5 UFC fighters who struggled to find opponents willing to face them

One of Dana White’s calling cards has always been that in the UFC, the best fight the best. However, at times, that isn’t necessarily the case.

Over the years, we’ve seen numerous examples of fighters in the UFC who found it difficult to find opponents, largely because they were greatly feared but lacked star power.

Incredibly, not only did some of these fighters go onto hold titles in the promotion, but they also went onto be considered major stars, too – but only after they finally managed to secure the big fights they were always after.

Here are five UFC stars who struggled to find opponents willing to face them.

#5. Umar Nurmagomedov – UFC bantamweight contender

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This weekend’s UFC Fight Night event will see the return of highly rated bantamweight contender Umar Nurmagomedov, who has not fought in over a year.

Despite ‘Young Eagle’ being ranked at No.13 in the 135-pound division, though, his comeback fight is not against a fellow ranked opponent. Instead, the Dagestani will face off with octagon newcomer Bekzat Almakhan.

The reason for this appears to be a simple one: none of the UFC’s top contenders at bantamweight want to face Nurmagomedov, who is the cousin of legendary former lightweight champion Khabib.

This theory was basically confirmed by Dana White himself last year, when he stated that ‘Young Eagle’ was “a guy not everybody’s beating down the door to fight.”

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Shortly after White’s quip, a top fighter – No.3-ranked Cory Sandhagen – did agree to face Nurmagomedov, only for the fight to be canceled when the Dagestani suffered a shoulder injury.

This time around, though, it appears that despite ‘Young Eagle’ returning from a lengthy layoff, just as before, no big-name fighter is willing to face him.

With any luck, assuming he beats Almakhan impressively, that will change soon. At 16-0, he has more than earned his shot at a top opponent and does not deserve to be avoided.

#4. Jon Fitch – former UFC welterweight contender

In his prime, former welterweight title challenger Jon Fitch was undoubtedly a man who most of the UFC’s top 170-pound fighters looked to avoid.

Fitch arrived in the promotion in late 2005 with a strong record of 11-2, and when he eased past three highly regarded foes in Brock Larson, Josh Burkman, and Thiago Alves, it was clear that he was for real.

Despite his achievements, though, the promotion could not get a ranked opponent to face off with the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler.

While fighters like Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck, and Chris Lytle remained in title contention, Fitch was forced to beat relative unknowns such as Luigi Fioravanti and Roan Carneiro.

Even after cementing his status with a victory over the highly ranked Diego Sanchez, Fitch’s next fight came against an octagon debutant in Chris Wilson.

The reason that nobody wanted to fight Fitch was easy to see. While he was incredibly tough and talented, his fighting style wasn’t that entertaining, and he had a tendency to make his opponents look terrible.

Eventually, Fitch received his shot at welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre – but only after winning a remarkable eight UFC fights in a row.

#3. Cain Velasquez – former UFC heavyweight champion

When the UFC signed heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez to a contract in early 2008, the move came as somewhat of a surprise. That was because the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler had just two professional MMA fights to his name.

The reason for this, as it turned out, was that Velasquez had built a fearsome reputation for himself in training at the famed American Kickboxing Academy.

Renowned stars like Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Josh Thomson routinely talked up Velasquez’s talents, often labeling him the best heavyweight they’d ever seen. And naturally, this meant that nobody on the regional scene wanted to face him.

Instead, Dana White signed him after seeing him impress in a sparring session, and he didn’t disappoint.

Velasquez destroyed Brad Morris and Jake O’Brien in his first two visits to the octagon, and from there, history repeated itself.

Once again, nobody wanted to fight the dangerous newcomer, and so in early 2009, when he was clearly good enough to face a ranked opponent, Velasquez instead found himself matched with debutant Denis Stojnic.

Stojnic was, of course, no match for the prospect, who duly smashed him in the second round.

Thankfully, it became too difficult for fighters to ignore Velasquez at that point. His next bout saw him dismantle ranked star Cheick Kongo, and three fights later, he beat Brock Lesnar to win the heavyweight title.

#2. Kamaru Usman – former UFC welterweight champion

If Jon Fitch was the original example of a UFC fighter who was ducked by prospective opponents due to an effective but supposedly dull style, it could be argued that Kamaru Usman picked up that mantle in the modern era.

The winner of 2015’s TUF 21, Usman deployed a suffocating wrestling approach in his early days that wasn’t always that entertaining to watch. And like Fitch before him, he had a tendency to nullify his opponents so effectively that they looked awful.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ reeled off six wins in a row between his 2015 octagon debut and late 2017, when he scored the first knockout of his UFC career over Sergio Moraes.

However, despite possessing clear elite-level talent, it quickly became apparent that the promotion’s top welterweights wanted nothing to do with him.

This could not have been clearer than when his first bout of 2018 saw him pitted against the largely unknown Emil Meek, rather than a top 10-ranked foe.

After beating the Norwegian in a whitewash, though, it was clear that the top fighters could no longer ignore ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.

Later that year, he defeated Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos to set up a shot at the welterweight title, which he claimed from Tyron Woodley in 2019. Remarkably, though, Maia was the first ranked opponent he’d ever faced, despite the bout being his eighth in the octagon.

#1. Islam Makhachev – UFC lightweight champion

Right now, it seems that everyone wants a shot at reigning UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Not only are top ranked lightweights like Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, and Dustin Poirier gunning for him, but so is new featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria.

It’s a far cry from where the Dagestani was just a couple of years ago, when despite his best efforts, it seemed like an impossible task to get any of the promotion’s ranked 155-pound fighters to face off with him.

Makhachev debuted in the octagon back in 2015, but after going 3-1 in his first four bouts, 2018 saw him hit a real stride. He began to destroy proven foes like Gleison Tibau and Kajan Johnson, and clearly had all the skills needed to ascend to the top of the lightweight division.

However, it quickly became apparent that none of the division’s top fighters wanted to face him. Despite keeping up a solid schedule, Makhachev was unable to get a fight with a ranked contender until October 2021, when he fought Dan Hooker.

In the interim, he was left to face relative unknowns like Arman Tsarukyan and Davi Ramos, and was never called out by any highly-ranked stars.

Makhachev eventually received a lightweight title shot in late 2022, but only when his ten-fight win streak became impossible to ignore.

Even then, he received some criticism for not fighting a top five-ranked foe – criticism that was quickly shot down by fans who pointed out his struggles in getting a fight with one of those ranked opponents in the first place.