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I recently wrote an article about UFC prospects that turned out to be busts, but really, nobody can ever tell how well a prospect will do at the elite level – that’s why they’re called prospects, after all.
But obviously not all of the fighters that the UFC sign are prospects – some come in as champions from rival promotions and are expected to make an immediate impact on the title picture in their new home.
The likes of Eddie Alvarez, Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold would certainly fit that bill, but of course, sometimes even big signings turn out to be busts. So here are the ten biggest busts in UFC history.
#10: Rafael Feijao
The 2013 integration of the StrikeForce roster into the UFC was supposed to re-energise the promotion and for the most part it worked, as the likes of Daniel Cormier, Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza almost immediately shot to the top of their divisions.
And at Light-Heavyweight, Brazilian Rafael Feijao was expected to follow suit.
Feijao had defeated King Mo Lawal for the StrikeForce Light-Heavyweight title in 2010 and although he’d lost it to Dan Henderson, wins over Yoel Romero and Mike Kyle seemed to bode well for a UFC run.
His UFC debut was somewhat delayed though due to a PED suspension following the Kyle fight, and perhaps that sowed the seeds for what went wrong in the UFC.
A much less chiselled Feijao debuted in June 2013 and was stopped by Thiago Silva, and although he beat Igor Pokrajac a few months later, one-sided losses to Ryan Bader, Patrick Cummins and Ovince St. Preux signalled the end of his UFC run.
He never looked close to the form he showed in stopping King Mo, and you have to wonder how much of that run was fuelled by PEDs based on his form after returning from suspension.
#9: Michihiro Omigawa
Former international judoka Michihiro Omigawa made his MMA debut with PRIDE back in 2005, and came into the UFC in 2007 when that promotion was bought out by Zuffa. He went 0-2 and was subsequently cut, but a move down from 155lbs to 145lbs in 2009 totally rejuvenated his career.
He went 4-1 in the Sengoku promotion, then moved to DREAM and went 3-0 there.
When the UFC integrated the 145lbs division as part of the WEC merger in 2011, Omigawa made the move back over to the States for the first time since 2008.
Given his form in Japan he was expected to be an instant title contender, and was paired with top five ranked Chad Mendes for his first UFC fight. He lost the bout, but really there was no shame in a loss to Mendes, and he was expected to rebound.
Except he simply didn’t. A loss to the unheralded Darren Elkins followed, and after a lone win over the equally unknown Jason Young, largely one-sided losses to Iuri Alcantara and Manvel Gamburyan ended his second UFC run with a record of 1-4.
The likely explanation was that he just couldn’t handle the differences between Japanese and US MMA – issues like the ten-point must system and the cage – but either way, he was a major bust.
#8: Kid Yamamoto
Some might disagree with the notion of Kid Yamamoto as a UFC bust simply because they could argue that by the time he made his UFC debut in 2011, he was past his prime and had come back from some serious injuries including a knee surgery.
To counter that I would argue that even so, he was given beatable opponents and still looked pretty bad considering he was considered a pound-for-pound great from around 2003 to 2006.
His first opponent was of course extremely tricky – he was faced with a Bantamweight Demetrious Johnson in what was the UFC debut for both men. Although it was an upset at the time, Johnson easily outgrappled Yamamoto to take a decision.
Darren Uyenoyama and Vaughan Lee were seemingly softballs for the Japanese superstar though, and both men made defeating him look easy too – Lee even tapped him with an armbar.
His most recent fight – in February 2015 – went to a no contest after opponent Roman Salazar was poked in the eye, and he hasn’t fought since.
While he undoubtedly struggled to regain his form following his injuries, the fact that Kid went winless over four fights in the UFC means he has to qualify as a bust. He never did get that Urijah Faber dream match, either.
#7: Hatsu Hioki
Japanese fighters had always traditionally struggled in the UFC, but in 2011 Hatsu Hioki was supposed to be different. Not only was he bringing a pretty impressive record into the Octagon – 24-4-2 – but he’d also had experience inside a cage, fighting for Canada’s TKO promotion on three occasions.
With 145lbs being relatively thin on contenders, he was expected to challenge Jose Aldo for the UFC title at some point.
Hioki started off relatively well, beating George Roop and Bart Palaszewski, although both fights were closer than people expected them to be.
The Palaszewski fight was rumoured to have netted him a title shot, but instead he was matched with Ricardo Lamas – who comfortably beat him, ending that idea for good.
Losses to Clay Guida and Darren Elkins knocked him out of contention entirely, and then a win over Ivan Menjivar was followed by losses to Charles Oliveira and Dan Hooker – both of whom finished Hioki, marking the first submission and KO losses of his career.
He ended his UFC run with a record of 3-5, awful going for someone who was meant to be a title challenger.
#6: Jorge Santiago
After a brief UFC run in 2006 that saw him go 1-2 before he was released, Brazilian Jorge Santiago went on an absolute tear on the smaller circuit, winning 11 of 12 fights, including avenging his single loss during that period.
And he wasn’t fighting nobodies either – most of his victims were legit UFC veterans like Jeremy Horn, Sean Salmon and Kazuhiro Nakamura.
When the Japanese MMA scene largely crashed in 2011, it was a no-brainer that Santiago would be brought back into the UFC, and sure enough he was signed to fight Brian Stann – at the time a rising star at 185lbs – at UFC 130.
Most were picking the well-rounded Brazilian over the less experienced Stann, but Santiago’s chin couldn’t hold up to Stann’s power and he went down in the second round.
A second UFC loss to Demian Maia signalled his release, but two wins outside the UFC brought him back – only for him to lose to prospect Gunnar Nelson in a fight largely contested on the feet.
Why was Santiago a bust? Basically he didn’t have a good enough chin to withstand the harder hitters he was faced with in the UFC compared to his opponents elsewhere, which was sad really. He’s gone on to big success as a coach though, so there is that.
#5: Will Brooks
The most recent entry onto this list, Will Brooks was cut from his UFC contract in the last few weeks, following a hugely disappointing run in the Octagon.
He’d come in with much fanfare as the Bellator Lightweight champion, with two wins over Michael Chandler being his biggest achievement in the Viacom promotion.
Brooks won his first UFC outing over Ross Pearson, and his first loss – against Alex Oliveira, who came in 6.5lbs over the 155lbs Lightweight limit – was somewhat excusable due to the size difference.
But losing by submission to a pair of former Featherweights in Charles Oliveira and Nik Lentz was massively disappointing.
What went wrong for Brooks is hard to say given he seemed to have a style tailor-made for UFC success. Perhaps it really is a case of the standard of competition being that much higher in the UFC, or maybe it was down to Brooks simply not being able to adjust to the heightened pressure that came with a big UFC contract.
Regardless, he goes down as one of the biggest busts in recent memory.
#4: Denis Kang
When the UFC bought out PRIDE in 2007, one of the biggest names that people wanted to see cross over into the Octagon was Middleweight Denis Kang. He’d torn through the PRIDE roster in their 185lbs Grand Prix in 2006, beating Murilo Rua, Amar Suloev and Akihiro Gono before losing a controversial decision to Kazuo Misaki in the finals.
But Kang chose to sign with K-1 instead, and lost in a pair of upsets to Yoshihiro Akiyama and Gegard Mousasi. He righted the ship with a pair of wins in 2008 though and finally made the move to the UFC. As one of the most exciting fighters to come out of Japan, everyone was salivating over his debut. Unfortunately for his fans, things went wrong straight away.
He was beaten in his debut by an Alan Belcher guillotine choke, struggled to a win over journeyman Xavier Foupa-Pokam, and then took a massive beatdown at the hands of Michael Bisping to end his UFC run at 1-2. The case may have been that Kang was past his prime when he came to the UFC – he’d been fighting since 1998 – but there’s also an argument for him simply being a poor defensive fighter. Either way, his run was painfully disappointing.
#3: Gilbert Melendez
Okay, so bear with me here. Melendez remains a pretty big name in the UFC, but if you look past that classic fight he had with Diego Sanchez, it’s hard to see him as anything but a bust.
Astonishingly, the Sanchez fight is his only win inside the Octagon, and his UFC record currently sits at a terrible-sounding 1-5 – enough to get most fighters released.
Melendez came into the UFC as the StrikeForce Lightweight champion, and he had just two losses on a stellar record of 21-2. He’d gone 7 fights unbeaten before his UFC debut and had a genuine case for being called the best 155lber on the planet.
He fought for the UFC title in his debut, but came up short in a tight fight with Benson Henderson. Then came the Sanchez war – one of the best fights in UFC history.
After that, ‘El Nino’ almost signed with Bellator before the UFC uncharacteristically decided to match their deal, signing Melendez to one of the biggest contracts in promotional history. But since then he simply hasn’t lived up to that.
He lost his title challenge against Anthony Pettis and has followed that with losses to Eddie Alvarez, Edson Barboza and Jeremy Stephens – and has also been suspended for PED use. Considering what it took to keep him in the UFC, Melendez simply has to go down as a huge bust.
#2: Hector Lombard
As the Bellator Middleweight champ, Hector Lombard was the kind of fighter the UFC dreamed about signing. A knockout artist who destroyed anyone in front of him, Lombard had put together a streak of 20 wins in a row dating back to 2007 when he finally signed with the UFC in 2012.
To say people expected big things from him would be an understatement.
His UFC debut though turned into a damp squib – beaten by Tim Boetsch in a painfully dull outing. A KO win over Rousimar Palhares was followed by another dull loss to Yushin Okami, and it looked like his UFC career could be over.
A drop to 170lbs seemed to rejuvenate him – he won three in a row – but then he was busted for PED use and he’s since gone 0-4 and looks a shadow of his former self.
Now holding a UFC record of 3-6, Lombard is likely fighting for his job against CB Dollaway in March. It seems likely to be the case that judging by his drug test failure in the UFC, his great run in the smaller promotions was fuelled by PEDs, and without them he’s just not the same destructive force he once was.
#1: Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko Cro Cop is undoubtedly an MMA legend, but he also has to go down as the greatest bust in UFC history.
Signed to a mega-money deal in 2006 after winning PRIDE’s Openweight Grand Prix, Cro Cop had basically cut a path of destruction through the Japanese promotion, beating everyone there was to beat outside of the consensus top two fighters in the world – Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
With the UFC’s Heavyweight division being seen at the time as weaker, Cro Cop was expected to win the UFC title pretty easily.
A UFC debut saw him beat prospect Eddie Sanchez, but in his second outing he fell prey to one of the all-time great upsets – Gabriel Gonzaga knocked him out with a head kick Cro Cop himself would’ve been proud of.
A further loss to Cheick Kongo cemented his spot as a bust, and he left the UFC to return to Japan. In 2009 though a surprising UFC return was announced, and he came back to stop Mostapha Al-Turk.
A loss to Junior Dos Santos was then followed by two wins – over Anthony Perosh and Pat Barry – but before a possible run to the top could happen, he suffered three straight KO losses – to Frank Mir, Brendan Schaub and Roy Nelson – and that was that.
Cro Cop did return for a one-off in 2015, avenging his loss to Gonzaga, but even that only brought his UFC record to 5-6.
It seemed that Cro Cop could simply never adjust to fighting in a cage, as he’d become so used to cutting off his opponent’s movement inside a ring instead. But considering he was a man who was signed to dominate a division, nobody else really comes close to him in the bust stakes.
