10 Best UFC Fighters Of The Last Decade

In terms of skill development and level of fighters competing, it's been an absolutely incredible decade for the sport of MMA. With the UFC being the biggest promotion in the world, they've seen the vast majority of the finest mixed martial artists come through their doors.

Anyone who has been watching the sport since or before 2010 has seen a lot of these fighters make their UFC debuts, fight a number of tough opponents, before eventually reaching a level of success that they couldn't even fathom during the early parts of their MMA journey.

We've gone back through the record books and picked out the most dominant fighters to compete in this era of MMA. From heavyweight greats, double champions and fight-finishing killers, these are the mixed martial artists who have taken MMA to the next level and made an undeniable mark on one of the biggest sports on earth.

However, when you're talking about the best of the best, which fighter will come in number one? Let's take a look to see which fighters have been chosen, why they've been picked and where they've been ranked on this definitive list for the decade.

Tony Ferguson is the only fighter on this list to not have held an undisputed title at some point during the last 10 years, but that's not from lack of trying or not being deserving. In fact, if Ferguson doesn't at least compete for a title during the last few months of 2019, he'll be the best fighter to not have fought for a belt during the last decade.

Other than his longtime rival, Khabib Nurmagomedov, there hasn't been a more dominant lightweight inside the UFC. Since he made his debut in 2011, Ferguson has fought 16 times, winning 15 of those fights with 11 of those coming via finish. Those 15 wins haven't been against scrubs either. He's beaten great fighters like Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis and Rafael Dos Anjos during this exceptional run.

However, it's one thing to beat an opponent, but what he does inside the Octagon is far worse. It's become a re-occurring situation during El Cucuy's fights that he really messes up his opponent's face. They become bloody messes within the first round, such is volume and the power in his hands. After awhile the punishment simply becomes too much.

Will he be a champion one day? Only time will tell. However, what can't be taken away from him is that he's been nearly perfect over the last decade in the sport's toughest division.