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While nothing has been confirmed yet, one current UFC rumor that simply won’t go away is the idea of Conor McGregor returning to the octagon to challenge Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title, despite not having won a bout since 2020.
If Conor McGregor is granted a lightweight title shot, it’s safe to say that he hasn’t earned it. He wouldn’t be the first big star in UFC history to be handed an undeserved opportunity at gold.
Over the years, we’ve seen plenty of fighters receive preferential treatment from the promotion due to their star status, with some even leapfrogging more deserving contenders in the queue for a title shot.
With that in mind, here are five big stars who were given undeserved UFC title shots.
#5. Ken Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz – UFC 40
Back in 2002, the UFC was struggling for traction. With its pay-per-views failing to make an impact on mainstream culture, it only seemed to be a matter of time before the promotion fell apart altogether.
Desperate for something that would catch on with casual fans, Dana White and company decided to pull their final trump card. They made the call to pioneer Ken Shamrock – who had held the by-then-defunct Superfight title from 1995 to 1996 before departing for a career in WWE – and brought him back to the octagon for the first time in over half a decade.
Rather than give ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Man’ a tune-up fight, though, they offered him an instant title shot at reigning light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, despite the fact that he was coming off a loss to Don Frye in PRIDE.
Shamrock was clearly leaping to the front of the queue – ahead of a more deserving contender in Chuck Liddell – but in this case, nobody really minded. His feud with Ortiz was well documented, dating back to the late 1990s, so most fans knew that the bout could lead to big business for the promotion.
Sure enough, UFC 40 ended up drawing a then-record buyrate of 100k for the promotion, essentially inspiring the Fertitta brothers to keep going.
Shamrock, on the other hand, did not fare so well in his title shot. He looked every inch yesterday’s fighter, and ended up falling to Ortiz via TKO after taking a severe beating over three rounds.
#4. Chael Sonnen vs. Jon Jones – UFC 159
In 2012, when Dan Henderson was forced out of his light heavyweight title bout with Jon Jones on late notice, the UFC found itself with its back to the wall. Forced to scramble for a contender with no preparation time, they found a willing volunteer in the form of Chael Sonnen.
At the time, ‘The American Gangster’ was coming off a loss to Anderson Silva in their long-awaited rematch for the middleweight title, and hadn’t fought at 205lbs in over half a decade. Despite this, Sonnen was a big star for the promotion, so Dana White and company decided to run with it.
Unfortunately, Jones had other ideas – and promptly turned the bout down, causing the event to be canceled altogether.
The obvious path would simply have been to book a future fight between Jones and a deserving contender. Instead, pouncing on the apparent idea that ‘Bones’ had avoided a clash with Sonnen, the promotion decided to sign the bout, even devoting a season of The Ultimate Fighter to build to it.
To say ‘The American Gangster’ didn’t warrant a shot at Jones would be an understatement. Remarkably, the fans seemed to buy into the apparent feud too, particularly when Sonnen’s coaching gig on TUF turned out to be outstanding.
In the actual fight, though, it quickly became clear that the idea of Jones being somehow afraid of Sonnen was ludicrous. He took the wrestler down in the opening moments of the fight and beat him down en route to a first round TKO, rendering the whole thing largely pointless.
#3. Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia – UFC 68
Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and former titleholder Andrei Arlovski put on one of the worst title fights in UFC history in the summer of 2006. While Arlovski’s reputation with the fans didn’t seem affected, the same could not be said for ‘The Maine-iac’.
Once considered an exciting knockout artist, Sylvia was suddenly seen as the promotion’s dullest champion. A second less-than-inspiring defense against Jeff Monson didn’t help matters, either.
When the UFC were choosing the next challenger for him, they clearly recognized the need to pick someone popular. Rather than going with a top contender like Brandon Vera or Gabriel Gonzaga, they turned to former heavyweight and light heavyweight champ Randy Couture.
The only problem? ‘The Natural’ had been retired for just over a year, and hadn’t actually won a fight since the summer of 2005. Did Couture warrant a title shot? From a competitive standpoint, absolutely not.
Even so, the fans immediately bought into the idea of Couture potentially dethroning Sylvia. When the 43-year-old actually pulled it off, completely dominating ‘The Maine-iac’ over five rounds, it was hard not to be inspired.
In this instance, giving a big star an undeserved title shot completely paid off, as ‘The Natural’ went onto have a memorable reign as champion, while Sylvia’s already-damaged reputation never fully recovered.
#2. Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo – UFC 249
This entry is a curious one because it saw one big star who had been given an undeserved title shot replaced by another equally big star who also didn’t deserve a title shot.
When he claimed the UFC bantamweight title in the summer of 2019 – becoming the fourth fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously – it was immediately clear that Henry Cejudo’s reign would be an interesting one to watch.
‘Triple C’ took some deserved time off following his title win. When he was ready to return, rather than face one of the division’s most deserving contenders – namely Petr Yan – he chose to call out former featherweight champ Jose Aldo, who’d never actually won a bout at 135lbs.
The UFC obliged and booked the fight, only for the COVID-19 pandemic to hit, forcing the cancelation of a number of the promotion’s events. When things got rolling again, Aldo wasn’t able to enter the US to face Cejudo, so ‘Triple C’ instead found himself matched with former champ Dominick Cruz.
The choice of ‘The Dominator’ as a title challenger was a genuinely bizarre one. Cruz hadn’t fought for well over three years and had lost his previous bout, a title clash with Cody Garbrandt.
However, he was just the kind of big-name opponent that Cejudo was desperate to face. Despite some fans protesting, the fight went ahead – and saw ‘Triple C’ win via second round TKO.
To make matters even more bizarre, the 2008 Olympic gold medallist decided to retire after the fight, vacating the title, which was promptly won by Yan just two months later. The fighter he beat for the vacant belt? None other than Jose Aldo, who still hadn’t won a fight at 135lbs!
#1. Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture – UFC 91
Perhaps the most undeserved title shot given to a big star in UFC history remains former WWE champion Brock Lesnar’s heavyweight title bout against Randy Couture in November 2008.
Sure, Lesnar ended up winning the fight impressively – and went on to have a strong run with the title, making two successful defenses of it before being dethroned by Cain Velasquez two years later – but there was simply no argument for him being the top contender at the time.
Prior to his clash with ‘The Natural’, Lesnar had only set foot inside the octagon twice, losing his promotional debut to Frank Mir via submission before bouncing back to defeat veteran Heath Herring via decision.
Given that his entire MMA career only consisted of those two fights – plus a squash of the overmatched Min-Soo Kim in the K-1 promotion – the idea of him battling Couture for the heavyweight title seemed utterly bizarre.
However, the UFC were clearly taken in by Lesnar’s obvious star power, as was Couture, who reportedly requested a fight with ‘The Beast Incarnate’ in the knowledge that it would draw more money than any other bout would.
In the end, of course, Lesnar’s win and his subsequent title reign made the undeserved shot entirely worth it, both from a financial perspective and from a competitive one. However, at the time, the fact that the former WWE star was able to so easily jump the queue definitely felt more than a little wrong.
