Best striking defense in UFC lightweight history

Frankie Edgar holds the UFC lightweight record for best striking defense with 71.8% defense.

UFC fights only, minimum 5 fights. Updated October 20, 2026.

#	Fighter	Defense	Fights
1	Frankie Edgar	71.8%	13
2	Myles Jury	71.7%	7
3	Desmond Green	69.0%	7
4	Justin Salas	68.9%	7
5	Dennis Siver	68.5%	12
6	John Makdessi	68.3%	19
7	Yves Edwards	68.1%	20
8	Melvin Guillard	67.9%	20
9	George Sotiropoulos	67.2%	9
10	Gray Maynard	67.2%	17
11	Terry Etim	67.0%	11
12	Reza Madadi	67.0%	7
13	Tae Hyun Bang	66.5%	5
14	Rustam Khabilov	66.5%	12
15	Benson Henderson	66.0%	12
16	BJ Penn	65.8%	16
17	Jorge Masvidal	65.7%	7
18	Josh Neer	65.2%	5
19	Tyson Griffin	65.1%	12
20	Khabib Nurmagomedov	65.0%	12
21	Kenny Florian	65.0%	12
22	Mairbek Taisumov	64.9%	9
23	Norman Parke	64.9%	9
24	Rob Emerson	64.8%	7
25	Kajan Johnson	64.4%	7
26	Spencer Fisher	64.2%	15
27	Kurt Pellegrino	64.0%	11
28	Gleison Tibau	63.7%	27
29	Ross Pearson	63.6%	23
30	Chad Laprise	63.4%	5
31	Thiago Tavares	63.1%	14
32	Fares Ziam	63.1%	12
33	Efrain Escudero	63.0%	12
34	Jorge Gurgel	63.0%	7
35	Paul Kelly	63.0%	6
36	Gabriel Benitez	62.9%	5
37	Anthony Njokuani	62.6%	8
38	Rafael Dos Anjos	62.5%	25
39	Alexander Hernandez	62.4%	16
40	Gilbert Melendez	62.2%	5
41	Nasrat Haqparast	62.1%	16
42	Rich Clementi	62.0%	7
43	Islam Makhachev	61.8%	16
44	Evan Dunham	61.7%	20
45	Leandro Silva	61.7%	6
46	Joe Proctor	61.6%	7
47	King Green	61.6%	30
48	Danny Castillo	61.5%	14
49	Johnny Case	61.4%	6
50	Aaron Riley	61.4%	7

Related records

How we count: results and statistics are from official UFC fight data. Strike and takedown numbers only exist for fights where the UFC recorded them. Rates need at least 5 UFC fights and enough attempts to be meaningful.