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Lightweight · 2026

Best Lightweight Striking Defense

Best at avoiding shots — highest percentage of opponent strikes that miss or get blocked.

Fares Ziam leads the lightweight Str Def board at 64% opp. strikes blocked , followed by Nasrat Haqparast (63%) and Kaue Fernandes (63%) .

Top 25 active lightweight fighters by career-window Str Def. · See full lightweight Elo rankings →

Striking Defense in all divisions →
  1. 1
    Fares Ziam
    8-3-0 11 fights #26
    64%
  2. 2
    Nasrat Haqparast
    10-5-0 15 fights #28
    63%
  3. 3
    Kaue Fernandes
    3-1-0 4 fights #38
    63%
  4. 4
    King Green
    16-12-1 29 fights #23
    62%
  5. 5
    Ilia Topuria
    9-1-0 10 fights #1
    62%
  6. 6
    Rafa Garcia
    7-4-0 11 fights #31
    61%
  7. 7
    Bolaji Oki
    2-3-0 5 fights #81
    61%
  8. 8
    Clay Guida
    18-19-0 37 fights #61
    61%
  9. 9
    Mateusz Gamrot
    9-4-0 13 fights #10
    60%
  10. 10
    Alexander Hernandez
    10-8-0 18 fights #36
    60%
  11. 11
    Renato Moicano
    13-7-0 20 fights #11
    60%
  12. 12
    Mauricio Ruffy
    5-1-0 6 fights #17
    60%
  13. 13
    Damir Hadzovic
    4-6-0 10 fights #62
    59%
  14. 14
    Michael Johnson
    16-16-0 32 fights #49
    59%
  15. 15
    Nurullo Aliev
    3-0-0 3 fights #21
    59%
  16. 16
    Max Holloway
    23-9-0 32 fights #3
    59%
  17. 17
    Jeremy Stephens
    15-20-0 35 fights #69
    58%
  18. 18
    Viacheslav Borshchev
    3-6-1 10 fights #77
    57%
  19. 19
    Evan Elder
    3-2-0 5 fights #52
    57%
  20. 20
    Beneil Dariush
    17-8-1 26 fights #13
    57%
  21. 21
    Jim Miller
    28-18-0 46 fights #16
    57%
  22. 22
    Matt Frevola
    5-6-1 12 fights #65
    57%
  23. 23
    Ismael Bonfim
    2-3-0 5 fights #74
    56%
  24. 24
    Kai Kamaka Iii
    2-2-1 5 fights #71
    56%
  25. 25
    Mike Davis
    5-2-0 7 fights #27
    56%
Other lightweight leaderboards
Strikes Landed per Minute Striking Accuracy Lowest Strikes Absorbed Takedowns per 15 Minutes Takedown Accuracy Takedown Defense Submission Attempts per 15 Min Knockdowns per 15 Minutes Control Time per 15 Minutes

Career averages, calculated over a fighter's full UFC sample. Provisional fighters (fewer than 4 UFC bouts) and retired fighters are excluded so the leaderboards reflect a real career, not a one-fight outlier. Stat data sourced from UFCStats via our daily pipeline. Updated Jun 20, 2026.