Best striking defense in UFC middleweight history

Chael Sonnen holds the UFC middleweight record for best striking defense with 67.7% defense.

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

#	Fighter	Defense	Fights
1	Chael Sonnen	67.7%	10
2	Nate Quarry	66.3%	10
3	Michael Bisping	65.7%	24
4	Nick Catone	65.5%	6
5	Riki Fukuda	64.2%	5
6	Dongi Yang	63.7%	5
7	Lorenz Larkin	63.7%	5
8	Gegard Mousasi	63.7%	11
9	Thiago Santos	63.6%	15
10	Yushin Okami	62.8%	18
11	Nick Ring	62.8%	6
12	Daniel Kelly	61.7%	10
13	Demian Maia	61.6%	13
14	Alessio Di Chirico	61.5%	11
15	Makhmud Muradov	61.0%	7
16	Tom Lawlor	61.0%	8
17	Sean Strickland	60.9%	15
18	Dean Lister	60.9%	5
19	Court McGee	60.8%	5
20	Yoel Romero	60.7%	13
21	Nassourdine Imavov	60.2%	11
22	Alessio Sakara	60.2%	8
23	Trevin Giles	60.0%	7
24	Caio Borralho	59.8%	9
25	Jacare Souza	59.6%	15
26	Evan Tanner	59.2%	12
27	Lyoto Machida	59.2%	9
28	Ian Heinisch	59.1%	7
29	Luke Barnatt	59.1%	6
30	Alan Belcher	58.9%	13
31	Clint Hester	58.9%	6
32	Zak Cummings	58.8%	5
33	Francis Carmont	58.7%	9
34	Anderson Silva	58.7%	21
35	Nate Marquardt	58.6%	23
36	Rousimar Palhares	58.4%	11
37	Marvin Vettori	57.9%	18
38	Dan Henderson	57.8%	10
39	Karl Roberson	57.7%	7
40	Rafael Natal	57.6%	17
41	Tim Kennedy	57.5%	5
42	Khamzat Chimaev	57.5%	6
43	Hector Lombard	57.4%	8
44	Aaron Simpson	57.4%	9
45	Krzysztof Jotko	57.3%	17
46	Jorge Rivera	57.1%	15
47	Jack Hermansson	57.0%	18
48	Vitor Miranda	57.0%	6
49	Mark Munoz	56.9%	14
50	Israel Adesanya	56.8%	18

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.