Having a great chin and having the mental fortitude to keep the poker face and tough it out are two different things. Tony didn’t have the greatest chin but he damn sure was tougher than almost anyone ever, so he was basically impossible to finish until he got old.
Obviously Condit, Max, and Hunt are in the convo.
JDS has one of the best chins of all time, the dude just didn’t wanna take the damage later in his career. But has he ever actually been put out? Same thing with Francis, he survived 4 rounds with Stipe on chin and toughness alone while completely gassed. Watching JDS vs Cain and Stipe vs Francis were legendary displays of chin & heart.
Rampage? Dudes head was a block, the beating he took before being KO’d by Wand is legendary.
Jones and Max are mandatory, Jones might have the goat chin, it’s just that his defense is so good he doesn’t need to rely on it.
Anderson has the longest title reign ever and was only knocked down twice in his reign off the top of my head, one during a fight against Chael where he was partially off balance, and the first Weidman fight where he was totally vulnerable. Both of those times Anderson looked human he was already in his mid to late thirties. During his peak he was taking bombs and asking for more from dudes like Hendo, literally overwhelming Hendo to the point where Hendo broke and went for a terrible takedown. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do that to Dan.
Hendo? Dude didn’t lose by KO till he was fighting TRT Vitor as an old man.
DC had a ridiculous chin too, and it carried over across two divisions. Only lost by TKO/KO to the two goats of their respective divisions in the UFC. Clearly past his best in the Stipe fight, and he stayed standing despite a devastating kick from Jones and needed goat tier ground and pound to be put out.
BJ Penn had a goat tier chin, he had no business fighting someone like Rory and he stood his ground like few ever could.
Can’t believe I forgot Roy Nelson, goat tier heavy chin as well.
Sakuraba can never be forgotten, he lost by finish quite a few times but he was fighting dudes like Igor and Wand, like wtf. We saw what happened when Max fought up one weight class and was getting beaten around the octagon by Dustin. Saku must always be mentioned, his degree of difficulty was another level from near everyone on the list.
There’s too many to name, but I honestly think JDS, Hunt, Francis, and Jones are the most formidable human beings to put away in their primes, while guys like Max, Hendo, Andy, Condit, Rampage, Lineker, Romero, Vettori, Saku, BJ, etc have good PFP arguments.