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The UFC is undoubtedly the world’s biggest MMA promotion. So, it stands to reason that it’s hard for any fighter to remain there if they find themselves on a bad losing streak.
Despite this, over the years we have seen a handful of examples of fighters who were kept on by the UFC despite a bad losing streak, and who somehow managed to turn things around eventually.
Some of these fighters found themselves right back in the losing circle after managing to win one bout, but even more incredibly, some ended up revitalizing their careers altogether.
Here are five UFC fighters who were able to end long losing streaks.
#5. Robbie Lawler vs. Nick Diaz – UFC 266
When Robbie Lawler’s reign as UFC welterweight champion came to an end at the hands of Tyron Woodley in the summer of 2016, few fans would’ve expected his fall from grace to be quite as dramatic as it turned out to be.
‘Ruthless’ smartly took a year off to regroup following the knockout defeat and returned in the summer of 2017 to outpoint Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone in an excellent showing that suggested he was back to his best. However, it would prove to be his final win for over four years.
Lawler’s next fight saw him beaten badly by Rafael dos Anjos, who took advantage of ‘Ruthless’ suffering a knee injury to abuse him with strikes for five straight rounds. The former champ again found himself on the shelf, and by the time he returned, he didn’t look like the same fighter.
Sure, his loss to Ben Askren in early 2019 was shrouded in controversy, as referee Herb Dean appeared to have stopped the contest prematurely. However, there was no controversy in Lawler’s losses to Colby Covington and Neil Magny – ‘Ruthless’ was simply outgunned.
For all intents and purposes, his career at the top of the promotion appeared to be over. However, after taking another year off to recover, Lawler returned last September to defeat old rival Nick Diaz via third-round TKO.
Whether this win will revitalize Lawler’s career is debatable – ‘Ruthless’ didn’t look great per say, Diaz simply looked very rusty – but the fact that he was able to snap such a horrible losing streak was impressive nonetheless.
#4. Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig – UFC 146
After reeling off four straight victories to begin his UFC career, ending with a shutout against the highly ranked Mike Swick, 2010 saw Dan Hardy become the first British fighter to ever fight for gold inside the octagon.
In the end, ‘The Outlaw’ was comfortably beaten by Georges St-Pierre in his title challenge, but most fans expected him to regroup quickly. Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t the case at all.
Hardy’s return bout in front of his countrymen in London was disastrous, as he suffered a bad knockout at the hands of Carlos Condit. When ‘The Outlaw’ then lost two more fights, suffering defeats at the hands of Anthony Johnson and Chris Lytle, many fans expected him to be cut from the UFC altogether.
Luckily for Hardy, the promotion decided to keep him on, and he repaid their faith handily. After taking a lengthy period of time away following his loss to Lytle, ‘The Outlaw’ returned in the summer of 2012 and knocked out Duane Ludwig with a left hook in what was his best showing in years.
Hardy followed that win with another victory over Amir Sadollah, distancing himself from his losing streak entirely. Sadly, ‘The Outlaw’ was then sidelined due to a heart condition and hasn’t returned to action since.
#3. Michael Johnson vs. Alan Patrick – UFC Vegas 54
This past weekend saw the latest example of a UFC fighter finding a way to snap a lengthy losing streak, as Michael Johnson got back into the winner’s column for the first time in nearly four years by knocking out Alan Patrick.
The victory probably saved Johnson’s career with the promotion, as had ‘The Menace’ lost his fifth fight in a row, it’s highly likely that he would’ve been cut from his contract entirely.
Johnson’s fall down the rankings was a strange one, to say the least. Back in 2016, he looked like one of the hottest lightweight fighters on the roster when he knocked out Dustin Poirier. He followed that win with a loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov, but fought well in the bout and largely impressed viewers.
However, losses to Justin Gaethje and Andre Fili followed, and while ‘The Menace’ stopped that losing streak by winning his next two, subsequent defeats to Josh Emmett, Stevie Ray, Thiago Moises and Clay Guida seemed to suggest that he was finished.
His victory over Patrick appeared to suggest that he’s back to his best, though, and if he can continue to fight as well as he did this weekend, it’s unlikely he’ll face such a poor losing streak again.
#2. Jim Miller vs. Alex White – UFC 228
One of the longest-tenured fighters in UFC history, Jim Miller has now been with the promotion for the best part of 15 years, having debuted in the octagon with a win over David Baron way back in 2008.
However, while Miller came close to securing a lightweight title shot on a couple of occasions and was able to put together a stellar seven-fight win streak between 2009 and 2011, the last few years haven’t been quite so kind to him.
In fact, ‘A-10’ appeared to be close to the end of the road in 2018, when he found himself on a horrendous losing streak of four fights. More to the point, the final two losses weren’t really competitive, as he was abused by Francisco Trinaldo before being knocked out by Dan Hooker.
The New Jersey native probably would’ve been cut from the promotion were it not for his lengthy tenure and popularity. Instead, he was given one last chance to turn things around in the form of a clash with Alex White.
Incredibly, not only did Miller stop his slide, he did so in style, taking White down and submitting him in just over a minute. While he lost his next fight to Charles Oliveira, he’s since won a further five bouts in the octagon and is now on a remarkable two-fight win streak, proving there’s still life in this old dog yet.
#1. Andrei Arlovski vs. Junior Albini – UFC Fight Night 120
More than any other UFC fighter, Andrei Arlovski appears to be like a cat with nine lives when it comes to rescuing his career. ‘The Pitbull’ has been written off on numerous occasions, only to somehow keep bouncing back,.
Right now, the 43-year old is on an insane four-fight win streak.
It’s probably safe to say, though, that the worst it got for Arlovski was the five-fight win streak he found himself on between 2016 and 2017. Realistically, were it not for his name value as a former heavyweight champion, he definitely would’ve been cut from the UFC.
Strangely, ‘The Pitbull’ actually began the streak in title contention. Returning to the octagon in 2014 after a lengthy time away, Arlovski reeled off four wins in a row to climb into the top 10. However, a knockout loss to Stipe Miocic derailed him, and from there, he suffered defeats to fellow veterans Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.
Further losses to then-prospects Francis Ngannou and Marcin Tybura followed, and it appeared that the Belarusian fighter was sinking without a trace, particularly as he looked terrible in the latter fight.
However, he stunned fans by breaking his losing streak by defeating Junior Albini in his next fight, outpointing the much younger fighter, and following that by beating Stefan Struve too.
In the years that have followed, Arlovski has lost more fights, but he’s never found himself on as bad a run as he did a few years back, and is seemingly set to remain a staple of the heavyweight division for the foreseeable future.
