5 great UFC fighters who just don't show up sometimes

UFC 264: Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 3
UFC 264: Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor 3

#2 Former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero

UFC 248 Adesanya v Romero
UFC 248 Adesanya v Romero

Yoel Romero is an outlier in every sense of the word. A man with probably the best physique in MMA history, 'The Soldier of God' has always been a terrifying, well-rounded fighter.

But Romero has often failed to deliver in fights he has been favored to win, or at the very least challenge his opponent seriously. His close loss to Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza was the first indication of this as he edged a controversial split decision with only spurts of explosiveness.

Romero then suffered a pair of losses to Robert Whittaker, before appearing to save face in an all-out war against Paulo Costa. But things came to a head in the title fight against Israel Adesanya, where he seemed extremely reluctant to engage, resulting in a highly underwhelming fight.

Romero added another chapter to his list of bizarre moments recently, when he claimed that he thought his Bellator debut against Phil Davis was five rounds instead of the prescribed three.


#1 Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley

UFC Fight Night: Woodley v Burns
UFC Fight Night: Woodley v Burns

The most famous case of a fighter having the blues sometimes, Tyron Woodley has often been gun-shy in fights despite being a highly explosive puncher otherwise.

The former UFC welterweight champion suffered three insipid losses in a row towards the end of his career to Kamaru Usman, Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington. Even in his recent boxing fight against Jake Paul, he threw away what seemed to be a straightforward victory with some average output.

Woodley was first accused of being timid against Rory MacDonald, who clinched a unanimous-decision win in June 2014. Things improved soon after as he clinched the title and defended it four times, but he didn't win a single round against Usman, Burns and Covington.

Woodley went out on his shield against Vicente Luque, but the damage had been done by then. It is now an established fact that 'The Chosen One' just freezes sometimes.

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