Top 5 unranked fighters in the UFC

#2. UFC bantamweight Adrian Yanez

UFC rising star Adrian Yanez is currently riding a 9-fight win streak. His brutal win over controversial former UFC fighter Tony Kelley endeared him to fight fans around the world. While Yanez is unranked, he's shockingly skilled and is able to do things that even ranked fighters don't often do.

First, the Texan parries his opponent's kicks. Not only does he parry kicks, he does so to create openings for his counters.

Against Tony Kelley, Yanez parried his foe's kicks all the way across himself, enabling him to position himself at an angle that primes him to counter his opponents on their open side. Whenever he opts for a quicker parry, he steps in towards his foe with punches targeting the head and body while his opponent is still standing on one leg and in a poor position to absorb his blows.

Additionally, Yanez is an intelligent jabber, often jabbing with his opponents to interrupt them and prevent them from building combinations or settling into a rhythm. When combined with his defensive aptitude, Yanez frequently creates openings for his devastating counterpunches, which combine well with his thunderous punching power, earning the bantamweight contender a 16-3 record.

Lastly, Yanez is no slouch on the ground, possessing a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt to act as insurance against those who mistake him for a pure striker.

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#1. UFC lightweight Gregor Gillespie

Formerly unbeaten, Gregor Gillespie has the potential to storm into the top 3 of the UFC's deepest division: lightweight.

While the former NCAA Division I champion suffered a stunning knockout loss to Kevin Lee at UFC 244, it remains the only blemish on Gillespie's MMA record. A 14-1 fighter with a competent striking game, Gillespie keeps his hands high and uses slick head movement to slip on the inside of his opponent's punches before uncorking a thunderous counterpunch.

Despite his serviceable striking, 'The Gift' is a wrestler at heart and an extremely skilled one at that. Gillespie applies immense pressure on his opponents, using the threat of his striking to create openings for his takedowns.

The logic behind his strategy is simple. With his foes focused on his punches, they raise their hands to either block or parry, exposing their hips. Furthermore, whenever they try countering him, they square their hips, overexposing them to his takedowns.

Thus, Gillespie often baits counterpunches from his opponents so that he may duck under them. Other times, 'The Gift' uses level changes, going low-high or high-low to drag his foe's defense to and fro, stopping them from settling into a rhythm. Once Gillespie dives in for the hips, he's relentless, stepping through and turning in at strong angles before finding a weak plane that compromises his opponent's balance as he drags them to the mat.

The moment Gillespie manages to get on top of his foes, the former NCAA Division I champion becomes a force of nature, threatening opponents with brutal ground-and-pound and submissions. The aggression with which Gillespie fights is such that he has only gone to decision twice in 14 fights.