Top 10 UFC heavyweights ranked, with Miocic, Blaydes and Ngannou in the mix
UFC’s heavyweight division has continued to flourish despite the departure of greats like Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez and Randy Couture.
Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic sits at the top of the division, but other fighters such as Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis are right on the champ’s heels.
Here’s our top 10 current UFC heavyweights.
10: Augusto Sakai
Japanese-Brazilian fighter Augusto Sakai starts off our list.
Sakai, a former Bellator fighter, made his UFC debut on September 22, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 137. He picked up a technical knockout victory (TKO) over Chase Sherman in the third round.
With five fights under his UFC resume, Sakai won his first four bouts until he was knocked out by Alistair Overeem on September 5, at UFC Fight Night 176.
The 29-year-old has work to put in in the Octagon if he wants a shot at Stipe Miocic’s title.
9: Walt Harris
After being released by the UFC in 2013, Walt Harris returned to the company a year later and faced Soa Palelei at UFC Fight Night 55.
The 37-year-old has had a bumpy career since returning to the UFC; he’s participated in 12 fights, lost five of them and had one overturned after testing positive for Ligandrol.
Harris fought Alistair Overeem at UFC on ESPN on May 16, 2020, where he lost the bout by TKO.
8: Alistair Overeem
The nine-year veteran, Alistair Overeem, 40, arrived on the UFC scene in convincing fashion by picking up a TKO victory over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.
Since his debut in 2011, Overeem has participated in 19 UFC fights with seven losses.
Overeem had his title shot against Miocic at UFC 203 in 2016, but failed to capture the gold, losing by KO.
His most recent victory came over Sakai at UFC Fight Night 176, when he KO’d the Japanese-Brazilian fighter on September 5.
7: Junior Dos Santos
Junior Dos Santos, 36, arrived on the scene at UFC in 2008 and made an immediate impact since he stepped foot in the Octagon.
The Brazilian has participated in 22 fights since arriving on the scene 12 years ago and only lost seven.
His heavyweight stock has taken a hit as he’s currently on a three fight losing streak.
Santos faced Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 252 on August 15, 2020, but lost the bout by TKO in the second round.
6: Alexander Volkov
Alexander Volkov, 31, made his UFC debut four years ago at UFC Fight Night on November 19, 2016.
The Russian has fought seven times since, losing only twice.
Volkov’s only big fight came this year, against Curtis Blaydes in the main event of UFC on ESPN, which he lost via unanimous decision (UD).
Prior to that fight, the Russian was expected to face Overeem on April 20, 2019, but Volkov pulled out from the contest for undisclosed reasons.
He was also scheduled to face Dos Santos on November 9, 2019, however, Dos Santos was forced to pull out due to contracting a serious bacterial infection.
He’s scheduled to fight Walt Harris on October 25, 2020 at UFC 254.
5: Derrick Lewis
Derrick Lewis, 35, made his UFC debut six years ago. During that time he’s fought the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Daniel Cormier, Alexander Volkov and Francis Ngannou.
The 35-year-old fought Daniel Cormier for the UFC Heavyweight title at UFC 230 in 2018, but lost the contest via submission after Cormier put him in a rear-naked choke.
In his latest fight, he faced Aleksei Oleinik at UFC Fight Night on August 8, 2020, where he broke the UFC record for most heavyweight knockout’s with 11.
Lewis is currently riding a three fight winning streak by beating Oleinik, Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov.
4: Jairzinho Rozenstruik
Jairzinho Rozenstruik has shown why he is one of the best heavyweights in the UFC thus far.
The 32-year-old made his UFC debut in February 2019 and has competed in six fight, losing just once.
Before making the transition to the UFC, Rozenstruik fought all over the world in countries such as Japan, Russia, Brazil and his home of Suriname.
His overall professional MMA record stands at 11-1, with his only loss coming at the hands of Francis Ngannou at UFC 249 in May 2020.
Rozenstruik last fought against Dos Santos on August 15, 2020 at UFC 252. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.
3: Curtis Blaydes
Since making his UFC debut in 2016, Curtis Blaydes has been showcasing why he deserves a title shot against Miocic.
His only two losses came against Francis Ngannou, in his debut match at UFC Fight Night in 2016 and then again in 2018.
Blaydes has defeated heavyweights such as Mark Hunt, Dos Santos, Volkov and Overeem.
The 29-year-old is scheduled to face Derrick Lewis on November 28, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 184.
2: Francis Ngannou
The man who is next in line at Miocic’s Heavyweight championship is Francis Ngannou.
UFC president Dana White spoke about Jon Jones’ jump to the heavyweight division and noted that Ngannou was next in line for a title shot.
“In my opinion, Jones is the greatest of all-time, and if he wants to come back and take a shot at the heavyweight championship, I wouldn’t have a problem with that,” White said.
“But he can’t just jump in front of Ngannou right now.”
In 2018, Ngannou had his shot at the heavyweight title when he faced Miocic, but failed to capitalize on the moment losing the contest by UA.
The 34-year-old has beaten Blaydes twice, Dos Santos, Rozenstruik Overeem and even Cain Velasquez last year, when Velasquez was attempting a UFC comeback.
1: Stipe Miocic
The UFC heavyweight champ and nine-year veteran Stipe Miocic is currently on his second reign as champion.
The 38-year-old champ has only lost three times in the Octagon since his debut in 2011.
His first reign as champion came in 2016, after he defeated Fabricio Werdum by KO to win the title.
In 2018, he lost the title to Daniel Cormier at UFC 226 after four successful title defenses.
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The following year at UFC 241, Miocic won his title back when he defeated Cormier in a rematch.
Miocic won the contest via TKO when he knocked out Cormier in the fourth round.
The trilogy between the two fighters took place on August 15, 2020, at UFC 252, as Miocic successfully defended the title and won by decision.