Whether it was Julio Cesar Chavez, Canelo Alvarez or Oscar De La Hoya, Mexico has always boasted some of the best boxing talent the world has to offer.
Mexican’s have a rich heritage in combat sports, which has also transitioned to MMA.
Dana White, the UFC’s president even said of Mexican fighters
I keep saying this, but it’s true; the baddest dudes in the world, throughout the history of the world, have come from Mexico and Latin America
Dana White
While Mexico only has 1 true Mexican UFC Champion, Brandon Moreno, there are plenty of Mexican / American fighters who have reached the peak of the elite MMA scene.
In this article, we will list the top Mexican UFC fighters of all time. In no particular order, here they are:
Table of Contents
Brandon Moreno
It seems only fitting that we start our list with the only truly Mexican UFC Champion, Brandon Moreno.
Moreno became a UFC Flyweight Champion, after submitting Deiveson Figueiredo with a rear-naked choke at UFC 263.
He joined UFC when he was just 23 years old. He initially had a lot of great success, stringing together good wins inside the Octagon.
However, after losing 2 straight decision fights, UFC cut him from the promotion.
Moreno fought his way back into the UFC, and built up enough wins to earn a title fight. His first title fight was an absolute classic against Figueiredo, which ended in a draw.
However, the rematch saw Brandon win the UFC Flyweight belt to become the first ever Mexican UFC Champion.
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Nate Diaz
Nate Diaz is one of the most famous MMA fighters of all time. He is known for his love of his hometown of Stockton and his brash behavior. He is the younger brother of Nick Diaz, who was also a UFC fighter.
While Nate is from Stockton, California, he is of Mexican heritage, which is evident from his surname.
Nate is known for his impressive BJJ, his iron chin and his crisp boxing. This combination of talents has made him a tricky puzzle for his opponents to figure out.
While Nate has never been a UFC Champion, he has put on impressive displays in the past, beating prolific UFC fighters such as; Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone & Michael Johnson.
Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion who was known for his freaky cardio and brutal striking. While he fought out of USA, he was proud of his Mexican background.
Cain was once considered the greatest heavyweight of all time. He defeated; Brock Lesnar, Junior Dos Santos, Mark Hunt & Anthony Nogueira.
Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo was one of only a few double champs in UFC. He simultaneously held the UFC Flyweight & Bantamweight Champion title belts after knocking out TJ Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 143.
Cejudo is another fighter who officially fights out of America, however, he has Mexican heritage.
Cejudo is an Olympic Gold medallist. He won the wrestling gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.
He then beat the consensus greatest flyweight of all time, Demetrious Johnson, to become only the 2nd ever UFC Flyweight Champion.
He holds impressive victories over Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw & Dominick Cruz.
Yair Rodriguez
Yair “Pantera” Rodriguez is one of the few truly Mexican fighters on this list. He is a UFC Lightweight fighter who is known for throwing flashy and exciting strikes inside the Octagon.
He was almost cut from UFC after turning down a fight against Zabit Magomedsharipov, however, he decided to take the fight and he was retained by the promotion.
He was part of one of the greatest UFC fights of all time, when he fought Chan Sung Jung “Korean Zombie”, a fight he won by knockout in the final second of the fight.
Thus making Rodriguez one of the greatest Mexican UFC fighters of all time.
Nick Diaz
Nick Diaz is the older brother of Nate Diaz. He was the Strikeforce Welterweight Champion before coming to UFC.
He was known for his high level boxing, his brash personality and his entertaining fights.
Although officially from Stockton, California he has Mexican heritage.
He fought for a title against MMA royalty Anderson Silva. However, he lost the fight and he never became a UFC Champion.
On a separate occasion, he fought Carlos Condit for the interim UFC Welterweight title and lost by decision.
Diaz would receive a 5 year suspension for Marijuana use, which violating USADA rules. This decision caused huge backlash from the MMA community, who largely loved Nick Diaz and also found the decision to be overkill, considering Marijuana is not a performance enhancing drug.
Dominick Cruz
Cruz is one of, if not THE, greatest Bantamweight of all time. He reigned over the UFC Bantamweight division for a long time before being dethroned by Cody Garbrandt.
Cruz was known for his awkward movement, his great footwork and elite level fight IQ.
He is an American fighter, who also has Mexican heritage.
Anthony Pettis
Pettis is a former UFC Lightweight Champion, who has Mexican heritage.
He was known for his entertaining fighting style, which resulted in one of the most famous UFC strikes of all time “The Showtime kick”.
Pettis came over to the UFC from WEC, as the reigning Lightweight Champion. He came over to UFC with a point to prove (that WEC talent could hang with the elite UFC contenders).
He proved his point, by beating Benson Henderson in a UFC Lightweight title fight.
Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz fought out of America, however, he never shied away from his Mexican background. He commonly walked out with a half Mexican, half American flag.
Ortiz was the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and he became one of UFC’s first megastars.
He holds wins over; Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Forest Griffin and Ken Shamrock
Carlos Condit
Carlos Condit was one of the best Welterweights of all time. He was an interim UFC Welterweight Champion when he beat Nick Diaz to a decision victory.
He is an American fighter, with a Mexican background.
Unfortunately, during Condit’s time in UFC, GSP was ruling over the Welterweight division. GSP was the greatest Welterweight of all time and he beat Condit in a title fight at UFC 154.
Gilbert Melendez
Gilbert Melendez was a former Lightweight MMA fighter who came over from WEC.
He is an American fighter who has Mexican heritage.
He was a 2 time Strikeforce Champion and a WEC Lightweight Champion.
He has beaten top talent such as; Josh Thomson & Shinya Aoki and he was once considered one of the greatest lightweights of all time
Tony Ferguson
“El Cucuy” Tony Ferguson is yet another American MMA fighter who has a strong Mexican background.
He is possibly the greatest UFC fighter to ever not be crowned the “undisputed” Champion of his weight class.
Ferguson has some of the best cardio the MMA game has ever seen. His constant forward pressure, and his lethal, unforgiving offensive striking / submission game left his opponents looking like a complete bloody mess after their fights.
He was always meant to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov but fate had other plans, as the fight was cancelled on 4 separate occasions.
Are there any Mexican UFC Champions?
Are there any Mexican UFC Champions? There is one Mexican UFC Champion, Brandon Moreno. Moreno is a Flyweight, who won the UFC Flyweight title at UFC 263.
Who was the first Mexican American UFC champion?
Cain Velasquez was the first Mexican American UFC Champion. He became the UFC Heavyweight Champion at UFC 121.
Is MMA popular in Mexico?
Is MMA popular in Mexico? No, Mexico is not very popular in Mexico. This is because the audience has not developed an interest in the ground game aspect of the game. Instead, they prefer the boxing aspect alone.
You guys forgot the most important one of all and also the first UFC champion that was Mexican, Frank shamrock, AKA Francisco Juarez. Did you guys forget he was a Mexican? He was adopted that’s why his name is different. Come on y’all.
Exactly. How does one compile that list and forget the that OG Mexican-American???