Most Combined Takedown Attempts in a UFC Fight
The most takedown attempts ever recorded in a single UFC fight — pure grappling persistence, whether or not they finished the shot.
50 record performances
1
Petr Yan vs Merab Dvalishvili
54
TD Attempts
2
Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov
45
TD Attempts
3
Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan
38
TD Attempts
4
Merab Dvalishvili vs Cory Sandhagen
37
TD Attempts
5
Junior Dos Santos vs Cain Velasquez
34
TD Attempts
6
Anthony Hernandez vs Michel Pereira
30
TD Attempts
7
Sam Stout vs Per Eklund
30
TD Attempts
8
Arman Tsarukyan vs Mateusz Gamrot
29
TD Attempts
9
Merab Dvalishvili vs Ricky Simon
29
TD Attempts
10
Dustin Ortiz vs Wilson Reis
29
TD Attempts
11
Quillan Salkilld vs Yanal Ashmouz
29
TD Attempts
12
Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard
28
TD Attempts
13
Mario Miranda vs Aaron Simpson
28
TD Attempts
14
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Abel Trujillo
28
TD Attempts
15
Din Thomas vs Matt Serra
28
TD Attempts
16
Dan Argueta vs Cody Haddon
28
TD Attempts
17
Victor Altamirano vs Vinicius Salvador
28
TD Attempts
18
BJ Penn vs Diego Sanchez
27
TD Attempts
19
Eduarda Moura vs Denise Gomes
27
TD Attempts
20
Curtis Blaydes vs Alexander Volkov
27
TD Attempts
21
Farman Hasanov vs Eric Nolan
27
TD Attempts
22
Demetrious Johnson vs Kyoji Horiguchi
27
TD Attempts
23
Muhammad Mokaev vs Charles Johnson
26
TD Attempts
24
Frankie Saenz vs Merab Dvalishvili
26
TD Attempts
25
Virna Jandiroba vs Mackenzie Dern
25
TD Attempts
26
Bryan Barberena vs Anthony Ivy
25
TD Attempts
27
Dominick Cruz vs Demetrious Johnson
25
TD Attempts
28
Eryk Anders vs JunYong Park
25
TD Attempts
29
Alexandre Pantoja vs Steve Erceg
25
TD Attempts
30
Jens Pulver vs Caol Uno
25
TD Attempts
31
Bryan Caraway vs Cody Stamann
24
TD Attempts
32
Cory Sandhagen vs Mario Bautista
24
TD Attempts
33
Rafael Estevam vs Jesus Aguilar
24
TD Attempts
34
Omari Akhmedov vs Chris Weidman
24
TD Attempts
35
Paul Felder vs Rafael Dos Anjos
24
TD Attempts
36
Rafael Dos Anjos vs Colby Covington
24
TD Attempts
37
Darren Stewart vs Edmen Shahbazyan
24
TD Attempts
38
Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling
24
TD Attempts
39
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs Jacob Malkoun
24
TD Attempts
40
Lucas Rocha vs Stewart Nicoll
24
TD Attempts
41
Casey Kenney vs Merab Dvalishvili
24
TD Attempts
42
Chris Curtis vs Myktybek Orolbai
24
TD Attempts
43
Vitor Petrino vs Anton Turkalj
24
TD Attempts
44
Aljamain Sterling vs Henry Cejudo
23
TD Attempts
45
Yui Chul Nam vs Mike de la Torre
23
TD Attempts
46
Rafael Dos Anjos vs Kevin Lee
23
TD Attempts
47
Phillip Miller vs James Zikic
23
TD Attempts
48
Elves Brener vs Myktybek Orolbai
23
TD Attempts
49
Glover Teixeira vs Corey Anderson
23
TD Attempts
50
Miesha Tate vs Rin Nakai
23
TD Attempts
The Most Takedown Attempts in a Single UFC Fight
Landed takedowns tell you who won the grappling; takedown attempts tell you who never stopped trying. This record book ranks the most persistent single-fight wrestling performances in UFC history by total takedown attempts, whether or not each shot finished.
Merab Dvalishvili's 49 attempts against Petr Yan is the gold standard of relentless pressure, but the full list is a celebration of cardio and grappling will. Switch between Single Fighter and Combined and filter by division to find the busiest wrestling nights ever recorded.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the record for most takedown attempts in a single UFC fight?
Merab Dvalishvili holds the single-fight takedown-attempts record with 49 attempts against Petr Yan at UFC Fight Night in March 2023 — a staggering display of chain-wrestling pressure where the shots simply never stopped coming.
Why track takedown attempts separately from takedowns landed?
Attempts measure a fighter's grappling intent and relentlessness, not just their success. A wrestler who shoots forty times against elite takedown defense shows a completely different kind of dominance than one who lands cleanly on his first few tries, so the two lists tell separate stories.
Do lots of takedown attempts tire a fighter out?
They can, which is what makes the top of this list so impressive. Repeatedly shooting, driving, and re-shooting for fifteen or twenty-five minutes demands elite cardio, and the fighters here maintained that pressure without gassing, often winning decisions on volume and control.
Is a high attempt count a sign of strong takedown defense by the opponent?
Often, yes. A huge number of attempts frequently means the opponent was defending well, forcing the wrestler to keep working. The landed-takedowns record and this attempts record therefore complement each other in judging a grappling battle.