Top 5 Active UFC Winning Streaks
This weekend Arnold Allen puts his 9-fight win streak on the line against Calvin Kattar in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Allen. Arnold Allen has one of the longest active win streaks in the UFC and is looking to make it 10 in a row with a win over Calvin Kattar.
Today we will look at the top 5 win streaks leading up to this crucial matchup at Featherweight. This list will only include consecutive wins, not draws or no contests; as such, we will not count Jon Jones's streak of 17 and Leon Edwards's streak of 10. This list will also only include active fighters who have are not retired and have fought recently.
5. Aljamain Sterling: 8 Wins
Following a brutal knockout loss in 2017 at the hands of Marlon Moraes, things seemed to turn around for Aljamain Sterling. Sterling, 6-3 in the UFC, would take on Brett Johns in his comeback fight the following year and win by unanimous decision. The same year, Sterling took on Cody Stamann and became one of the only fighters in the UFC to win by Suloev stretch submission. Sterling would defeat Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz by unanimous decision to advance his streak to 4 and earn a shot at a title eliminator bout against Cory Sandhagen. Sterling would make quick work of Sandhagen, submitting him in 1 minute and 30 seconds and getting the next shot at the current champion, Petr Yan. In a controversial disqualification victory for Sterling due to an illegal knee thrown by Yan, Sterling became the undisputed champion and had an opportunity to defend his title in an immediate rematch. Sterling proved the doubters wrong after controlling Yan for most of the fight and winning a split decision. Sterling made his streak 8 in a row after scoring a TKO over TJ Dillashaw in the co-main event of UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev. Following his victory, Sterling made it clear he is willing to fight whoever is next in line in the Bantamweight division.
4. Arnold Allen: 9 Wins
After going 9-1 in the regional scene and becoming the M4TC Lightweight Champion, Arnold Allen debuted in the UFC in 2015 against Alan Omer, winning by guillotine choke submission and earning a Performance of the Night bonus to begin his tenure. In his next fight in the promotion, he took on Yaotzin Meza and earned a unanimous decision victory during the prelims of UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping. Allen's next fight saw him face the most adversity he ever had within the UFC when he engaged in a close battle with Makwan Amirkhani; still, he managed to convince most of the ring-side judges, which gave him the split decision victory. Allen returned more vital than ever in his follow-up fight, winning by front choke submission in the third round against Mads Burnell and scoring his second Performance of the Night bonus. To begin 2019, Allen faced Jordan Rinaldi and dominated him to another unanimous decision moving his win streak to 5 in a row. Allen's next fight against Gilbert Melendez would see him fight outside of Europe for the first time in his career and make his US debut to close out the prelims of UFC 239: Jones vs. Santos. In this fight, Allen won unanimously and was now climbing up the Featherweight rankings. Allen's following two bouts saw him fight twice in the US and score unanimous decision victories over Nik Lentz and Sodiq Yusuff. Allen's most recent success saw him secure the biggest win of his career against Dan Hooker, who had just moved down from Lightweight to climb the Featherweight rankings. Allen TKO'd Hooker at 2:33 of round one. He earned his third Performance of the Night bonus on one of the most exciting UFC cards of 2022, UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Aspinall in London, thus moving his win streak to 9 and setting him up to face the upper echelon of the Featherweight elite.
3. Valentina Shevchenko: 9 Wins
After an unsuccessful attempt at the Women's Bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes in 2017, Valentina Shevchenko moved to the newly-created Women's Flyweight division. Shevchenko scored a submission win over Priscila Cachoeira in one of the most one-sided victories in UFC history, which earned her a title shot for the vacant title against ex-Strawweight champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Despite the two having faced each other in Muay Thai, they were yet to fight under an MMA ruleset. Shevchenko would control Jędrzejczyk using her striking and earn the unanimous decision victory and the Flyweight championship. In her first defence of the title, Shevchenko knocked out Jessica Eye in one of the greatest KOs of all time and moved her current streak to 3. In her next bout, Shevchenko would redeem her loss to Liz Carmouche by winning a unanimous decision. Shevchenko scored a TKO victory over Katlyn Chookagian to begin 2020, making it 5 consecutive victories. Closing out 2020, Shevchenko defeated Jennifer Maia by unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 255: Figueiredo vs. Perez. Shevchenko would score 2 TKO wins over Jéssica Andrade and Lauren Murphy in 2021 to make her streak 8. In her most recent bout against Taila Santos, Shevchenko faced the toughest test of her Flyweight career when Santos controlled her on the ground for a decent portion of the fight. Still, Shevchenko's damage on the feet ended up getting her the split decision nod from the judges and moved her streak to 9 with 7 title defences.
2. Islam Makhachev: 11 Wins
After a shock knockout loss to Adriano Martins in 2015 and going 1-1 in the promotion, Islam Makhachev went on to have one of the most dominant runs to a title in UFC history. Makhachev made his comeback against Chris Wade, winning a unanimous decision. Five months later, Makhachev took on Nik Lentz and scored another unanimous decision victory. To open 2018, Makhachev faced Gleison Tibau and won by knockout in only 57 seconds. The same year, Makhachev would earn a second round 1 finish, this time by submission over Kajan Johnson, which took his streak to 4 in a row. Makhachev would fight twice in 2019 and score two unanimous decisions over up-and-comers Arman Tsarukyan and Davi Ramos. 2021 would see a rise in fighters not wanting to face Makhachev, making it hard for him to get matched up, but he was still able to get three submission victories over Drew Dober, Thiago Moisés and Dan Hooker to close this year out and move his streak to 9. Makhachev earned a TKO victory over Bobby Green on short notice when Beneil Dariush pulled out due to injury. This victory earned him a shot at the newly-vacated title against Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev. Makhachev would go on to win the fight by submission, proving he is the best Lightweight and moving his streak to 11.
1. Alexander Volkanovski: 12 Wins
These next two fighters are a cut above the rest, as they are yet to lose in the UFC. Alexander Volkanovski debuted in the promotion in 2016 and scored a TKO win over Yusuke Kasuya. The following year he would dominate his way to two unanimous decision victories over Mizuto Hirota and Shane Young. At the beginning of 2018, he earned a TKO against Jeremy Kennedy and began climbing up the rankings at Featherweight. The same year, he faced Darren Elkins and won a decision on all three judges' scorecards. To end one of the most significant years of his career, Volkanovski met Chad Mendes in the octagon to open the main card of UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustaffson 2. Volkanovski would win by TKO in round 2 after an exciting fight that earned both men Fight of the Night awards. On a winning streak of 6 and the cusp of a title shot, Volkanovski went to face the King of Rio, José Aldo, in his backyard and dominated his way to a unanimous decision. This fight earned Volkanovski the title shot against then-champion Max Holloway, which saw him win unanimously and become the Featherweight champion. After beating a dominant champion such as Max Holloway, an immediate rematch was set, which saw Volkanovski win again, but this time in a much closer fight, by split decision. Volkanovski's next fight would see him be nearly finished for the first time in the UFC against Brian Ortega. Volkanovski fought out of two serious submission attempts and continued to beat Ortega up and secure the unanimous decision victory. Volkanovski's two fights in 2022 would see him execute two flawless wins, first against Chan Sung Jung by TKO and next against Max Holloway, finally closing the book on his trilogy with Holloway and locking him in a 12-fight win streak.
Currently tied with Valentina Shevchenko at 9, Arnold Allen looks to surpass that with a win over Calvin Kattar and secure the 4th longest active win streak in the UFC.
