Let’s start by asking a simple question: who are the best MMA fighters from Ohio? It’s no secret that the Buckeye State has produced some of the best athletes the United States and the world have ever known.
Look no further than basketball superstar LeBron James. 22 years ago, James, then an 18-year-old from Akron, was selected No. 1 overall in the draft by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers after the Cavs won the NBA draft lottery. Although LeBron performed a beautiful face-heel turn 15 years ago going to the Miami Heat in a controversial television special, he eventually turned around and won the Cavs a title six years later.
While you could spend the better part of the next week sitting in your chair trying to find some top athletes with ties to Ohio, we’ll choose to limit our focus to Ohio’s top MMA fighters. Ohio, like every other state in the union, has embraced MMA as a sport, with Cleveland hosting UFC 203 nearly a decade ago.
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Best Ohio MMA Fighters: Important Ground Rules
As is often the case when these types of pieces are finished, there are ground rules that we will hand out. First and foremost, this list won’t be limited to just the UFC.
Other promotions such as the PFL will also be discussed here today. Second, both current and former combatants should be considered for the purposes of this article.
Now that those preliminaries are out of the way, it’s time for us to get started with Ohio’s best MMA fighters. There’s not a moment to lose, so let’s get started right away.
Top Ohio MMA Fighters: Lance “The Party” Palmer
Ohio is known as “The Buckeye State,” and one of the state’s main attractions is Ohio State University, whose athletic programs are nicknamed the “Buckeyes.” It is in that spirit that we begin with an Ohio State alumnus.
In 2013, Lance “The Party” Palmer made his first appearance in the late World Series of Fighting, a third-round guillotine choke submission loss to Georgi Karakhanyan. This was Palmer’s first professional loss after securing the Resurrection Fighting Alliance Featherweight Championship months earlier.
He would bounce back strongly from that defeat and win the WSOF Featherweight Championship in two stints before the WSOF was transformed into the PFL in 2017. It was in 2017 that Palmer began an eleven-fight winning streak that saw him win the 2018 and 2019 PFL Featherweight Championships.
Top Ohio MMA Fighters: Lance Palmer Sees Fighting PPD, Season Canceled Due To COVID
In March 2020, it was announced that Lance Palmer would fight Jason Soares on the opening card of that year’s PFL season. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States forced the PFL to postpone and ultimately cancel the 2020 season. The Soares fight was never rescheduled.
While the PFL would resume regular operations in 2021, Palmer would lose both of his regular season bouts that year and miss the postseason. A unanimous decision win over Sheymon Moraes in June 2022 would be his last in the PFL.
To date, this is his last victory in martial arts. Although Palmer has left the arena in defeat more often than not, he is still one of the best MMA fighters to come out of Ohio.
To date, this is his last victory in martial arts. Although Palmer has left the arena in defeat more often than not, he is still one of the best MMA fighters to come out of Ohio.Top Ohio MMA Fighters: Kayla Harrison
We continue our look at Ohio’s best MMA fighters by taking a drive to Kayla Harrison’s hometown of Middletown. Even before Harrison turned her attention to MMA, she was already an accomplished Olympian.
Harrison won gold medals in judo at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in London and Rio de Janeiro respectively. In 2018, her MMA career began under the PFL promotional banner.
After going 3-0 in showcase fights during the 2018 PFL season, she began her championship chase the following spring, winning the 2019 and 2021 PFL Women’s Lightweight Championships. All told, she compiled a 15-0 record before suffering her first loss to Larissa Pacheco in November 2022.
Ohio’s Top MMA Fighters: Kayla Harrison Joins UFC
Following a single PFL appearance in 2023 in which she won by unanimous decision over Aspen Ladd at 150 lbs catchweight, Kayla Harrison joined the UFC’s active roster for the historic UFC 300 in April 2024 at the T-Mobile Arena in Enterprise, NV. She made her UFC promotional debut on the TV undercard of UFC 300, submitting Holly Holm in the second round.
Since then, she hasn’t missed a beat under Dana White’s promotional banner, securing the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship in June 2025. While she may now be training from Florida, Kayla Harrison will remain a Buckeye for life.
Best MMA Fighters from Ohio: Stipe Miocic
Finally, we end our look at Ohio’s best MMA fighters by talking about former UFC heavyweight champion, Cleveland’s own Stipe Miocic. After amassing an undefeated amateur record in MMA, Miocic turned professional in early 2010.
It didn’t take long for the UFC to call. At 5-0 in professional MMA, he made his promotional debut in the fall of 2011, defeating Joey Beltran via unanimous decision on the UFC 136 undercard. From there, he picked up a first-round knockout against Phil de Fries in the opening minute in his second UFC fight.
This earned Miocic an advance of $50,000 (USD) for the Performance of the Night Award. He would eventually achieve his excellent record in the UFC Heavyweight Championship in 2016 via a first-round knockout against Fabricio Werdum with a punch. He would defend the title three times before losing it to Daniel Cormier. An attempt to regain the title against Francis Ngannou ended in defeat in 2021 after Ngannou finished him with a left hook in the second round.
Ohio’s Best MMA Fighters: Miocic’s Last Stand
In November 2024, Stipe Miocic made a final bid for the UFC Heavyweight Championship in UFC 309’s main event of the evening. That night’s opponent for Stipe Miocic was Jon Jones.
Although Jones and Miocic reached a third-round match, “Bones” had the final say, unloading with a spinning back kick followed by punches to knock out Stipe Miocic. In the immediate aftermath of UFC 309, Miocic took the microphone for a final interview with Joe Rogan.
In the interview he would officially announce his retirement from the sport. Since his retirement, he has continued to work as a firefighter in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake.
Final thoughts
What do you think of this list? Are there any of the best MMA fighters from Ohio that we missed? Let us know in the comments.
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