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This month sees UFC 270 go down. In the headline fight, UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou defends his title against interim titleholder Ciryl Gane in a unification bout.
Ciryl Gane will be hoping to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion when he faces Francis Ngannou on January 22. If he does so, he’ll become the latest interim champion to achieve this feat.
Over the years, we’ve seen the UFC crown a shocking number of interim champions for various reasons. Only a handful of them have been able to claim the undisputed title when it came to unification time.
With that in mind, here are five interim UFC champions who were able to capture the undisputed title.
#5. Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez – UFC 188
When Fabricio Werdum won the interim UFC heavyweight title in a fight with Mark Hunt at UFC 180, it felt like it was as good as it would get for ‘Vai Cavalo’ in the promotion. Werdum was on his second stint with the UFC at that stage. He’d initially washed out of the promotion back in 2008 following a TKO loss to Junior Dos Santos.
In the years that followed, though, the Brazilian rebuilt himself in Strikeforce, pulled off a huge win over Fedor Emelianenko and then reeled off five straight wins in the UFC, culminating in his victory over Hunt for the interim title. However, standing in his way of becoming the undisputed champion was the fighter widely recognized as the greatest heavyweight in UFC history, Cain Velasquez.
Werdum had been set to fight Velasquez at UFC 180, but a knee injury sidelined the champion. That resulted in the creation of the interim title and the Brazilian’s fight with Hunt.
When the Mexican-American returned, a fight to unify the titles between him and Werdum was signed for UFC 188. It seemed likely that Velasquez would walk away with the undisputed title once again.
Incredibly, though, despite being known for his incredible cardio, Velasquez tired out badly in the fight. That allowed Werdum, who pushed a torrid pace, to take over as the fight went on.
Eventually, ‘Vai Cavalo’ caught the champion in a guillotine choke and, to the shock of UFC fans across the world, forced him to tap out.
Velasquez’s camp blamed the high altitude in Mexico City for the loss, citing the fact that Werdum had already fought there at UFC 180 as a reason for his ability to push such a high pace.
Regardless of the reasons, though, this was the biggest victory of Werdum’s UFC career and it made him the undisputed champion in the process.
#4. Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz – UFC 44
Back in the early 2000’s, the biggest star in the UFC was Tito Ortiz. ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ captured the UFC light heavyweight title in 2000 and then defended it in five straight bouts, ending with a seismic win over Ken Shamrock at UFC 40.
Ortiz was not only the most feared fighter in the UFC at the time, but he was also their biggest draw too. His clash with Shamrock essentially saved the entire promotion from a financial standpoint. However, when it came to a potential clash with his former friend and training partner Chuck Liddell, Ortiz wasn’t willing to step into the octagon for anything less than he felt he deserved.
Unwilling to pay him more, the UFC simply decided to push him aside, instead signing a fight for an interim title between Liddell and Randy Couture. In what was an upset considering his advanced age, Couture then defeated Liddell to become the interim champion, finishing ‘The Iceman’ in the third round via TKO.
Ortiz then decided to return to the octagon, apparently more willing to fight Couture than Liddell, and a unification bout between the two was signed for UFC 44. Despite ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ being widely favored to win the fight, the clash turned out to be a rout.
‘The Natural’ was simply too strong for Ortiz in the wrestling department and dominated him en route to a decision victory. In doing so, he became the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion.
The fight proved to be a turning point in UFC history, as Couture went onto become one of the promotion’s poster-boys as it moved into the mainstream in the mid-2000’s, while Ortiz would never again regain the top spot in the division.
#3. Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra – UFC 83
When Matt Serra dethroned Georges St-Pierre to win the UFC welterweight title in April 2007, his first-round knockout was instantly labeled one of the biggest upsets in the promotion’s history.
After all, ‘The Terror’ had come in from the cold after winning the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter and wasn’t actually ranked in the UFC’s top five at the time. St-Pierre. meanwhile, had been destroying everyone in his path, including legendary former champion Matt Hughes.
Unfortunately, for as good as his title victory was, Serra’s actual reign as champion was pretty disastrous.
The UFC booked him to defend his title against Hughes at UFC 79, but after the two rivals coached the sixth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Serra injured his back. That removed him from the fight and forced the promotion to book an interim title bout between Hughes and St-Pierre instead.
Unsurprisingly, GSP shellacked Hughes to become interim champion, setting up a rematch with Serra almost exactly a year after their first meeting.
This time, there would be no upset. St-Pierre destroyed ‘The Terror’ with ease, finishing him in the second round with a series of knees to the body to prove himself as the undisputed champion.
Serra never really regained any traction following the loss, while GSP went on to rule over the division for the best part of a decade, reeling off nine successful title defenses in the process.
#2. Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker – UFC 243
When current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya defends his title against Robert Whittaker in the headliner of UFC 271 in February, it’ll be the second title fight between the two in recent years.
The first came at UFC 243 in October 2019. That clash saw then-interim champion Adesanya dethrone Whittaker in arguably his most impressive performance to date, becoming the undisputed champion in the process.
Whittaker’s own title reign started in somewhat odd circumstances. ‘The Reaper’ initially became interim champion after defeating Yoel Romero at UFC 213. When Georges St-Pierre decided to retire and vacate the main title, the UFC simply promoted the Australian to undisputed champ.
However, injuries and illness thoroughly derailed his reign, although he did make a single defense against Romero in a rematch at UFC 225.
By the start of 2019, ‘The Reaper’ was on the shelf again, this time with a staph infection. That resulted in the UFC creating another interim middleweight title. Adesanya, who had run through all of his opponents in the octagon to go 5-0, defeated Kelvin Gastelum to claim the title in one of the year’s best fights.
That set ‘The Last Stylebender’ up for a meeting with Whittaker. In one of the most impressive title wins in UFC history, Adesanya destroyed Whittaker with a second-round knockout to become undisputed champion.
Whether he can repeat the feat at UFC 271 remains to be seen, but for now, Adesanya stands as one of the rare interim UFC champions to become undisputed champion.
#1. Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo – UFC 194
The most famous example of an interim UFC champion becoming the undisputed titleholder remains Conor McGregor. ‘The Notorious’ megastar claimed gold in the UFC featherweight division back in 2015, instantly writing himself into the history books in the process.
Realistically, it probably worked out better for McGregor that he was forced to win the interim title before claiming the undisputed championship.
The Irishman burst onto the scene in 2013, winning his first four bouts inside the octagon. When he was awarded a title shot following his fifth UFC win in early 2015, plenty of fans scoffed.
After all, ‘The Notorious’ had never had his takedown defense tested by one of the monstrous wrestlers of the division. That led some fans to suggest that due to his marketability and drawing power, he’d been protected by the UFC’s brass.
That changed when his planned title fight with longtime champ Jose Aldo at UFC 189 was nixed due to the Brazilian suffering a rib injury. Instead, McGregor found himself up against Chad Mendes, the best of those monstrous wrestlers, in a bout for an interim title instead.
Sure enough, ‘The Notorious’ proved all of his doubters wrong, surviving a savage ground attack from ‘Money’ before coming back to stop him violently in the second round.
The win showed everyone that McGregor was more than just hype and trash talk and better was to come.
At UFC 194, the Irishman knocked out Aldo in just 13 seconds, handing him his first defeat in over a decade. In doing so, he became not just the undisputed featherweight champion, but the UFC’s biggest superstar, period.
