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For any MMA fighter, winning a title in the UFC’s octagon tends to represent the pinnacle of their career. Any fighter claiming gold in the promotion almost instantly becomes a legend.
While most UFC champions win their titles in impressive fashion, many fighters over the years have claimed octagon gold in controversial circumstances.
Do the circumstances mean these champions should be looked down upon? In many ways, it’s debatable, but at the end of the day, the record books are what matters – and the record books show their names as champions.
On that note, here are five UFC champions who won their titles in controversial circumstances:
#5. Vitor Belfort – UFC light heavyweight title (2004)
Vitor Belfort is undoubtedly a true legend of the octagon. ‘The Phenom’ debuted in the octagon way back in the sport’s early years, winning the heavyweight tournament at UFC 12 in 1997. His multiple runs with the promotion dated from that point all the way through to 2018.
Belfort is recognised as a former light heavyweight champion. However, it's fair to say that his title win came in hugely controversial circumstances, in what turned out to be one of the most disappointing headline bouts in promotion history.
He faced Randy Couture for the light heavyweight title owned by ‘The Natural’ in the first show of 2004. Despite Belfort's dangerous skills, most fans rooted for the champ to retain the gold. After all, Couture had thoroughly dominated ‘The Phenom’ en route to a TKO victory in 1997, handing the Brazilian his first defeat in MMA in the process.
However, the rematch did not go the way anyone would have expected. In the first exchange of the fight, Belfort missed with a left hook, but the stitching of his glove caught Couture’s left eye, leaving the champion wincing.
As the two men clinched up, it was immediately clear Couture’s eye was a mess, and in fact, his eyelid was practically hanging off. The referee immediately called time. When the doctor ruled that ‘The Natural’ couldn’t continue, Belfort was declared the new champion.
The right decision had been made, but that didn’t stop fans from believing that the Brazilian won his title on a technicality. That perception only became stronger when Couture easily destroyed him in a rematch to reclaim his crown.
Nearly two decades on, Belfort’s title win remains one of the most controversial in MMA history, even if no other call could’ve logically been made on that night.
#4. Matt Hughes – UFC welterweight title (2001)
When Carlos Newton unseated longtime UFC welterweight champion Pat Miletich at the start of 2001, it felt like the division had found a brand new poster boy to build around. Newton was young, exciting and charismatic, and he looked like a superstar.
However, less than a year after claiming the title, ‘The Ronin’ was dethroned in truly controversial circumstances, ironically by Miletich’s protege Matt Hughes. Newton and Hughes went to war in what was an instant classic title fight. Despite taking some nasty body slams from the challenger, as the bout ticked into the second round, Newton appeared to be easing into control.
Hughes took the champion down again in the early going of that round, but this time, ‘The Ronin’ suckered him in and locked up a tight triangle choke. The challenger attempted to pull his head free, but the hold was locked on too tightly. So instead, he decided to take a risk, lifting Newton into the air and walking him over to the fence, where he essentially propped ‘The Ronin’ up.
Newton was unwilling to release the hold, and kept squeezing as it became clear Hughes was fading into unconsciousness. As he passed out, though, and dropped to the floor, Newton fell with him and struck his head on the canvas.
Incredibly, both men were left out cold. As Hughes somehow came around first, he was declared the winner and new champion in one of the craziest finishes in the promotion’s history.
To say the call was controversial would be an understatement, so it came as no surprise to see a rematch signed a year later. In that bout, though, Hughes left no doubt, dominating ‘The Ronin’ en route to fourth-round TKO to cement himself as the undisputed champion.
#3. Germaine de Randamie – UFC featherweight title (2017)
When the UFC announced they’d be introducing a women’s featherweight title in early 2017, the logical bout for the inaugural title seemed to be a clash between top-ranked 145 lber Cris Cyborg and former bantamweight queen Holly Holm.
However, when the promotion failed to come to terms with Cyborg, she was replaced by kickboxer Germaine de Randamie. The latter's clash with Holm was booked to headline UFC 208.
While the bout pitted two of the promotion’s more highly credentialed strikers against one another, it turned out to be a largely disappointing fight with a distinct lack of action. In fact, the most telling blows of the fight came from De Randamie, but not under regular circumstances.
Both the second and the third rounds of the fight saw ‘The Iron Lady’ hurt Holm badly with punches that clearly came after the buzzer had signalled to end the stanza. However, for reasons known only to himself, referee Todd Anderson failed to deduct a point from the Dutchwoman.
The fight ended up going the distance, and De Randamie was awarded a tight decision with scores of 48-47 across the board. Had she been deducted points for her infractions, though, Holm would undoubtedly have been declared the winner and champion.
Thankfully for the promotion, De Randamie’s controversial reign as champion didn’t last long. She was stripped of her title later in 2017 for refusing to face Cyborg, largely rendering her clash with Holm and subsequent time as champion pointless.
#2. Jon Jones – UFC light heavyweight title (2018)
There was certainly no controversy around Jon Jones’ first UFC light heavyweight title win back in 2011. Despite being just 23 at the time, ‘Bones’ shellacked then-champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to win the title and kickstart one of the greatest reigns in promotional history.
However, nearly a decade later, it’s safe to say Jones' second reign as champion began in much more questionable circumstances. That was despite the fact that like his first title win, his victory came with a violent TKO.
By that point, Jones had been stripped of the title on two occasions – once due to a suspension following a nasty hit-and-run incident outside of the octagon, and the other due to a positive drug test.
The second instance meant his second reign as champion never officially began. His 2017 title victory over Daniel Cormier was overturned and declared a No Contest.
However, a year later, Jones returned from suspension and set his eyes on the title he never really lost. At that point, Cormier had voluntarily given up the crown due to his heavyweight title victory. So the UFC put together a bout between ‘Bones’ and another of his old rivals – Alexander Gustafsson – for the vacant title.
Their bout was scheduled to headline UFC 232, which was booked to take place in Las Vegas. However, just days before the event, it was revealed that Jones had tested positive for a trace amount of turanibol – the same banned substance he had been caught using previously.
As the Nevada State Athletic Commission would no longer licence him, the logical solution would’ve been to remove Jones from the event altogether. However, the promotion decided against that. Instead, it moved the entire card to Inglewood, California, when that state’s athletic commission agreed to let ‘Bones’ fight.
Whether or not Jones was using a banned substance remains a point for debate. However, either way, he stopped Gustafsson to claim the title in the third round, ensuring that his new reign as champion would begin with more controversy.
#1. Aljamain Sterling – UFC bantamweight title (2021)
While he didn’t do anything wrong per se, the UFC champion who undoubtedly won his title in the most controversial circumstances is reigning bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling. ‘The Funk Master’ remains the only UFC champion to win his title via disqualification.
Sterling earned his shot at then-champion Petr Yan by reeling off five wins in a row, ending with a massively impressive submission victory over Cory Sandhagen, who was, at the time, unbeaten in the octagon.
However, when it came to his fight with ‘No Mercy’, it’s safe to say that things weren’t going completely to plan for Sterling. ‘The Funk Master’ was hanging tough and arguably won the first round of the bout. However, as the fight went on, Yan’s violent striking began to overwhelm the American.
As the fight entered the fourth round, it looked like it would be Yan’s bout to lose – but while he eventually did land a knockout blow, it wasn’t in the way he intended.
‘No Mercy’ caught Sterling with a brutal knee to the face that switched out his lights. However, unfortunately for the Russian, ‘The Funk Master’ was on his knees at the time. The shot was clearly illegal, and with Sterling in no fit state to continue, the only option was to disqualify the champion.
In the year that has followed, Sterling has had to deal with plenty of fans labelling him a paper champion. That's a completely unfair criticism given that Yan was entirely to blame for the incident.
He has got a chance to put things right by beating the Russian in their rematch next month. However, Sterling will always be remembered as a champion whose title reign started under a remarkably controversial cloud.
