5 of the best finishers in the UFC today

#4. Niko Price – UFC welterweight contender

Niko Price's reckless nature makes him one of the UFC's deadliest finishers

With a UFC record of 6-5-1-2, nobody is going to mistake Niko Price as a genuine contender for the UFC welterweight title any time soon. In fact, ‘The Hybrid’ hasn’t actually won a fight in the octagon since October 2019.

However, Price will probably have a job for life with the UFC purely because he’s one of the most dangerous finishers in the history of the promotion, seemingly capable of ending a fight out of nowhere at any point and from any position.

Price debuted in the octagon back in 2016, finishing Brandon Thatch with an arm triangle choke. Since then, he’s won a further five fights, finishing each one in genuinely ruthless fashion.

And ‘The Hybrid’ doesn’t just use conventional strikes or submissions to stop his opponents, either. He finished his 2018 fight with Randy Brown with a series of hammer fists from the bottom – a completely unique finish even inside the crazy realm of the UFC.

Niko Price is one bad dude! 😳 pic.twitter.com/Q9b7YIR8Vw

— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 15, 2018

Meanwhile, his most recent win came via upkick – the first time someone had used the rare move to knock out an opponent in the octagon since 2006, and only the second time it’d occurred in UFC history.

Sure, Price’s fighting style makes him highly vulnerable too – he’s been stopped in four of his five UFC losses, all in violent fashion – but to tell the truth, that’s all part of his appeal.

Simply put, this ruthless finisher is one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the UFC today.

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#3. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion

Kamaru Usman has honed his finishing skills into a dangerous weapon over many years in the UFC

If you rewound the clock a few years – back to 2018, for instance – there’s absolutely no way that current UFC welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman would’ve made a list of the best finishers in the UFC.

That’s because ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had developed a reputation as one of the dullest fighters to watch in the UFC, largely due to a string of dominant, but admittedly somewhat boring decision victories.

However, since he claimed the UFC welterweight title from Tyron Woodley in 2019, Usman has demonstrated that not only is he capable of finishing his opponents, he’s capable of doing it in remarkably violent ways – making him one of the most potent finishers around.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ showed flashes of his potential as a finisher back in 2017, when he viciously knocked out Sergio Moraes. But that didn’t prepare fans for what he’s been doing in recent years.

Usman knocked out Colby Covington at UFC 245, breaking his jaw in the process. And after a workmanlike decision over Jorge Masvidal, he then used his striking to methodically destroy Gilbert Burns, eventually finishing him with a series of heavy punches.

And most recently, the Nigerian took out Masvidal in a rematch with a right hand that appeared to turn ‘Gamebred’ into a rag doll. It looked like the kind of knockout that could easily alter a career.

WHAT A KNOCKOUT! 💥Kamaru Usman makes a statement by finishing Jorge Masvidal in the second round! 🇳🇬 🏆#UFC261 pic.twitter.com/Dk69ac9WXI

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) April 25, 2021

Sure, Usman doesn’t have as many finishes on his ledger as some of his UFC peers, but right now, he’s in a scary groove and he’s taking out some of the best fighters in the world – and that means he belongs on this list.