Top 5: UFC Control Freaks

Georges St. Pierre spent the better part of 13 years turning in the Ultimate Fighting Championship into his own personal playground, minus a few memorable falls from the monkey bars.

The Tristar Gym cornerstone pieced together a 20-2 record—he avenged both defeats decisively—across his 22 appearances with the organization, laying claim to championships in the welterweight and middleweight divisions. St. Pierre made his Octagon debut at UFC 46, where he took a three-round unanimous decision from Karo Parisyan in their featured undercard pairing and improved to 6-0. Outside of losses to Matt Hughes at UFC 50 and Matt Serra at UFC 69, “Rush” compiled an otherwise flawless resume. St. Pierre held the welterweight crown from Nov. 18, 2006 to April 7, 2007 and again from April 19, 2008 to Dec. 13, 2003—a total of 2,204 days. He struck gold for a third time in what was his final professional appearance at UFC 217, where he put Michael Bisping to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round of their Nov. 4, 2017 encounter and walked away as the undisputed middleweight champion.

St. Pierre announced his retirement from the sport some 15 months after he unseated Bisping, leaving behind a legacy few can match. He completed 90 takedowns during his run in the UFC and racked up 2:42:04 of control time—an all-time record that stands to this day. A look at the four others who rank closest to St. Pierre in the category:

Clay Guida

Guida was as committed to his craft as anyone in the UFC. A through-and-through grinder, the former Strikeforce champion drew his first Octagon assignment at UFC 64, where he—and virtually everyone else on the card—was overshadowed by Anderson Silva’s virtuoso performance at Rich Franklin’s expense in the main event. Guida still managed to shine, as he put away Justin James in the second round of their lightweight prelim. It kickstarted the Round Lake, Illinois, native’s long and successful run with the promotion, which saw him compile an 18-19 record before his January 2025 release. He was a 10-time post-fight performance bonus winner, his tenure highlighted by “Fight of the Year” contenders against Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez. During his stay with the UFC, Guida amassed 2:36:28 of control time.

Demian Maia

Maia entered the UFC as a ballyhooed grappler in 2007 and proceeded to carve out a place of prominence on the roster despite his rather rudimentary striking skills. He fought for titles in the middleweight and welterweight divisions, as he put together a respectable 22-11 record over his 33 trips to the Octagon. Those 22 victories still rank seventh on the UFC’s all-time list, tying him with Jon Jones and Dustin Poirier. A two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championships gold medalist, Maia executed 68 takedowns over the course of his UFC career. When combined with an effective clinch game and his otherworldly ground skills, they allowed him to accumulate 2:35:20 of control time with the organization.

Kamaru Usman

Usman for a time threatened to steal away the greatest-welterweight-of-all-time mantle from the aforementioned St. Pierre. He captured the undisputed crown at 170 pounds in 2019, when he cruised to a five-round unanimous decision over Tyron Woodley at UFC 235. Usman successfully defended the title five times over the next two years, as he bested Colby Covington (twice), Jorge Masvidal (twice) and Gilbert Burns during his reign. A three-time NCAA All-American and onetime national champion at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, “The Nigerian Nightmare” managed to optimize those skills inside the Octagon by pairing sound technique with brute strength. Usman has secured 68 takedowns in UFC competition and stonewalled nearly 90% of those attempted against him. Consider his 2:26:48 of control time a byproduct.

Rafael dos Anjos

The former lightweight champion has navigated the ebbs and flows of an inherently volatile sport, maximized his chances and established himself as a go-to performer in multiple weight classes. Dos Anjos owns a 21-15 record in the UFC, placing him in the Top 10 on the promotion’s all-time list. He made his Octagon debut at UFC 91, where he crashed and burned in spectacular fashion as the victim of a long-range Jeremy Stephens uppercut. Dos Anjos eventually rebounded and went on to claim the undisputed lightweight championship with a five-round unanimous decision over Anthony Pettis in the UFC 185 main event on March 14, 2015. The Rafael Cordeiro protégé has leaned on all-terrain skills throughout his run in the UFC, evidenced by the 2:16:43 worth of control time he has accrued.