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The UFC has seen some ruthless finishers over its time. The likes of Vitor Belfort, Donald Cerrone and Joe Lauzon are, in particular, renowned for their skill in putting opponents away.
While the UFC has seen plenty of renowned finishers, some of the most ruthless fighters when it comes to putting their opponents away might be surprising.
So considering that, here are five fighters who are surprisingly amongst the best finishers in UFC history.
#1 Charles Oliveira – 17 finishes in the UFC
Charles Oliveira has been a pretty renowned finisher in the UFC for some time now. But it’s still a surprise to find out that he has the most in UFC history.
Do Bronx has finished 17 foes inside the octagon, his most recent victim being Michael Chandler in their fight for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 262.
Despite his knockout of Chandler, it’s Oliveira’s submission skills that are the most feared part of the Brazilian’s arsenal. With 14 tap-outs to his name, he has the most submission wins in UFC history.
And even more impressively, of his 19 UFC victories, only two of them – his fights with Tony Ferguson and Jeremy Stephens - have gone the distance.
That gives him a ludicrous 93.75% finish-per-win percentage, the highest in UFC history. When all is considered, it’s probably safe to call Oliveira the most dangerous finisher in the UFC.
#2 Matt Hughes – 13 finishes in the UFC
Matt Hughes’ status as the greatest welterweight in UFC history was largely usurped by Georges St. Pierre a long time ago. But the wrestler from Hillsboro, Illinois, has the Canadian trumped in one area.
That’s when it comes to finishes inside the octagon.
Somewhat surprisingly, given his reputation at one point for being a dull fighter of sorts, Hughes has 13 finishes to his name in the UFC.
Had his catchweight bout with Royce Gracie at UFC 60 been held at the 170lbs welterweight limit, Hughes, rather than Matt Brown, would have had the most finishes in UFC welterweight history too.
It’s also worth considering the quality of Hughes’ finishes too.
While he was taken to decision by the likes of Matt Serra and Chris Lytle, Hughes was able to finish greats such as St. Pierre, BJ Penn and Hayato Sakurai.
In fact, there might be an argument for Hughes being the most underrated finisher in UFC history.
#3 Ovince St. Preux – 11 finishes in the UFC
Two fighters hold the record for the most finishes in UFC light heavyweight history. One – the ruthless Glover Teixeira – is no surprise, but the other man with 11 finishes to his name is a bit of a shock.
It isn’t Chuck Liddell, Jon Jones, or Lyoto Machida, but fringe contender Ovince St. Preux.
One of the most tenured veterans in the UFC right now, OSP has been with the promotion since 2013. And it’s his impressive schedule in the years that have followed that have allowed him to gain so many finishes.
St. Preux has fought 23 times in the octagon during his nine years with the promotion, averaging nearly three per year.
And of his 13 UFC victories, just two have gone the distance, with Gian Villante and Rafael Feijao taking him to a decision.
OSP’s go-to move has been the previously rare Von Flue choke, with four of his opponents submitting to it. But he’s also a prolific knockout artist, with five opponents going down by KO.
While he’s never come close to winning UFC gold, victories over the likes of Shogun Rua and Corey Anderson make OSP one of the promotion’s better light heavyweights in recent years.
#4 Demetrious Johnson – 7 finishes in the UFC
Throughout his tenure as UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson was often regarded as a boring fighter, with many fans accusing him of point-fighting and lay-and-pray.
Surprisingly though, that reputation couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mighty Mouse actually holds the record for most finishes in UFC flyweight history with seven. And when you consider that he won 15 fights during his UFC career, it becomes hard to complain about his finishing ability.
Some of Johnson’s most well-known victims include Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez, who were stopped via TKO. Kyoji Horiguchi and Ray Borg were both submitted by Johnson.
Sure, Mighty Mouse did go to decision on a handful of occasions. But during his dominant title reign, there were few more dangerous finishers in the UFC.
However, the fact that current UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo has tied Johnson’s record of seven finishes despite having six fewer wins does mean that he may be overshadowed in the future.
#5 Jim Miller – 13 finishes in the UFC
One of the UFC’s longest-tenured fighters with over 12 years of action inside the octagon under his belt, it should come as no surprise that Jim Miller has a lot of finishes to his name.
However, it might be surprising to learn that Miller has a total of 13 UFC finishes, putting him amongst the most deadly fighters to ever compete in the promotion.
Miller’s first UFC finish came in his debut, as he submitted David Baron in the third round.
He would actually go another three fights without a finish following that, but he’s definitely been prolific since then.
Miller has finished his foes by both TKO and submission. He even holds a tapout win over current UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, becoming the first man to defeat him in MMA in the process.
And even as he slows down at the age of 37, Miller is still a highly dangerous finisher.
He’s lost his last two fights via decision, but his last four wins have all come with choke variants. In fact, the last time he won a fight via decision was way back in 2016.
