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Winning a title in the UFC is widely considered the most difficult task for any fighter, but holding onto that title can be trickier still.
Sometimes, even the best UFC champions have simply failed to deliver the goods in a big fight, not coming close to their best and subsequently losing their titles.
On some occasions, these fighters were able to climb back to the top and regain their gold, but on others, they were plunged into a downward spiral that proved hard to snap out of.
Here are five UFC champions who didn't seem to show up in a big fight.
#5. Tyron Woodley - former UFC welterweight champion
By early 2019, a lot of observers had begun to discuss whether then-welterweight champion Tyron Woodley would be able to reach the record of title defenses set by the legendary Georges St-Pierre.
'The Chosen One' had knocked out Robbie Lawler to claim the gold in the summer of 2016 and retained the belt on four occasions, beating Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia, and Darren Till for successful defenses.
Sure, Woodley's fighting style wasn't always exciting to watch, but he was definitely effective, and his submission win over Till practically felt like a fresh start to his reign.
However, when he faced Kamaru Usman in his fifth defense in March 2019, he simply didn't look like the same fighter who'd ran right through 'The Gorilla' just months earlier.
The first round saw Usman begin to physically overpower the champion, and when he couldn't bully 'The Nigerian Nightmare', it felt like Woodley wilted.
The second round saw Usman almost finish him with a salvo of brutal strikes, and from there, there was no doubt that his reign was going to be over, even if the fight lasted the distance.
'The Chosen One' never recovered from the beating and ended up washing out of the UFC after a further three losses.
Whether he simply slipped out of his prime right before the Usman bout, or whether something else had happened remains a mystery. Either way, though, Woodley basically didn't show up for this bout.
#4. Israel Adesanya - former UFC middleweight champion
When Israel Adesanya was knocked out by his old rival Alex Pereira, suffering his third loss to 'Poatan' and losing his middleweight title in the process, fans questioned how he'd bounce back.
As it turned out, 'The Last Stylebender' recovered perfectly.
Granted an immediate rematch with Pereira, Adesanya uncorked one of the best performances of his career, knocking the Brazilian out to regain his crown and gain some semblance of revenge.
It felt like everything was back on track for one of the UFC's biggest stars. Unfortunately, that couldn't have been further from the truth.
When he was matched to fight Sean Strickland in the first defense of his second reign, it sounded like a simple assignment. After all, 'Tarzan' wasn't the top-ranked contender in the division, and had been knocked out by Pereira little more than a year prior.
Remarkably, though, Adesanya just didn't look himself in the fight. After being knocked down unexpectedly by Strickland in the first round, he couldn't recover and found himself inexplicably picked apart by 'Tarzan' on the feet.
The fight ended with Strickland taking a clear-cut decision, and the aftermath saw everyone attempting to work out exactly what had gone wrong for Adesanya.
As far as the answer to that question goes, nobody really knows just yet. 'The Last Stylebender' hasn't fought since.
#3. Jose Aldo - former UFC featherweight champion
Jose Aldo is widely recognized as not just the UFC's featherweight GOAT, but the best 145-pound fighter of all time.
The Brazilian went undefeated for over a decade between 2005 and 2015, and made a total of seven successful defenses of his crown. He defeated great fighters like Chad Mendes, Chan Sung Jung, and Frankie Edgar, and at times, he looked unbeatable.
However, when he was booked to fight rising star Conor McGregor in 2015, it felt like the Irishman was able to get into Aldo's head. McGregor unleashed non-stop trash talk at the Brazilian, and during a particularly wild press conference, snatched his title belt away for a moment.
By the time the fight came around, it'd clearly become personal for Aldo. However, all of the anger and bad blood that'd built up clearly didn't help him.
The usually stoic champion looked nervous during the introductions, wouldn't meet McGregor's stare, and bizarrely for a fighter who'd been involved in so many huge bouts, looked overawed.
Sure enough, when the action began, he overreached on a punch, got cracked with a left hand counter, and was stopped in just 13 seconds.
Aldo did bounce back from the loss and even regained the title once McGregor vacated it. However, the aura he once had never truly returned, and it's definitely fair to say that he just didn't turn up for the fight.
#2. Ken Shamrock - former UFC superfight champion
Back in the very early days of the UFC - before the promotion even had weight classes - Ken Shamrock held the 'superfight' title, making him the biggest star in MMA.
Admittedly, 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' never managed to actually beat his great rival Royce Gracie. However, with Gracie gone, nobody could argue with Shamrock's dominating wins over Dan Severn and Kimo Leopoldo.
However, when he was booked to face Severn in a rematch in the headliner of UFC 9, Shamrock simply failed to fight up to his usual standards, and saw his title reign end in awful fashion.
Whether 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' came into the fight injured, or whether he simply over-thought the problems that 'The Beast' presented remains a question mark.
However, what isn't questionable is that the fight remains one of the worst in octagon history.
Shamrock basically refused to engage during the fight, circling around Severn who was equally timid. The bout ended up going the distance over 30 minutes, and due to a handful of extra strikes and a takedown, 'The Beast' was awarded the win.
Given that Shamrock had run through Severn in their first fight, it was hard not to believe that 'The World's Most Dangerous Man' had somehow choked on the night, and he would fight only once more before departing for WWE.
#1. Rose Namajunas - former UFC strawweight champion
When Rose Namajunas lost her strawweight title to Jessica Andrade in the summer of 2019, she took some time away from the octagon to recover.
Returning a year later, 'Thug Rose' defeated the Brazilian in a close rematch, and then knocked out new champion Weili Zhang to reclaim her crown. When she then defeated Zhang in an epic, back-and-forth rematch, it felt very much like she was on her way to becoming the UFC's 115-pound GOAT.
For her next defense, 'Thug Rose' was presented with a gift of sorts. Her challenger was Carla Esparza, who'd beaten her to claim the inaugural title back in 2014.
Despite being on a lengthy win streak, nothing 'Cookie Monster' had done in the build to the fight suggested she stood a chance against Namajunas, meaning that the bout felt like a perfect opportunity for revenge.
However, for reasons that remain unknown, 'Thug Rose' simply didn't come into the fight anywhere near her best.
In a tepid five-round bout, the champion basically struggled to engage, and while Esparza barely did any more in her own right, she was still given the judges' nod.
Remarkably, Namajunas only landed a total of 37 strikes in the fight - less than half of her output against Zhang - adding credence to the idea that for some reason, she just hadn't turned up for the bout.
