The 5 UFC fighters with the best win percentage in the Middleweight division
The UFC’s Middleweight division is at an interesting turning point right now. After champion Michael Bisping was dethroned by the returning Georges St-Pierre – who usually fights at Welterweight and hadn’t fought since 2013 – at UFC 217 in November, it looked like more chaos was in store at 185lbs.
But then St-Pierre announced he was suffering from colitis, decided to relinquish his title, and interim champion Robert Whittaker – who beat Yoel Romero to claim that title back in July – was upgraded to undisputed champion.
Whittaker will now face Luke Rockhold in his first title defence in February at UFC 221, and hopefully, when all is said and done, we’ll know who the best Middleweight fighter in the world is. But in terms of overall fight record – and win percentage – who stands out as the best 185lber right now? You might be surprised, partially because Whittaker doesn’t make the cut!
I’ve calculated the win percentage of each Middleweight fighter in the UFC’s record to work out who scores the highest – basically, who wins their fights most often? A few disclaimers – this article isn’t about who the best fighter in the division is because we know that right now it’s Whittaker.
And I’ve excluded any fighter who doesn’t have at least five fights inside the UFC, as otherwise, an undefeated prospect who hasn’t been in the Octagon that much would come out top (hello Paulo Costa!).
I’ve also excluded GSP (who has a winning percentage of 93%) as he’s only ever had one fight at 185lbs and I highly doubt he’ll be back at that weight anytime soon. So here are the five fighters with the best current win percentage in the UFC’s Middleweight division.
#5 David Branch – win percentage of 84%
Currently sporting an outstanding record of 21 wins and 4 defeats – a win percentage of 84% — Renzo Gracie trained grappler David Branch comes in at #5 on our list.
A champion at two weights in the smaller World Series of Fighting promotion – 185lbs and 205lbs –Branch returned to the UFC in May 2017 and immediately picked up a big win over top ten ranked Krzysztof Jotko. He’s since been defeated by Luke Rockhold, but not without a fight, as Branch took the first round of that fight on most observers’ scorecards.
As Rockhold is going on to fight for the UFC title, it’s pretty clear to see how valued a win over Branch is. Interestingly enough, though, Branch’s outstanding record hasn’t been helped by his time in the UFC. He’s only had two fights there in his current run, but he actually debuted in the Octagon back in 2010.
In his initial run of four fights there, he defeated Rich Attonito and Tomasz Drwal but lost to Gerald Harris and Rousimar Palhares – meaning three of his four defeats came inside the UFC. His other one came at the hands of Anthony Johnson, but as he avoided being knocked out by ‘Rumble’ you can hardly hold that against him.
As he hasn’t fought the cream of the crop at 185lbs – outside of Jotko his best win is either Jesse Taylor or Yushin Okami – one inconsistent, one past his prime - I suspect that as he fights more of the top Middleweights in the UFC his win percentage may well slip. But for now, with one of the best records in the division, he’s done enough to make this list.