The Best Black MMA Fighters

MMA fighters from all over the world love to use their global platform to share their culture with fans. Whether fighters are from Asia, Africa, South America, or somewhere else, a lot of them try to bring attention to their way of life in order to appeal to their home base and to promote their own traditions.

Why write this article? It’s going to be a series of articles on fighters from different races or cultures

Not all black fighters are interested in promoting African heritage, and some are more comfortable being African American. However, other black athletes even go as far as to arrive at press conferences donning traditional outfits to their native homeland.

Regardless of where these fighters consider themselves as coming from, they can all call themselves ‘greats of the game’ so here are the top 10 black MMA fighters.

Jon Jones

Jon Jones is arguably the greatest MMA fighter that has ever lived. He holds the record for the youngest fighter to ever hold a UFC belt, and he has attained a professional record of 25 wins – 1 loss (DQ). Technically, Jon Jones is undefeated, as the sole loss on his record is from a disqualification bout in which he was dominating his opponent Matt Hamill. The disqualification was given due to illegal 12 to 6 elbows that Jones delivered to Matt Hamill’s head from mount position.

Jones’ position as the ‘GOAT’ of MMA is disregarded by a lot of fans, due to his history with PEDs. Jones is anything but mild, he has a history of taking cocaine, being involved in a hit and run, and he has tested for PEDs multiple times. Given how talented he is in the Octagon, it’s a wonder why he feels the need to take performance enhancing drugs at all, and to some fans, it will forever put an asterix next to his legacy.

In the Octagon, Jon Jones is a master of fighting. He holds records over legends such as; Daniel Cormier, Shogun Rua, Lyoto Machida, Rampage Jackson, Alexander Gustaffson, Vitor Belfort and another member on this list of best black MMA fighters; Rashad Evans. He’s also famous for taking on his opponents at their own games, instead of focusing solely on playing to his own strengths.

At 32 years of age, he could still be in the prime of his career and capable of building his career much, much further. However, given his history and his personality, it could just as well go much worse as it could get much better. Time will tell!

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Demetrious Johnson

DJ, or ‘Mighty Mouse’ is the greatest flyweight the MMA community has ever seen. He reigned supreme over the UFC flyweight division as its champion for over 6 years and he torn the division apart, back to front, until he little choice but to enter into rematches or leave to another promotion.

Demetrious Johnson holds a fighting record of 29 wins with 3 losses (one of those losses coming from a move up to bantamweight where fought another all time great in Dominic Cruz.)

Arguably, his most famous win came over Ray Borg in 2017 where he won by an amazing flying armbar which had never been seen in the Octagon before, in such a spectacular fashion. It’s a move that will probably go down as one of the best ever finishes in MMA history.

DJ eventually lost his flyweight belt to Henry Cejudo in a very close split decision loss, which could have gone either way. Cejudo has since gone on to cement himself as a rising star with wins over TJ Dillashaw, and he is now a 2 division UFC champion (flyweight & bantamweight).

After his loss to Cejudo, Mighty Mouse was involved in a promotional trade with One Championship and Ben Askren. He has since won his 1st 2 fights with the Asia promotion.

Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier is a former USA Olympic wrestler who moved to become an MMA fighter. First starting out with an undefeated streak at heavyweight with Strikeforce he then got a contract with the UFC and moved own to light heavyweight due to his personal friendship with already established UFC heavyweight, and fellow AKA team member, Cain Velasquez.

DC has a professional MMA record of 22 wins and 2 losses. He is one of only 4 UFC fighters to hold 2 belts simultaneously (light heavyweight & heavyweight), although he lost his heavyweight belt to Stipe Miocic in an epic battle.

He and Jon Jones hold one of MMAs biggest ever rivalries which saw them fight twice (Jones won the 1st meeting, and KO’d Cormier in the 2nd fight, although it was later ruled a no contest due to Jones’ drug testing returning positive).

Daniel Cormier is not just a talent in the Octagon, where he holds some of the crispest boxing timing you will ever see, and top level wrestling due to his Olympic background. He is also a figurehead for the sport outside the cage, as he represents all that is good about MMA.

He is a UFC commentator, he coaches kids wrestling at schools and is also a regular on many MMA related TV shows. Recently, he hosted an MMA spot on Kobe Bryant’s TV show ‘Detail’ where DC breaks down 5 iconic UFC fights.

Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva, another contender for the GOAT of MMA, is a Brazilian fighter who took MMA competition to a whole new level when he joined the UFC.

His smooth movement and perfect timing on the feet made him an almost unstoppable force within the promotion.

His MMA record now stands at 34 wins and 10 losses, but this is not representative of how talented he was. He has amassed 6 losses since he lost his belt to Chris Weidman back in 2013, and this is likely because he continues to fight well past his physical prime. While it’s a shame to see an all time great lose, it shows his clear passion for the sport as he now purely fights out of enjoyment.

‘The Spider’ holds impressive wins over; Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Chael Sonnen and Demian Maia. His most famous KO either being his clinical destruction of Griffin or his foot kick KO of Belfort.

His 2nd bout with Chris Weidman saw him suffer from one of the worst leg breaks that MMA has ever seen, and he never fully returned to his previous form, going on to only win 1 out of his next 6 fights.

Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman, otherwise known as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ holds a professional MMA record of 15 wins and only 1 loss. He achieved his dream of becoming the UFC Welterweight champion with an incredibly un-expected, yet completely dominating win over Tyron Woodley (who also appears on this list).

He is an incredible wrestler who has rarely had a close fight in his career, besides his sole loss.

Usman is proud of his African descent, and he regularly promotes his culture by wearing traditional outfits to his native homeland at press conferences. At every ceremonial weigh-in, he dons the Nigeria flag colours on his face. He’s even suggested that an African UFC event should take place in Nigeria

His tenancy as UFC Welterweight champion will show how great he really is, and a long stint as a dominant champion could see his become one of the all time GOATs of MMA.

Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley hasn’t always been the most popular MMA fighter, likely due to his tendency to moan about just about everything from the way he is treated by the promotion to the respect that fans put on his name. Moreover, as champion he became a lot more cautious as a fighter which doesn’t tend to sit well with fans who want to be entertained by activity.

All that aside, his talent within the Octagon is remarkable. A physical specimen with incredible agility and un-human like power in his fists, he can knock you out with one punch at any time. This is exactly what he did when he took the Welterweight belt from Robbie Lawler, who is another all-time MMA great.

He has an MMA record of 19 wins and 4 losses. He holds wins over Stephen Thompson, Darren Till, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit and Kelvin Gastelum.

His status as UFC champion catapulted him into the public limelight and he began starring in films such as Straight Outta Compton, and The Equalizer 2. He also released a rap song with Wiz Khalifa called ‘I’ll Beat Yo Ass’, which you can make your own mind up about…

Israel Adesanya

Israel Adesanya is another black MMA fighter who proudly and loudly talks about his African lineage. you can hear him speaking about his connection to Nigeria in many UFC related interviews. He is also a supporter of a future UFC event taking place in Africa.

Adesanya holds an MMA fighting record of 19 wins and 0 losses.

Israel Adesanya had a very fruitful career as a kickboxer before joining the UFC, so while it may appear that he is a young up and comer, he is actually a seasoned veteran of the fight game already.

Adesanya ‘The Last Stylebender’ is a fight promoter’s wet dream. He has an exciting fighting style and he is a colourful character who likes to trash talk his opponents before a fight, and even when he isn’t scheduled to fight them!

He won the UFC Interim Middleweight championship belt with his FOTY contender fight with Kelvin Gastelum, before securing the belt with a win over Robert Whittaker. Dana White himself even said that Israel Adesanya has the ‘IT factor’ which is a necessary trait for all superstars, just like Conor McGregor had.

Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou holds the world record for the hardest punch ever thrown, beating the previous record held by kickboxing legend Tyrone Spong. His punch is the equivalent of 96 horsepower, or being hit full on by a Ford Escort.

Ngannou only began training in MMA 4 years before he got a title shot against Stipe Miocic at UFC 220, before that he was homeless in France until he found salvation in an MMA gym. He has a professional record of 14 wins and 3 losses.

No fight Ngannou has ever won has gone to a decision, and 7 of his victories have come via 1st round knockout. He became a huge star due to his incredible athleticism and the fact that everyone came to expect a huge KO whenever he stepped in the Octagon. However, he was temporarily derailed when he was dominated by Stipe Miocic in a 5 round mauling by arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time.

Like Adesanya and Usman, Ngannou also uses his platform to promote his native culture to the global audience. He regularly visits Cameroon with TV crews, and he arrives to UFC press events dressed head to toe in African clothing.

Since he tasted defeat, Ngannou has re-found his incredible form and it is likely that he will get another shot at becoming a world champion. If he has learnt from his experiences then he could well go on to become the most feared heavyweight champion of all time.

Rashad Evans

Rashad Evans is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 2 and one of the most well-known UFC fighters of all time. His professional record stands at 19 wins and 8 losses. Like Anderson Silva, he stayed around too long past his prime and amassed an additional 5 losses in a row before eventually deciding to retire.

Rashad Evans holds an incredible knockout over Chuck Liddell and he was the UFC light heavyweight champion before losing the belt to Lyoto Machida. He holds notable wins over; Bispin, Henderson, Liddell, Sonnen, Griffin, ‘Rampage’ Jackson and others.

Evans was inducted in to the UFC’s Hall Of Fame in 2019 after a fantastic career in the UFC which saw him at one point go on an 8 fight streak without losing.

Outside of the Octagon, Evans was a regular on the ESPN show ‘MMA Live and he even appeared on a Microsoft advert where he says the lines “i’m a PC”.

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson

Before Francis Ngannou, there was the power of Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson. A frightening force inside the cage who could shut the lights out of any mixed martial artist with one well placed punch.

Anthony Johnson first entered the UFC as a Welterweight, but without seeing great success he was cut by the UFC. Upon his return, he moved up the MMA weight classes until he found his home in the light heavyweight division, a decision not met with great pleasure by the current light heavyweight roster.

While in the light heavyweight division, he racked up entertaining wins over; Bader, Gustaffson, Manuwa, Nogueira and Teixeira – all by vicious knockout.

He stopped short of getting a UFC Championship belt after he lost twice to Daniel Cormier but he still goes down as one of the most fearsome martial artists to ever step foot in the Octagon.