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Given the size of its roster these days, it’s hardly surprising that many fighters depart the UFC each year, whether that’s by being released or leaving for pastures new as a free agent.
Dana White would suggest that losing any fighter doesn’t harm the UFC. But over recent years, there have definitely been a number of departing stars that the UFC president would love to bring back.
Usually, these fighters are ones who’ve gone onto much success with a rival promotion, making the fans wonder quite why the UFC allowed them to leave in the first place.
With that considered, here are five former UFC fighters that Dana White wouldn’t mind re-signing.
#5. Phil Davis – former UFC light heavyweight
It’s probably fair to say that despite some success in the octagon, Phil Davis never quite lived up to the lofty expectations around him in the UFC.
A former NCAA Division I champion wrestler with Penn State, ‘Mr Wonderful’ debuted in the UFC in 2010 and ran through opponents like Alexander Gustafsson and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira to cement himself in the top 10 at 205 pounds.
However, a perceived dull fighting style meant that the UFC never really tried to establish him as a star. Despite an impressive record of 9-3-1 in the octagon, he was allowed to leave following the end of his contract in early 2015.
Davis immediately signed with Bellator MMA following this and he found immediate success, capturing the promotion’s light heavyweight title with a win over Liam McGeary.
‘Mr Wonderful’ would lose his title to former UFC rival Ryan Bader shortly after, but in the years that have followed, he’s kept himself afloat at the top of Bellator’s 205-pound division, picking up wins over the likes of Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero.
Add in the fact that Davis is a more well-rounded fighter than he once was, capable of stopping opponents with both strikes and submissions. It’s probably safe to say that Dana White wouldn’t mind bringing him back to mix it with the UFC’s top 205lbers.
#4. Sergio Pettis – former UFC flyweight
Few fighters have done quite so well for themselves since departing the UFC as Sergio Pettis, who left the promotion in late 2019.
In the UFC, it felt like ‘The Phenom’ was always trapped in the shadow of his older brother, former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. Despite picking up some big wins during his tenure with the promotion, Sergio simply couldn’t get over the final hurdle and a 2018 defeat to Rob Font seemed to end his hopes of a title run.
However, since joining Bellator MMA, Pettis has gone from strength to strength. ‘The Phenom’ defeated Juan Archuleta for the Bellator bantamweight title in his third bout with the promotion and has since gone on to knock out Kyoji Horiguchi, whose own reputation has soared since leaving the UFC.
Why would Dana White want to bring Pettis back to the UFC? There are a number of valid reasons.
Firstly, he didn’t necessarily want to lose him in the first place, as ‘The Phenom’ left as a free agent rather than being released. Secondly, he fights in an extremely aggressive and exciting style, meaning he could make for some great fights in the octagon.
Thirdly and most importantly, Pettis stands as one of just two fighters to hold a win over current UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno inside the octagon. It’s never a good look for a fighter outside of the promotion to hold a win over one of its champions.
With that considered, White would surely jump at the chance to re-sign Pettis and could easily market a big rematch between him and Moreno.
#3. Ryan Bader – former UFC light heavyweight
At the time he departed the UFC, it seemed to make sense for Ryan Bader to head for pastures new, despite the fact that he was on a genuinely excellent run at the time.
The TUF 8 light heavyweight winner had beaten seven of his last eight foes, but his lone loss came in devastating fashion at the hands of Anthony Johnson. Based on that, a run at the UFC light heavyweight title seemed unlikely.
That wasn’t the case in Bellator MMA, though. Bader signed with them after departing the UFC and won their light heavyweight title in his first bout with the promotion.
Following that, ‘Darth’ put together a tremendous run of wins, defeating the likes of Matt Mitrione and Fedor Emelianenko to capture Bellator’s heavyweight title, too, becoming the promotion’s first-ever double champion.
While Bader has suffered two disappointing defeats in recent fights, his newly-found style of aggressive power punching would make a UFC return a welcome one, particularly for Dana White, who wouldn’t mind weakening his competition.
#2. Gegard Mousasi – former UFC middleweight
When the Affliction MMA promotion crashed back in 2009, the fighter that Dana White was reportedly most interested in bringing to the UFC was Gegard Mousasi, who was then ranked as one of the world’s top middleweights.
White had to wait a little longer for ‘The Dreamcatcher’ to arrive in the octagon, four years, to be exact. While he didn’t quite set the world alight as some fans suspected he would, Mousasi’s run in the UFC was still highly successful.
He defeated fighters like Chris Weidman, Thiago Santos, Uriah Hall and Vitor Belfort and left the UFC in the midst of a five-fight win streak that had him on the verge of a middleweight title shot.
Since leaving the UFC for Bellator MMA, Mousasi has continued to be wildly successful. He has won six of his seven fights with the promotion and currently holds their middleweight title following a win over Douglas Lima.
Mousasi is currently ranked as the No.3 middleweight in the world by the respected Fight Matrix website and so with the UFC seemingly short on contenders for their middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, bringing ‘The Dreamcatcher’ back to the octagon would be a no-brainer for Dana White.
#1. Corey Anderson – former UFC light heavyweight
As was mentioned previously, the UFC have never been keen on allowing fighters who hold a win over one of their champions to stay out of the promotion for too long.
With that considered, it makes sense that one fighter who Dana White certainly wouldn’t mind bringing back would be TUF 19 light heavyweight winner Corey Anderson.
‘Overtime’ had a highly underrated run in the UFC from 2014 to 2020, putting together a record of 10-5, with his final win in the octagon coming over the exciting Johnny Walker.
Most importantly, however, Anderson stands as the final man to defeat current UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira. ‘Overtime’ took a lopsided decision win over the Brazilian in 2018, outstriking him on the feet and outworking him on the ground, too.
Since moving to Bellator MMA in early 2020, Anderson has enjoyed a fantastic run. He’s gone 3-0 in his new promotion, even knocking out former UFC star Ryan Bader in his most recent bout.
Essentially, the only thing stopping ‘Overtime’ from claiming that he’s the best 205lber in the world is his knockout loss at the hands of Jan Blachowicz in his final UFC bout.
Is Anderson a highly marketable fighter? Due to a largely quiet personality, not really, but Dana White would probably still like to have him back in the fold, if only to ensure that nobody in Bellator MMA could claim to be the top 205lber in the world.
