Most First Round Finishes in UFC

1
Jim Miller
Jim Miller
13
2
Vitor Belfort
Vitor Belfort
13
3
Vicente Luque
Vicente Luque
10
4
Frank Mir
Frank Mir
10
5
Amanda Nunes
Amanda Nunes
9
6
Charles Oliveira
Charles Oliveira
9
7
Andrei Arlovski
Andrei Arlovski
9
8
Anthony Johnson
Anthony Johnson
9
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9
Matt Hughes
Matt Hughes
8
10
Francis Ngannou
Francis Ngannou
8
11
Royce Gracie
Royce Gracie
8
12
Donald Cerrone
Donald Cerrone
8
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13
Gabriel Gonzaga
Gabriel Gonzaga
8
14
Joe Lauzon
Joe Lauzon
8
15
Terrance McKinney
Terrance McKinney
8

Your move

2026 Stats

About Most First Round Finishes in UFC

Fighters who end fights fastest with the most Round 1 stoppages (UFC bouts only)

This leaderboard ranks fighters by how many of their wins came by KO, TKO or submission inside the very first round. We scan every recorded UFC bout, keep only the finishes that landed in Round 1, credit the win to the victor, and total them up. Fighters are ordered from most to fewest first-round finishes, with total UFC finishes breaking any ties. Decisions and later-round stoppages are deliberately left out so the list reflects pure, immediate finishing power.

UFC bouts only, and division means the bout's division

Every number here is built from bouts fought in the UFC, so a fighter's regional-circuit highlight reel does not appear. The division dropdown re-counts the figure from the bouts contested in that weight class rather than filtering by the fighter's current division and printing a career total beside it. That distinction matters: a featherweight who moved to lightweight took their finishes with them on the old board, which put wins at one weight under the banner of another. Now the figure is what a fighter actually did in that division.

What a high first-round finish count actually tells you

First-round finishes are one of the clearest fingerprints of a fighter's identity. A fighter near the top of this list either carries genuine one-punch knockout power or hunts submissions with the kind of urgency that ends fights before an opponent can settle into a rhythm. These are the competitors who treat the opening bell as a green light rather than a feeling-out period, and that aggression shapes everything from how matchmakers build a card to how oddsmakers set the line. It often signals a high-variance style: thrilling and dangerous, but sometimes paired with vulnerability if the early onslaught does not land.

Context matters when you read the numbers, though. A long-tenured veteran may show a big finish total simply from volume of fights, while a younger fighter with a perfect first-round finishing streak can be far more dangerous per appearance. That is why it helps to pair this page with a fighter's overall resume and quality of opposition rather than reading the raw count in isolation. You can dig into individual records on our fighter profiles and see how finishing ability translates to overall standing in the ELO rankings.

For fans, this is one of the most fun stats to follow because it rewards exactly what people tune in to see: fast, violent, decisive endings. Explore more UFC stats to compare finishing rate against knockdowns, submission attempts, and other measures of in-cage danger.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who has the most first round finishes in UFC?
Jim Miller and 1 other, level on 13 r1 finishes. A record shared 2 ways, from Jim Miller to Vitor Belfort; no one stands second. Counted from UFC bouts recorded on MMA.SOCIAL — UFC appearances only, not a fighter's full professional record.
What counts as a first round finish?
A first-round finish is any win by KO, TKO, doctor's stoppage or submission that comes in Round 1. Decision victories and any finish from Round 2 onward are excluded, so this stat isolates only the fastest, most decisive endings.
How are the early one-round fights counted?
Some 1990s UFC bouts were fought as one long round, with no time limit or a 12-minute round plus overtime, so every finish in them is officially in round 1. We count only the ones that came inside the first five minutes - the length of a modern first round - so a finish 14 minutes into a single long round is not called a first-round finish.
Does this count fights outside the UFC?
No. Every figure on this board is built from bouts recorded in our UFC database, so a fighter who piled up first-round finishes on the regional circuit before signing is credited only for the ones that happened in the Octagon. A bout that has been announced but not yet fought has no result and cannot count either.
What does the division filter actually do here?
It re-counts the figure from the bouts contested in that division, rather than showing a career total next to a division label. A fighter who moved up a weight class appears under each division they fought in, carrying only the first-round finishes they scored there.
How is this first round finishes leaderboard ranked?
We count every Round 1 stoppage win in each fighter's UFC record and rank them from most to fewest. When two fighters are tied on total R1 finishes, the fighter with more total UFC finishes is listed higher as a tiebreaker.
Are knockouts or submissions more common among first-round finishers?
It depends on the fighter's style: explosive strikers rack up R1 finishes through KOs and TKOs, while elite grapplers do it by catching opponents in early submissions. The leaderboard mixes both, which is why you will see pure knockout artists sitting alongside submission specialists.

Every UFC statistics leaderboard

Stats Hub
First Round Finishes, MMA.SOCIAL leaderboard: 1. Jim Miller (13 r1 finishes), 2. Vitor Belfort (13), 3. Vicente Luque (10)
Most First Round Finishes in UFC - top 10, updated Oct 29, 2026.
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Most First Round Finishes in UFC: top 10

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Who has the most first round finishes in UFC?

Jim Miller and 1 other, level on 13 r1 finishes.

A record shared 2 ways, from Jim Miller to Vitor Belfort; no one stands second.

Counted from UFC bouts recorded on MMA.SOCIAL — UFC appearances only, not a fighter's full professional record.