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#4. Nick Diaz – UFC welterweight
Nick Diaz is not just one of the most popular fighters in the UFC right now, it’s arguable that the Stockton native is one of the most popular fighters in UFC history, period.
Diaz’s UFC record isn’t actually all that impressive. Across two stints with the promotion, he’s gone 7-6-1, although it must be noted that he’s also fought some of the greatest fighters of all time – names like Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn.
But despite an abrasive, devil-may-care personality, UFC fans simply adore Diaz. His name never seems too far from the news, and whenever he’s linked with a fight in the octagon, the entire internet seems to light up with excitement.
Despite preparing for a fight with former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 266, Diaz remains unranked by the promotion right now.
It’s quite obvious why this is the case. It’s all down to Diaz’s lengthy stretches of inactivity. The Californian has not fought in the UFC since his No Contest with Anderson Silva, which took place in February 2015.
And prior to that, he’d fought just three times since returning to the UFC in 2011, defeating Penn but losing to Carlos Condit and St-Pierre.
It’s honestly likely that Diaz doesn’t care in the slightest that he’s unranked by the UFC. It clearly hasn’t affected his popularity, and the fact that his fight with Silva drew over 600k pay-per-view buys, and his fight with GSP drew over a million, proves that.
And given that the UFC has made his fight with Lawler a five-round clash, it seems the UFC doesn’t mind that this popular star is unranked, either.
#3. Tai Tuivasa – UFC heavyweight
In a lot of respects, it’s a bit of a stretch to label Tai Tuivasa a UFC heavyweight contender right now. The Australian, despite being in the UFC since 2017 and headlining a show against former UFC champ Junior Dos Santos, is still more of a prospect.
However, despite the fact that his record is largely middling, with losses to fighters such as Sergey Spivak and Blagoy Ivanov, ‘Bam Bam’ has become one of the most popular young fighters in the UFC today.
It’s easy to understand why. Tuivasa is a highly exciting fighter inside the octagon, fighting with a reckless striking style that often sees him get hurt just as much as he’s able to hurt his opponents.
And outside of the octagon, ‘Bam Bam’ is a fountain of charisma to the point that everything he does is inherently watchable. He walks out to eclectic music, often singing along to old-school power ballads like Everything I Do (I Do It For You) and My Heart Will Go On.
And he celebrates his victories in the most outrageous way possible – by drinking a beer from a shoe, usually one belonging to a fan.
It’s possible that Tuivasa will find himself ranked by the UFC in the near future. There are a number of aging veterans still ranked in the top 15, and ‘Bam Bam’ is currently on a three-fight winning streak and seems to be improving rapidly.
However, for now this young Australian remains one of the UFC’s more popular unranked fighters.
