5 Fighters who have stayed in the UFC Cage the longest

Posted on | October 5, 2018 | No Comments

All eyes will be on the big fight this weekend as KhabibNurmagomedov and Conor McGregor will be facing off against each other for the Lightweight Championship. The Khabib McGregor odds suggest that the unbeaten Russian lightweight is the favourite, but it could go either way.

These two fighters might be some of the biggest names in the sport at the moment, but they aren’t the longest serving competitors in the competition. We have taken a look 5 fighters with the longest UFC careers.

Jim Miller – 30 bouts
American fighter Jim Miller currently holds the record for the most UFC bouts, entering the cage 30 times during his career. The UFC lightweight started his professional mixed martial art career in 2005 in the ‘Reality Fighting’ competition, but didn’t join the UFC until July 2008.

His debut came just a few months later at UFC 89. Although Miller was only one of the preliminary matches, his UFC career got off to the best start by defeating David Baron via submission, being awarded the ‘Submission of the Night’ award.

Since making his UFC debut ten years ago, Miller has gone on to make 30 appearances in the cage, winning 18 of them.

Jeremy Stephens – 29 bouts
Like Miller, Jeremy Stephens started his professional mixed martial arts career in 2005, fighting in numerous competitions before joining the UFC in 2007. However, unlike Miller, Stephens’ first fight didn’t go to plan as he was defeated via a second round armbar submission against UFC veteran Din Thomas.

Although the lightweight and featherweight fighter didn’t get off to the best start in the promotion, Stephens has enjoyed a fairly successfully career. In total, Jeremy Stephens has entered the cage 29 times in the past, winning 15 of them.

His defeat to José Aldo put an end to his three-fight winning streak, but leaves him just one fight away from matching Jim Miller’s bout total.

Michael Bisping – 29 bouts
Although Michael Bisping might have announced his retirement from MMA competitions earlier this year, he will be regarded as one of the longest serving competitors in the competition with 29 bouts under his belt. Whilst the majority of UFC fighters usually started their professional career at 18, Bisping started in 2004 at the relatively late age of 25.

Despite the ‘late’ start to his career, Bisping got off to a great start by winning his first 10 fights before being signed by the UFC.

Although he didn’t maintain his unbeaten record throughout his career, his record during his time in the UFC was very respectable, finishing with 20 wins and 9 defeats in 29 matches.

Diego Sanchez – 28 bouts
Since joining the competition in 2005, Sanchez has spent the majority of his career in the UFC and is currently the longest tenured UFC fighter on the active roster. The American has competed in many different fighting divisions over the years, and is currently competing as a ‘lightweight’ and ‘welterweight’.

After spending the first few years of his career in the ‘King of the Cage’ tournaments, Sanchez finally got his ‘break’ with the UFC as he was a participant and winner on the first season of the reality show ‘The Ultimate Fighter’. His victory led to the fighter signing a contract with the UFC and immediately being put in a ‘main card’ fight in his first UFC competition.

From 2005 to 2009, Sanchez was one of the most feared and ‘unstoppable’ fighters in the competition, winning 10 of his first 13 bouts. Although Sanchez has failed to put together a good winning

streak in the past few years, his is still considered one of the best competitors in the UFC.

In total, Sanchez has been involved with the UFC for 4,926 days (as of 03/10/2018) – the longest out of any active UFC fighter.

Frank Mir – 27 bouts
Although Diego Sanchez is currently the longest tenured active fighter, Frank Mir held that title before his release from the UFC in 2016 with 5,557 continuous days with the UFC from 2nd November 2001 until 20th March 2016.

From a young age, Mir showed huge potential in wrestling and martial arts and was soon signed up to the UFC in 2001 following two wins in other MMA competitions. Throughout the majority of his time in the UFC, Mir won most of his fights by knockout or submission, only relying on the judges’ decision twice. In the later years of his time with the UFC, Mir experienced more defeats than wins. Despite this, Mir has gone down as a legend in the competition.

The “biggest fight in UFC history” is set to take place this Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. Although it’s the first time that the two will be fighting against each other, the two fighters have a history with one another which has turned from respect into a full blown rivalry.

Considering that Khabib hasn’t experienced a single defeat in his professional career and McGregor hasn’t entered the cage in two years, it seems that a Khabib win is the most likely outcome. However, McGregor is a very difficult fighter and will want to put an end to his rivals’ unbeaten record.

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