5 most obscure title challengers in UFC history

#4. Chris Cariaso – Flyweight title challenger (UFC 178)

Chris Cariaso received a title shot in 2014 despite a lack of major wins in the octagon

When Demetrious Johnson won the UFC’s inaugural flyweight title back in September 2012, it didn’t take him long to defeat the majority of the top challengers in the division.

‘Mighty Mouse’ quickly took out John Dodson, John Moraga, Joseph Benavidez and Ali Bagautinov. By the time that two years of his reign were up, there were very few credible names left for him to defeat.

However, the promotion needed a title fight to headline UFC 178 when the show lost its initially booked main event of Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier. So, with Johnson more than willing to stay active, Chris Cariaso was pegged as his latest challenger.

At the time, ‘Kamikaze’ was a highly experienced veteran who’d been fighting for the promotion since January 2011. Despite putting together a record of 7-3, he’d only ever featured on one main card showcase, a largely dull victory over Louis Smolka.

More to the point, Cariaso also had losses to Moraga and Jussier Formiga on his record, meaning that he hardly came across as the most credible challenger.

In the end, the show turned out to be one of the better events of 2014, but the interest levels came largely from two main card bouts, Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald Cerrone, rather than the headliner, which ended up flying under the radar entirely despite Johnson impressing in a second-round submission win.

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#3. Frank Trigg – Welterweight title challenger (UFC 45)

Frank Trigg debuted in the octagon with an instant title shot at welterweight champ Matt Hughes

Newer UFC fans would probably recognize Frank Trigg as one of the referees working in the octagon from time to time, but if you rewind back to just under two decades ago, ‘Twinkle Toes’ was widely seen as one of the best welterweights in the world.

However, prior to his famous second clash with Matt Hughes – as well as his big victories over Dennis Hallman and Charuto Verissimo – Trigg became one of the few fighters to debut in the octagon in a title bout, making him one of the most obscure challengers in history.

UFC 45’s main event saw ‘Twinkle Toes’ enter the octagon for the first time to challenge then-welterweight kingpin Hughes. Due to the nature of MMA at the time, his name would only have been recognized by hardcore fans.

Trigg’s biggest win at the time came over Hallman in the ill-fated WFA promotion. He’d only fought once in PRIDE and he had also come up short against Hayato Sakurai, a fighter that Hughes had dealt easily with.

Essentially, he only received a debut title shot because Hughes had defeated every other credible challenger in the division. Unsurprisingly, ‘Twinkle Toes’ joined them, losing to the champ via first-round submission.

Sure, it didn’t take him long to gain credibility with the fans afterwards, but at the time, it was hard to imagine him having too much success or climbing out of obscurity.