The Best UFC Fighters of 2023 Revealed | Parimatch

The Best UFC Fighters Pound-for-Pound in the Men’s Division

1. Jon Jones

36-year-old Jon Jones is the latest UFC heavyweight champion and the number-one pound-for-pound fighter in men’s UFC. The likes of Francis Ngannou recently described Jones as the greatest UFC fighter of all time, which is high praise indeed from a fighter who’s also made his mark on the UFC heavyweight division. 

Many also consider Jones one of the most technically gifted fighting styles in defensive and offensive situations. With just one defeat in 29 matches – the defeat coming as a disqualification for illegal use of elbows – Jones has a unique aura about him in the Octagon. 

Just ten of his 27 wins have come by points decision, with ten knockouts and seven submissions. He’s only fought once in the last three years, defeating Ciryl Gane in Las Vegas with a guillotine choke. 

2. Alexander Volkanovski

Australian featherweight Alexander Volkanovski also claims to be one of the planet’s best UFC fighters right now. The 34-year-old holds the UFC featherweight title, initially starting out in the Octagon as a lightweight. 

In May 2019, Volkanovski made history by taking the featherweight belt in a strong showing against Jose Aldo at UFC 237. Volkanovski has since defended his featherweight title on six occasions, including a fascinating trilogy with Max Holloway. His most recent win came over interim featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez, winning the title unification fight via TKO. 

Volkanovski also attempted to move back up a weight division into lightweight, facing Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight title in February 2023. However, he would fall short against Makhachev via a unanimous points decision. 

3. Islam Makhachev

31-year-old Islam Makhachev is one of the most feared prospects in UFC right now. Currently ranked third in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, the UFC lightweight champion has a 25-1 win record. His solitary loss came back in October 2015 when Adriano Martins stunned him with a knockout punch at UFC 192. 

Makhachev fought Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 for the vacant lightweight belt and was a comfortable winner via submission. He then confidently despatched Volkanovski to defend his title in February 2023, with a rematch against Charles Oliveira slated for Q4 2023. 

Makhachev is a talented operator who has been fighting professionally since 2010, having been crowned world champion of combat Sambo in 2016. He has a loyal following of fans in his native Republic of Dagestan in Russia. 

4. Leon Edwards

English MMA star Leon Edwards is one of the most fearsome fighters in UFC’s welterweight division. He currently holds the welterweight belt, having initially fought on British soil with Fight UK MMA and, latterly, BAMMA. Since November 2014, Edwards has been a consistent figure in UFC, with a 21-3 record making him fourth on the latest pound-for-pound rankings. 

Seven years after his first fight with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Edwards earned his rematch in August 2022 at UFC 278 and didn’t waste the opportunity. Edwards claimed a career-defining knockout to become welterweight champion. 

Edwards accepted another rematch with Usman at UFC 286 in March 2023. The Englishman demonstrated exceptional defence to repel most of Usman’s takedown attempts and out-strike him to win again via a majority points decision. 

5. Israel Adesanya

Nigerian middleweight Israel Adesanya is a hugely talented MMA fighter. A professional kickboxer, boxer and MMA fighter, it’s no surprise Adesanya has made such a big impression on the UFC scene. Adesanya is the current and two-time middleweight champion in the UFC. 

He first won the middleweight title in April 2019, overcoming Kelvin Gastelum in a topsy-turvy encounter at UFC 236. He followed that up with a title unification win over Robert Whittaker later that year at UFC 243. After multiple middleweight title defences against the likes of Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa, Adesanya stepped up to light heavyweight to take on Jan Blachowicz. He suffered his first UFC defeat by unanimous points decision. 

Adesanya remains imperious at middleweight level, though, with no-one seemingly coming close to snatching that belt from him right now. 

The Best UFC Fighters Pound-for-Pound in the Women’s Division

1. Alexa Grasso

Mexican UFC icon Alexa Grasso is out on her own at the top of the women’s pound-for-pound UFC rankings. The 30-year-old is one of the best female UFC fighters ever seen. She started out as a professional MMA fighter in her native Mexico before signing contracts with Invicta FC and UFC in August 2016. 

Having spent most of her early UFC career at strawweight, Grasso moved up to flyweight in 2020 and hasn’t looked back since.  

In March 2023, Grasso finally got her shot at the women’s flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko. Grasso went into the contest a big underdog, but a fourth-round face crank was enough to tip the balance and earn Mexico its first female UFC champion. Rematches with Shevchenko are in the offing as Grasso becomes the number-one target in women’s UFC. 

2. Zhang Weili

34-year-old Zhang Weili is the reigning and two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion. After fighting professionally in MMA with Kunlun Fight MMA in her native China, Weili secured a contract with the UFC promotion in 2018. 

It’s a mark of her undisputed ability that she was pitched in for the UFC strawweight championship title fight after just three UFC wins. Weili locked horns with Jessica Andrade at UFC 157, where she made light work of her opponent thanks to a first-round TKO. Weili became China’s first UFC champion, catapulting her into MMA stardom in Asia. 

Her first defence of the strawweight belt came against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and her narrow victory was dubbed one of the finest women’s UFC fights ever. Weili was then defeated in her second defence against Rose Namajunas in April 2021, following an expertly executed head kick. 

Weili lost the rematch with Namajunas in November 2021 before regaining her confidence and swagger with another rematch win over Jedrzejczyk. Weili was next in line to compete for the strawweight belt against reigning champ Carla Esparza, and the Chinese reclaimed the title with a second-round submission. 

3. Valentina Shevchenko

Kyrgyzstani UFC fighter Valentina Shevchenko is third in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings, and with good reason. The 35-year-old is one of the most technically gifted MMA female fighters, having been a Muay Thai fighter before her switch to the UFC promotion. 

Shevchenko is ranked at the top of the UFC women’s flyweight rankings and is the former flyweight champion. She took the vacant flyweight belt with a victory over Joanna Jadrzejczyk by unanimous points decision. Shevchenko defended her UFC flyweight title on seven occasions before losing to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 in March 2023. 

4. Julianna Peña

34-year-old American Julianna Pena is a former UFC bantamweight champion and has risen back to the number-one spot in the UFC bantamweight rankings in recent months. With Venezuelan heritage, Pena is nicknamed ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ within the UFC promotion. 

She shot to stardom by becoming the inaugural female winner of The Ultimate Fighter. Pena’s time in UFC has been fragmented, with serious knee injuries forcing her out of action in 2014. After an inconsistent spell between 2015-2017, Pena then announced an indefinite hiatus from UFC, returning after having a child two-and-a-half years later. 

Pena’s big shot came in December 2011 when she was in pole position to face Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Pena was a heavy underdog but prevailed with an impressive choke submission. Pena lost the belt in the rematch at UFC 277 by unanimous points decision. 

5. Erin Blanchfield

Aged 24, Erin Blanchfield is one of the brightest female prospects in the UFC promotion. She has already risen to number two in the flyweight rankings and is now fifth pound-for-pound. 

She has made an instant impression with 12 wins and a single loss to her name. Blanchfield was involved in jiu-jitsu since the age of seven and took up kickboxing and grappling events aged just nine. 

Wondering when the best UFC fighters in the men’s or women’s division are fighting next? Head over to our UFC betting markets for a list of upcoming bouts and odds to consider. At Parimatch, we specialise in all kinds of MMA betting markets, as well as mainstream sports betting markets, including the latest football odds and horse racing odds. 

Remember – responsible UFC betting equals fun UFC betting. Check out our Safer Gambling Portal for all the features and tools you’ll need to take total control of your Parimatch sports betting account.