Longest Tenured UFC Fighters

I've finally tabulated the master list. Here it is, the 100 (and one since there was a tie at the end) longest Tenured fighters in the UFC. Pitbull Bless.

#1 Andrei Arlovski. Debut: 11/17/2000

#2 Robbie Lawler.  Debut: 5/10/2002
#3 Diego Sanchez. Debut: 4/9/2005

#4 Ed Herman. Debut: 6/24/2006

#5 Joe Lauzon. Debut: 9/23/2006
#6 Clay Guida. Debut: 10/14/2006

#7 Frankie Edgar. Debut: 2/3/2007

#8 Jeremy Stephens. Debut: 5/26/2007

#9 Nate Diaz. Debut: 6/23/2007

#10 Shogun Rua. Debut: 9/22/2007

#11 Demian Maia. Debut: 10/20/2007

#12 Matt Brown. Debut: 6/20/2008

#13 Jon Jones. Debut: 8/9/2008
#14 Junior dos Santos. Debut: 10/25/2008

#15 Rafael dos Anjos. Debut: 11/15/2008

#16 Stefan Struve. Debut: 2/21/2009

#17 Carlos Condit. Debut: 4/1/2009

#18 Nik Lentz. Debut: 9/19/2009
#19 Ben Rothwelli. Debut: 10/24/2009
#20 Alexander Gustafsson. Debut: 11/14/2009

#21 Darren Elkins. Debut: 3/21/2010

#22 TIE Brad Tavares and Court McGee. Debuts: 6/19/2010

#24 Charles Oliveira. Debut: 8/1/2010

#25 Tim Boetsch. Debut: 8/7/2010
#26 Edson Barboza. Debut: 11/20/2010
#27 Michael Johnson. Debut: 12/4/2010
#28 John Makdessi. Debut: 12/11/2010

#29 Dustin Poirier. Debut: 1/1/2011
#30 Rani Yahya. Debut: 1/22/2011

#31 Chris Weidman. Debut: 3/3/2011

#32 FOUR WAY TIE Joseph Benavidez, Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland, and Raphael Assuncao. Debuts: 3/19/2011

#36 TIE Korean Zombie and Alex Caceres. Debuts: 3/26/2011
#37 Jose Aldo. Debut: 4/30/2011

#38 Tony Ferguson. Debut: 6/4/2011
#39 Dominick Cruz. Debut: 7/2/2011

#40 Stipe Miocic. Debut: 10/8/2011
#41 Cub Swanson. Debut: 11/12/2011
#42 Alistair Overeem. Debut: 12/30/2011

#43 Max Holloway. Debut: 2/4/2012

#44 Tim Means. Debut: 2/15/2012
#45 Daniel Pineda. Debut: 3/2/2012

#46 Siyar Bahadurzada. Debut: 4/14/2012

#47 Tim Elliott. Debut: 5/5/2012
#48 Glover Teixeira. Debut: 5/26/2012
#49 TIE (They even debuted against one another) Michael Chiesa and Al Iaquinta. Debuts: 6/1/2012

#51 Francisco Trinaldo. Debut: 6/23/2012

#52 Mitch Gagnon. Debut: 7/21/2012

#53 Gunnar Nelson. Debut: 9/29/2012

#54 Robert Whittaker. Debut: 12/14/2012
#55 Derek Brunson. Debut: 12/29/2012

#56 TIE Bobby Green and Tyron Woodley. Debuts: 2/2/2013 
#58 Neil Magny. Debut: 2/23/2013

#59 TIE Conor McGregor and Ilir Latifi. Debuts: 4/6/2013

#61 TIE (they even debuted against each other) Uriah Hall and Kelvin Gastelum  Debuts: 4/13/2013

#63 Jorge Masvidal. Debut: 4/20/2013

#64 THREE WAY TIE Ovince St. Preux, Gian Villante, and Yancy Medeiros Debuts: 4/27/2013
#67 TIE Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza. Debuts: 5/18/2013

#69 Sara McMann. Debut: 5/27/2013

#70 TIE (they even debuted against one another) Anthony Smith and Antonio Braga Neto. Debuts: 6/8/2013

#72 Leonardo Santos. Debut: 6/8/2013

#73 TIE James Krause and Alexis Davis. Debuts: 6/15/2013

#75 THREE WAY TIE Germaine De Ramdomie, Jessica Andrade, and Trevor Smith. Debuts: 7/27/2013
#78 TIE Amanda Nunes and Thiago Santos. Debuts: 8/3/2013

#80 Zak Cummings. Debut: 8/28/2013
#81 Nikita Krylov. Debut: 8/31/2013

#82 Bethe Correia. Debut: 10/7/2013
#83 Alan Patrick. Debut: 10/9/2013
#84 TIE Jessica Eye and Andre Fili. Debuts: 10/19/2013

#86 Omari Akhmedov. Debut: 11/09/2013

#87 FOUR WAY TIE Julianna Pena, Raquel Pennington, Roxanne Modafferi, and Ryan Benoit. Debuts: 11/30/2013
#91 Krzysztof Jotko. Debut: 12/06/2013
#92 Louis Smolka. Debut: 1/15/2014
#93 TIE (they even debuted against one another) Zubaira Tukhugov and Douglas Andrade. Debuts: 2/15/2014

#95 TIE Aljamain Sterling and Pedro Munhoz. Debuts: 2/22/2014
#97 Sean Strickland. Debut: 3/15/2014
#98 THREE WAY TIE Mirsad Bektic, Chas Skelly, and Ray Borg. Debuts: 4/19/2014

* Edited at 01.15.2021, 10:49 AM ET *

Holy ****! I knew he was a UFC veteran but I had no idea that Andrei Arlovski has been in the UFC for over 20 years! That's about 2 generations that have grown up watching him fight! Or to put that into perspective, I couldn't even find his first UFC fight against Aaron Brink in full but here's the submission from it as well as the Jens Pulver Vs John Lewis fight. It's insane how much different the UFC looked back at UFC 28!

* Edited at 01.15.2021, 11:42 AM ET *

Definitely! What a gangster. I'm a big Pitbull fan so I knew he'd been around for that long even when he just fought Boser and watching him get his hand raised 20 years after his debut was so satisfying. He's so nonchalant when his longevity is brought up to him too, it makes it that much cooler.

@Drmaxis2

Hopefully he'll still be around for another 20 years!

The amazing thing is how he's been able to maintain such as high level of fitness for over 20 years. He's still winning fights and still looks good doing so. He's possibly the most self disciplined fighter in the UFC.

#18 Nik Lentz retired, so everybody below him moves up a spot, but with the three way tie (now at #97) I don't need to update the list, it's now just an actual top 100. 

This thread depresses me for how long ive been watching. The only debut i didnt watch live was Andre Arlovski and Robbie Lawler

Xconchris, I have seen all of the debuts.  The first event i watched live was in May of 1996(UFC 9)

Something that is interesting to note is that Diego Sanchez has been with the UFC the whole time.  That is the longest for that aspect.

@Soda 

That is interesting to note, thanks for sharing. Also cool that you've been around since 1996.

@Chris

That's impressive. My first event was Thompson vs Hendricks in Feb 2016 (hey I just realized it's basically my 5 year MMA watching anniversary) so I didn't watch anybody on this list debut live, and somewhat embarrassingly my first UFC debuts that I did see live from fighters that are still there today were Mickey Gall/Mike Jackson. Ha! Whatever though, everybody has to start watching some time. 

This is awesome. Thanks!

@DrMaxis did you forget Jim Miller. Debut 2008 and still going?

@Knox Thanks for the appreciation. I enjoyed making it.

@Chris Good catch! Now this is embarrassing. I also realized just a day or two ago that I missed Vinc Pichel who debuted 12/15/2012 and would be #55 or #56 with the addition of Jim Miller.  I also missed a fourth person for the last place tie (in 99th place by adding Pichel and Miller and subtracting Lentz) which was Alex White and I'm not embarrassed about forgetting him at all. To my knowledge, other than those I think the list is all good. If there are other slip ups keep posting em though.

Sadly #14 JDS (that's not the sad part) and #42 the Reem have been released. I also didn't note the departure of #16 Struve here because there was still a tie in last place at that point, but he's also retired since my last post in this thread. There is still a tie in last place, but it is once again a proper top 100 since the four-way tie is at #96 now (Bektic Skelly Borg White) and now the next release will prompt a new name to be added here. RDA goes up one spot on the master list, everyone from Condit to Swanson goes up two places, and everyone below the Reem goes up three spots. Wish I didn't need to take Reem off this though :/

PPV. This is how I was introduced to JDS, it's incredibly disheartening to see one of your favourite fighters crumble and is at now 4-5 TKO losses in a row.

I belived in not so long Ed Herman would be the longest. Thats strange...

#1 Andrei Arlovski. Debut: 11/17/2000

#2 Robbie Lawler.  Debut: 5/10/2002

#3 Ed Herman. Debut: 6/24/2006

#4 Joe Lauzon. Debut: 9/23/2006
#5 Clay Guida. Debut: 10/14/2006

#6 Frankie Edgar. Debut: 2/3/2007

#7 Jeremy Stephens. Debut: 5/26/2007

#8 Nate Diaz. Debut: 6/23/2007

#9 Shogun Rua. Debut: 9/22/2007

#10 Demian Maia. Debut: 10/20/2007

#11 Matt Brown. Debut: 6/20/2008

#12 Jon Jones. Debut: 8/9/2008

#13 Jim Miller. Debut: 10/18/2008

#14 Rafael dos Anjos. Debut: 11/15/2008

#15 Carlos Condit. Debut: 4/1/2009

#16 Ben Rothwelli. Debut: 10/24/2009
#17 Alexander Gustafsson. Debut: 11/14/2009

#18 Darren Elkins. Debut: 3/21/2010

#19 TIE Brad Tavares and Court McGee. Debuts: 6/19/2010

#21 Charles Oliveira. Debut: 8/1/2010

#22 Tim Boetsch. Debut: 8/7/2010
#23 Edson Barboza. Debut: 11/20/2010
#24 Michael Johnson. Debut: 12/4/2010
#25 John Makdessi. Debut: 12/11/2010

#26 Dustin Poirier. Debut: 1/1/2011
#27 Rani Yahya. Debut: 1/22/2011

#28 Chris Weidman. Debut: 3/3/2011

#29 FOUR WAY TIE Joseph Benavidez, Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland, and Raphael Assuncao. Debuts: 3/19/2011

#33 TIE Korean Zombie and Alex Caceres. Debuts: 3/26/2011
#35 Jose Aldo. Debut: 4/30/2011

#36 Tony Ferguson. Debut: 6/4/2011
#37 Dominick Cruz. Debut: 7/2/2011

#38 Johnny Eduardo. Debut: 8/27/2011

#39 Stipe Miocic. Debut: 10/8/2011
#40 Cub Swanson. Debut: 11/12/2011

#41 TIE Max Holloway and Stephen Thompson. Debuts: 2/4/2012

#43 Tim Means. Debut: 2/15/2012
#44 Daniel Pineda. Debut: 3/2/2012

#45 Siyar Bahadurzada. Debut: 4/14/2012

#46 Tim Elliott. Debut: 5/5/2012
#47 Glover Teixeira. Debut: 5/26/2012
#48 TIE (They even debuted against one another) Michael Chiesa and Al Iaquinta. Debuts: 6/1/2012

#50 Francisco Trinaldo. Debut: 6/23/2012

#51 Mitch Gagnon. Debut: 7/21/2012

#52 Gunnar Nelson. Debut: 9/29/2012

#53 Robert Whittaker. Debut: 12/14/2012

#54 Vinc Pichel. Debut: 12/15/2012
#55 Derek Brunson. Debut: 12/29/2012

#56 Bobby Green Debut: 2/2/2013 
#57 Neil Magny. Debut: 2/23/2013

#58 TIE Conor McGregor and Ilir Latifi. Debuts: 4/6/2013

#60 THREE WAY TIE Miesha Tate, Uriah Hall, and Kelvin Gastelum  Debuts: 4/13/2013

#63 Jorge Masvidal. Debut: 4/20/2013

#64 THREE WAY TIE Ovince St. Preux, Gian Villante, and Yancy Medeiros Debuts: 4/27/2013
#67 TIE Luke Rockhold and Jacare Souza. Debuts: 5/18/2013

#69 Sara McMann. Debut: 5/27/2013

#70 TIE (they even debuted against one another) Anthony Smith and Antonio Braga Neto. Debuts: 6/8/2013

#72 Leonardo Santos. Debut: 6/8/2013

#73 TIE James Krause and Alexis Davis. Debuts: 6/15/2013

#75 THREE WAY TIE Germaine De Ramdomie, Jessica Andrade, and Trevor Smith. Debuts: 7/27/2013
#78 TIE Amanda Nunes and Thiago Santos. Debuts: 8/3/2013

#80 Zak Cummings. Debut: 8/28/2013
#81 Nikita Krylov. Debut: 8/31/2013

#82 Alan Patrick. Debut: 10/9/2013
#83 TIE Jessica Eye and Andre Fili. Debuts: 10/19/2013

#85 Omari Akhmedov. Debut: 11/09/2013

#86 FOUR WAY TIE Julianna Pena, Raquel Pennington, Roxanne Modafferi, and Ryan Benoit. Debuts: 11/30/2013
#90 Krzysztof Jotko. Debut: 12/06/2013
#91 Louis Smolka. Debut: 1/15/2014
#92 TIE (they even debuted against one another) Zubaira Tukhugov and Douglas Andrade. Debuts: 2/15/2014

#94 TIE Aljamain Sterling and Pedro Munhoz. Debuts: 2/22/2014
#96 Sean Strickland. Debut: 3/15/2014
#97 FIVE WAY TIE Derrick Lewis, Mirsad Bektic, Chas Skelly, Alex White, and Ray Borg. Debuts: 4/19/2014

* Edited at 04.30.2021, 10:51 AM ET *

Update notes:
Removed T Wood and Diego Sanchez since they were recently released/haven't re-signed.
Cleaned up past mistakes so (to my knowledge) my list is squeaky clean now
Added Miesha Tate back in since she came back from retirement.

Out of little more than boredom, I'm gonna modernize this list and take out anybody that hasn't fought in the last 3 years. I don't think 3 years is an unreasonable length of time for this purpose. Removed #22 Tim Boetsch who retired quietly, #38 Johnny Eduardo who last fought in 2018 and has nothing on the books at age 42, #45 Siyar the Great that also retired quietly,(sad) #51 Mitch Gagnon who hasn't fought in 3 years and has nothing on the books, #67/8 Jacare who has just released this week, #70 Braga Neto who hasn't fought in forever and has nothing on the books, #71 Trevor Smith who was apparently quietly cut in March 2020, Removed Formerly Last place finishers Ray Borg and Alex White because Borg is fighting at UAE Warriors, meaning he's no longer with the UFC and White has been listed as "Former fighter on the UFC website. (My Doofy Ass also missed TJ Dillashaw till now who enters the list at #36)

Time to Update the Master List.  (had to make separate posts here cuz of character counts)

#1 Andrei Arlovski. Debut: 11/17/2000
#2 Robbie Lawler.  Debut: 5/10/2002
#3 Ed Herman. Debut: 6/24/2006
#4 Joe Lauzon. Debut: 9/23/2006
#5 Clay Guida. Debut: 10/14/2006
#6 Frankie Edgar. Debut: 2/3/2007
#7 Jeremy Stephens. Debut: 5/26/2007
#8 Nate Diaz. Debut: 6/23/2007
#9 Shogun Rua. Debut: 9/22/2007
#10 Demian Maia. Debut: 10/20/2007
#11 Matt Brown. Debut: 6/20/2008
#12 Jon Jones. Debut: 8/9/2008
#13 Jim Miller. Debut: 10/18/2008
#14 Rafael dos Anjos. Debut: 11/15/2008
#15 Carlos Condit. Debut: 4/1/2009
#16 Ben Rothwell. Debut: 10/24/2009
#17 Alexander Gustafsson. Debut: 11/14/2009
#18 Darren Elkins. Debut: 3/21/2010
#19 TIE Brad Tavares and Court McGee. Debuts: 6/19/2010
#20 Charles Oliveira. Debut: 8/1/2010
#21 Edson Barboza. Debut: 11/20/2010
#22 Michael Johnson. Debut: 12/4/2010
#23 John Makdessi. Debut: 12/11/2010
#24 Dustin Poirier. Debut: 1/1/2011
#25 Rani Yahya. Debut: 1/22/2011
#26 Chris Weidman. Debut: 3/3/2011
#27 FOUR WAY TIE Joseph Benavidez, Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland, and Raphael Assuncao. Debuts: 3/19/2011
#31 TIE Korean Zombie and Alex Caceres. Debuts: 3/26/2011
#33 Jose Aldo. Debut: 4/30/2011
#34 Tony Ferguson. Debut: 6/4/2011
#35 Dominick Cruz. Debut: 7/2/2011
#36 TJ Dillashaw/ Debut: 10/3/2011
#37 Stipe Miocic. Debut: 10/8/2011
#38 Cub Swanson. Debut: 11/12/2011
#39 TIE Max Holloway and Stephen Thompson. Debuts: 2/4/2012
#41 Tim Means. Debut: 2/15/2012
#42 Daniel Pineda. Debut: 3/2/201
#43 Tim Elliott. Debut: 5/5/2012
#44 Glover Teixeira. Debut: 5/26/2012
#45 TIE (They even debuted against one another) Michael Chiesa and Al Iaquinta. Debuts: 6/1/2012
#47 Francisco Trinaldo. Debut: 6/23/2012
#48 Gunnar Nelson. Debut: 9/29/2012
#49 Robert Whittaker. Debut: 12/14/2012
#50 Vinc Pichel. Debut: 12/15/2012
#51 Derek Brunson. Debut: 12/29/2012
#52 Bobby Green Debut: 2/2/2013 
#53 Neil Magny. Debut: 2/23/2013
#54 TIE Conor McGregor and Ilir Latifi. Debuts: 4/6/2013
#56 THREE WAY TIE Miesha Tate, Uriah Hall, and Kelvin Gastelum  Debuts: 4/13/2013
#59 Jorge Masvidal. Debut: 4/20/2013
#60 THREE WAY TIE Ovince St. Preux, Gian Villante, and Yancy Medeiros Debuts: 4/27/2013
#63 Luke Rockhold Debut: 5/18/2013
#64 Sara McMann. Debut: 5/27/2013
#65 Anthony Smith. Debut: 6/8/2013
#66 Leonardo Santos. Debut: 6/8/2013
#67 TIE James Krause and Alexis Davis. Debuts: 6/15/2013
#69 TIE Germaine de Randamie and Jessica Andrade. Debuts: 7/27/2013
#71 TIE Amanda Nunes and Thiago Santos. Debuts: 8/3/2013
#73 Zak Cummings. Debut: 8/28/2013
#74 Nikita Krylov. Debut: 8/31/2013
#75 Alan Patrick. Debut: 10/9/2013
#76 TIE Jessica Eye and Andre Fili. Debuts: 10/19/2013
#78 Omari Akhmedov. Debut: 11/09/2013
#79 FIVE WAY TIE Julianna Pena, Raquel Pennington, Roxanne Modafferi,Drew Dober, and Ryan Benoit. Debuts: 11/30/2013
#84 Krzysztof Jotko. Debut: 12/06/2013
#85 Louis Smolka. Debut: 1/15/2014
#86 TIE (they even debuted against one another) Zubaira Tukhugov and Douglas Andrade. Debuts: 2/15/2014
#88 TIE Aljamain Sterling and Pedro Munhoz. Debuts: 2/22/2014
#90 Sean Strickland. Debut: 3/15/2014
#91 THREE WAY TIE Derrick Lewis, Mirsad Bektic, and Chas Skelly. Debuts: 4/19/2014
#94 Li Jingliang. Debut: 5/24/2014 
#95 THREE WAY TIE Warlley Alves, Marcos Rogerio de Lima, and Alexander Yakovlev. Debuts: 5/31/2014 
#98 TIE Dan Hooker and Jake Matthews. Debuts: 6/28/2014
#100 TIE Aleksei Oleinik and Carlos Diego Ferreira. Debuts: 6/28/2014

Note on the last four here, they debuted at different events on the same day, one in New Zealand and one in Texas, but chronologically I found enough of a difference to give Hooker and Matthews a nod to being "more longer tenured" since their event came first in the event canon of the UFC.