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This weekend at UFC 273, Aljamain Sterling is set to defend his bantamweight title against Petr Yan. While he came out on top via disqualification the first time around, he’ll be hoping for a different type of fight in this rematch.
Over the years, we’ve seen countless rematches in the UFC. While some ended up being a carbon copy of the first fight, other rematches ended up looking entirely different.
On some occasions this was because a fighter made the correct adjustments to defeat their opponent. In other instances, one fighter had simply improved dramatically while the other had stagnated.
With that in mind, here are five UFC rematches that went completely differently to the first fight.
#5. Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture – UFC 52
When Chuck Liddell first faced Randy Couture in mid-2003 for the interim UFC light heavyweight title, it seemed like a formality that ‘The Iceman’ would come out on top. The fight was only made due to champion Tito Ortiz’s refusal to fight Liddell, and Couture was about to turn 40-years-old and looked past his best.
However, to the surprise of everyone watching, Couture made the fight seem easy. His straight punches allowed him to avoid Liddell’s looping hooks and beat him to the strike. His wrestling skill, particularly from the clinch, meant that he blasted through Liddell’s vaunted takedown defense.
Eventually, ‘The Natural’ won the fight via third round TKO, and for a while at least, Liddell’s dangerous aura was shattered.
Just under two years later, the two men rematched in one of the most anticipated bouts in MMA history, largely thanks to the stardom that their roles as coaches on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter had given them.
This time around, Couture was largely favored, but it turned out that Liddell had done his homework. Rather than chasing the fight as he’d done in the first instance, he allowed ‘The Natural’ to come to him.
Couture’s straight punches still gave him a little success early on, but when he attempted to close Liddell down, ‘The Iceman’ struck, landing a perfectly-placed right haymaker on the counter.
Couture was knocked out cold for the first time in his career. Liddell had reached the pinnacle of the sport, a position he’d maintain as the promotion broke into the mainstream.
#4. Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir – UFC 100
When the UFC signed former WWE champion Brock Lesnar to a contract in late 2007, nobody expected him to be pushed to the top right away. Stunningly, the promotion decided to match him with former champ Frank Mir in his octagon debut.
Many fans expected Lesnar to be whitewashed. Incredibly, ‘The Beast Incarnate’ used his powerful wrestling and striking to take the fight to Mir in the early moments, taking him down and abusing him with heavy ground-and-pound.
However, the former pro-wrestler simply got too wild for his own good, forgot about Mir’s sublime grappling skills, and fell victim to a kneebar late in the round. The fight was an instant classic, and sent a message to the rest of the roster that Lesnar was for real, even if he lost.
Nobody could’ve expected him to climb to the top quite as quickly as he did, though. Just two fights later, he knocked out Randy Couture to claim the UFC heavyweight title.
Just a month later, Mir took out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the interim heavyweight title that’d been introduced during Couture’s lengthy absence. To the surprise of no-one, a rematch was quickly signed.
Mir came into the rematch in the best shape of his life, but it didn’t matter. The small adjustment Lesnar needed to make was simply to avoid Mir’s submissions if the fight hit the mat, and that’s exactly what he did.
Once the former WWE star got into a dominant position in the second round, rather than go wild with his punches like in the first bout, Lesnar simply hammered Mir to the head with stiff, methodical shots. The fight was soon over and it was hard to doubt Lesnar again.
#3. Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes – UFC 65
One of the most famous examples of a UFC rematch that went differently is Georges St-Pierre’s second crack at legendary welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
When the two men first fought at the end of 2004 for the vacant welterweight title, St-Pierre had just two bouts in the octagon to his name and seven overall, lagging hugely behind Hughes in experience levels.
That experience meant that GSP – who had idolized Hughes – was massively nervous coming into the fight. While he performed well, he made a rookie mistake by telegraphing a kimura, and ended up falling prey to a slick armbar.
The loss sent the Canadian on a journey of self-discovery. By smashing through fighters who’d pushed Hughes hard like Frank Trigg and Sean Sherk, he quickly realized that he was more than capable of beating the legend in a rematch.
That rematch came in November 2006, just over two years after the first fight. Sure enough, where he’d been nervous the first time around, GSP was brimming with confidence.
He stopped Hughes’ takedown attempts with ease, picked him apart with heavy strikes on the feet, and eventually stopped him with a second-round head kick.
It was the worst beating of Hughes’ career to that point. It left no doubt as to who the world’s best welterweight was – particularly when, just over a year later, the Canadian destroyed the former champ in an even more one-sided third bout.
#2. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos – UFC 155
Cain Velasquez had always been marked for greatness in the UFC. When he won the heavyweight title from Brock Lesnar in one-sided fashion in late 2010, a long and successful title reign was expected.
That idea couldn’t have been further from what happened. Velasquez was left on the shelf for an entire year after having shoulder surgery. When he returned for his first defense against Junior dos Santos, he looked far from his best.
The Brazilian challenger was able to outstrike the slower-looking champion and ended his night in the first round with a right-hand haymaker. To say the performance was disappointing would be an understatement.
A year later, a much healthier Velasquez returned to attempt to right the wrongs of the first fight. It wasn’t long at all before he left no doubt whatsoever as to who the real champion was.
Before dos Santos had any chance to get into a rhythm with his striking, Velasquez was on him, forcing him into the fence with a clinch. From there, he continued to rough the Brazilian up, smothering him and peppering him with short but heavy shots.
The first round wasn’t even over when dos Santos looked exhausted. From there, Velasquez hammered him both on the feet and on the ground en route to a clear-cut five round decision.
It was a clear message that the Velasquez who’d fought JDS in their first meeting simply wasn’t healthy enough to compete. When he was at his best, he was on another level to the Brazilian entirely.
#1. Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 257
Dustin Poirier’s first clash with Conor McGregor back in late 2014 was a classic example of a fighter facing the reputation of his opponent rather than his opponent himself.
Despite beating fighters like Max Holloway, Diego Brandao and Erik Koch, ‘The Diamond’ came into his fight with McGregor looking intimidated and nervous, while ‘The Notorious’ gave off the aura of a man who couldn’t be beaten.
Sure enough, nobody was surprised when the Irishman lanced Poirier with a right hand to the temple in the first round and left him in a heap.
When the two men faced off in a rematch nearly seven years later, plenty of things had changed. While McGregor remained the UFC’s biggest star, his invincible aura had well and truly been shattered.
Poirier, meanwhile, was on one of the best runs of his career, with his only loss in eight fights coming at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov. He’d grown immeasurably as a fighter, and it was clear that nothing – especially not McGregor – was going to intimidate him this time.
When it came to fight time, it didn’t take long for Poirier to establish himself as the better, sharper fighter. His leg kicks made somewhat of an embarrassment of McGregor’s one-dimensional boxing attacks. By the second round, the Irishman was struggling.
Like in their first fight, everyone could tell what was about to happen next. It was the exact opposite of that first meeting. Poirier hammered ‘The Notorious’ with a huge combination, knocking him out for the first time in his MMA career.
The fight turned Poirier into one of the biggest stars in the UFC in his own right, while McGregor was very much left looking like yesterday’s man.
