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While ranked UFC fighters often demand more fan attention than unranked fighters, there are diamonds lurking on the lower ends of the promotion's many divisions. Mixed martial artists of every variety have emerged from the bowels of the unranked world to high spots on the UFC ladder.
Khamzat Chimaev and Shavkat Rakhmonov were both unranked at one point, yet both men are carving a path through the UFC welterweight division, with many proclaiming them as future UFC champions. Sean O'Malley, one of the biggest stars in the UFC bantamweight division, was an unranked prospect for most of his UFC career before finally making his climb up the divisional rankings.
The current crop of unranked UFC fighters is as interesting as ever. In an effort to identify who among them are the greatest, this list will outline their records, accomplishments and skill-sets to determine the 5 best unranked UFC fighters today.
#5. UFC middleweight Brendan Allen
At 19-5, Brendan Allen is a standout in the unranked class of the middleweight division. He is serviceable in most facets of mixed martial arts but is not necessarily great in any area. Allen's striking is decent, relying largely on pressure to fluster his foes to create openings for his takedowns. Once the American manages to drag an opponent to the ground, he becomes a far more dangerous fighter.
Due to his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Allen is an effective grappler once he's on top of his foes, threatening them with submissions and strikes alike. Furthermore, Allen's positional grappling is impressive for an unranked fighter. While most grapplers avoid attempting omoplatas due to their low success rate in submitting opponents, the hold can work as a positional grappling tool.
When Allen fought Kyle Daukaus, he used the omoplata to force Daukaus into rolling out of the submission to free his shoulder. What Daukaus didn't know was that Allen was using the omoplata to sweep him. Allen rolled with his foe, ending up on top in side control.
Unfortunately, where Allen falls short is his defensive striking and his lack of a strong wrestling game to consistently drag his foes to the ground, which ultimately led to his lopsided loss to Sean Strickland.
#4. UFC lightweight Paddy Pimblett
Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett is the UFC's latest English sensation. Upon signing with the UFC, 'The Baddy' opted to make his home in the promotion's lightweight division.
Like many fighters in the modern era, Pimblett is fairly well-rounded, possessing significant punching power and exceptional Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. He frequently uses knees and front kicks but lacks the ability to manage distance effectively.
Defensively, 'The Baddy' is irresponsible, often lunging at his foes without moving his head off the center-line or tucking his chin. Furthermore, Pimblett often fights with his hands low, relying on his toughness to walk through his opponent's offense. Where Pimblett truly shines is his grappling. While he doesn't possess a strong wrestling game, 'The Baddy' uses judo throws and trips as judo takedowns land him in advantageous positions like side control.
Without having to pass his opponent's guard, Pimblett ensures that the moment a fight hits the mat, he's in a strong position ahead of his foe's guard. Once he's on top of his opponents, Pimblett is a force, using ground-and-pound to create openings for submissions while never neglecting his positional grappling. Additionally, Pimblett is also creative.
In his recent bout with Jordan Leavitt, 'The Baddy' trapped one of his foe's arms against his torso with a figure-four leg-lock, leaving his opponent with only one free arm to defend the rear-naked choke that Pimblett eventually secured, improving his record to 19-3.
#3. UFC featherweight Ryan Hall
One of the most dangerous and skilled grapplers on the UFC roster, Ryan Hall is a 3rd degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who was one of the featherweight division's most avoided fighters due to his penchant for leg-locks. Thus, fighters typically avoid engaging Hall on the ground, which enables a large portion of his striking offense.
Since his foes are so fearful of his submission skills and don't dare shoot for takedowns against him, Hall fights with zero apprehension.
The TUF 22 winner implements an odd kicking game to preoccupy his opponents. Since his foes don't catch his kicks in order to avoid granting Hall any opening to initiate a scramble or grappling sequence, he's able to throw kicks without fear. His kicks to the midsection cause his opponents to straighten their posture and narrow their footing, exposing their lower bodies to Hall's patented Imanari roll.
Even when he's unsuccessful at wrapping his legs around a foe's for a leg-lock after an Imanari roll, Hall has no fear of anyone swarming him on the mat as they usually back away to prevent him from grabbing one of their legs. While his recent loss to Ilia Topuria revealed the first fighter who was unafraid to follow him to the ground, Hall's strategy has earned him wins over the likes of B.J. Penn, Darren Elkins and Gray Maynard, with his record sitting at 9-2.
#2. UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez
UFC rising star Adrian Yanez is currently riding a 9-fight win streak. His brutal win over controversial former UFC fighter Tony Kelley endeared him to fight fans around the world. While Yanez is unranked, he's shockingly skilled and is able to do things that even ranked fighters don't often do.
First, the Texan parries his opponent's kicks. Not only does he parry kicks, he does so to create openings for his counters.
Against Tony Kelley, Yanez parried his foe's kicks all the way across himself, enabling him to position himself at an angle that primes him to counter his opponents on their open side. Whenever he opts for a quicker parry, he steps in towards his foe with punches targeting the head and body while his opponent is still standing on one leg and in a poor position to absorb his blows.
Additionally, Yanez is an intelligent jabber, often jabbing with his opponents to interrupt them and prevent them from building combinations or settling into a rhythm. When combined with his defensive aptitude, Yanez frequently creates openings for his devastating counterpunches, which combine well with his thunderous punching power, earning the bantamweight contender a 16-3 record.
Lastly, Yanez is no slouch on the ground, possessing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to act as insurance against those who mistake him for a pure striker.
#1. UFC lightweight Gregor Gillespie
Formerly unbeaten, Gregor Gillespie has the potential to storm into the top 3 of the UFC's deepest division: lightweight.
While the former NCAA Division I champion suffered a stunning knockout loss to Kevin Lee at UFC 244, it remains the only blemish on Gillespie's MMA record. A 14-1 fighter with a competent striking game, Gillespie keeps his hands high and uses slick head movement to slip on the inside of his opponent's punches before uncorking a thunderous counterpunch.
Despite his serviceable striking, 'The Gift' is a wrestler at heart and an extremely skilled one at that. Gillespie applies immense pressure on his opponents, using the threat of his striking to create openings for his takedowns.
The logic behind his strategy is simple. With his foes focused on his punches, they raise their hands to either block or parry, exposing their hips. Furthermore, whenever they try countering him, they square their hips, overexposing them to his takedowns.
Thus, Gillespie often baits counterpunches from his opponents so that he may duck under them. Other times, 'The Gift' uses level changes, going low-high or high-low to drag his foe's defense to and fro, stopping them from settling into a rhythm. Once Gillespie dives in for the hips, he's relentless, stepping through and turning in at strong angles before finding a weak plane that compromises his opponent's balance as he drags them to the mat.
The moment Gillespie manages to get on top of his foes, the former NCAA Division I champion becomes a force of nature, threatening opponents with brutal ground-and-pound and submissions. The aggression with which Gillespie fights is such that he has only gone to decision twice in 14 fights.
