Most Knockdowns in UFC History
Filters All divisions · All time · Men of 1,071
All-time knockdown leaders ranked by total knockdowns scored across all UFC bouts.
About UFC Knockdown Statistics
Knockdowns are one of the most decisive moments in a fight, demonstrating a fighter's ability to hurt their opponent with a single strike. This leaderboard ranks UFC fighters by total knockdowns scored across their career, highlighting the most dangerous strikers in the sport's history.
Key Metrics Explained
- Total Knockdowns: The cumulative number of knockdowns scored across all UFC bouts with recorded statistics.
- Per-Fight Average: Average knockdowns scored per fight, indicating a fighter's consistent knockout threat regardless of career length.
- KO/TKO Wins: The number of victories by knockout or technical knockout, showing how often knockdown power translates to fight-ending finishes. This is a career counter and is not narrowed by the division filter.
- Division Filter: Selecting a division counts only the knockdowns scored in bouts contested at that weight, not the fighter's whole career. Every division a fighter competed in adds back up to their career total exactly.
Methodology
Fighters must have statistics from at least 3 fights and at least 1 knockdown to appear on this leaderboard. Knockdowns are recorded per round in official UFC fight stats and aggregated across all rounds and all bouts. All statistics are sourced from official UFC fight data and updated after each event.
Limits worth knowing
A knockdown is a judgement call made live by a statistician, and the edges of the definition are genuinely blurry. A fighter dropped by a clean counter and one who touches down off-balance after a missed kick can both end up recorded the same way, and the call is not always applied identically from card to card. Treat small differences between fighters as noise rather than a ranking.
The count is also flat. A knockdown that ended the fight in the opening minute counts one, and so does a flash knockdown in a bout the fighter went on to lose by decision. That is a feature rather than a fault, because it captures how often a fighter genuinely hurts opponents even when the referee lets it continue, but it means the board should be read next to knockout wins rather than as a substitute for them.
Because knockdowns are rare, totals are small and a single fight can move a fighter several places, so the per-fight average is the more stable measure for anyone with a short record. Per-round statistics exist for roughly 8,750 of the 8,800-plus bouts in our database, and a division view counts only the knockdowns scored at that weight. For opposition-weighted rankings see our ELO ratings, for individual records the fighter profiles, and for related boards the UFC statistics hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who has the most knockdowns in UFC history?
Donald Cerrone, with 20 knockdowns.
Second: Anderson Silva (18). Third: Jeremy Stephens (18).
Counted from UFC bouts recorded on MMA.SOCIAL — UFC appearances only, not a fighter's full professional record.