On Sunday, UFC Freedom 250 will take place on the South Lawn of the White House. Positioned as part of the celebration of the 250th birthday of America, the circumstances will cast a larger spotlight on the Octagon than any UFC event prior.
With such a massive event set to go down in just a few days, we took the spirit of celebrating America to UFC history to identify the 25 best American fighters in UFC history.
Legacy, accomplishments, innovation and a little bit of "vibes" went into the rankings and took the final list into some unexpected directions. Also, the list is specific to UFC accomplishments only. A fighter like Dan Henderson would be high on a list of the best American fighters ever, but taking it down to just a fighter's UFC career means some names you may expect -- like Henderson -- didn't make the cut. Finally, a fighter's career peak outweighs if their careers ended on serious and significant downswings as age and "cage miles" caught up to their bodies.
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Let's take a look at our final rankings of the top 25 American fighters in UFC history.
Author's note: Max Holloway was accidentally omitted from the originally published list. The list has since been updated to correct the error.
No. 25 -- Dan Severn
Notable UFC achievements: UFC tournament winner (x2), UFC superfight champion (x1)
Severn became the first truly elite amateur wrestler to bring his skills to the Octagon. A two-time NCAA Division I All-American and two-time Olympic alternate, Severn showed what wrestling skills could do in the early days of UFC competition. After losing to Royce Gracie in the finals of the UFC 4 tournament, Severn won the tournament the following event and then won 1995's Ultimate Ultimate tournament. Wins over men like Oleg Taktarov (twice), Dave Beneteau, Paul Varelans and Tank Abbott in those tournaments are nothing to sneeze at. Severn would avenge a prior "superfight championship" loss to Ken Shamrock by defeating Shamrock at UFC 9 in a fight that was truly terrible due to emergency rules put in place to allow the event to continue. Severn lost the first UFC heavyweight championship fight against Mark Coleman at UFC 12, but had already stamped his place in UFC history.
No. 24 -- Aljamain Sterling
Notable UFC achievements: UFC bantamweight champion (x1), three title defenses
Sterling has a solid case to be placed higher in the rankings with his 14 wins as the most in bantamweight division history. Sterling is held back a bit by a few factors. Sterling won the title against Petr Yan after Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee, making Sterling the only fighter in UFC history to win a championship because of a DQ. Sterling beat Yan by split decision in the rematch, scored a TKO over T.J. Dillashaw in a fight where Dillashaw suffered an injury and then picked up a final title defense by beating Henry Cejudo, again winning a split decision. While Sterling deserved the decisions over Cejudo and Yan, he just did not have the kind of dominant title run many others on this list enjoyed, instead edging out very close fights. Still, there is no shame in being on a list of the 25 best American fighters in UFC history.
No. 23 -- Tito Ortiz
Notable UFC achievements: UFC light heavyweight champion (x1), five title defenses
David "Tank" Abbott walked the "UFC bad boy" path so Tito Ortiz could run. After going 4-1 to start his MMA career, with all five fights in the Octagon, Ortiz lost a grudge match against Frank Shamrock with Shamrock's light heavyweight title on the line. Once Shamrock retired from the sport, Ortiz took over the light heavyweight division, beating Wanderlei Silva for the vacant title and successfully defending against Yuki Kondo, Evan Tanner, Elvis Sinosic, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ken Shamrock in another grudge match. The big knock against Ortiz at that time were accusations he was ducking Chuck Liddell. Before that long-awaited fight could happen, Ortiz lost his title to Randy Couture, then got knocked out by Liddell. Ortiz would have another nice run, winning fights against Ken Shamrock (twice more), as well as against UFC champions Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin. Ortiz's UFC career ended on a sad 1-7-1 run, and Couture and Liddell proved they were better than Ortiz in that era, but Ortiz at his best was one of the greats.
No. 22 -- Chris Weidman
Notable UFC achievements: UFC middleweight champion (x1), three title defenses
The difference between Weidman and Ortiz is actually quite thin. Both fighters exploded on the scene and captured gold within 10 fights of their professional debut. Both also saw defeat come often on the back half of their respective careers. Weidman is given the edge because he took the title from arguably the greatest fighter to ever do it in Anderson Silva. The rematch win is somewhat tainted by Silva's gruesome leg break, but Weidman holds two wins over the arguable G.O.A.T. to go along with a dominant run with wins over some elite fighters. That he has gone 3-8 in his 11 most recent fights hurts his case in moving higher on the list, but not his place at No. 21.
No. 21 -- Mark Coleman
Notable UFC achievements: UFC tournament winner (x2), UFC heavyweight champion (x1)
A list such as this needs to walk a difficult line in opportunities and judgments across eras. Like Severn, Coleman brought an elite wrestling background, which included participating in the 1992 Olympics. Coleman also represented another step up in athleticism within UFC. The hulking Coleman ran through back-to-back UFC tournaments to kick off his career before defeating Dan Severn in less than three minutes to become the inaugural UFC heavyweight champion. Coleman left the UFC after three consecutive losses but would return to the UFC 12 years after winning the heavyweight title. While he only fought three times, going 1-2, Coleman scored a deserved decision victory over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100.
No. 20 -- T.J. Dillashaw
Notable UFC achievements: UFC bantamweight champion (x2), three combined title defenses
Dillashaw is getting dinged for being stripped during is second title reign for a failed drug test. Stains on a fighter's legacy do matter, and it's a big one for Dillashaw. Removing that failed drug test from the equation, Dillashaw has had a fantastic UFC career. His first title reign began after he defeated Renan Barao at a point when Barao was thought to be near-unbeatable. Dillashaw knocked out Barao in his title challenge and two fights later knocked him out again. After losing the belt to Dominick Cruz, Dillashaw fought his way back to regain the title with a stoppage over Cody Garbrandt and beat Garbrandt again in the rematch. Dillashaw was then knocked out by Henry Cejudo in just 32 seconds in the fight where Dillashaw also failed his drug test. He's had a great career, but one that suffers from a nasty black mark.
No. 19 -- Benson Henderson
Notable UFC achievements: UFC lightweight champion (x1), three title defenses
How is this for an incomplete list of opponents "Bendo" defeated in the UFC? Jim Miller, Clay Guida, Frankie Edgar (twice), Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, Josh Thomson and Jorge Masvidal. Henderson defeated Edgar to win the belt, beat him in the rematch and then beat Diaz and Melendez to defend the belt twice more. Henderson ended his UFC career on back-to-back wins before heading to Bellator. Henderson could be even further up the list had his pre-UFC accomplishments in WEC been considered in these rankings.
No. 18 -- Frankie Edgar
Notable UFC achievements: UFC lightweight champion (x1), three title defenses
Edgar's lightweight title run was great, featuring a title win and initial defense against BJ Penn before two great fights with Gray Maynard. While Edgar lost the title to Benson Henderson, Edgar found new life at featherweight, where he was again a fantastic fighter, though he came up short against Jose Aldo twice, once for the featherweight title and once for the interim featherweight belt, and again against Max Holloway for the full title. Those losses proved Edgar wasn't among the best of the best at featherweight. His lightweight title run was fairly short-lived and only featured defenses against two men, with one of the Maynard fights going to a draw. Still, his resume overall makes him a solid addition to the list, and his stint at featherweight bumps him just above the man who took the title from him.
No. 17 -- Robbie Lawler
Notable UFC achievements: UFC middleweight champion (x1), two title defenses
It's almost impossible to imagine a fight fan not having Lawler on their list of favorite fighters. Every time Lawler stepped in the Octagon was a chance to celebrate everything that makes mixed martial arts exciting. Lawler's first stint in the UFC lasted from 2002 to 2004, and he went just 4-3, including losses to Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner. Lawler wouldn't return to the Octagon until 2013, but he came back as a more accomplished and more complete fighter. A win over Rory MacDonald landed Lawler a shot at welterweight champ Johny Hendricks, which Lawler lost. Three fights later, he got another shot and this time took the title from Hendricks with a split decision. Lawler's two successful title defenses were among the most exciting title fights ever, stopping MacDonald in a rematch that has since been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and then winning a gutsy split decision over Carlos Condit. Lawler lost the belt to Tyron Woodley and would finish his career on a 3-5 post-title run, though he went out on a dramatic high with a knockout win over Niko Price.
No. 16 -- Tyron Woodley
Notable UFC achievements: UFC welterweight champion (x1), four title defenses
At one point during Woodley's title reign, some in the UFC were attempting to position him as arguably the greatest welterweight ever. That was never true, and that title belongs to Georges St-Pierre until further notice, but Woodley was beating some great fighters at his best. Wins over Jay Hieron and Josh Koscheck were broken up by a debatable split decisionecision loss to Jake Shields. Similarly, a huge win over Carlos Condit was followed by a decision loss to Rory MacDonald. Then, Woodley went on a run that included a win over Kelvin Gastelum before knocking out Robbie Lawler to become champion. Woodley drew with Stephen Thompson before defeating him in the rematch and took wins over Demian Maia and Darren Till in title defenses before dropping the belt. That marked the start of four consecutive losses that brought Woodley's career to a close, but at his peak, Woodley was scoring wins over some of the best of his era.
No. 15 -- Henry Cejudo
Notable UFC achievements: UFC flyweight champion (x1), UFC bantamweight champion (x1), two combined title defenses
The list of fighters who have held gold in two UFC divisions is not long. Cejudo is on that list. A 2008 Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, Cejudo won his first 10 MMA fights, including four in the Octagon, before losing his first championship opportunity against Demetrious Johnson and then losing a tremendously narrow split decision to Joseph Benavidez. Cejudo would then go on a six-fight winning streak that included huge wins over Sergio Pettis, Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes and Dominick Cruz while winning titles across two divisions.
No. 14 -- Rose Namajunas
Notable UFC achievements: UFC strawweight champion (x2), two combined title defenses
Namajunas has a fantastic case for this list, even without a pile of title defenses. Despite some early career losses, Namajunas battled her way to a shot at Joanna Jedrzejczyk at a point where Jedrzejczyk had defended the title five times. Namajunas not only knocked Jedrzejczyk out, but won a hard-fought decision in the rematch. After losing the belt to Jessica Andrade, Namajunas beat Andrade in the rematch and then knocked out Zhang Weili to regain the title. Namajunas won the rematch before a contentious split decision loss to Carla Esparza. Namajunas has wins over many women who have held the strawweight title and her title fights have been against truly elite fighters, raising her profile and her spot on the list.
No. 13 -- BJ Penn
Notable UFC achievements: UFC welterweight champion (x1), UFC lightweight champion (x1), two combined title defenses
Watching Penn's downfall both personally and professionally in recent years has been very sad. There is a part of me that accepts I probably have rated Penn too highly, but he debuted at UFC 31 as a freakishly talented jiu-jitsu star with solid striking chops. The UFC clearly saw Penn as a future star and with a 3-0 record, he faced lightweight champion Jens Pulver only to lose a majority decision. Penn's second attempt to claim the crown, after Pulver had vacated the title and UFC held a tournament to crown a new champ, ended in a draw against Caol Uno. Rather than giving up after two failed challenges, Penn moved to welterweight and shocked the world by submitting Matt Hughes to capture the 170-pound belt. Penn would never defend the title, instead leaving the promotion before returning and losing welterweight title bouts to Georges St-Pierre and Hughes. Penn decided to move back down to lightweight and won the title in a fight with Joe Stevenson. He made a pair of defenses before dropping the belt. Things went south for Penn from there, but winning titles in two divisions -- including against the seemingly indestructible Hughes -- and bringing innovative modern jiu-jitsu to the sport led to Penn being ranked highly on this list.
No. 12 -- Cain Velasquez
Notable UFC achievements: UFC heavyweight champion (x2), two combined title defenses
Velasquez appeared to be the heavyweight of the future when he knocked out Brock Lesnar to become champion for the first time. Unfortunately, Velasquez lost the title in his first defense, which also happened to be the UFC's debut on Fox. Velasquez would twice avenge that loss to Junior dos Santos, including a win to regain the championship. Heavyweight being the volatile division it is, it's unsurprising that Velasquez dropped the belt to Fabrício Werdum in the third defense of his second reign, but wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Lesnar, Antonio Silva (twice) and dos Santos (twice), mark Velasquez as one of the greatest UFC heavyweights to ever step foot in the Octagon.
No 11 -- Chuck Liddell
Notable UFC achievements: UFC light heavyweight champion (x1), four title defenses
Liddell was a hugely important fighter in his era. A fan favorite who used unorthodox striking backed up by wrestling skills that largely allowed him to keep fights standing, Liddell was considered the top challenger for Tito Ortiz during Ortiz's title reign. Instead, Randy Couture defeated Liddell for the interim title, snapping Liddell's seven-fight winning streak in the promotion. Liddell eventually got his fight with Ortiz and knocked him out. Two fights later, Liddell knocked out Couture to capture the championship. In four title defenses, Liddell scored rematch knockouts over Ortiz and Couture before losing the belt to Quinton Jackson. The title loss marked the end of Liddell's peak, as he only won a single fight the rest of his career. But Liddell emerged from a great light heavyweight era with three huge stars as the big winner.
No. 10 -- Max Holloway
Notable UFC achievements: UFC featherweight champion (x1), interim UFC featherweight champion (x1), Ceremonial "BMF" champion (x1)
After a 3-3 start to his UFC career, Holloway went on a 13-fight winning streak that included great wins over the likes of Charles Oliveira, Jose Aldo (twice), Anthony Pettis, Frankie Edgar and others, capturing the interim and then full featherweight championship at a time of extreme competitiveness in the division. Holloway lost a shot at the interim lightweight title against Dustin Poirier during his reign, and eventually lost the belt and two rematches to Alexander Volkanovski, but still was putting on incredible shows against the likes of Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez. Holloway can still hang with the best in the world all these years later, and it's not out of the question that he could grab gold one final time before he's done.
No. 9 -- Dominick Cruz
Notable UFC achievements: UFC bantamweight champion (x2), three combined title defenses
Cruz is one of only a few fighters who became UFC champion without winning the title in the Octagon. When the UFC fully absorbed WEC, Cruz was WEC's bantamweight champion and was named UFC champion as a result. Cruz used unorthodox and highly-technical footwork to win UFC title fights against some elite competition, including Urijah Faber (twice), Demetrious Johnson and T.J. Dillashaw. Injuries were Cruz's toughest opponent and they eventually wore him down. Had Cruz been able to stay healthy, or if WEC accomplishments were counted on this list, he could occupy an even higher spot in the top 10.
No. 8 -- Stipe Miocic
Notable UFC achievements: UFC heavyweight champion (x2), four combined title defenses
Miocic checks in as the highest-ranked fighter who competed exclusively at heavyweight. That makes sense given Miocic still holds the record for consecutive title defenses at heavyweight with three during his first reign. Miocic holds wins over many of the best heavyweights of his era, including Andrei Arlovski, Fabrício Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou, in addition to a 2-1 record against Daniel Cormier. Miocic is the greatest American heavyweight in UFC history.
No. 7 -- Daniel Cormier
Notable UFC achievements: UFC light heavyweight champion (x1), UFC heavyweight champion (x1), four combined title defenses
Cormier has a top-five case, to be sure, but is held just slightly back by an argument that, despite holding titles at light heavyweight and heavyweight, he was not the best fighter in either division. At light heavyweight, Cormier was the beneficiary of Jon Jones' inability to get out of his own way. After Cormier lost to Jones in their first fight, Cormier defeated Anthony Johnson to win the belt that had been stripped from Jones. A gutsy title defense against Alexander Gustafsson followed before Cormier beat Johnson again. Jones returned and delivered a head kick knockout, but Cormier retained the title because Jones failed a drug test. After defending the title one final time, beating Volkan Oezdemir, Cormier went up to heavyweight where he landed a perfect shot to knock out Stipe Miocic and claim the heavyweight title. Miocic knocked out Cormier in the rematch and took a decision in the rubber match. Cormier trailed Jones and Miocic in those divisions, but he can't be faulted for winning titles in two divisions and belongs among the top of the top when it comes to American UFC fighters.
No. 6 -- Ronda Rousey
Notable UFC achievements: UFC women's bantamweight champion (x1), six title defenses
Like Dominick Cruz, Rousey was UFC champion before ever setting foot in the Octagon, having held Strikeforce's title when Dana White finally went against his longstanding claims that women would never fight in the UFC. Rousey was such a force, both in the cage and with her personality, that she changed the entire UFC and then became one of the promotion's biggest stars ever. Only one woman, Miesha Tate, made it beyond the first round in Rousey's six successful title defenses and Tate still fell victim to Rousey's trademark armbar. Rousey beat Sara McMann in 66 seconds, Alexis Davis in 16 seconds, Cat Zingano in 14 seconds, and Bethe Correia in 34 seconds. Rousey was inescapable in mainstream media during her title run, and she was running through opponents like a hot knife through butter. Rousey's run ended with back-to-back knockout losses, first to Holly Holm and then to Amanda Nunes, but there's no denying her impact or dominance in the UFC.
No. 5 -- Frank Shamrock
Notable UFC achievements: UFC light heavyweight champion, four title defenses
To give a little peek behind the CBS Sports combat sports curtain, nobody on the team agrees with my placing Shamrock in the top five. However, Shamrock was one of the most innovative fighters in the promotion's history and his run as champion was as dominant as almost anyone to hold UFC gold. Shamrock became the first UFC light heavyweight champion in his UFC debut, and he did it by armbarring Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist Kevin Jackson in 16 seconds. Shamrock then took 22 seconds to deliver a slam so brutal it ended Igor Zinoviev's career. Wins over Jeremy Horn and John Lober followed before Shamrock pounded Tito Ortiz into submission in a grudge match. Shamrock then walked away from the sport (he would come back but never to the Octagon). Shamrock represented a new type of fighter, one who could fight and threaten from anywhere, in an era where other fighters were almost pure in having one path they would take for victory. For his innovation and dominance, Shamrock belongs in the top five.
No. 4 -- Matt Hughes
Notable UFC accomplishments: UFC welterweight champion (x2), seven combined title defenses
Hughes fought four times in the UFC between 1999 and 2001, a stretch in which he fought 28 times across various promotions. That final 2001 bout saw Hughes win the welterweight title with a slam knockout against Carlos Newton. Hughes would never fight outside the UFC Octagon again in his career. As champion, Hughes dominated some of the best fighters in the sport, men like Hayato "Mach" Sakurai, Newton, Sean Sherk and Frank Trigg. While Hughes' first reign ended when he was shocked by BJ Penn, he won the vacant title back with an armbar win over another legend in Georges St-Pierre. Hughes also would get revenge against Penn in a title defense. Hughes should be remembered as one of the baddest men in the sport's history, never losing more than two fights in a row, even in the twilight of his career, and dominating the competition in his peak.
No. 3 - Randy Couture
Notable UFC accomplishments: UFC heavyweight champion (x3), UFC light heavyweight champion (x2), UFC interim light heavyweight champion (x1), UFC tournament champion (x1), three combined title defenses
The notable accomplishments tell as much of a story as anyone should need. Couture fought his first two professional bouts at UFC 13, winning the night's heavyweight tournament. He stopped Vitor Belfort in his third fight and defeated Maurice Smith to become heavyweight champion. That's a career's worth of achievement in just the first four fights of Couture's career. Couture left the promotion for three years, vacating the title in the process, and came back to immediately stop Kevin Randleman and regain the heavyweight title. After two defenses, Couture lost the title to Josh Barnett (who was subsequently stripped for failing a drug test) and lost a title fight to Rico Rodriguez. Rather than fade into being a heavyweight contender, Couture reinvented himself by cutting to light heavyweight, where he beat Chuck Liddell to win the interim title and then unified by spanking (literally) Tito Ortiz. Couture dropped the title when Vitor Belfort's glove caused a freak cut to Couture's eyelid less than a minute into the fight. Couture defeated Belfort in the rematch to reclaim the title but dropped the belt to Liddell in their rubber match. Again, Couture reinvented himself, moving back to heavyweight and winning the belt from Tim Sylvia and defending against Gabriel Gonzaga before falling victim to Brock Lesnar's brief reign of terror. Couture would go 3-2 to end his career, but with five total championships, a tournament win and an interim championship victory, his resume is one of the best ever seen in UFC competition.
No. 2 -- Jon Jones
Notable UFC accomplishments: UFC light heavyweight champion (x2), UFC heavyweight champion (x1), UFC interim light heavyweight champion (x1), 12 combined title defenses
Jon Jones has every bit of a fair case to be considered the greatest mixed martial artist in history, a position Dana White holds. So, why is Jones No. 2 on the American UFC rankings? The easiest answer is that he has a tainted legacy, with drug test failures and outside-the-Octagon issues costing him titles and time. That is not an issue for our No. 1. Jones is obviously one of the most dominant fighters to ever set foot in the Octagon, as shown by 12 combined title defenses, but his heavyweight spot is also a bit tainted as he took several steps to avoid fighting interim champion Tom Aspinall before just walking away from the sport. Still, Jones won the light heavyweight championship at age 23 and defended the belt against a who's who of great 205-pounders. Had Jones been able to keep it together outside the Octagon, he'd be a no-brainer for the No. 1 spot.
No. 1 - Demetrious Johnson
Notable UFC accomplishments: UFC flyweight champion (x1), 11 title defenses
Sure, Johnson only won a single title, but that's all he needed because he defended it 11 times. After losing a bantamweight title fight to Dominick Cruz, Johnson pounced on the opportunity to compete in the newly formed flyweight division. Johnson drew Ian McCall in the semifinals of the tournament to crown a new champion, but won the rematch and then defeated Joseph Benavidez in the finals to be crowned inaugural 125-pound champion. Eleven consecutive title defenses is the UFC record, and Johnson did it while looking untouchable. Johnson was effectively playing with his food during his run, doing things like dominating Kyoji Horiguchi before finishing with an armbar with one second left in the fight or suplexing Ray Borg and catching him in an armbar mid-air in the coolest finish in UFC history. Johnson eventually lost the title in a somewhat controversial split decision loss to Henry Cejudo (who Johnson had stopped in the first round of their initial meeting) before being "traded" to ONE FC. But for sheer dominance and no outside issues, Johnson can't be topped and lands the top spot in our rankings.
