most fights in ufc

Who Has the Most Fights in the UFC? (By Weight Class Also!)

Records are always an interesting thing to study, whichever field you might be examining.

Whether it’s the most points or goals scored in the history of a sports league or just the biggest number of pies eaten in 10 minutes, records are always a fun piece of trivia, which is why, today, I am going to talk about records.

More precisely, fighters with the most fight in UFC. 

Fighter with the Most Fights in UFC

The record holder for most bouts in the UFC, is – Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, a 37-year old American MMA fighter who actively participates in several combat sports since 2002.

He has one professional boxing fight and a solid career in kickboxing, but has, since 2006, been working on his MMA career and is currently the fighter with most bouts in the organization. 

Cerrone has a total of 35 bouts in the UFC, but his record is not that safe, as we are soon going to see. Still, Cerrone is a pretty legendary fighter within the organization.

Along with having the most fights in the UFC, Cerrone also holds the record for most wins and shares the record for most bouts in a calendar year (5).

Still, despite having a record 23 wins in the UFC, which is a pretty solid number, Cerrone’s career numbers aren’t that brilliant.

He has an overall record of 36-14-1 from a total of 51 fights. His UFC career started in 2011, after three years with the WEC, and his general record is solid, but not that brilliant.

The Challengers

As I’ve already said – Cerrone’s record is not that safe, which is somewhat unlikely for UFC records, which are usually a lot safer.

Namely, his direct follower has only one less bout and is still active, like most of the other fighters who’ve managed to collect 30 or more fights in the UFC, as you’ll see at the end of the article.

As you can see, UFC events, although not that rare, don’t allow for big streaks like MMA in general, which is why Cerrone’s 35 bouts are really a terrific achievement and show that the guy is really enduring.

The same applies to all of the fighters who’ve managed to collect 30 or more bouts in their careers. 

Second on our list is American Jim Miller, who has managed to collect 34 fights in two divisions; he also has 20 career wins and is third in that list.

His UFC career started back in 2008 and he’s so far participated in several events but hasn’t won any titles.

Jeremy Stephens occupies the third spot with 33 career bouts; this 33-year old American is one of the less successful fighters on this list, having a negative overall career score in the UFC.

Brazilian veteran Demian Maia, who’s 42 years old, shares the fourth spot with Belarussian veteran Andrei Arlovski; they both have 32 bouts.

And while Maia’s had a relatively successful UFC career (with 22 wins, he’s second on the list of fighters with most wins), Arlovski’s another example of the fighters that fought much, but also lost much. 

The 38-year old Mexican-American Diego Sanchez has 31 bouts, which secured him the sixth spot on our list.

Since he’s still active, there is a possibility he might increase this number and rise in the ranks, since the difference between the first six fighters is really small.

Rafael Dos Anjos and Michael Bisping occupy place seven with 29 bouts each.

Brazilian Dos Anjos could still rise in the ranks due to the fact that he is still active, while Bisping’s career ended with him retiring in 2018.

The last places on this list are occupied by two fighters with 28 bouts – the still-active American Clay Guida and the retired Brazilian Gleison Tibau. 

Now that I have analyzed the fighters and the numbers in textual form, I am going to give you a small overview of what I have talked about in table form so that you can have a better view of it all. The source for the data is Wikipedia.

Rank Fighter Nationality Weight Class Wins
1 Donald Cerrone USA Lightweight / Welterweight 35
2 Jim Miller USA Lightweight / Catchweight 34
3 Jeremy Stephens USA Featherweight / Lightweight 33
4 Demian Maia Brazil Welterweight / Middleweight 32
Andrei Arlovski Belarus Heavyweight
6 Diego Sanchez USA Lightweight / Welterweight / Middleweight 31
7 Rafael dos Anjos Brazil Lightweight / Welterweight 29
Michael Bisping England Middleweight / Light Heavyweight
9 Clay Guida USA Featherweight / Lightweight 28
Gleison Tibau Brazil Lightweight / Welterweight / Catchweight

Most Fights in UFC by Division

Before I conclude the article, I’ll show you some additional numbers related to the fighters with most bouts – but in different weight classes. 

If we count just the title bouts, the first place is shared by three fighters with 15 title bouts and – interestingly enough – none of them are on the list above.

They are retired fighters Georges St-Pierre and Randy Couture and the still-active Jon Jones.

Hot on their trail is Demetrious Johnson, with 14 bouts; the other fighters with more than 10 title bouts are Anderson Silva (13), Matt Hughes (12), and – with 11 both – Jose Aldo and B.J. Penn. 

As for the division leaders, I’ll present them to you in another two tables:

Men
Division Fighter Nationality Bouts
Heavyweight Andrei Arlovski Belarus 32
Light Heavyweight Tito Ortiz USA 27
Middleweight Michael Bisping England 24
Welterweight Thiago Alves Brazil 25
Matt Brown USA
Lightweight Jim Miller USA 33
Featherweight Max Holloway USA 20
Bantamweight Urijah Faber USA 17
Flyweight Joseph Benavidez USA 17

Women
Division Fighter Nationality Bouts
Featherweight Megan Anderson Australia 5
Cris Cyborg Brazil
Bantamweight Amanda Nunes Brazil 12
Raquel Pennington USA
Flyweight Gillian Robertson Canada 6
Roxanne Modafferi USA
Katlyn Chookagian USA
Strawweight Angela Hill USA 14
Randa Markos Canada

And that’s it for today’s analysis. Stay tuned for more of the same and see you next time. 

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Vladimir Vladisavljevic has been training in the art of kickboxing for over seven years, holds a Taekwondo black belt, and has a master's degree in sports and physical education. He's also a huge mixed martial arts fan. He's a big deal in Bulgaria as a mixed martial arts commentator, analyst, and podcaster.
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Vladimir Vladisavljevic

Vladimir Vladisavljevic has a master's degree in sports and physical education. He has been training in kickboxing for over seven years and holds a Taekwondo black belt. He's also a huge mixed martial arts fan. Vladimir is a big deal in Bulgaria as a mixed martial arts commentator, analyst, and podcaster. He was known as The Bulgarian Cowboy in the Western world. In addition, he has a YouTube channel where he talks about his love of esports, one of the fastest-growing fields in the world. Our testing and reviewing method.
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