5 UFC fighters with the best boxing, and 1 with the worst

1. Israel Adesanya

Topping off the list of the best boxers in the UFC is Israel "the Last Stylebender" Adesanya - a striking virtuoso whose boxing pedigree has made him one of the greatest middleweights in UFC history.

Adesanya is well on his way to getting his name into the GOAT conversation. His MMA record stands at an impressive 24-2, with 16 of his victories coming by way of knockout.

Much like his aforementioned rival Alex Pereira, Adesanya began his combat sports career with a highly successful run in kickboxing before making the transition to MMA in 2012. He has victories over Anderson Silva, Robert Whittaker, Paulo Costa, and Jared Cannonier.

Perhaps most impressive was his knockout over his archnemesis Pereira at UFC 287. Up to that point, Pereira had defeated Adesanya three times - twice in kickboxing and once in MMA. In a touch of poetic violence, Adesanya knocked Pereira out cold with a devastating counter right hand.

In addition to his boxing prowess in MMA, Adesanya is the only fighter on this list to have more than one professional boxing bout. While Conor McGregor and Pereira both have one pro boxing bout, Adesanya has 6, going 5-1. He also has an impressive 75-5 kickboxing record.

Simply put, when it comes to boxing (and striking in general), Adesanya does everything exceptionally well. He's a master of distance management, can string together combinations, has decent punching power, and is also an incredibly crisp counter striker.

At this point, Adesanya is a two-time UFC middleweight champion. He has the most knockdowns in a UFC title fight with four, the second most knockdowns in UFC title fights with nine, and is tied with Anderson Silva for the most knockdowns in UFC middleweight history.

Before all is said and done - expect Adesanya will be high up on the list of UFC greats. And his boxing is a big reason why.