Which fighter had the best nine-fight start to their UFC career?

The mixed martial arts world is still basking in the wake of Ilia Topuria’s latest accomplishment.

The newest lightweight champion and former undisputed featherweight champ is now off to a 9-0 start to his UFC career after knocking out Charles Oliveira in half a round last week at UFC 317.

A few days after the win the 28-year-old Spanish-Georgian superstar was bumped up to No. 1 on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings, one spot ahead of former lightweight king Islam Makhachev.

What makes Topuria’s 9-0 record all the more impressive is the fact he is a perfect 16-0 in professional MMA bouts. He became the organization’s 10th two-weight champion and the first and only fighter in UFC history to become a two-division titleholder while maintaining an unblemished pro record.

Not only does Topuria get his hand raised every time he enters the cage, but it’s the way in which he’s defeating his recent opponents that is starting to set him apart from other elite fighters.

Topuria’s three most recent wins are in the running for the greatest three-fight streak in UFC history. He knocked out Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 to become the 145-pound champion, became the first to knock out Max Holloway when he did so in a title defence at UFC 308, then he became a 155-pound champion by finishing Oliveira in a more dominant fashion than anyone had previously.

All three wins were in main event title fights and Volkanovski, Holloway and Oliveira were all champions and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famers.

Topuria got to 9-0 by finishing seven of his opponents en route to winning two titles, which begs the question: is Topria off to the greatest nine-fight start to a UFC career that fight fans have ever seen? And, who else is even in the conversation?

Below is a look, in no particular order, at the handful of fighters who began their respective UFC tenures with nine consecutive wins and how those streaks compare to Topuria’s current run.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, 9-0, no title fights: The former lightweight champion debuted in the UFC in 2012 with a 16-0 record fighting out of Dagestan, Russia. Plenty of question marks surrounded the quality of competition Nurmagomedov faced in his pre-UFC days, but once he was in the big show, it became quickly apparent his grappling ability was going to give the UFC lightweight division great difficulty.

It took a while for Nurmagomedov to become a fan favourite and he didn’t compete for a UFC title until his 10th UFC appearance. He was considered the uncrowned champ by many fans and pundits but a two-year injury hiatus, from 2014 to 2016, kept him out of the title picture and delayed his championship opportunity until he fought for a vacant belt in 2018. Nurmagomedov ended up extending his streak to 13-0 in the UFC and finished his career with consecutive title defences against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.

Nurmagomedov is listed first here because he retired with an undefeated pro record of 29-0. Given the nature of the sport, it’s not entirely uncommon for fighters to suffer losses early in their pro careers before reaching their peak and facing UFC level competition, but Nurmagomedov accomplished something most can only dream of by going out on top with a zero in the loss column.

Anderson Silva, 9-0, six wins in title fights: Silva was a 21-fight veteran with multiple losses before he signed with the UFC but once he arrived in the United States he took over the sport. After a 49-second knockout over Chris Leben in his debut he was put into a title fight in just his second UFC outing, which he won. Silva won his first 16 UFC bouts before his infamous loss to Chris Weidman in 2013. Silva’s 16-fight streak remains the official UFC record for most consecutive wins.

Interestingly, Silva is one of four middleweight champions to begin their UFC career 9-0 en route to the title.

Chris Weidman, 9-0, four wins in title fights: The man who ended Silva’s run at the top debuted in the UFC in just his fifth pro bout as an undefeated prospect. He quickly rose up the rankings and knocked out Silva in his sixth UFC appearance. He earned three subsequent title defences before his first pro defeat, when he lost the title to Luke Rockhold.

Israel Adesanya, 9-0, four wins in title fights: The middleweight title bounced around in the post-Silva era but Izzy gave the 185-pound ranks stability, thanks to his top-tier striking. Adesanya didn’t lose in MMA in his pre-UFC days and won an interim title in his sixth UFC bout (a tilt with Kelvin Gastelum that was recently inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame), then he unified the belts when he knocked out Robert Whittaker. Unlike Topuria, Adesanya’s streak ended when he moved up a division to attempt to become a two-weight champ, losing to Jan Blachowicz in his 10th UFC matchup.

Dricus Du Plessis 9-0, three wins in title fights: Topuria isn’t the only active champ on a perfect nine-fight UFC run. The reigning middleweight champ is also 9-0 in the UFC, with his three most recent wins occurring in title fights. He is set to be challenged by Khamzat Chimaev in the upcoming UFC 319 main event. Chimaev is off to an 8-0 start to his UFC career, and if he makes it nine in a row, he’ll become the new king at 185 pounds and join this list. Du Plessis fought 16 times before the UFC, losing once by submission and another time by knockout.

Alexander Volkanovski 9-0, two title fight wins: Volkanovski’s only pre-UFC loss was in the welterweight division in his fourth pro bout. He then went on a 22-fight winning streak that included a 12-0 start to his UFC career. Like Adesanya, his streak was snapped when he moved up a division to challenge for another title but lost to Islam Makhachev. Volkanovski was the consensus greatest featherweight champ in UFC history until he lost his belt to Topuria early in 2024. Now, that's back up for debate.

Kamaru Usman 9-0, zero title fights: Usman began his pro career 1-1 before railing off 19 straight wins (that’s excluding two exhibition wins during his time on The Ultimate Fighter), and the former welterweight champion began his UFC career 15-0 overall before his last-minute head-kick KO loss to Leon Edwards that ended his title reign. Like Nurmagomedov, Usman won a title in his 10th UFC appearance. Current welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena hasn’t lost since starting his pro career 0-2. JDM is 8-0 at the UFC level and won the title in his most recent outing.

Junior dos Santos 9-0, two title fight wins: The Brazilian heavyweight had one loss early in his MMA career but took the UFC by storm. He knocked out his first five UFC opponents, won the title from Cain Velasquez in his eighth UFC appearance and defended it in his ninth before Velasquez took back the gold in their rematch.

Royce Gracie, 9-0, three UFC tournament wins: Gracie is from a bygone era, when the sport and the UFC brand was in its infancy, but there’s no denying the impact he had on MMA and several generations of aspiring fighters beginning in 1993 at the organization’s inaugural event. Gracie won his first 11 UFC fights over a 13-month span before a draw with Ken Shamrock in 1995 ended his streak.

Arnold Allen, 9-0, zero title fights: The talented Englishman’s streak is not quite like the others above him on this list because not only has he not competed for a UFC title, he wasn’t booked into his first main event spotlight until his 10th UFC appearance. He extended his streak to 10-0 by beating Calvin Kattar before back-to-back decision losses to Max Holloway in 2023 and Movsar Evloev in 2024.

Movsar Evloev, 9-0, zero title fights: Speaking of Arnold’s former foe, the current No. 2-ranked featherweight contender improved to 9-0 this past December with a win over former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling. Evloev, who also has never been in a UFC main event to date, became the first fighter in UFC history to win each of his first nine UFC bouts by decision, which is likely the primary reason he has yet to be booked into a title fight. If he moves to 10-0 in the UFC by beating Aaron Pico at the end of July, there should be no denying the Russian a shot at gold in the 145-pound division. The 31-year-old is 19-0 as a pro.

Not quite but still notable

Jon Jones, 8-1, two wins in title fights: The recently retired two-weight champion should in theory be in the group above, however, because of his notable disqualification loss to Matt Hamill in his fourth UFC appearance late in 2009, he’s at the top of the honourable mentions. That DQ was Jones’s only official loss in his 30-fight pro MMA career, which had several asterisks throughout, including a no-contest in 2017 due to a failed drug test. That’s also the reason he doesn’t officially hold the UFC record for longest winning streak. Despite his pro record having a couple blemishes, many still view him as the greatest fighter in UFC history.

Conor McGregor, 8-1, two wins in title fights: The Irish star had two losses within his first six pro bouts before going on a hot streak that lasted nearly six years. His UFC debut was his 15th pro bout and marked the beginning of a legendary 7-0 run in the UFC’s featherweight division, but he was 8-1 in his first nine UFC fights overall after going 1-1 in his rivalry with Nate Diaz, once he left the 145-pound division.

Jose Aldo, 8-1, eight wins in title fights: Aldo had one loss early in his career before he came into his own. Aldo’s UFC career started with seven consecutive title defences after entering the organization as the inaugural 145-pound champ following his 8-0 run the WEC, where he was also a champion. Aldo lost his title in his eighth UFC appearance to McGregor in that infamous 13-second knockout that changed the sport. After McGregor left the division, Aldo returned to the win column with a win over Frankie Edgar to earn the vacant title in his ninth UFC appearance.

Alex Pereira 8-1, five title fight wins: “Poatan” lost his pro MMA debut back when he still competed full time in kickboxing. Years later, when he was done with his kickboxing career, he debuted in the UFC as a middleweight, winning the title in just his fourth UFC bout when he finished Adesanya. He left middleweight after losing to Adesanya in the immediate rematch, then went on a five-fight run at light-heavyweight, quickly winning the 205-pound title and defending it thrice.

Amanda Nunes 8-1, three title fight wins: Before she was labelled as the women’s GOAT, Nunes was just another solid fighter. She was a 7-3 pro when she made her UFC debut and was finished by Cat Zingano in her third UFC bout. Nunes went on a win streak and became champ in her seventh UFC appearance.

Cain Velasquez, 8-1, two wins in title fights: Velasquez was a phenom when he burst onto the scene. He debuted in the UFC in just his third pro bout and became heavyweight champ when he beat Brock Lesnar in his seventh UFC fight. He was perfect in MMA until getting stopped by dos Santos. Velasquez later avenged that loss to regain the heavyweight title.

Lyoto Machida 8-1, two title fight wins: Machida began his MMA career 16-0, and half of those wins were in the UFC. Machida won the light-heavyweight belt in his seventh UFC bout and defended it against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his eighth, only to lose the title in his ninth, when he and Shogun had their rematch.

Other notable fighters began their UFC careers with 8-1 records but fell short of winning a title and there have been those, like Georges St-Pierre, for example, who lost more than once within their first nine UFC appearances, yet still managed to become a champion.

The two longest active winning streaks in the UFC are Islam Makhachev’s 15-fight streak and Merab Dvalishvili’s 13-fight streak, but both lost early in their UFC stints. Makhachev was knocked out in his second UFC fight — his only pro loss to date — while Dvalishvili was at one point 0-2 in the UFC. It took both athletes until their 13th UFC appearance to finally become a champion.