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Here we go! These are the best MMA fighters from the United States. With so many great American mixed martial artists, MMA fans have the chance to vote on all time rankings for US MMA fighters. Who is the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/mma-legends?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best MMA fighter</a> from the United States?&nbsp;Featuring the best American UFC fighters and the best American Bellator fighters, this list of the greatest mixed martial artists from the US includes Jon Jones, Chuck Liddell, and Randy Couture.&nbsp;Vote for who you think are <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-americans-ever/jacariah?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the greatest American</a> MMA fighters of all time. Feel free to add any top&nbsp;fighters missing from this list and vote down the overrated fighters.

Best American MMA Fighters of All Time | Ranking Fighters from United States

The Best MMA Fighters from United States

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Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier

Daniel Ryan Cormier (born March 20, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and former Olympic wrestler currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former two-division world champion, having held the heavyweight and light heavyweight world championships simultaneously. Cormier is the second of four fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously, and the first and only fighter to defend titles in two weight classes. Prior to the UFC, Cormier was Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion and King of the Cage Heavyweight Champion. He holds the distinction of having won a world championship belt in every promotion for which he has fought. UFC president Dana White and UFC commentator Joe Rogan are among numerous mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits who consider Cormier to be one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time. He also was an analyst and commentator for Fox UFC.  As of August 19, 2019, he is #1 in both UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight rankings and #7 in UFC pound-for-pound rankings.

Randy Couture

Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American actor, former U.S. Army sergeant, retired mixed martial artist and former collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestler. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he became a three-time UFC Heavyweight Champion, two-time UFC Light heavyweight Champion, an interim UFC Light heavyweight Champion, making him a six-time UFC Champion and the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament winner. He is the first of seven fighters to hold two UFC championship titles in two different divisions (along with B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo).
Couture has competed in a record 16 title fights. He holds the record for the most wins in UFC Heavyweight Championship bouts (6). He had the most title reigns in the UFC, with six. His last fight with Lyoto Machida marked his 24th fight in the UFC. He is the fourth member of the UFC Hall of Fame. He is the only person over the age of 40 to have won a UFC championship fight, having done so four times. He is one of the few MMA champions to regain a title he had lost, and the only to have done it three times (twice at heavyweight, once at light heavyweight).
Couture was an Olympic wrestling alternate and has lived in Corvallis, Oregon throughout much of his career, where he served as an assistant wrestling coach and a strength and conditioning coach for Oregon State University. He established Team Quest with Matt Lindland and Dan Henderson, a training camp for fighters, based out of Gresham, Oregon, and headed by coach Robert Folis. In 2005, he moved to Las Vegas, where he opened his own extensive chain of gyms under the name Xtreme Couture. He partnered with Bas Rutten to open Legends Gym in Hollywood, California.
Couture is generally recognized as a clinch and ground-and-pound fighter who uses his wrestling ability to execute take downs, establish top position and successively strike the opponent on the bottom. He has displayed a variety of skills in boxing and catch wrestling. He is the only UFC fighter to win a championship after becoming a Hall-of-Famer and is the oldest champion in MMA history.

Chuck Liddell

Charles David "Chuck" Liddell (born December 17, 1969) is an American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He has an extensive striking background in Kempo, Karate, and Kickboxing, as well as a grappling background in collegiate wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. A professional competitor from 1998 until 2010, Liddell had 23 fights in the UFC; along with Randy Couture, he is widely credited with bringing MMA into the mainstream of American sports and entertainment. On July 10, 2009, he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Matt Hughes

Matthew Allen Hughes (born October 13, 1973) is an American retired mixed martial artist with a background in wrestling. Widely considered among the greatest fighters in the history of MMA, he is a two-time UFC Welterweight Champion, UFC Hall of Fame inductee, and NJCAA Hall of Fame inductee. During his tenures in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Hughes put together two separate six-fight winning streaks, defeated all the available opposition in the welterweight division, and defended the belt a then-record seven times. Hughes was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in May 2010 during the UFC Fan Expo in conjunction with UFC 114.During his reign, Hughes was widely considered the #1 pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world. Hughes was also regarded by many analysts and several media outlets as one of the greatest welterweight fighters of all time, as well as one of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the sport's history.A long-time member of Miletich Fighting Systems, Hughes left the Miletich camp in late 2007 to start Team Hughes. In 2008, Hughes published his autobiography, Made in America, which made the New York Times bestseller list. In 2011, Hughes became host of Outdoor Channel's Trophy Hunters TV. Hughes has no nickname, although because of his successes against Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioners such as Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ricardo Almeida, and Matt Serra, people often refer to him as "the Gracie Killer" (the same as Sakuraba's nickname). His mastery of submissions, and having submission wins over various black belt holders, are the reasons why Joe Rogan thinks he deserved to get a black belt for BJJ. Hughes never liked the idea, however, and considers himself primarily an amateur and submission wrestler.

Demetrious Johnson

Demetrious Johnson (born July 21, 1961) is a former professional American football player. Johnson is a native St. Louisan who grew up in the Darst-Webbe Housing Project. He was the youngest of eight children and was raised by a single parent. With the odds against him, Johnson was able to stay focused and graduated from McKinley High School, and earned a full athletic scholarship to attend the University of Missouri, Columbia.
During his years at Columbia, Johnson was recognized as a premier defensive back, including Big 8 All Star. Johnson graduated with a bachelor's degree in Education with a major in Counseling Psychology. Upon graduation, the Detroit Lions drafted Johnson.
Johnson’s professional football career lasted five years. During his career, Johnson was the Lions' defensive captain and earned numerous awards, including Player of the Week. Johnson ended his professional football career with the Miami Dolphins in 1987.
Following his retirement from pro football, Johnson joined Sherwood Medical Company, which is now Covidien, as the National Sales Manager for the Athletic Sports Medicine Division.
Understanding the importance of the community recreation center during his childhood, Johnson started exploring ways to give back to his community. With a deep desire to encourage and support underprivileged children to reach their potential, Johnson founded the Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation, Inc. The Foundation’s motto is, “Helping today’s youth towards a better tomorrow.” Its mission is to help better the lives of inner-city youth by providing mentoring, financial, vocational/tutorial and scholastic assistance programs.
Johnson has been married to his high school sweetheart for over 25 years with three lovely daughters: Ashley, Taylore, and Alexandria. He also has another daughter, Lakisha born 1979/80.

Dan Henderson

Daniel Jeffery Henderson (born August 24, 1970) is an American former mixed martial artist and Olympic wrestler, who last competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was the last Welterweight (80 kg (176.4 lb)) and Middleweight (95 kg (209.4 lb)) champion of Pride Fighting Championships. Additionally, Henderson was the Brazil Open '97 Tournament Champion, the UFC 17 Middleweight Tournament Champion, the Rings: King of Kings 1999 Tournament Champion and the Pride Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion. During his career, Henderson also challenged for the UFC Middleweight Championship (2x), the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship. He was the first mixed martial artist to concurrently hold two titles in two different weight classes in a major MMA promotion. At the time of his retirement after UFC 204, he was the oldest fighter on the UFC roster. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, having defeated a total of twenty-one MMA world champions across four major MMA promotions (UFC, PRIDE FC, Strikeforce, and RINGS).

Robbie Lawler

Robert Glenn "Robbie" Lawler (born March 20, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist who has been competing since 2001. He is the former UFC Welterweight Champion. Lawler is also a former EliteXC Middleweight Champion, and has formerly competed in Strikeforce, PRIDE, and the IFL. He is widely considered one of the most consistently entertaining mixed martial artists currently competing, being the only fighter to have won three consecutive "Fight of the Year" awards from Sherdog and MMA Fighting, for his bouts against Johny Hendricks (at UFC 171, in 2014), Rory MacDonald (at UFC 189, in 2015), and Carlos Condit (at UFC 195, in 2016).As of August 19, 2019, he is #13 in the official UFC welterweight rankings.

Dominick Cruz

Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez (born July 28, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and professional wrestler currently signed with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He is a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. As of August 3, 2019, he is #8 in official UFC heavyweight rankings.

Nick Diaz

Frankie Edgar

Frank James Edgar (born October 16, 1981) is an American mixed martial artist, who competes as a Featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is a former UFC Lightweight Champion. He holds notable victories over former world champions Sean Sherk, Hermes França, B.J. Penn (x3), Urijah Faber as well as top featherweight contenders Cub Swanson (x2) and Chad Mendes.  As of May 13, 2019, he is #4 in the UFC Featherweight rankings.

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Jean Rousey (; born February 1, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, actress, author, and former mixed martial artist and judoka. She is currently signed to WWE, and performs on the Raw brand. Her longstanding nickname, "Rowdy", was inherited from late professional wrestler Roddy Piper.After becoming the first American woman to earn an Olympic medal in judo by winning bronze at the 2008 Summer Olympics, Rousey began pursuing a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). She won her MMA debut for King of the Cage before going to Strikeforce, where she became the last-ever Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion before the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bought Strikeforce in 2011. She was their inaugural female champion when she was named UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey took part in the first women's fight in UFC history when she successfully defended her title against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. After setting the record for most UFC title defenses by a woman (6), Rousey had her first professional loss in MMA when she lost her title to Holly Holm. In 2018, she became the first female fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.In 2018, Rousey began a career in professional wrestling, signing a contract with WWE. She debuted at WrestleMania 34, and later won the Raw Women's Championship, her first WWE and professional wrestling title, at SummerSlam. She then headlined the first-ever WWE all-women's pay-per-view event when she successfully defended her title at WWE Evolution. Rousey had her first WWE loss when she lost her title in the first-ever women's WrestleMania main-event to Becky Lynch in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 35; this left her reign as Raw Women's Champion as the longest in the title's history at 232 days.
Rousey has also enjoyed success as an actress and author, appearing in the films The Expendables 3 (2014), Furious 7 (2015), and Mile 22 (2018), and releasing her autobiography My Fight / Your Fight in 2015.Rousey is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most influential female athletes ever. She is the only woman to win a championship in both the UFC and WWE, as well as the only woman to headline a pay-per-view event in both companies. Rousey was voted the best female athlete of all-time in a 2015 ESPN fan poll, and Fox Sports described her as "one of the defining athletes of the 21st century."

B.J. Penn

Jay Dee "B.J." Penn III (born December 13, 1978) is an American professional mixed martial artist and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner. Penn debuted and competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and later in K-1. Prior to fighting for the UFC, he became the first American Gold medalist of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship. In mixed martial arts, Penn has competed in the Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, and Middleweight divisions. As a former UFC Lightweight Champion and UFC Welterweight Champion, he is the second of only five fighters in UFC history to win titles in multiple weight classes. Penn was also a Co-champion in the UFC 41 Lightweight Tournament, due to an eventual draw opposite Caol Uno in the tournament finale. Through his tenures as champion, Penn unofficially unified the UFC Lightweight Championship (against Sean Sherk) and broke the all-time lightweight title defense record. Penn was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, as the inaugural inductee in the Modern-Era Wing by career-long rival Matt Hughes, during International Fight Week in July 2015.He emerged as one of the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world early in his career (a recognition he would hold until his initial retirement from the sport), defeating opponents that included Din Thomas, Caol Uno, Paul Creighton, and Matt Serra. Penn soon-after secured his initial world title with K-1, submitting Takanori Gomi for the Rumble on the Rock Lightweight Championship. He immediately ascended into the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, submitting long-reigning then-champion Matt Hughes to capture the UFC Welterweight Championship, which was eventually relinquished due to contract disputes.Penn therefore departed from the promotion to compete exclusively for K-1. He submitted Duane Ludwig and defeated Rodrigo Gracie and Renzo Gracie before eventually re-signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Following contentious losses to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes, Penn returned to the Lightweight division to submit both Jens Pulver and Joe Stevenson en route to claiming the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship. He made a record three subsequent title defenses; defeating uncrowned champion Sean Sherk and challengers Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez before losing his title to Frankie Edgar in a disputed decision.
In the sunset of his career, Penn returned as a Welterweight to successfully complete his trilogy with Matt Hughes, before retiring between two losses and a draw in attempts to regain the UFC Welterweight Championship. In pursuit of a career resurgence with a descent into the Featherweight division, Penn conclusively announced his retirement following another loss to Frankie Edgar.
UFC President Dana White credits Penn as the man who brought the lower weight divisions into the mainstream of mixed martial arts; claiming Penn to be "the first crossover pay-per-view star for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's lighter weight divisions", as well as that "[through his] accomplishments, B.J. Penn built the 155-pound division". Credited as the greatest Lightweight combatant in mixed martial arts history, Penn's domination of the division, as well as his performances in higher weight classes have him regarded as one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport.

Rich Franklin

Richard Jay "Rich" Franklin II (born October 5, 1974) is an American retired mixed martial artist who competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion. As of June 2014, Franklin has been the Vice President of Asian Mixed Martial Arts company ONE Championship.



Chris Weidman

Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɔʁʒ sɛ̃ pjɛʁ]; born May 19, 1981) is a retired Canadian professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. He is a two-division champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) having won titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions.
St-Pierre is a three-time former UFC Welterweight Champion, having won the title twice and the interim title once between November 2006 and April 2008. St-Pierre was ranked as the #1 welterweight in the world for several years by Sherdog and numerous other publications. In 2008, 2009 and 2010 he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet. Fight Matrix lists him as the top MMA Welterweight of all time and most accomplished fighter in MMA history.He retired as the reigning Welterweight Champion on December 13, 2013, having held the record for most wins in title bouts and the second longest combined title streak in UFC history (2,204 days) while defending his title nine consecutive times. He returned to the Octagon in November 2017 at UFC 217, when he defeated Michael Bisping by submission to win the Middleweight title, thus becoming the fourth fighter in the history of the UFC to be a multi-division champion.

mdspeaker68

Frank Mir

Francisco Santos "Frank" Mir III (born May 24, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler who competes for Bellator MMA in the Heavyweight division. He formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for sixteen years. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion, he holds the record for most fights, victories, and submissions in UFC Heavyweight history. Mir possessed the longest uninterrupted tenure of any fighter in UFC history. He was the first man to knock out and the first to submit Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Urijah Faber

Urijah Christopher Faber (born May 14, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and actor who fights as a bantamweight and formerly as a featherweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Faber won the WEC Featherweight Championship at WEC 19 on March 17, 2006, and held the title for over two years until losing it to Mike Brown at WEC 36 on November 5, 2008. Faber is widely regarded as one of the sport's pioneers for establishing legitimacy to lighter weight classes in MMA. After retirement on July 6, 2017 Faber was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as a part of the Modern-era wing. As of July 15, 2019, he is ranked #14 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.Faber is an NCAA wrestler. With his excellent base in wrestling, he later started Brazilian jiu-jitsu and quickly gained a brown belt under Fábio "Pateta" Prado.

Quinton Jackson

Quinton Ramone Jackson (born June 20, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist, actor and former professional wrestler who is currently signed with Bellator MMA. He is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Due to his eccentric personality and aggressive fighting style, Jackson became a star in Japan during his stint with the Pride FC and following his move to the UFC, he helped pioneer MMA's growth into a worldwide sport.

Tony Ferguson

randylahey

t.j. dillashaw

JuanitoAlba

Frank Shamrock

Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez, III; December 8, 1972) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship (later renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship) and retired a four-time defending undefeated champion. Shamrock was the No. 1 ranked pound for pound UFC fighter in the world during his reign as the UFC Middleweight Champion. Shamrock has won numerous titles in other martial arts organizations, including the interim King of Pancrase title, the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship and the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship and remains the only athlete in history to hold titles in every major sports league.
He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 1990s by the Wrestling Observer, "Best Full Contact Fighter" by Black Belt magazine (1998), and three time "Fighter of the Year" by Full Contact Fighter Magazine. He is a Seventh degree black belt in submission fighting, awarded by O-Sensei Philip S. Porter of the United States Martial Arts Association. He is the adopted brother of UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock.
An author, entrepreneur, philanthropist and social activist, he also was a color commentator for Showtime Networks, Bellator MMA, Glory Kickboxing and Combate America's. Frank has been a brand spokesman for Strikeforce, VAS, UFC, and K-1 MMA and has advised on over 4.5 billion dollars in assets.
After retiring from MMA competition Shamrock retired in Southern California close to his place of birth and extended family.

Rashad Evans

Rashad Anton Evans (born September 25, 1979) is an American retired mixed martial artist. Evans started his professional career in 2003, he was the Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 and is also a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, and a 2019 inductee of the UFC Hall of Fame.

Cory Sandhagen

Here we go! These are the best MMA fighters from the United States. With so many great American mixed martial artists, MMA fans have the chance to vote on all ...

Songs

Fruit comes in many varieties, and so do songs about fruit. Here's our list of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-delicious-fruits/analise.dubner?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the best fruit</a> songs, as voted on by music fans like you. The best songs about fruit come from rock bands, hip-hop artists and country musicians. No matter what your taste, you will find a delicious fruit song on this comprehensive list.&nbsp;There are songs about apples, songs about cherries, and songs about bananas represented below, as well as songs about peaches, oranges and even coconuts.&nbsp;“Strawberry Fields Forever” by The Beatles is not only one of the best songs about fruit, but it is also one of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-songs-of-all-time-ranked?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best songs of all time</a>. “Tangerine” by Led Zeppelin is another great rock song about fruit, as is “Cherry Pie” by Warrant. Prince wrote several songs about fruit. His hits “Raspberry Beret” and “Peach” both made this list.Harry Nilsson “put the lime in the coconut and mixed 'em both up” on his fruit-based song “Coconut” and The Presidents of the United States of America couldn't get enough of canned fruit on their hit, “Peaches.” Billie Holiday got serious on her song, “Strange Fruit.”Do you have a favorite song about fruit? Take a look at this list and vote the best tracks up to the top.