5 best undefeated fighters in the UFC right now feat. Khamzat Chimaev and Ilia Topuria

UFC 308: Whittaker v Chimaev - Source: Getty
Khamzat Chimaev will fight for the middleweight gold at UFC 319 (Image courtesy: Getty)

In the world of the UFC, maintaining an undefeated record is very difficult indeed. Even legends like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva suffered losses in the octagon during their careers.

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Right now, though, there are a number of excellent undefeated fighters in the UFC, and it feels like at least one of them will claim gold before they lose.

Of course, the chances of any of them retiring unbeaten - like Khabib Nurmagomedov - are slim, but stranger things have happened.

For now, here are the five best undefeated fighters in the UFC right now.

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#5. Michael Morales - UFC welterweight contender

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This weekend's UFC event saw unbeaten welterweight prospect Michael Morales pick up his biggest win to date.

The Ecuadorian star stopped former title challenger Gilbert Burns in the first round of their clash, extending his overall record to 18-0.

Six of Morales' wins have come in the octagon, and this weekend's victory over 'Durinho' was the first time he'd ever headlined an event. To say he didn't show any hints of being under pressure would be an understatement.

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Morales basically starched Burns, walking him down with booming strikes before dropping him twice en route to a stoppage. Nobody, not even current 170-pound champ Jack Della Maddalena, had dispatched the Brazilian so easily.

How far away from a title shot is the Ecuadorian? It's hard to say, given the lengthy queue of fighters near the top of the welterweight division.

However, based on how he's dealt with incrementally trickier opponents thus far, it's easy to imagine him riding his unbeaten run all the way to a title fight.

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#4. Movsar Evloev - UFC featherweight contender

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Based on the fact that he holds an unbeaten record of 19-0 and has claimed nine of those wins in the UFC, it's surprising that Movsar Evloev hasn't had a title shot yet.

Remarkably, though, the No.4-ranked featherweight hasn't even headlined an event yet, let alone found himself in line for a crack at 145-pound gold.

Why is this? The most likely explanation is that the Russian has developed an unfortunate reputation as somewhat of a dull fighter to watch.

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The truth of this is debatable. On one hand, it is fair to say that he's not a lethal finisher, as all of his UFC bouts have gone the distance. On the other hand, though, it would also be hard to argue that his clashes with Aljamain Sterling and Arnold Allen were boring.

However, Evloev's grappling style - which seems to center more around control than attempting to beat his foes up like say, Merab Dvalishvili - would naturally frustrate some fans.

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Right now, though, there's no denying that the Russian is a hugely effective fighter, and nobody - including Sterling, Allen and Diego Lopes - has been able to crack the code to beating him.

Given his high ranking, it's likely he'll have to face a very tough opponent next, though - so whether he can hold onto his undefeated record will be a very interesting question.


#3. Shavkat Rakhmonov - UFC welterweight contender

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While Michael Morales' big win over Gilbert Burns this past weekend has given him plenty of momentum, he still isn't the highest-ranked undefeated welterweight in the UFC.

That spot belongs to the No.3-ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov, who boasts an incredible record of 19-0.

To say that 'The Nomad' is a brilliant fighter would be an understatement. Not only is he undefeated, but seven of his wins have come in the octagon, including impressive victories over Ian Machado Garry and Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson.

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Most impressively, the native of Kazakhstan is a phenomenal finisher. Machado Garry was the first opponent to ever go the distance with him, and he's capable of stopping foes in any way. Of his 18 finishes, eight have come via knockout, ten via submission.

Essentially, to this point, not only has nobody come close to beating Rakhmonov, it's almost been impossible to even survive the distance with him.

When will Rakhmonov finally get the title shot he was promised last year? With Islam Makhachev now jumping the queue, he may need to fight again beforehand - meaning he'll have to take his record to 20-0 in the process.

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#2. Khamzat Chimaev - UFC middleweight contender

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It feels like it's been a long time coming, but UFC 319, which is set to go down in August, will finally see Khamzat Chimaev fight for gold inside the octagon.

In many ways, it seems like 'Borz', who is undefeated at 14-0, has been around for ages. In fact, it isn't even five years since he made his octagon debut yet.

To say he's been on a meteoric rise since would be an understatement. Chimaev famously won two fights in the space of ten days at the start of his UFC career, breaking a promotional record in the process.

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Since then, he's beaten a further six opponents, usually in remarkably one-sided fashion.

Realistically, the only opponents to give him any difficulties whatsoever were Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman, who both lasted the distance. Outside of that, even talented fighters like Robert Whittaker and Li Jingliang were simply blown away by the Chechnyan.

Given Chimaev fought most of his early fights at 170 pounds, it's interesting that he'll be facing Dricus du Plessis for the 185-pound title. However, with the ease with which he dispatched Whittaker, he's clearly earned his opportunity.

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Based on what he's achieved so far, then, it almost feels like he's destined to win the title this summer, and become what he's always threatened to be - the biggest star in the UFC.


#1. Ilia Topuria - former UFC featherweight champion

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It's probably fair to say that the best undefeated fighter in the UFC right now is the only one - so far at least - to have claimed gold in the octagon.

The fighter in question, of course, is Ilia Topuria. 'El Matador' is no longer a champion, having vacated the featherweight title he won last year, but even that could change as soon as next month.

The Spanish-Georgian fighter was a bit of a slow burner in his early days with the promotion. He outpointed Youssef Zalal in his octagon debut before scoring knockouts of lower-level foes like Damon Jackson and Jai Herbert.

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It was his submission win over vaunted grappler Bryce Mitchell that really opened everyone's eyes, though, and when he followed that by destroying Josh Emmett over five rounds, it was impossible not to take him seriously.

Still, very few fans expected him to smash his way through Alexander Volkanovski - basically the greatest 145-pounder of all time - to claim the featherweight title. To see him follow that by crushing Max Holloway, actually knocking the iron-chinned Hawaiian out, was incredible.

So can Topuria continue this run of success by winning the vacant lightweight title when he faces Charles Oliveira in June? If he can do that - taking his overall record to 17-0 - he'll be talked about as an all-time great.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi
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