Best defensive fighter of all time?

Jon Jones and it's not even close, only Gustav beat his face, nobody else.
 
Phil Davis. But tbh, no one really takes damage in a Phil Davis fight.
 
Firas Zahabi's fighters typically have good defensive skills.

Up until the Garbrandt fight I'd say Cruz was the least hittable fighter.
 
Phil Davis comes to mind. Rarely gets hit clean and even Rumble couldn't hurt him badly
 
" used to be Machida"..." very hittable recently ". I'm confused. If we're talking GOAT, that should only take into account a person's prime.
No. If you are talking 'GOAT' you should be taking into account the entirety of the person's(and all persons') career(s).
 
Fightmetric has some interesting stats to consider


Significant Strike Defense ~minimum 5 UFC fights and 350 strike attempts by opponents

Rank
Fighter
Record

1 Georges St-Pierre 73.0%
2 John Makdessi 71.9%
2 Tecia Torres 71.9%
4 Henry Cejudo 71.2%
5 Myles Jury 71.1%
6 Dominick Cruz 70.9%
7 Khabib Nurmagomedov 70.7%
8 Frankie Edgar 70.6%
9 Raphael Assuncao 70.1%
10 Nordine Taleb 69.9%


SApM (Strikes Absorbed per Min.) ~minimum 5 UFC

Rank
Fighter
Record

1 Mirsad Bektic 1.17
2 Julianna Pena 1.20
3 Aljamain Sterling 1.22
4 Derrick Lewis 1.23
5 Krzysztof Jotko 1.36
6 Gegard Mousasi 1.38
7 Rani Yahya 1.42
8 Colby Covington 1.43
8 Georges St-Pierre 1.43
10 Myles Jury 1.49

If you take both of these lists into account, they would seem to suggest the least hit fighters per time spent in the octagon are actually Jury and GSP.
 
Phil Davis. But tbh, no one really takes damage in a Phil Davis fight.
Phil davis the greatest defensive fighter of all time?

jesus christ.. LMFAO

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Hey, I love Fedor as much as anyone but he doesn't belong anywhere near this list. Part of what I love about him is how he was able to overcome bad situations.
 
Mighty Mouse, mousasi, conors defence is underrated too. Cruz and Cody have good defensive capabilities as well as Aldo.
 
MMA? Anderson. Wasn't hurt on the feet until his 33rd fight.
 
Best Striking Defense in the history of MMA (based on strikes absorbed per min / SApM):
1. Fedor Emelianenko (0.59 SApM)
2. Lyoto Machida (0.64 SApM)
3. Anderson Silva (0.71 SApM)
4. Cain Velasquez (0.85 SApM)
5. Georges St. Pierre (1.01 SApM)
 
Machida. Hardest to hit and hardest to take down.
 
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