5 most durable fighters in the UFC

#2. Kamaru Usman – UFC welterweight champion

Kamaru Usman is one of the most dominant champions in the UFC. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is also considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world at the moment.

Usman is extremely well-rounded. His background in wrestling, coupled with his undeniable improvements in the striking realm, makes him a terrifying matchup for almost every fighter at 170 lbs. However, an underrated facet of Usman’s game is his granite chin.

He has shared the octagon with the likes of Jorge Masvidal (twice), Gilbert Burns and Tyron Woodley, all of whom possess one-punch knockout power. Usman was noticeably stunned after absorbing strikes from Masvidal and Burns in the first round of their respective bouts. However, his ability to reset and stay composed saw him weather the early storm and find the finish in the second round of both championship bouts.

At UFC 268, Kamaru Usman took on Colby Covington in a highly anticipated grudge match. Notably, in the fourth round of the bout, Covington landed a series of hooks that wobbled the champion. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ managed to recover and make it to the fifth round before eventually securing a unanimous decision victory.

Chael Sonnen, following Usman’s victory over Covington at UFC 268, praised the former’s ability to recover in the fight. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Sonnen said:

“Kamaru Usman is as close to a perfect fighter as there has ever been. And Kamaru Usman’s ability to reset in the moment, to be hurt, to get hit, to get frustrated… You can see what happens. You could read Kamaru’s face like a poker player. You can see when he resets, as if that [him getting wobbled] never happened. He gets hit with a hook, he’s hurt, his legs stumble, [and] Kamaru will reset and it's nowhere in his mind.”

Watch Chael Sonnen discuss Kamaru Usman’s durability in the video below:

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#1. Max Holloway – Former UFC featherweight champion

Max Holloway has been in some grueling wars during his time in the UFC. He is one of the best strikers in the history of the sport, having captured numerous striking records during his time in the promotion.

Holloway relies on his ability to drown his opponents in punches, considering he doesn’t possess a lot of power in his strikes. Hence, the Hawaiian often takes quite a bit of damage in his fights.

At UFC 236 in 2019, Holloway took on Dustin Poirier for the interim UFC lightweight title. ‘Blessed’ struggled against the power of ‘The Diamond’ despite out-striking the latter throughout the bout.

Poirier is one of the more powerful lightweights in the UFC. The Lousianan has KO/TKO victories over the likes of Eddie Alvarez, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor, all of whom succumbed to his power. However, Holloway didn’t even get knocked down by Poirier and managed to make it an extremely close fight despite the obvious power discrepancy.

Poirier came away with a unanimous decision victory while Holloway further solidified his status as one of the toughest fighters in the world.

At UFC Vegas 42 earlier this year, Max Holloway took on Yair Rodriguez in the main event. Holloway landed 230 significant strikes but also absorbed 159 strikes from 'El Pantera' in return. The Mexican fighter presented a tough challenge for ‘Blessed’, taking the fight to the Hawaiian at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Both fighters took a ton of damage in the fight. Holloway came away with a unanimous decision victory and heaped praise on his Mexican counterpart after the bout.

Alexander Volkanovski, who has fought Holloway twice, recently expressed his opinion on the Hawaiian’s famed toughness and ability to absorb shots. The Australian questioned the longevity of Holloway's seemingly unbreakable chin. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Alexander Volkanovski said:

"Man, Max eats a lot of shots! He's a volume striker but he's happy to eat one and give a couple but how long can that last? I feel like I say this every time that he's got a great chin... but man, I'm telling you that chin's going to go soon. It is going to go soon. You can not [absorb] that kind of damage. Yeah, they're talking about 3000 strikes, which is incredible but he's probably in thousands or two thousands of absorption as well!"