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In the world of the UFC, hype is always an interesting thing to look at. It’s safe to say that over the years, some fighters have garnered much more hype than others.
While we’ve seen a number of UFC fighters who have garnered plenty of hype and failed to live up to it, there have also been a handful who have even surpassed it.
Not only did these fighters manage to step up to the plate when the time came for them to go up against elite-level fighters, but they often kept winning, becoming legends in the process.
With that in mind, here are five UFC stars who proved that they could live up to their hype.
#5. Jiri Prochazka – UFC light heavyweight champion
One fighter who recently proved that he could live up to every bit of hype surrounding him was Jiri Prochazka. ‘Denisa’ fought for the UFC light heavyweight title earlier this month. After a titanic struggle, he was able to overcome Glover Teixeira to become the new champion.
Prochazka actually didn’t come into the promotion with all that much hype. Despite putting together a ridiculously extensive record of 26-3-1 with a handful of wins over big-name fighters, the Czech fighter essentially came into the octagon at the wrong time.
Signed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his debut saw him defeat Volkan Oezdemir on the preliminary card of UFC 251. After scoring that big knockout, it was hard not to be mesmerized by him.
Prochazka clearly had plenty of charisma and an exciting fighting style, and when he knocked out former title challenger Dominick Reyes on his second trip to the octagon, suddenly his hype train appeared to be getting out of control.
‘Denisa’ was made the favorite in his title challenge against Teixeira despite having nowhere near the amount of experience of the Brazilian. With so many question marks around things like his ground game and cardio, it was easy to see a situation where he might fail to live up to the hype.
However, Prochazka not only proved that he could survive in a bout with such an experienced foe, he could also thrive. He ended up choking Teixeira out in the final seconds of the final round.
Whether ‘Denisa’ can now go onto a dominant title reign is another thing entirely, but it’s safe to say that for now at least, he’s proven that he was worthy of the hype around him.
#4. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC welterweight contender
Over the near-three decades that the UFC has been in existence, few fighters have garnered quite the same amount of hype as Khamzat Chimaev. But thus far, at least, he’s proven worthy of that reputation.
‘Borz’ debuted in the octagon on late notice in July 2020 and easily dominated John Phillips, but it was his stoppage of Rhys McKee just 10 days later that really opened everyone’s eyes to his skills.
Sure, both men were hardly elite-level opponents, but Chimaev ran through them like they didn’t belong in the UFC at all. He then immediately went about talking serious trash, stating that he’d smash anyone the promotion put up against him at 170 or 185 pounds.
It was difficult not to get excited, particularly when Chimaev sparked out hardened veteran Gerald Meerschaert in seconds a couple of months later. However, despite some fans talking about the potential of him dethroning Kamaru Usman or Israel Adesanya, the truth is that at that point, ‘Borz’ was still wildly unproven.
A 2021 victory over Li Jingliang seemed to suggest that he had elite-level potential, but even that win didn’t really make Chimaev a proper top-level contender – it was just enough to break him into the top 15.
However, Chimaev’s wild victory over Gilbert Burns this past April definitely proved his worth. ‘Borz’ not only showed that he could hit like a truck and grapple with the best that the welterweight division had to offer, but he also showed insane toughness, a granite chin and the ability to fight at a torrid pace over three rounds.
Essentially, it’s hard to question ‘Borz’ at this point, and the hype that suggested he could be the man to dethrone Usman could well prove to be correct at some point in the near future.
#3. Israel Adesanya – UFC middleweight champion
When Israel Adesanya debuted in the UFC in 2018 with a quick knockout win over Rob Wilkinson, it was easy to be taken in by his natural charisma as well as his slick striking skills.
At that point, though, Adesanya was still largely unproven in the world of MMA. Despite a 12-0 record, it was arguable that his best win was over the far smaller Melvin Guillard in 2017, when ‘The Young Assassin’ was miles past his prime.
When ‘The Last Stylebender’ then ran through Marvin Vettori, Brad Tavares and ranked middleweight contender Derek Brunson, it was clear that he had elite-level potential – it was just a question of whether he could live up to that potential.
A victory over former middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva came next for ‘The Last Stylebender’, but given Silva’s advanced age, putting so much hype on Adesanya for beating him still seemed a little risky. After all, there were still huge question marks over so many facets of his game, from his chin to his cardio and his ground skills too.
It didn’t take long for Adesanya to not only live up to the hype, but to also surpass it, proving himself to be a very special fighter indeed.
Any questions around his chin, cardio, and toughness went away when he defeated Kelvin Gastelum in an absolute war. When he made then-middleweight champ Robert Whittaker look largely foolish in their title bout, taking the gold in the process, ‘The Last Stylebender’ proved that the hype was for real.
Nearly three years later, Adesanya sits comfortably at the top of the UFC’s middleweight division and his vow to surpass Silva as the greatest of all time no longer looks like an impossible task.
#2. Conor McGregor – former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion
Perhaps no other fighter garnered as much hype after their UFC debut as Conor McGregor. The Irishman was largely unknown when he stepped into the octagon to fight Marcus Brimage in early 2013. After a quick knockout, everything changed.
It was hard not to be drawn in by the braggadocios personality of ‘The Notorious’, and even after he tore his ACL in his second trip to the octagon, resulting in a year on the shelf, the hype simply didn’t stop.
McGregor talked a ridiculous amount of trash during his time out, promising to climb straight to the top of the featherweight division upon his return. Thanks partially to the UFC’s big push of him, it got to the stage where far more established fighters were calling him out.
‘The Notorious’ duly returned in 2014 and quickly picked up where he’d left off, stopping Diego Brandao, Dustin Poirier and Dennis Siver. However, while the win over Poirier was impressive, there were still a number of questions around whether McGregor could really back up everything he’d said.
The UFC, on the other hand, were more than happy to grant the Irishman a title shot, essentially buying into him as the next big thing. When featherweight champ Jose Aldo was forced out of the fight with McGregor, though, former top contender Chad Mendes stepped in. Suddenly, a number of those questions were answered.
McGregor survived an onslaught on the ground from ‘Money’ and then beat him down on the feet to become the new interim featherweight champ. Five months later, ‘The Notorious’ became the first man to beat Aldo in over a decade – and the rest is essentially history.
Sure, the Irishman has fallen on some hard times now, but it’s probably fair to say that he absolutely lived up to every bit of hype that he created, and then some.
#1. Jon Jones – former UFC light heavyweight champion
When a young, largely unknown fighter named Jon Jones took a late call for his UFC debut in 2008 and then defeated Andre Gusmao, few fans probably realized that they were witnessing the beginning of one of the most legendary MMA careers of all time.
While his octagon debut flew under the radar, it didn’t take long for ‘Bones’ to garner plenty of hype. He defeated popular veteran Stephan Bonnar in his next fight and continued to beat everyone matched with him, with the exception of his odd DQ against Matt Hamill, in one-sided fashion.
By early 2011, Jones had reeled off five victories in the UFC. When he defeated fellow hot prospect Ryan Bader, it was clear that he was probably destined for the top.
Few people could’ve realized how quickly he’d realise that destiny, though. After the win over Bader, Jones was offered the chance to fight Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua for the light heavyweight title, replacing his teammate Rashad Evans on just a month’s notice.
Naturally, he took the opportunity. But as crazy as it sounds now, there were still a lot of doubts over whether he could live up to his hype, or whether a shot at ‘Shogun’ would simply be too much, too soon for him.
Of course, the former turned out to be the case. Jones absolutely destroyed the champion, living up to every bit of the hype around him and then went onto destroy basically every other opponent he was faced with, too.
Essentially, he remains one of the few fighters in UFC history to not only live up to the hype, but to completely surpass it, too.
