5 undefeated UFC fighters who never recovered after a loss

UFC 193: Rousey v Holm
Ronda Rousey at UFC 193: Rousey v Holm

#4. Darren Till

Like Edmen Shahbazyan, Darren Till was once an undefeated fighter who many believed would one day capture UFC gold. At welterweight, Darren Till used his combination of size and speed to bolster his pressure-based counterpunching style to earn victories. He managed to do this while exposing himself to the least amount of damage possible. At UFC 228, 'The Gorilla' was on the cusp of superstardom.

With a spotless record that included wins over the likes of MMA legend Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone and two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, Till entered the American Airlines Center to a thunderous ovation from the crowd in attendance. Tyron Woodley, the defending UFC welterweight champion at the time, was an afterthought. However, when the two clashed inside the octagon, Woodley quickly reminded Till's fans why he was the titleholder.

'The Gorilla' failed to mount any significant offense before being dropped and choked out in the 2nd round. After suffering his first-ever career loss, Till suffered a second consecutive loss in a subsequent matchup against Jorge Masvidal. On the first losing streak of his career, Till made the move to middleweight and faced Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 244.

While Till won, it was an uninspiring performance. He has not won a fight since, losing to Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson in subsequent bouts as he racks up injuries that have kept him from fighting consistently.


#3. Chris Weidman

Chris Weidman suffered a spectacular fall from grace that can't be compared to many others. Not too long ago, the All-American ended Anderson Silva's 16-fight UFC win streak to capture the middleweight title. What followed was a successful title defense run against other Brazilian legends like Vitor Belfort and Lyoto Machida. However, to many people at the time, the greatest threat to Weidman's championship reign was Luke Rockhold.

A former Strikeforce middleweight champion, Rockhold was a surging contender with the right blend of striking and slick Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to trouble Weidman. At UFC 194, the two men crossed swords. Unfortunately, Weidman suffered a career-altering beating before the referee awarded Luke Rockhold the TKO win in the 4th round. Afterwards, Weidman suffered a brutal knockout loss to Yoel Romero before being TKO'd by Gegard Mousasi.

Not only was Weidman no longer undefeated, but he lost the legendary toughness that enabled him to walk right through the best that Lyoto Machida had to offer. He suffered three consecutive KO losses, but managed to snap his 3-fight losing streak by defeating Kelvin Gastelum. Alas, his next two bouts ended in KO losses for him.

Knocked down in the middleweight rankings, Weidman faced Omari Akhmedov and won via unanimous decision. Unfortunately, his luck didn't turn around as the All-American suffered another loss to Uriah Hall after snapping his shin in half. This was a karmic echo of Anderson Silva's second loss to him. At 2-6 in his last 8 bouts while nursing a career-threatening injury, Weidman is now farther from a UFC title fight than ever before.

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