Who are the Best Boxers in each UFC Weight Class?

Apr 5

Ever since former UFC Featherweight Champion, Max Holloway, claimed that he was the best boxer in the UFC during his masterclass against Calvin Kattar, the question as to who is truly the best boxer has been a highly debated topic.

Trying to pick a single fighter that is definitively the best boxer in the UFC has many inherent obstacles, picking one from each weight class can give more clarity as to who’s hands are the most dangerous in each division.

Women’s Strawweight: Yan xiaonan

Yan Xiaonan has time and time again established herself as one of the best pure boxers in the strawweight division. Although she only has one knockout during her time in the promotion, it was against arguably the second best boxer in the division, former Strawweight Champion, Jessica Andrade. She has excellent counters and is able to push the pace with a high output. Her next fight against champion Zhang Weili will be a huge test to see if she can make her striking the difference maker against the well champion.

Women’s Flyweight: Alexa Grasso

Flyweight Champion Alexa Grasso has shown her hands are the most dangerous in the division. In her previous three fights, it has become evident that her boxing has improved in leaps and bounds. She has excellent fundamentals and showed this in her bouts with long time champion, Valentina Shevchenko, where she tagged her on several occasions. She also used her boxing to great success against superior grapplers, such as Maycee Barber, where she stunned her in numerous exchanges.

women’s bantamweight: holly holm

Despite the fact that Holm is at the ripe age of 42, the former Bantamweight Champion still possesses the best boxing in the division. After all, she used to hold several world titles in boxing, namely the IBF, WBF, WBAN, and WIBA titles in the welterweight division. Even at this point in her career, she is still finding great success on the feet and has mainly struggled with strong grapplers such as Mayra Bueno Silva. Her next fight against Kayla Harrison will be telling to see if she will be able to overcome the huge discrepancy in grappling to beat the UFC newcomer and Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo.

Men’s Flyweight: Brandon Royval

Although he may not have one shot knockout power like former Flyweight Champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, Royval proved in his previous fight with Brandon Moreno that his hands are some of the best in the division. His volume in the striking department is unbelievable, and akin to some of the best volume strikers we have seen in the octagon. He did struggle in the early going against Moreno, but once fatigue started to set in, Royval kept his foot on the gas and pieced him up for the final three rounds.

Men’s Bantamweight: Sean o’malley

Ever since Sean O’Malley competed on Dana White’s Contender Series, it was clear that he possessed knockout power rarely seen in the bantamweight division. On top of this, he has only met resistance on the feet against former champion, Petr Yan, who you could argue is one of if not the best boxer at 135 lbs. His finishes over the likes of Eddie Wineland, Thomas Almeida, and Aljamain Sterling definitely showed his power, and performances against Kris Moutinho and Marlon “Chito” Vera show he also has the volume to go with it.

featherweight: Max Holloway

As Holloway has said on many occasions, “in order to be the best, you have to beat the best, and the best is ‘Blessed,’ baby!” Despite the fact that reigning champion Ilia Topuria has what it takes to establish himself as the best at 145 lbs., Holloway has been without a doubt the best boxer in the featherweight division for quite some time. Simply put, Holloway is the best volume striker in UFC History. His record of 3441 career significant strikes is nearly a thousand more than the second most all time, and has no real threat of being touched. Holloway has put on some of the most dominant performances on the feet in recent memory. His title defense against Brian Ortega was so dominant, that at one point in the fight he actually showed Ortega how to block a 1-2 so he would be able to at least defend the onslaught Holloway had coming his way. His magnum opus, however, was his complete dismantling of Calvin Kattar, where he declared himself the best boxer in the UFC and landed a no-look right hand while talking to the commentary team. He set another UFC record in that performance with a mind numbing 581 significant strikes in that fight alone, over a hundred more than the second most.

lightweight: dustin poirier

Dustin Poirier has established himself as another contender for the best boxer in the UFC. His boxing fundamentals have captured the attention of legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, who believes that his hands are the best he has ever seen from a UFC fighter. His ability to mix up targets while possessing one shot knockout power makes him a formidable opponent as long as the fight remains on the feet. Poirier has wins over many great boxers, such as Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje, and two wins over Max Holloway and Conor McGregor. The fact he is still using his boxing to dismantle inferior strikers 30 fights into his UFC career only reinforces the fact that he is one of the very best boxers the UFC has ever seen.

Welterweight: jack della maddalena

Despite only being seven fights into his UFC tenure, Jack Della Maddalena showed immediately that he has some of the best pure boxing in the welterweight division. His ability to mix up his targets is well beyond his years, and has shown glimpses of knockout power in his earlier fights. His most recent performance against former title challenger, Gilbert Burns, showed that he is able to hold his own on the feet against the top echelon of the welterweight division. He still has a lot to prove, but if he keeps this trajectory, he will have no problem establishing himself as the best in the division.

middleweight: sean strickland

When it comes to striking defense in the UFC, it does not get much better than Sean Strickland. His Philly Shell technique, which is seldom seen in mixed martial arts, has allowed him to avoid many big shots against credentialed strikers. Even though he is known for plodding forward and walking down his opponents, his ability to parry and use the shoulder roll make him incredibly hard to hit clean. This coupled with a rock solid jab and a huge gas tank make for a long night for any opponent he faces.

light heavyweight: jamahal hill

Although a popular selection for this weight class would be reigning champion, Alex Pereira, Pereira has a more diverse striking style compared to the boxing heavy Hill. In his bout with Glover Teixeira, he put on a striking clinic, beating the champion handily over the course of five rounds. He not only displayed an ability to put on the pressure, but to also counter very effectively. He also has knockout wins over the likes of Ovince St. Preux, Jimmy Crute, Johnny Walker, and Thiago Santos, who are all formidable strikers in their own right. Hill still has a lot to prove as it pertains to his striking prowess, and he will look to do just that against Alex Pereira at UFC 300.

heavyweight: sergei pavlovich

If you took Francis N’Gannou and made him twice as fast, you would have Sergei Pavlovich. Pavlovich has hand speed that is very uncommon in the heavyweight division. In addition to the fact that he is a bigger heavyweight and has the knockout power to go with it make him one of the most dangerous punchers the heavyweight division has seen. He has wins over some of the hardest hitting heavyweights in the division, such as Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa, and Curtis Blaydes. Despite his recent loss to Tom Aspinall, he did tag Aspinall in the early going with a jab that wobbled the now Interim Champion. If they were to make a rematch between the two, he still has a great chance to beat him.