Modern mixed martial arts traces its roots to UFC 1 which took place on 12 November 1993 at Denver’s McNichols Arena. The promotion was founded by American businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie.
Since then, MMA as we know it has grown exponentially as a sport and in popularity. It has gone from a discipline that people wanted to outlaw into a mainstream combat sport. The UFC has become a billion-dollar company and many MMA promotions have sprouted all over the world including Bellator, PFL, ONE Championship, and Combate Global.
Despite its worldwide popularity, the United States remains the top venue for the biggest mixed martial arts events. As such, the U.S. is a breeding ground for some of the best MMA fighters on the planet.
Here are the Top 5 current American mixed martial artists:
1. Jon Jones
1/5
Jon Dwight Jones is arguably the top American mixed martial artist today. Acclaimed by many as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, the Rochester, New York native became the youngest fighter to win a UFC title when he defeated the legendary Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to become the UFC light heavyweight champion at UFC 128.
Bones went on to have two reigns as 205-pound champion and had a total of 11 successful title defences. Jones vacated the title after his UFC 247 win over Dominick Reyes to focus on a highly-anticipated move to the heavyweight division. After three years of absence, Jones made his heavyweight debut against Cyril Gane at UFC 285 last March 4, 2023, for the vacant heavyweight title. Jones made easy work of Gane to become a two-division champion.
2. Demetrious Johnson
2/5
Demetrious Khrisna Johnson is the current ONE flyweight champion. Born in Madisonville, Kentucky, Might Mouse was the inaugural UFC flyweight champion. He reigned as champion from 2012 to 2018 while successfully defending the belt 11 consecutive times, a UFC record.
In 2018, the UFC ‘traded’ Johnson to ONE Championship for ONE welterweight champion Ben Askren. He won the ONE Championship Flyweight Grand Prix in his third fight with his new promotion. Mighty Mouse then won the ONE Flyweight title at ONE of Prime Video 1 in 2022 and successfully defended it last May 23, 2023, against the man he won it from.
3. Max Holloway
3/5
Jerome Max Kelii Holloway is a former UFC Featherweight champion who is currently the holder of the mythical BMF ( Baddest Motherfu*** ) title. The Honolulu-born Holloway won the third-ever BMF title fight by defeating Justin Gaethje in one of the most incredible fights in UFC history at UFC 300.
With his last-second knockout of Gaethje, Holloway bagged the biggest post-fight bonus ever of $600K – $300K for Performance of the Night plus another $300K for Fight of the Night. The Blessed Express is also a former UFC Featherweight champion who made three successful title defences. Holloway is currently the No. 8 best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.
4. Sean O'Malley
4/5
Sean O’Malley and Jon Jones are the only American fighters currently holding a UFC belt. O’Malley is the current UFC bantamweight champion and the No.6 ranked Pound for Pound fighter in the UFC. The Helena, Montana native is a former Intense Championship Fighting (ICF) Bantamweight champion who has a one-fight professional boxing experience.
Suga’ won his first 12 bouts before suffering his first loss against Marlon Vera at UFC 252. He has been undefeated in his seven fights since then, and he avenged the loss to Vera by defeating Chito in a one-side bout At UFC 299 last March 9, 2024. O’Malley holds the UFC bantamweight record with a total of 9 post-fight bonuses.
5. Ryan Bader
5/5
Ryan DuWayne Bader is the reigning Bellator Heavyweight champion. The Reno, Nevada-born fighter is a former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler out of Arizona State. ‘Darth’ Vader won The Ultimate Fighter 8 Light Heavyweight Tournament in 2008 by knocking out Vinny Magalhaes.
Bader campaigned in the UFC until 2016 before moving to rival Bellator as a free agent. In his first Bellator fight, he won the promotion’s Light Heavyweight title. Four fights later, he defeated Fedor Emelianenko to become Bellator Light Heavyweight champion and become a simultaneous two-division champion. In his last bout, Bader was knocked out by Renan Ferreira in the PFL vs Bellator Super Fight.