A comparison of the longest active winning streaks in UFC's lightweight division shows significant turnover and changes. Currently, Islam Makhachev leads with 16 wins, followed by Paddy Pimblett with 8, Chase Hooper with 7, and Grant Dawson and Fares Ziam each with 6. One year ago, Makhachev had 14, with Pimblett at 6 and three fighters tied at 5. Two years ago, Makhachev had 12, Renato Moicano and Pimblett each had 5, and Arman Tsarukyan had 4 along with two others at 4. In April 2022, Charles Oliveira led with 10, Makhachev had 9, Beneil Dariush had 7, and three fighters including Tsarukyan and Rafael Fiziev had 5. The data illustrates the volatile nature of the lightweight division and how quickly competitive landscapes shift.
The lightweight division's pecking order has shifted dramatically over the past two years, and a look at the longest active winning streaks across four snapshot periods tells the story clearly.
Islam Makhachev sits at the top of the current list with 16 consecutive wins, a number that has grown steadily from 12 two years ago and 9 in April 2022. Paddy Pimblett follows with eight straight, up from five two years back. Chase Hooper has built a seven-fight streak, while Grant Dawson and Fares Ziam each carry six. Ziam, a 29-year-old French Orthodox striker fighting out of Kill Cliff FC, stands six-foot-one with a 75-inch reach and lands 2.85 significant strikes per minute at 51 percent accuracy. His emergence in the top-streak conversation reflects how much new talent has pushed into the division's conversation.
The April 2022 snapshot looked very different. Charles Oliveira led the division with ten straight victories. The 36-year-old Brazilian, now ranked third at lightweight and eleventh pound-for-pound, carries a 37-11 record and remains one of the most dangerous finishers in the sport, averaging 2.6 submission attempts per 15 minutes alongside 2.22 takedowns in the same window. Beneil Dariush was right behind Oliveira at that time with seven in a row. The 37-year-old American southpaw, now ranked eighth at lightweight with a 23-8-1 record, averages 3.78 significant strikes per minute. Neither fighter currently appears among the top streaks, illustrating just how unforgiving 155 pounds can be.
Why it matters
- Makhachev's streak growth from 9 to 16 mirrors his rise to undisputed divisional dominance
- Oliveira and Dariush, both top-ten fixtures in 2022, have since absorbed losses that erased their streak standing
- New names like Ziam and Hooper signal a younger tier is arriving with genuine momentum
- The data underscores that lightweight remains among the UFC's most competitive and punishing divisions
