biggest and best names ever, such as Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Rafael dos Anjos.

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All stats correct as of 29/05/2025