Number of wins, finishing ability and quality of competition all factor in IMO. Anderson ran through a lot of killers to get to 16-0 and he had a couple LHW wins in there and was willing to fight the champ below him as well. Is Anderson’s 16-0 still the best win streak in UFC history?
11-0 Oliveira here has a chance to move to 12-0 if he beats Makhachev and then 13-0 if he beat Volkanovski and for him to have beat Lee, Tony, Chandler, Poirier, Gaethje, Makhachev and Volkanovski…plus all the wins and finishes before that. I’d say that would be nough to put Oliveira right there close to #1 but you really would have to put his streak side by to next to Anderson’s.
If not top 10, what are the current top 5 win streaks in UFC fight history?
I don’t see how anyone could argue against this. Not only did he clear out his own division but he had 3 first round KOs at LHW as well. One being against the former LHW champion in one of the most spectacular looking KOs ever
GSP had a 13-0 streak after the Serra loss and of course Khabib had his 13-0 streak.
Usman just went 15-0.
Jones would be 22-0 but he has that Hamill “loss” in there and the NC for pissing hot vs DC in the second fight. So even with that “L” and the NC, Jones still has a 13-0 on the official books.
Cruz has a joint WEC/UFC 12-0 streak.
Aldo’s joint WEC/UFC streak is 15-0.
JDS had an incredible 9-0 streak by UFC HW standards. Probably the best ever for the UFC HW division.
Sure Anderson was too big for GSP and Jones was too big for Anderson but thats what makes those fights fun and “fresh” compared to what the division has to offer.
Cyborg was not too big for Nunes.
Mo Smith was not too big for Renzo.
Hughes was not too big for Penn.
Conan was not too big for Saku.
Moraes was not too big for Cejudo.
Ron Waterman was not too big for Roger Gracie.
Hong Man Choi was not too big for Fedor.
Akebono was not too big for Royce.
Thompson was not too big for Pettis
etc…
Now on the flip side…
Wanderlei was too big for Saku.
Jan was too big for Adesanya.
Dustin was too big for Max.
Sapp was too big for Tamura.
Hendo was too big for Renzo.
Erikson was too big for Randleman
etc…
Its almost always fun seeing great fighters move up in weight to challenge someone bigger.
I DQ Jones for the roid controversy and judging controversy, he straight lost to Gus and Reyes. Many think he lost to Santos too. I DQ silva too, unfortunately.
Rickson (I know he wasn’t in the UFC but he’s first, of course)
GSP
DJ
Khabib
I’d put Aldo and Cruz there too but chose not to include WEC.
I guess if you ignore the “no contest” to DC then JBJ’s win streak is right there with Anderson’s. His is the only one I think that can compare to his. Also if you ignore the “loss” to MH too which was a crime. At worst it shoulda been another no contest
The last 7 have been real impressive…
Mendes,
Aldo
Max 3x
Ortega
Korean Zombie
Its interesting to me he wants to risk it all, even on one day’s notice to fight either Oliveira or Makhachev and if that don’t happen he still wants to head into camp to go after one of those guys.
Its a great risk/reward for him though, all he is risking is the undefeated streak, if he wins he is the double champ who just beat one of the greatest LWs ever in his first UFC LW fight, if he loses well he is still the UFC FW champ who is 12-0 in the UFC FW division and he can go back to focusing on defending that belt just like Adesanya did.
At 34, he likely knows he does not have long to do big things.
There’s quality, then quantity. MW division was one of the weakest during Anderson’s reign and still is. That has to be taken into account when comparing streaks, else we are just treating every division as if they contain the same level of competition, which I think anyone who follows the sport and isn’t just a blind fanboy can see isn’t true.
These fucking George fans love to claim the MW division was weak during Silva’s time and that just isn’t true lol
Chris Leben, steel chin and heavy handed KO artist who knocked out Wanderlie Silva
Rich Franklin x2 former ufc champ
Dan Henderson, former double Pride FC champ
Vitor Belfort on TRT
Demian Maia one of the most feared grapplers and submission artists in mma history
Chael sonnen x2 spectacular wrestler
Patrick cote was on a 5 fight win streak with 3 finishes when he fought Silva
Thales was on a 5 fight win streak with 3 submissions when he fought Silva
I personally don’t think too highly of Yushin Okami but the other day someone told me that was a better win for Anderson than TRT Vitor was so I’ll add him to further boost my Narrative lol
But let’s not pretend James Irvin, Stephan Bonnar, and Forrest Griffin weren’t tailor made opponents for Anderson. Not one of them could wrestle.
I’m not questioning Anderson’s greatness – I’m just saying win streaks alone do not mean as much if you don’t consider the quality of opponents. I don’t know why that’s so hard for you to understand.
