I’m sure you’ve checked out MMA Junkie’s countdown of our fighters of the decade for the 2010s and have your own opinion on who would have made your list and what order you would have listed them. Now, with a new decade upon us, it’s time to look forward and ponder which names might dominate the MMA landscape over the course of the next 10 years.
And that hugely important job of pugilistic prognosticator fell to yours truly as I pick up the baton and attempt to compile a list of fighters who could lead our fighters of the decade list from 2020-2029.
So here, in no particular order, are my 10 selections in this way-too-early list:
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Jon Jones
Let’s not mess around here. Jon Jones is the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, and there’s nobody on the horizon that’s likely to change that soon. And with Jones dominating the UFC’s light heavyweight division, a brand-new chapter could soon open up for “Bones” when he takes the plunge and moves up to heavyweight.
Skill-wise, there’s no doubt he has everything in his locker to be every bit as dominant at heavyweight as he currently is at 205 pounds, but there’s always that X-factor of heavyweight punching power. Jones tends to drag his opponents into deep water, but at heavyweight it only takes one shot to end your night.
To that end, at 32, Jones’ style has avoided taking damage for the bulk of his career. Heavyweights tend to last longer and peak later than other weight classes: Witness Daniel Cormier holding the UFC belt past age 40. Current champ Stipe Miocic is 37, and his first reign began when he beat a then-38-year-old Fabricio Werdum.
The challenge that lies ahead for Jones is arguably the most fascinating – and dangerous – of his MMA career. And the matchups he’ll face over the course of the coming years will make for some of the most-watched fights of the decade.
He was our No. 1 fighter for the 2010s, and he’s my early-money favorite to finish the 2020s as not only MMA Junkie’s fighter of the decade once again, but also as the consensus greatest mixed martial artist that ever lived.
Israel Adesanya
I’m not trolling by placing Jones and Israel Adesanya so close to each other on our way-too-early list, but I do think their paths may cross once or twice over the course of the next decade.
Adesanya’s performances as a middleweight are likely to make his star continue rising as he becomes not just a UFC superstar, but a dominant champion and a fighter whose bouts are among the most-watched over the next 10 years. The UFC’s 185-pound division is going through a transitional period, with a new crop of young stars rising to the top. And while Adesanya isn’t the youngest in actual age – he’s 30 – he’s young in the sport, with his best years still very much ahead of him.
It’s easy to forget that, despite his position as UFC middleweight champion, Adesanya has only been fighting at the top level of MMA for a little over a year, and I suspect we’re only scratching the surface of what “The Last Stylebender” is capable of inside the octagon.
With some big fights looming at 185, plus the potential superfight with Jones at 205, big things are coming for Adesanya.
Khabib Nurmagomedov
I’ll make an admission: I actually pondered leaving Khabib Nurmagomedov off this list. It wasn’t because of any question mark about his fighting ability or his ability to maintain his position as the premier lightweight fighter on the planet. I just wasn’t 100 percent sure how much longer Nurmagomedov will actually want to continue fighting. But then, when I looked at the matchups that potentially lie ahead for the Russian superstar, I came to the conclusion that he’s too much of a competitor to not meet these challenges head on.
It’s unlikely he’ll still be competing as we get to the latter years of the 2020s. But, like a number of others on this list, he’s in his early 30s and at the stage in his career where he may be about to hit his athletic peak. And, with a string of potentially huge fights all just waiting to be made, Khabib’s body of work in the first half of the decade could well see him contending strongly for a spot high up on the list when we revisit it in 10 years.
Tony Ferguson, Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje (as well as possible rematches) are all slam-dunk bookings for Khabib over the next two years, while the possibility of a one-off superfight with Georges St-Pierre is a topic that never fully seems to go away (especially when people like me keep bringing it up).
There’s also the mouth-watering prospect of a catchweight clash between Nurmagomedov and Colby Covington, who told me he’d be down to face “The Eagle” at 170, 165 or even 160 pounds. And if all of that wasn’t enough to quench Khabib’s competitive thirst, there’s always the option of a move up to 170 pounds. And you never know, the UFC may even finally cave in and add a 165-pound division in the next few years.
In short, there are so many options in Nurmagomedov’s inbox at the moment that it might take him half a decade to clear it all. And if he does so and comes out the other side with his undefeated record still intact, then we wouldn’t just be talking about him as a candidate for the top spot on the list, we’d be talking about GOAT status.
Amanda Nunes
At this stage it seems only boredom is going to prevent Amanda Nunes from dominating the women’s MMA landscape for at least the next few years, with her grip on the 135- and 145-pound divisions looking as tight as ever. The next decade will offer up a fresh challenge for “The Lioness” as she bids to challenge the numbers set by the likes of Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones, who dominated their respective weight classes for extended periods of time.
Nunes certainly has the talent to continue her reign of dominance in both weight classes, but it remains to be seen whether the constant flip-flopping between divisions will eventually force her to choose one weight class and focus on that as she hits her mid-to-late 30s.
However things pan out for Nunes, what seems clear is the fact that it will take a formidable challenger to dethrone her in either weight class. Arguably, her two biggest threats lie either outside of her weight divisions (Valentina Shevchenko) or outside of the organization itself (Kayla Harrison).
Until either of those two names maneuver themselves into position to challenge the Brazilian, it’s hard not to imagine Nunes ruling over both the bantamweight and featherweight divisions for the foreseeable future. Indeed, even they may not be able to halt “The Lioness,” who remains the undisputed queen of the women’s MMA jungle heading into the 2020s.
Valentina Shevchenko
Kyrgyzstan’s most famous fighting export, Valentina Shevchenko has cemented herself as one of the best female fighters on the planet and, thanks to the inception of the UFC’s women’s flyweight division, “Bullet” was finally able to show just how dominant an athlete she can be when fighting at her optimal weight.
Shevchenko will face a rising crop of young contenders in the next few years as she bids to continue her lockdown of the title at 125 pounds, but she is also perfectly placed to take part in cross-divisional superfights. A bout with reigning UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili wouldn’t be much of a stretch, and one suspects it’s something we could potentially see within the next 18 months, while the prospect of a third matchup with Nunes might also be a possibility a little further down the line.
But Shevchenko is showing no signs of slowing down and seems even more businesslike, even more focused and even more dangerous as she heads into the 2020s looking to boss her division, and potentially the one above it, in the years to come.
Petr Yan
With a roster packed full of exciting talents and a healthy mix of seasoned veterans and rising stars, the UFC’s bantamweight division looks set to be one of the most exciting weight classes in MMA over the next few years. And perhaps the most exciting fighter of the lot is Russia’s Petr Yan. I’ve followed his rise from the Russian scene in ACB all the way to the UFC. And, since joining the MMA leader, he’s made short work of his rise up the 135-pound ladder as he’s made the switch from the ACB cage to the UFC octagon with consummate ease.
He finished the decade with a statement victory as he finished one of the division’s all-time greats, Urijah Faber, at UFC 245 to set himself up for a possible shot at the UFC bantamweight title. And, with a talent-stacked division snapping at his heels looking for title shots of their own, there will be no shortage of high-energy, fast-paced matchups for Yan as he looks to separate himself from the pack as the world’s premier 135er.
His crowd-pleasing fighting style, heavy hands and willingness to go toe-to-toe with anyone has already made him a firm favorite among seasoned MMA aficionados. But a run at the belt, with a little more promotion behind him, could soon position him as the next big star to come out of Russia as he bids to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countryman Nurmagomedov and capture a UFC title.
Edmen Shahbazyan
Most of the names on this list are established stars, most of whom already have major titles to their name. But Edmen Shahbazyan is the one name here who hasn’t yet made it to the top but, based on what I’ve seen so far in his young career, has everything he needs to become not just a UFC star, but potentially one half of an era-defining rivalry.
Shahbazyan’s rapier-like striking, combined with an emerging wrestling game, has seen him fly up the middleweight rankings, and he sits just outside of striking range of the division’s elite contenders. By the end of 2020, he may well be right there in the thick of it.
And when he gets there, the prospect of a meeting with Adesanya would offer the UFC the opportunity to build a new rivalry between two of the most exciting, dynamic strikers on their roster. And while Adesanya may be eight years Shahbazyan’s senior, both men are fresh enough in the UFC to build a spectacular rivalry as the decade progresses.
Francis Ngannou
It’s incredibly difficult to rank a heavyweight among the best fighters of the decade, simply because 10 years is a lifetime in MMA, and even more so if you’re taking shots to the head from 250-pound monsters. But we could see one man emerge as a legitimate heavyweight superstar over the next 10 years.
While Miocic and Daniel Cormier were battling it out at the top of the heavyweight division over the last couple years, Francis Ngannou was building his MMA skillset and steadily improving his all-around game. In truth, Ngannou’s first title shot against Miocic back in January 2018 probably came too soon. Miocic was a seasoned pro, while Ngannou was still pretty raw, albeit still terrifyingly powerful. But, when they met inside the octagon, the difference in skillsets was stark. But as we head into the 2020s, Ngannou is becoming more well-rounded, more powerful and altogether more scary.
And with the majority of the main names at the top of the UFC’s heavyweight division firmly in the veteran stage of their careers, it’s highly likely we’ll see a powerful new champion emerge over the next few years. And there’s the mouth-watering prospect of Jones moving up to a heavyweight division which, after Miocic decides to hang up the gloves, could see “Bones” and Ngannou as the two top contenders for the belt. It could spark an explosive new rivalry and elevate Ngannou to new heights as one of the biggest heavyweight stars in UFC history.
Christian Lee
Understandably, UFC fighters dominate this list, but I wanted to throw into the mix one name whose achievements in the sport already warrant respect, and someone who will be hitting his fighting prime just as the next decade comes to a close.
Twenty-one-year-old Christian Lee has been nothing short of phenomenal for Asia’s biggest MMA promotion ONE Championship, as he has risen from teenage prodigy to the heady heights of the ONE lightweight world title and, most recently, the ONE lightweight grand prix title.
The Vancouver-born Singapore resident and brother of fellow ONE star Angela Lee has looked outstanding over the past 18 months, and his best is undoubtedly still to come. Lee is young, he’s super-talented and he’s evolving his game and fight I.Q. at a rapid rate. And, with ONE looking to make inroads into the U.S. market over the next few years, Lee’s stock as a rising star of the sport could get a real boost in the coming years.
Despite ONE’s continued rise, I’d love to eventually see Lee compete in the UFC’s featherweight or lightweight divisions, where I think he’d be a fantastic addition to the promotion’s already uber-talented 145- or 155-pound weight classes. Give him a couple of years in the UFC and, after he finds his feet competing Stateside, I think he could build on his existing popularity in Asia and become a truly global star for the promotion by the middle of the decade. And by the end of it, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him holding a UFC title.
Zhang Weili
The final name on my list is one of the most recently crowned UFC champions, as China’s Zhang Weili looks primed and ready to send her career into the stratosphere in the 2020s. She won the UFC strawweight title in decisive fashion and now faces the challenge of one of the greatest women’s champions in UFC history, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. If she gets past Joanna, I can see Weili becoming a dominant force at 115 pounds before setting her sights on the big names in the division above her.
That could eventually see her on a collision course with Valentina Shevchenko in what would be an outstanding champion-vs.-champion matchup. But, in addition to her in-cage accomplishments, Weili’s career in the 2020s could surpass her sporting endeavors. As the first Chinese UFC champion, Zhang could help break down barriers and help open up the UFC to the colossal Chinese market.
If the UFC ended the next decade having fully broken into China, with Weili leading the way as a long-reigning UFC champion during that time, “Magnum’s” inclusion in our end-of-decade list would surely be beyond debate.
