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The UFC was most known for the light heavyweight division in its early days, but lightweight has been the premier weight class over the last decade or so. Ilia Topuria won the Lightweight Championship at UFC 317 after vacating the featherweight title. He became one of the best two-division champions ever in the process, all while maintaining a perfect 17-0 record.
Topuria has a ways to go at 155 pounds before he could be considered one of the greatest lightweights ever, though. So check out the gallery to see the five best 155-pounders in UFC history.
5. Dustin Poirier
Dustin Poirier was, unfortunately, never able to earn undisputed gold. Even so, his career is the stuff of legend. Every Poirier bout is a war, which has made his fights must-watch action since his early MMA career. Poirier is 30-9-1 and has fought nearly everybody of note at 155 pounds.
The Diamond's resume includes wins over Max Holloway, Eddie Alvarez, Dan Hooker, Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje, Jim Miller, and many other notable fighters.
While he has more losses than ideal for an all-time great, those losses came against the likes of Charles Oliveira, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Chan Sung Jung, and McGregor, the latter of whom, as mentioned earlier, Porier received vengeance against with two victories to win the trilogy.
Poirier is tied for the lightweight lead in KO victories (nine), but he lost all three of his chances to become the undisputed Lightweight Champion, and his lone title victory was just for the interim belt.
Poirier is headlining UFC 318 in what will be a retirement bout against Holloway, whom he hopes to defeat for the third time. One thing is for sure, though, and that is the octagon will likely end up bloodied after a bout that is sure to entertain fans.
4. B.J. Penn
After a glance at his record, fans might not realize that B.J. Penn is one of the greatest UFC fighters ever. He finished his career with a 16-14-2 record, but he was dominant during his prime. Penn kept fighting well past his peak and ended up losing each of his last seven fights.
Late-career struggles kept him out of the top three of this list and held Tony Ferguson out of the top five all together. Penn also had one win, a draw, and two losses in the four fights before his end-of-career skid. During his peak, Penn was tearing apart the lightweight division with elite jiu-jitsu skills.
Penn's four Lightweight Championship wins are tied for the second most ever. He likely could have done more damage in the division, but Penn didn't care where he fought, so he spent time during his career at featherweight, welterweight, middleweight, heavyweight, and openweight. Penn was at his best at 155 pounds.
3. Charles Oliveira
As mentioned earlier, Topuria won the Lightweight Championship at UFC 317. The legend that he beat was Oliveira, a former champion with two title wins and a 35-11 record to his name. The majority of those losses came early in Oliveira's career when he was still fighting at featherweight. Something clicked in Do Bronxs after making the jump up to 155 pounds.
Oliveira is arguably the greatest submission artist in UFC history, and his opponents are always at risk of being choked out. Of his UFC record 16 submission victories, 10 of the times he forced opponents into tapping came at lightweight.
Oliveira started his career as somebody known for giving up too early, and he ended it as a fan favorite with a granite chin who would do whatever it took to get a win.
2. Islam Makhachev
It may have taken just one more lightweight win to get Makhachev over his buddy/coach/mentor and into the top spot on this list of the best lightweights ever. Instead, Makhachev has vacated his title and moved up to welterweight. Makhachev's time at 155 pounds was certainly legendary while it lasted.
He is 27-1 and in the midst of a 15-fight winning streak. He is not only the record holder at lightweight for consecutive wins, but he also ranks second in consecutive wins all-time, regardless of weight class.
One more victory would tie him with Anderson Silva in that regard. Makhachev is also the lightweight record holder in title fight wins (five), lightweight title defenses (four), and significant strike accuracy (59.5%).
The latter of those statistics proves he is so much more than just a Dagestani wrestler. A chance to contend for double champion status could be good for Makhachev's career, but the decision firmly plants him as the second-best lightweight ever.
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov finished his career with a perfect 29-0 record. He was unstoppable because of his constant pressure, impressive takedown defense, aggressive wrestling, and unmatched ground-and-pound attack. Nurmagomedov, of course, ended up victorious in the biggest UFC event ever: UFC 229 against McGregor.
That victory was the first of three title defenses. Nurmagomedov won the belt over Al Iaquinta and also defended it against Poirier and Gaethje. Nurmagomedov not only never lost, but he only ever lost two rounds in his entire career. His dominance could have continued for much longer, but he retired young after the death of his father.
Now, he is leading an entire region to MMA supremacy. Makhachev does have a case as the greatest lightweight ever over Nurmagomedov, but the zero at the end of The Eagle's record keeps him just narrowly in the top spot.
