Charles Oliveira leads UFC history with 21 finishes

Charles Oliveira holds the record for the most finishes in UFC history with 21, one ahead of Jim Miller’s 20, according to the UFC Record Book, checked October 9, 2026. Oliveira’s total consists of 17 submissions and four KO/TKO wins; his official athlete profile also identifies him as the promotion’s finishes record holder. Sources: UFC Record Book, Oliveira’s UFC profile.

Here, a finish means a UFC victory by KO/TKO or submission—not simply any fight that ended before the final bell. Decision wins, disqualifications and no contests are excluded from this measure, as are wins outside the UFC.

UFC finishes leaderboard

The table includes active and retired fighters across all divisions, with every tie at 10th place retained. It is not a lightweight-only ranking, even though Oliveira currently competes in that division.

Rank	Fighter	UFC finishes
1	Charles Oliveira	21
2	Jim Miller	20
=3	Donald Cerrone	16
=3	Derrick Lewis	16
=5	Matt Brown	15
=5	Dustin Poirier	15
=5	Vicente Luque	15
=8	Anderson Silva	14
=8	Max Holloway	14
=10	Frank Mir	13
=10	Joe Lauzon	13
=10	Glover Teixeira	13

Source: UFC Record Book, all-fighters filter, checked October 9, 2026. The Record Book states that its statistical coverage runs from UFC 28 to the present; this table reproduces that leaderboard rather than a separate census starting at UFC 1.

How Oliveira and Miller built their totals

Oliveira leads through submissions: 17 of his 21 finishes, or approximately 81%, came that way. His four KO/TKO wins were against Nik Lentz, Jared Gordon, Michael Chandler and Beneil Dariush. His most recent finishing win was a second-round rear-naked choke against Mateusz Gamrot on October 11, 2025. His subsequent unanimous-decision victory over Max Holloway at UFC 326 increased his UFC wins total, but not his finishes total. Source: Oliveira’s UFC bout history.

Miller’s 20 finishes comprise 14 submissions and six KO/TKO wins, calculated from the Record Book’s finishes and submissions totals. He closed the gap to one by submitting Jared Gordon with a first-round guillotine at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026. Sources: UFC Record Book, UFC 328 official results.

The knockout record is a different answer. Derrick Lewis leads with 16 UFC KO/TKO victories, all of his UFC finishes. That puts him joint third overall, despite leading the KO/TKO category. Sources: UFC Record Book, Lewis’s UFC profile.

Most finishes is not the same as highest finish rate

A cumulative record rewards both finishing success and the opportunity to accumulate wins. Oliveira’s sample illustrates why the denominator matters:

• Share of UFC wins finished: 21 ÷ 25 = 84%.
• Finishing wins per UFC appearance: 21 ÷ 37 = 56.8%.

Both calculations use the same 21 finishes and the Record Book’s totals of 25 wins and 37 appearances. The first asks how Oliveira wins; the second includes losses and his no contest in the denominator. Neither is the percentage of his fights that ended inside the distance, which would also include his stoppage losses. Source: UFC Record Book.

That distinction also separates this leaderboard from the most UFC wins record. For the broader frequency of stoppages rather than one fighter’s winning total, see how often UFC fights end in a finish.