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This weekend sees UFC 272 take place in Las Vegas. In the headline bout, one of the promotion’s most dominant wrestlers is in action, as Colby Covington faces Jorge Masvidal.
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of top-level wrestlers dominate their foes inside the UFC’s octagon. Right now, things are no different.
The promotion is currently home to a number of dominant wrestlers. Some even holding gold in their weight classes while others are looking likely to do that in the near future.
With that considered, here are the five most dominant wrestlers currently fighting in the octagon.
#5. Islam Makhachev – UFC lightweight contender
It’s arguable that prior to his retirement at the end of 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov was the most dominant wrestler operating in the UFC. Since the retirement of ‘The Eagle’ though, another Dagestani lightweight has broken through and taken his mantle.
Islam Makhachev’s wrestling has not been quite as dominant as Khabib’s in the octagon just yet. This is largely because he hasn’t faced as many great opponents as Khabib did. However, it’s safe to say that as a takedown artist, he’s absolutely fantastic.
Makhachev has averaged 3.41 takedowns per fight during his tenure with the promotion, which dates back to 2015. More to the point, he also has a takedown accuracy of 65%, which is higher than Khabib’s 48% accuracy.
In fact, Makhachev’s takedown accuracy is the 10th best in the promotion’s history. It makes him the most accurate takedown artist on the current roster.
More to the point, the Dagestani is not one-dimensional when it comes to his wrestling skills. He is capable of hitting double legs from the outside – as he did to Bobby Green in their recent bout – but also uses trips and throws from the clinch, like the high-octane toss he used to ground Leo Kuntz in his octagon debut.
Add in the fact that he’s only been taken down once in his entire career, and it’s safe to say that Makhachev is easily one of MMA's most dominant wrestlers right now.
#4. Merab Dvalishvili – UFC bantamweight contender
While the UFC’s current bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, has an excellent background in wrestling, it’s arguable that ‘The Funk Master’ is not the best wrestler in his division right now.
That award goes to Merab Dvalishvili, who is almost certainly one of the most dominant wrestlers in the entire promotion, period.
A native of Georgia – a country that regularly produces high-level wrestlers – Dvalishvili debuted in the octagon back in 2017. While he fell to defeat in his first two outings, he’s since reeled off seven straight wins to move into title contention.
Simply put, ‘The Machine’ often looks like an unstoppable takedown artist. He has averaged a ludicrous 7.30 takedowns per fight thus far with a high accuracy of 45%.
His bout with Gustavo Lopez in 2020 saw him land a total of 13 takedowns, the fourth-most in the promotion’s history. No other bantamweight can match his total of 50 takedowns overall.
More recently, though, Dvalishvili has been learning to use his wrestling in reverse. With a takedown defense rate of 78%, it’s proven difficult for his foes to get him to the ground. In his last fight, he used that to his advantage to knock out former title challenger Marlon Moraes.
Essentially, ‘The Machine’ looks set to climb to the top at 135lbs. If he does so, it’ll be largely down to his phenomenal wrestling.
#3. Colby Covington – UFC welterweight contender
Undoubtedly one of the most dominant wrestlers in the UFC today, Colby Covington will look to utilize his skills this weekend to defeat his former teammate now turned rival, Jorge Masvidal.
An NCAA Division I All-American in wrestling at Oregon State University, ‘Chaos’ debuted in the octagon in 2014. After putting together a 5-0 record on the regional circuit, he quickly established himself as a fighter to watch in the welterweight division.
After putting together a record of 8-1, 2018 saw Covington reach the top of his division by defeating Rafael dos Anjos for the interim UFC welterweight title.
While two losses to Kamaru Usman have prevented him from ever being recognized as the world’s best 170lber, he remains highly dangerous thanks to his wrestling.
‘Chaos’ has averaged a total of 4.10 takedowns per fight during his career in the octagon. The high point came when he hit 12 takedowns against Bryan Barberena in 2016.
More importantly, Covington’s excellent wrestling has allowed him to utilize excellent takedown defense. This means he’s been able to open up with his tremendous volume striking against opponents like Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley.
Essentially, no fighter – even Usman – has been able to outwrestle Covington in the octagon, meaning he should definitely be seen as one of the best wrestlers in the promotion.
#2. Curtis Blaydes – UFC heavyweight contender
The UFC’s heavyweight division has always been home to some great wrestlers, from legendary former champions like Randy Couture, Dan Severn and Mark Coleman, to more modern titleholders such as Cain Velasquez and Brock Lesnar.
While he doesn’t hold the heavyweight title right now, the fighter holding the torch for wrestling in the heavyweight division is Curtis Blaydes. In fact, ‘Razor’ should widely be seen as not just one of the most dominant wrestlers on the current roster, but one of the most dominant of all time too.
Since his octagon debut in April 2016, Blaydes has landed a total of 62 takedowns, giving him the record number in the heavyweight division and putting him at 9th in the UFC’s history. His takedown average per fight stands at a remarkable 6.27%.
More importantly, ‘Razor’ has only failed to take down four opponents during his tenure with the promotion: Francis Ngannou, Derrick Lewis, Daniel Omielanczuk and Junior dos Santos.
When you consider that the former two are responsible for his three losses, and he beat the latter two up on the feet, you get a sense of just how good his wrestling is.
Essentially, at 6’4” and 265lbs, Blaydes is a monster of a man who has as much athleticism and power as any other fighter in the heavyweight division right now. If he decides to take an opponent down with his blast double, they’re usually going down.
Will he ever claim gold in the octagon? That remains to be seen, but it’s hard to dispute his status as one of the UFC’s most dominant wrestlers right now.
#1. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion
Right now, it’s hard to dispute the idea that the most dominant wrestler in the UFC is reigning welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman. While he hasn’t landed as many takedowns as some of the other fighters on this list, nobody else uses their wrestling to such devastating effect in the octagon.
Unlike some of the other wrestlers to enter the octagon, Usman never wrestled collegiately at the Division I level. He won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2010, and was a three-time NCAA Division II All-American.
Despite this, he was immediately pegged as a prospect to watch when he emerged into the UFC in 2015 via the 21st season of The Ultimate Fighter. He certainly hasn’t failed to live up to that promise since.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has put together an insane record of 15-0 in the octagon, basically cleaning out the welterweight division and marking himself out as the most dominant 170lber since the great Georges St-Pierre.
For the most part, it’s been his wrestling that has allowed him to become so unstoppable. Usman has basically taken down every opponent he’s faced – landing a personal best of 12 takedowns in his 2018 win over Rafael dos Anjos – and those that he didn’t take down, he beat on the feet instead.
Most notable, though, is Usman’s defensive wrestling. Despite facing high-level wrestlers like Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has never been taken down once. The stat gives him the best takedown defense in UFC history.
There would easily be an argument for Usman being the most dominant wrestler in the history of the promotion meaning he’s definitely the best they have to offer right now.
