Age is a little more than just a number. In the UFC, it’s a barometer, a timetable, a limitation, or an impediment to overcome that will add more weight to an accomplishment.
Using the UFC’s rankings as the biggest determining factor and age as the core theme here, here are some the UFC’s elite fighters at every age.
19 – Raul Rosas Jr. (10-1)
OK, Rosas wins this one by default. He is the youngest fighter on the UFC’s roster and the only 19-year-old. Despite his youth, the native of New Mexico has already had 11 professional fights and six with the UFC, including his win over Mando Gutierrez on the Dana White Contender Series in September 2022. The arrow is pointing up for Rosas, who scored a victory over Aoriqileng at Noche UFC on September 14 at The Sphere.
20 – None
21 – None
22 – Iasmin Lucindo (16-5)
Lucindo edges out Joshua Van here because she has broken into the Top 15 in the women’s strawweight division at No. 12, and as of now, Van is not ranked as a flyweight. Lucindo has had almost as many pro fights as she has years on Earth.
Her ferocity has made her an all-action, fan-friendly fighter. She is 3-1 in the UFC and has a tough test coming up at UFC 307 on October 5 when she faces No. 6, Marina Rodriguez.
23 – Cameron Saaiman (9-2)
There isn’t a lot of competition at age 23, but South Africa’s Saaiman gets the edge over the only other fighter his age, Bernardo Sopaj. Saaiman has lost two fights in a row, but I still believe he can have a decent career in the UFC.
He has had back-to-back tough matchups against Peyton Talbott and Christian Rodriguez. The last loss to Talbott came by devastating finish in March. Saaiman doesn’t appear to have his next fight scheduled, so we will see who he is matched with next.
24 – Tatsuro Taira (16-0)
The rising Japanese star is officially the youngest fighter in the UFC on the cusp of a title shot. Taira is currently ranked No. 5 at flyweight, making him the highest-ranked fighter in the UFC under the age of 25.
His mettle will be tested in his next fight when he battles No. 1 contender Brandon Royval. If Taira wins, he will almost certainly be the next challenger to Alexandre Pantoja or whoever is holding the flyweight title in early 2025.
25 – Erin Blanchfield (12-2)
The decision between Blanchfield, the undefeated Michael Morales, and the uber-talented Daniel Zellhuber was tough. I went with Blanchfield because she is ranked No. 3 as a flyweight while Morales just broke into the welterweight Top 15 at No. 12, and Zellhuber has yet to rank in the Top 15 at lightweight, and he’s coming off a loss in an exciting fight against Esteban Ribovics at The Sphere.
Also, Blanchfield has faced tougher competition, with her only loss in the UFC coming to the No. 1 contender in her division, Manon Fiorot, in March.
26 – Ian Machado Garry (15-0)
Despite some solid competition from Talbott and hard-charging lightweight Myktybek Orolbai, you cannot dispute Garry’s undefeated record and current No. 7 ranking at welterweight.
His last three wins came over Michael Page, Geoff Neal, and Neil Magny. He has proven himself to be a title contender, and he could find himself in a very tough fight in his next outing with someone like Kamaru Usman, Shavkat Rakhmonov, or Colby Covington.
27 – Ilia Topuria (15-0)
This decision was one of the easiest. Topuria is the youngest current champion in the UFC. He’s undefeated and has looked dominant in almost every fight he has had. Arman Tsarukyan is a top-flight contender and possibly a future champion. However, Topuria is already at the top of the mountain. Topuria will defend his title against Max Holloway on October 26 at UFC 308.
28 – Jack Della Maddalena (17-2)
In another tough decision, I went with Della Maddalena over Umar Nurmagomedov based on the strength of the opposition. Merab Dvalishvili has a point when he criticizes Nurmagomedov’s pro resume.
Nurmagomedov has only defeated one ranked fighter. That win came over the highly regarded Cory Sandhagen, but it’s still just one win. Della Maddalena has beaten Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, and Randy Brown.
Is Nurmagomedov more skilled and projected to be a better all-around fighter than Della Maddalena? Yes, but putting him here would be based on projections, not production. If Nurmagomedov faces and defeats Dvalishvili to become the champion, things get a lot more black and white.
29 – Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0)
This list is not a popularity contest. Choosing Rakhmonov over Sean O’Malley wasn’t as hard as some may think. If O’Malley had beaten Dvalishvili, I would have placed him here because that would have given him a win over a fighter with a problematic and contrasting style.
Dvalishvili clearly won the fight and controlled the identity of the scrap with his wrestling, and O’Malley had no answer. We have not seen anyone in the Octagon with Rakhmonov who can show him a question for which he has no reply. Rakhmonov is undefeated, with finishes in every fight, and it’s a nearly 50-50 split with ten submissions and eight KOs.
Rakhmonov is the scariest matchup at welterweight, and he could be on the cusp of becoming a Top 5 fighter in the world.
30 – Dricus Du Plessis (22-2)
It’s not always pretty, but Du Plessis gets it done, and he has proven he can do it against the best fighters in his division. The current middleweight champion gets the edge over Khamzat Chimaev because the best ability is availability.
Du Plessis shows up and has been active with wins over Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and Israel Adesanya. Movsar Evloev deserves at least a mention here, but he has not fought and defeated enough top competition at featherweight.
31 – Tom Aspinall (15-3)
There are quite a few good 31-year-olds on the UFC roster, but the edge has to go to the reigning interim heavyweight champion. Aspinall’s only loss in the UFC was a freakish defeat at the hands of Curtis Blaydes after he tore his ACL in the opening seconds of the fight.
Aspinall avenged that loss in July with a first-round TKO win, and now he awaits a chance to face the winner of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic or to be elevated to undisputed champion if the winner of that fight retires.
32 – Islam Makhachev (26-1)
Despite the vast number of good-to-great fighters, Makhachev is the current pound-for-pound king at 32 years old, and until he loses another fight, he would likely top every list of any age.
33 – Merab Dvalishvili (18-4)
The reigning UFC men’s bantamweight champion edges out former welterweight champion Leon Edwards based on recency. Both men have a dynamic record and resume. However, Dvalishvili’s last fight was a massive win over O’Malley at the Sphere. Edwards’ last fight was an unexpected loss to Belal Muhammad that cost him his title. Strickland deserves a mention here, but Dvalishvili is the right pick.
34 – Charles Oliveira (34-10)
Taking Oliveira over Pantoja might have been the most challenging selection in this article. Pantoja has been on an excellent run as flyweight champion, and he may be the only current titleholder not to hold the spot for his age.
However, Oliveira’s wins over future Hall-of-Famers like Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Tony Ferguson (back when that meant something) give him a slight edge over his countryman.
35 – Weili Zhang (25-3)
The 35-year-old group is ridiculous. Choosing between Weili, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, and Alexander Volkanovski was hard. Every one of them is a Hall-of-Famer, and so is Adesanya, who is also 35. I went with Weili because she is already a two-time champion.
She has proven superior to everyone she’s face besides Rose Namajunas, whom she lost to twice. Volk would be the pick here, but he is coming off two straight losses to Makhachev and Topuria. Gaethje and Poirier have beaten the heck out of each other.
However, I would have given the latter the edge there because their series is split, and he has two victories over Conor McGregor, which goes with everything he has accomplished in the sport. Still, it’s Weili, and that is a testament to what she has done in a relatively short time in the UFC.
36 – Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1)
There are great fighters in the age 36 group: Muhammad, Deiveison Figueiredo, McGregor, and Covington. Still, Shevchenko gets the nod here because she overcame Alexa Grasso at Noche UFC to prove her dominance over the fighter who emerged as her only flyweight rival. I don’t think people realize just how good Shevchenko has been throughout her career.
Her only losses in the UFC came against Amanda Nunes (twice at bantamweight) and the first fight against Grasso. From 2015-2022, she was the only person to have a judge score a fight in their favor against Nunes, earning a split-decision loss in their second meeting in 2017.
Aside from those stumbles, Shevchenko has dominated her division on a level akin to Demetrious Johnson, Jones, Anderson Silva, and Volkanovski.
37 – Jon Jones (27-1)
Call me the black Dana White for putting Jones ahead of Alex Pereira, but I’m still giving Bones the edge here. Yes, he has been wildly inactive, and Pereira has risen to become one of the UFC’s true needle-movers and arguably the most deadly striker in the history of the sport. However, there is still a question as to how well-rounded Pereira is as a fighter.
Don’t get this twisted; Pereira is an excellent fighter and one of my favorite athletes to watch in any sport, but he’s still relatively new to this, while Bones has been true to this for more than a decade. Remember, Jones’ only loss came because of an illegal 12-6 elbow in 2009. He has beaten ten current or future Hall-of-Famers in his career and is looking to make it 11 at UFC 309 with Miocic.
Pereira’s greatest claim is his two-division title distinction. Jones did that before him, dominating the light heavyweight division unlike anyone before him. If Miocic beats Jones, this will change. If Jones wins, he will have further confirmed his spot here.
38 – Jose Aldo (32-8)
How Aldo has reinvented himself as a bantamweight in his 30s is pretty amazing. The Brazilian legend has emerged as a fighter who is perhaps a win or two away from being a legit title contender at 135 pounds. Aldo, ranked No. 10, faces No. 11 Mario Bautista at UFC 307 on October 5. If Aldo beats Bautista, he could get a matchup with a Top-5 opponent in his next fight.
Win or lose against Bautista, Aldo would go over Michael Chandler because the latter only has one legit win in the UFC, and that came over Dan Hooker in January 2021. Chandler is 2-3 with the UFC.
39 – Josh Emmett (19-4)
Based on win percentage and overall skills, Emmett gets the nod over Derrick Lewis. Since 2019, Emmett has only lost to Topuria and Yair Rodriguez, two of the top 5 featherweights in the UFC.
Lewis has a massive hole in his game, and almost any pure wrestler will have an advantage over him if they can evade the power shots and take him down. Emmett doesn’t have a glaring weakness, though he hasn’t been able to break through.
40 – Jared Cannonier (17-8)
Cannonier has had a rough go of it in his last two fights, losses to Caio Borralho and Nassourdine Imavov, but he is still the best 40-year-old in the UFC and one of the top middleweights.
41 – Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1)
The former UFC light heavyweight champion has been out of action since he lost a split decision to Pereira in July 2023. Consider this: The two top light heavyweights in the world are Pereira and Magomed Ankalaev.
Blachowicz won the fight against Pereira on one judge’s scorecard, and he drew with Ankalaev in December 2022. Blachowicz has beaten Aleksandr Rakic, Israel Adesanya and current Bellator champion Corey Anderson. Based on that recent resume, Blachowicz goes over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Nate Diaz.
42 – Stipe Miocic (20-4)
The 42-year-old group is a two-horse race with Miocic and Holly Holm. While we haven’t seen Miocic fight since he lost his heavyweight title via KO loss to Francis Ngannou, he still likely has more left in the tank than Holm, who has looked progressively worse in her last three fights. Holm could turn things around with a win in her next fight, but White has publicly said he believes she should retire.
There are no active fighters over the age of 42. A few fighters who technically have fights left on their contracts have announced their retirements or have been inactive for more than two years.
