5 former UFC champions who have been on painful losing streaks

#4 - Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk is one of the best female fighters in the UFC. The former women's strawweight champion is a celebrated UFC athlete with several records to her name. After acquiring a 6-0 record in her MMA career, she made her UFC debut in 2014. She earned a title shot instantly after impressing in her debut win against Juliana Lima.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk won the UFC women's strawweight championship in 2015 after defeating Carla Esparza, becoming the first Polish champion in the UFC. She defended her title five times over a period of three years. In 2017, Jedrzejczyk lost her belt to Rose Namanujas via TKO in round one. It was the Polish fighter's first MMA loss.

THAT LEFT HOOK THO!!!@RoseNamajunas #UFC217 pic.twitter.com/bxo33yzSLi

— UFC (@ufc) November 5, 2017

Joanna Jedrzejczyk has lost three more title fights ever since, giving away her title to 'Thug' Rose. She lost a rematch against Rose Namanujas in 2018 and picked up defeats against Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili. Following her first loss, the once-undefeated champ is facing a downfall and has gone 2-3 since 2018.

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#3 - Tony Ferguson

Tony Ferguson

Tony Ferguson started his MMA career with local promotions in California. After fighting for two years and securing a 10-2 record, he signed up as a participant in The Ultimate Fighter 13. 'El Cucuy' defeated Ramsey Nijem in the final via KO, marking his UFC debut with a spectacular win.

In the next eight years in the UFC, Tony Ferguson went 13-1, which included a 12-fight winning streak. Picking up the 13th win of his UFC career in 2017, Ferguson won the interim lightweight championship against Kevin Lee. He was just one win away from becoming the undisputed UFC champion. However, Ferguson could not return to the octagon until a year later due to injury and had to vacate his title.

Tony Ferguson bounced back with two straight wins, both via TKO, against Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone, earning another title shot against Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, 'The Eagle' was grounded in Russia owing to COVID-19 restrictions, and the UFC offered Ferguson another interim title shot against Justin Gaethje.

Unfortunately, Tony Ferguson's eager attitude proved to be his downfall. He was heavily outstruck by Gaethje at UFC 249 and lost via TKO in round five. As a result, not only did 'El Cucuy' lose another opportunity to become a UFC champion, but he also went on the biggest losing streak of his career.

Daym! Justin Gaethje just TKO’d Tony Ferguson 👏🏽 #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/ww0TXmhDV0

— Safwan AhmedMia (@SuperSaf) May 10, 2020

Tony Ferguson has now suffered three straight losses. The former UFC interim champion had lost three fights over 11 years of his MMA career up until then. In just two years, he doubled the number to six after losing against Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Beneil Dariush.