There is something particularly threatening about a bald MMA fighter, isn’t there? Baldies get a bad rap worldwide, and often even more so for UFC bald guys who have ripped muscles.
For some reason, shouting “baldy” makes for an easy target! But let’s be clear, you wouldn’t want to say it to the face of any of these bald MMA fighters.
This article will list fifteen of the best bald UFC fighters that have undeniably sensational fighting skills for MMA (and probably on the streets, too). Let’s get straight to the list.
Table of Contents
Bald UFC Fighters
First up, let’s check the list of actually bald UFC fighters who have had a remarkable history in the UFC and the world of mixed martial arts.
Anderson Silva
Often named one of the Greatest Of All Time, Anderson “The Spider” Silva is a shiny domed legend of the UFC. He’s also one of the most successful black UFC fighters in history!
Silva’s bald head wasn’t practical for grappling as this was never his specialty, but his hairless crown could have helped him sense the flow of the air coming his way. How else do you explain his unnatural ability to slip and wave punches like a God?
Anderson will always be remembered for incredible fights against Michael Bisping, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, etc.
Randy Couture
Randy isn’t just well known for his infectious smile. He’s a veteran of the sport of MMA, having fought competitively as early as 1997.
His reputation grew as one of his era’s most decorated MMA fighters. He had multiple title reigns as a UFC Champion in two different weight classes.
Nicknamed “The Natural,” Randy’s robust Wrestling takedowns and ground-and-pound style made him very competitive and challenging to beat.
His style was so successful that he held the UFC record for competing in sixteen title fights in his career. He also became the first UFC fighter to hold a UFC Championship belt across two weight classes.
Even more incredible is that he still holds the record as the oldest champion in UFC history with his title win over Tim Sylvia at age 43.
Randy Couture’s MMA efforts granted him induction into the UFC Hall of Fame. He was the 4th UFC fighter to ever reach that recognition.
But Randy wasn’t only an MMA star. He was also a movie superstar who worked alongside Hollywood names like Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Rob Schneider, etc.
Randy also opened his own chain of mixed martial arts gyms named Xtreme Couture MMA and a clothing line, Xtreme Couture Clothing.
Junior Dos Santos
Junior Dos Santos, AKA “Cigano,” is a heavyweight fighter that gained a considerable following during his prime fighting days.
Cigano has been fighting in the UFC since early as 2008, when the world of MMA was under some of its rockiest periods in viewership terms. He faced Fabrico Werdum and won at UFC 90.
He went on a nine-fight winning streak, successfully winning and then defending his heavyweight belt several times.
An extensive and proud baldy, Junior Dos Santos deserves all the respect from fans, new and old!
Keith Jardine
Keith was nicknamed “The Dean Of Mean” because of his ferocious fighting style. He retired after his final fight in 2012 and had not fought in the UFC since 2010.
Many of his UFC fights, particularly towards the end of his contract, were at a loss. But even so, he was the kind of fighter where you felt uneasy about what he would do next.
An absolute brawler would walk forward throwing fists and finish people with a takedown and some ground and pound. He was definitely entertaining to watch, so I’ve included Keith with his shiny head and pointy beard in this list!
Jeff Monson
Jeff, “The Snowman” Monson, is a heavyweight who fought out of the American Top Team. Amazingly, Jeff had over 85 fights in his MMA career.
His career goes all the way back to 1997, fighting in the UFCF. He then first appeared in the UFC for UFC 27 in 2000. Jeff bounced between different fighting promotions in those early days, including the UFC, AMC, and WEFC.
He appeared in the UFC again in 2002 before another layoff, then returned to fight four times in a single year for the UFC in 2006.
The Snowman has always prioritized his physical strength and conditioning to have such a long career in fighting.
His style was heavy on Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu techniques, which made him very effective at shooting for his opponents’ legs, pulling them down to the ground, and submitting them. Over 60% of his wins came from submissions!
Although he didn’t have a vast array of fights in the UFC, his participation and a career full of fights make this bald Snowman a worthy addition to this list!
Anthony Smith
Anthony “Lionheart” Smith is another bald fighter who has had many fights and faced his own challenges with staying consistent and in the win column.
Despite that, he has had some really extraordinary performances against some of the best opponents in that Light Heavyweight division.
Big wins against Alexander Gustafsson, Rashad Evans, and Hector Lombard have kept his name up there in the mix to continue challenging for title spots.
Lionheart isn’t often beaten easily, with his loss to Jon Jones going to the decision of a full five rounds. And another to Glover Teixeira taking the majority of five rounds.
Recently, Anthony’s name has been coming up again in good fights that he’s winning. It may not be long before this bald Lion is ready to challenge for a title once again before his career is over.
BJ Penn
The Prodigy that is BJ Penn is a name cemented into the very fabric of the UFC. Penn started his fighting career with UFC 31 in 2001 and ended his career there in 2019. Although he did have a couple of fights with other promotions like ROTR and K-1.
The Hawaiian would trouble many opponents with a tight brawling style. He could throw straight punches down the middle while predicting counters and avoid them easily.
It was common for Penn to catch his opponent with a knee strike straight up the centerline to then jump on them on the ground and finish with punches.
When those didn’t work, you’d see him beat up the faces of many opponents until their face was pouring with blood and then wrap them up in his legs and swing hooks until they entirely gave their back. Then he’d just finish them off with a rear-naked choke.
He was one of the few fighters in UFC history to give Georges St-Pierre a rough time in two fights, despite losing both.
BJ Penn’s brand is now so big that he runs his own MMA entertainment network and his own MMA gym.
Colin Fletcher
Colin is known fondly as the “Freakshow” because of his creepy appearance. The tattoos over his chest, his balding head, and the fact that he wears a vampiric mouthpiece during weigh-ins helped him capture plenty of attention.
But Colin’s real personality couldn’t be any further from his nickname. Outside of the octagon, Colin is actually known for having an authentically warm personality.
While he only featured in two UFC fights in 2012 and 2013, I’m still including him because of his infamy in the sport of MMA.
Kamaru Usman
Often regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters, Kamaru Usman is a black UFC fighter born in Nigeria.
At the time of writing, Usman has only suffered one loss in his entire career. His second fight all the way back in 2013.
Since that fight, Usman blew up the ranks in the LFC promotion and arrived in the UFC in 2015 with The Ultimate Fighter. His undefeated reign against many notable opponents has helped him be considered one of the very best UFC fighters of all time.
Usman has wins against Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington x2, Jorge Masvidal x2, plus many more.
This clean-shaven Nigerian Nightmare sits on this list comfortably.
Alexander Volkanovski
I’m still not quite sure if Alexander is bald by choice or ultimately for preference in training for a fight. But he sure does rock a great bald look that seems to only aid him in being one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in recent UFC history.
The man is all hard work and all class, all the time. If you need the motivation to get things done in life, this is one UFC fighter who ticks all the boxes.
Volk reached our list of the best UFC fights in 2021 for his incredible resilience against Ortega’s signature triangle choke. The man is just plain beastly in grappling, striking, and stamina.
Tito Ortiz
Tito is another legend of the MMA world. The Huntington Beach Bad Boy (yes, that’s his chosen nickname) smashed into the UFC in 1997. Few fighters like Ortiz started their MMA career straight into the UFC.
His career was always exciting to watch. He had a bunch of big wins against opponents like Wanderlei Silva, Ken Shamrock (x3), Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, and Chuck Liddell.
Tito Ortiz spent seventeen years fighting at the UFC level before spending the last few years of his career at Bellator and then Combate Americas.
These days he spends a lot of his time making appearances at events, running his clothing line and athlete management company, and supporting veterans.
Ortiz had a unique short and blonde hairstyle for most of his career. As he grew older, the balding came in but lucky for him, his rough look with a shaven head suits him down to the ground.
Glover Teixeira
For my money, Glover Teixeira is simply one of the most inspiring light heavyweights that the UFC has ever seen.
He’s the second-oldest UFC champion in history (behind Randy Couture) and the oldest first-time champion in UFC history.
Just two days after his 42nd birthday, Glover became the Light Heavyweight Champion after defeating the excellent Jan Blachowicz. In my opinion, it’s an incredible achievement.
After a six-fight winning streak, the Brazilian became champion and overcame strong opponents (and other fellow baldies) like Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos. He simply worked hard, kept himself fit and injury-free, and built his way to the challenger’s spot.
This bald powerhouse fights out of his own Teixeira MMA & Fitness gym. I’m hopeful that he’ll be able to end his career in style as a champion. But it doesn’t look like he’s planning to retire anytime soon.
Kimbo Slice
Kimbo Slice, whose real name was Kevin Ferguson, was one of the original backyard fighters that took the internet by storm in the early 2000s.
His popularity across the internet is likely what brought him the opportunities to fight competitively for the UFC, EliteXC, and Bellator.
Kimbo passed away in 2016 but managed to have an explosive fighting career in Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts separately. In Boxing, he had a 7-0 record with all KOs.
In MMA, his results weren’t quite as perfect, with a 5-2 record. But Kimbo’s specialty was always his Boxing. He had heavy hands that could drop an opponent in a flash.
I have many fond memories of watching Kimbo slice people up at garden BBQs on early video-sharing sites back in the day. While he wasn’t completely bald, he did rock the egg with sideburns look and a giant beard to go along with it.
Rest in peace, Kevin.
Daniel Cormier
“DC” was recently inducted into the UFC’s Hall Of Fame for his extraordinary career at Heavyweight.
His career was full of ups and downs, mainly when competing against Jon Jones. But despite all the drama, he proved himself as one of the elite wrestlers in his division and made it difficult for anyone who faced him.
A former champ and now a popular commentator for UFC’s most prominent events alongside Joe Rogan, DC is one bald UFC fighter that sticks in our hearts.
Demetrious Johnson
“DJ” is one of the shortest UFC fighters and one with an incredible record at the UFC before he moved on to One Championship later in his career.
Many fellow fighters have even chosen Demetrious as one of their Greatest Of All Time, alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov.
DJ always had a potent combination of wrestling power and explosive striking, making him incredibly difficult to deal with.
This is one ex-UFC fighter that is well-deserving to be on this list as one of the best bald UFC fighters in MMA history.
Honorable Mentions
A few fighters have opted for the shiny dome in specific parts of their career.
Many fighters in the UFC choose to shave their heads clean because it makes fighting that much easier. Then they don’t have to deal with hair getting in their face, keeping it clean when training five times a day, or risking it getting pulled out.
So let’s talk about some of my favorite honorable mentions of UFC fighters who chose the bald temporarily.
Conor McGregor
While we were used to thinking of McGregor as a tattooed, bearded and hairstyled fighter, he shocked the MMA world when he revealed his bald head in the preparations for his UFC 257 rematch with Dustin Poirier.
I secretly think he was getting some fresh new plugs to keep the hairline tight. But what do I know?
Conor has a habit of constantly inventing a new look for each of his fights. When he returned after a long layoff to fight Donald Cerrone, he was about as hairy as a silverback.
But I guess that’s the kind of man and fighter Conor is, who often likes to reinvent himself.
Georges St-Pierre
GSP famously fought with the shaven head look. He gets an honorable mention here not only because he is one of the greatest fighters of all time but also for his distinguished shaven head look.
Georges is another fighter on the list who preferred to shave his head during his fighting days. Although now, he’s often sporting a Quicksilver-inspired look with high and tight jet white hair.
Donald Cerrone
You’d probably place Donald under the “balding” category, but the guy ages like a fine wine. But Donald has a generally hairy exterior. Sometimes he might be clean-shaven, but he can look like bigfoot just a week later.
Donald Cerrone has been around for such a long time and has fought many of the biggest names in the sport that he’s deserving of recognition here.
Dana White
We can’t leave out the daddy of the group, can we? Dana White has represented himself as the face of the UFC since its early inception and has earned the respect of fighters and fans alike.
Without this sport, this entire blog wouldn’t exist. And without Dana, the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts wouldn’t be at the same level as today.
Say what you want about his choices with fighter pay, matchups, fines, and rules. But without Dana, there is no UFC.
Final Word
There have clearly been many great bald UFC fighters in the sport’s history, including some who prefer the shiny top to make their training and fighting experience much more straightforward.
There are a fair few fighters on this list that I think would make exceptional bare-knuckle fighters, it could be a wild change if there were UFC fights without gloves. But that may just be a pipedream.
If you want to know more about why some fighters choose to be bald for fighting, check out my next article about why UFC fighters are bald!
