Top 25 American UFC Fighters in History

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.

No. 25 -- Dustin Poirier

Notable UFC achievements: Interim lightweight champion (x1)

Poirier is a beloved fighter and a constant source of entertainment in the Octagon. Unfortunately for Poirier, he fought the majority of his career at featherweight and lightweight at a time when those divisions were stacked with legendary talent. Poirier lost three shots at the lightweight championship and twice lost fights for the symbolic "BMF" championship. Poirier ultimately lost more of his biggest fights than he won, but he does have some iconic wins, including defeating Max Holloway for the interim lightweight title in 2019 and two wins over Conor McGregor in 2021 after losing their first meeting all the way back in 2014.

No. 24 -- 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. 23 -- 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. 22 -- 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. 21 -- 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. 20 -- 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. 19 -- 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. 18 -- 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. 17 -- 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. 16 -- 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. 15 -- 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. 14 -- 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 nar

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/ufc/news/ufc-fighter-rankings-americans-top-25-jon-jones-daniel-cormier-demetrious-johnson/)._