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For any MMA fighter, even truly great fighters, making a debut in the UFC can be an absolutely nerve-racking experience. Seemingly anyone can suffer from the dreaded ‘octagon shock’.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of big-name fighters debut in the UFC to much fanfare, only for their debuts to go horribly wrong with a devastating loss.
Some of these fighters were able to overcome their debut loss and find success in the promotion. For others, it merely marked the beginning of a bad run overall.
With that in mind, here are five UFC debuts that did not go as planned.
#5. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Lyoto Machida – UFC 79
When PRIDE closed its doors and the promotion’s fighters began to migrate to the UFC in 2007, arguably the hottest fighter coming out of the Japanese organization was Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.
‘The African Assassin’ had begun the year as almost a complete unknown. However, after knocking out perennial 205lbs contender Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his PRIDE debut in a huge upset, it was hard not to be excited by him.
That level of excitement only increased when he followed that win with a second knockout of another highly ranked fighter in the form of Ricardo Arona. When the UFC announced they’d signed him to a contract, fans couldn’t wait for his octagon debut.
He was matched with a tricky opponent in the form of Lyoto Machida, who was unbeaten at 11-0. However, given Sokoudjou’s incredibly heavy hands, as well as his remarkably high-level background in judo, it seemed inconceivable that the native of Cameroon would lose his debut.
Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened. Sokoudjou was outfought by Machida in every facet of the bout. He ended up being submitted with an arm triangle choke in the second round.
The loss took the shine off ‘The African Assassin’ entirely. While he rebounded with a knockout win over Kazuhiro Nakamura, he followed that with a loss to Luiz Cane and washed out of the promotion less than a year after debuting.
Essentially, his debut – and his entire career with the promotion – did not go as planned at all.
#4. CM Punk vs. Mickey Gall – UFC 203
In late 2014, former WWE champion CM Punk announced that he intended to embark on an MMA career with the UFC. Nobody really knew quite what to expect.
After all, Punk was already 36 years old at the time, didn’t come from any kind of martial arts background, and didn’t seem to be the most athletic specimen either.
However, it did seem like the former WWE champ was taking things seriously. He began training heavily with a highly reputable camp in the form of Roufusport. While he signed with the UFC in late 2014, he waited almost two years to actually make his debut in the octagon.
After searching for a potential first opponent for the former pro-wrestler, the promotion eventually settled on Mickey Gall who, at the time, had just two professional fights to his name.
Gall appeared to be skilled but, given his inexperience, many fans felt that Punk at least stood a chance of coming out on top in the fight.
When it came to fight time, though, Punk seemed completely unprepared for what was about to happen. After throwing a weak punch, Gall tackled him to the ground, destroyed him with strikes, and then submitted him with a rear-naked choke in just over two minutes.
It was painfully clear from this debut that the former pro-wrestler simply wasn’t cut out for MMA no matter how hard he’d trained. After one more loss, it was no surprise to see him depart the UFC and return to his former roots. To say his debut didn’t go to plan would be an understatement.
#3. Luke Rockhold vs. Vitor Belfort – UFC on FX 8
Although Luke Rockhold’s knockout losses to the likes of Jan Blachowicz, Michael Bisping and Yoel Romero have made him a punchline of sorts in the eyes of some fans, at his best, he was a truly brilliant fighter.
Rockhold famously won the UFC middleweight title from Chris Weidman in 2015, capping off an impressive five-fight winning streak. However, prior to embarking on that, he suffered a terrible loss in his octagon debut that threatened to derail his career entirely.
Rockhold came into his debut as the reigning StrikeForce middleweight champion. He was matched with Vitor Belfort, who was coming off a violent win over Bisping.
Essentially, it felt like Rockhold would be handed a title shot with a win. Unfortunately, Belfort had other ideas entirely.
‘The Phenom’ came into the fight in phenomenal shape. After just two minutes, he caught Rockhold with a ridiculous spinning wheel kick that knocked him absolutely senseless.
The win unsurprisingly moved Belfort into position for a title shot, while Rockhold was basically knocked to the back of the queue. While he didn’t remain there for long thanks to his abilities inside the octagon, it’s probably not unfair to say that his debut couldn’t have gone much worse.
#2. Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch – UFC 149
The UFC were able to sign reigning Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard to a contract in the summer of 2012. It seemed like the promotion had inked not only a certain contender for their own middleweight title, but also a surefire superstar, too.
A former Olympic judoka with Cuba, ‘Lightning’ had found success in MMA by using his brutally heavy hands to knock the majority of his foes out.
At the time of his signing with the UFC, he was riding a scarcely-believable 25-fight win streak. Fans were excited about who he might be matched with for his octagon debut.
Initially, Lombard was signed to face the top ten-ranked Brian Stann, but when ‘The All American’ was forced out, the less-heralded Tim Boestch stepped in on relatively late notice. ‘The Barbarian’ was coming off the biggest win of his career over Yushin Okami, but it still felt like he had no chance against Lombard.
However, the Lombard who stepped into the octagon simply wasn’t the same Lombard who’d destroyed everyone he’d faced inside Bellator’s cage. He looked flat-footed, gunshy and nervous, and couldn’t get anything going at all, eventually falling to defeat via decision.
Quite what’d gone wrong for him remains a mystery. Unfortunately, his debut loss was a sign of things to come. Lombard’s career with the UFC never took off, and he eventually washed out of the promotion in 2016 with a reputation as one of their all-time busts.
#1. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Forrest Griffin – UFC 76
While UFC fans were understandably excited about the arrival in the octagon of PRIDE superstars like Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Wanderlei Silva, the fighter that had everyone most excited was Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.
Not only had the Brazilian won PRIDE’s 2005 middleweight (205lbs) Grand Prix, but thanks to his wins over the likes of Ricardo Arona, Alistair Overeem, Kevin Randleman and then-UFC champion ‘Rampage’ Jackson, he was widely recognized as the world’s best light heavyweight.
When his first octagon opponent was announced as inaugural TUF winner Forrest Griffin, the booking felt like a masterstroke.
Griffin was one of the promotion’s most popular fighters, but wasn’t seen as an outright elite talent. If things went to plan, ‘Shogun’ would pick up a huge debut win over a big name, probably in highlight reel fashion.
Of course, nobody told Griffin that. So despite coming in as a huge underdog, he thoroughly outfought the PRIDE star in every area, eventually submitting him late in the third round with a rear-naked choke in one of the UFC’s all-time great upsets.
It later transpired that ‘Shogun’ was carrying a major knee injury coming into the fight. He would eventually bounce back from the loss to claim the UFC light heavyweight title. He also avenged his loss to Griffin later down the road.
Regardless, this remains a shining example of a debut completely failing to go to plan – even if normal proceedings eventually occurred later.
