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In every UFC title fight, there’s obviously going to be a favorite and an underdog, whether the favorite is a dominant champion or a red-hot challenger who looks unstoppable. Of course, in turn, that means that in many title bouts, one fighter is largely written off.
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous examples of fighters who were written off going into their UFC title bouts, only to end up stunning everyone by capturing the gold at the end of the night.
Sometimes these fighters were written off because they were facing a dominant champion, while other times they were overlooked due to their own apparent deficiencies.
With that in mind, here are five UFC champions who were written off prior to their title wins.
#5. Glover Teixeira – UFC light heavyweight champion
In hindsight, it’s probably fair to say that nobody should really have written off current UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira when he fought then-titleholder Jan Blachowicz for the gold last October.
After all, it was always clear that the Brazilian held a large advantage over his Polish opponent on the ground. More importantly, he’d always shown the ability to weather a storm en route to pulling off a big victory, too.
However, coming into the bout, it was painfully easy to see why Blachowicz was largely favored to win. Not only was he on the best run of his MMA career, his last fight had seen him become the first man to ever defeat Israel Adesanya inside the octagon.
More to the point, despite his five-fight win streak, Teixeira had turned 42 years old just a couple of days prior to the event. Outside of Randy Couture, no fighter had ever claimed gold inside the octagon after their 40th birthday.
When all this was considered, it seemed highly likely that Blachowicz would run right through Teixeira, probably using his vaunted "Polish power" to score a big knockout.
When it came down to it, though, that wasn’t the case at all. Blachowicz was completely unable to stop the challenger’s takedowns, and once he put the fight on the ground, Teixeira was able to dominate proceedings en route to a second-round submission win.
Naturally, while Teixeira’s advanced age means that he’ll continue to have his doubters - many fans are picking Jiri Prochazka to beat him this weekend, for instance - it seems unlikely that he’ll ever be completely written off again.
#4. Randy Couture – Former UFC heavyweight champion
When Randy Couture lost his UFC heavyweight title to Josh Barnett in early 2002, it was safe to say that many fans felt his MMA career was basically over. After all, ‘The Natural’ was hardly a spring chicken, having turned 38 years old the year prior.
However, Couture stunned everyone by going on another legendary run, this time at 205 pounds, winning the UFC light heavyweight title on two occasions and overcoming the likes of Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
Nobody expected Couture to continue competing into his 40’s, though, and so when he hung up his gloves following his second loss to Liddell in early 2006, it was a decision that seemed to make sense.
Incredibly, though, Couture’s retirement lasted little over a year, as early 2007 saw him announce a return in the form of a UFC heavyweight title bout with then-champ Tim Sylvia.
Sure, ‘The Maine-iac’ didn’t look like a completely unbeatable champion, but he was at least in his prime, while Couture hadn’t fought in over a year and was also pushing 44 years old. Therefore, for the most part, ‘The Natural’ was firmly written off.
Of course, that turned out to be a huge mistake. Couture stunned everyone by dropping Sylvia with a huge right hand in the opening seconds of the bout and then went onto dominate the champion in every facet of the game en route to a decision victory.
The victory remains one of the most memorable in UFC history and stands as a classic example of a challenger who defied the odds to pull off a victory after being written off.
#3. B.J. Penn – Former UFC welterweight champion
Given that he’s widely considered the most talented lightweight in UFC history, it seems hard to believe that B.J. Penn would ever have been written off in a title bout, but that’s exactly what happened when he fought Matt Hughes for the welterweight title in 2004.
Not only was Hughes arguably the most dominant champion on the planet at the time, with a total of five successful title defenses to his name during his reign, but Penn had never fought at 170 pounds prior to the bout.
More to the point, ‘The Prodigy’ was hardly in the best form at the time, as he’d last been seen in the octagon in a disappointing draw against Caol Uno, a result that prevented the UFC from crowning a new lightweight champ following the departure of Jens Pulver.
Prior to the clash, Hughes played down Penn’s chances, essentially stating that he was too small to compete at 170 pounds and that he’d be overpowered and beaten down. However, that wasn’t the case at all.
‘The Prodigy’ surprised Hughes with an early takedown, and after stunning him with a big right hand on the ground, he advanced into a dominant position and ended up choking the champion out with seconds remaining in the opening round.
The result sent shockwaves through the entire MMA world, and while Penn never defended his title and fell to Hughes in a rematch just over two years later, he would never again be written off in a title fight.
#2. Matt Serra – Former UFC welterweight champion
It’s probably safe to say that when Matt Serra was basically written off by everyone prior to his UFC welterweight title, it was hardly a surprise. After all, while ‘The Terror’ was always recognized as a solid fighter, there were a number of things counting against him.
Firstly, most of his best wins inside the octagon had come at 155 pounds. Against the majority of fighters at 170 pounds, he seemed undersized. More importantly, he hadn’t really earned a title shot, as he’d gained it by winning TUF 4’s welterweight tournament rather than by knocking off top contenders.
Reigning champion Georges St-Pierre, meanwhile, was coming off a dominant knockout win over legendary former champion Matt Hughes and had already mauled the likes of Frank Trigg and B.J. Penn beforehand.
The idea of Serra somehow toppling the Canadian seemed fanciful, but when it came to fight time, the stars aligned perfectly for the challenger.
He stunned GSP in the early going with an overhand right to the temple, wrecking his equilibrium. From there, he refused to let up, knocking the champion all over the octagon until he could take no more punishment.
The victory immediately shot to the top of the list of the biggest upsets in UFC history, and well over a decade later, it remains there, standing as a prime example of why no fighter should be written off entirely in a title bout.
#1. Michael Bisping – Former UFC middleweight champion
It’s probably fair to say that the title challenger who was written off the most by fans and observers prior to claiming UFC gold was Michael Bisping, one of the most unlikely champions in the promotion’s history.
Given what led up to his title shot, which came at UFC 199 in the summer of 2016, it’s still easy to understand why ‘The Count’ was literally given zero shot of winning the middleweight crown in his battle with then-champion Luke Rockhold.
Firstly, Bisping was not supposed to be in the fight in the first place. The title shot was all set to go to Chris Weidman, only for ‘The All-American’ to be forced out on around three weeks’ notice due to injury. That resulted in ‘The Count’ stepping in with little preparation time.
Secondly, when Bisping had fought Rockhold previously, just over eighteen months prior, he’d been well beaten, having been dropped with a head kick before being submitted via a mounted guillotine choke.
Therefore, nobody could really see past another Rockhold win, but unfortunately, Rockhold himself clearly couldn’t either.
He didn’t appear to be taking Bisping seriously and in the early part of the first round, made the error of dropping his hands. That was all that it took for ‘The Count’ to capitalize. He nailed the champion with a pair of brutal left hooks that knocked him completely senseless.
Remarkably, despite being thoroughly written off, Bisping had achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a UFC champion – it had just come in a way that neither he nor the fans could possibly have imagined.
