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Any fighter who ascends to become a UFC champion is obviously top-class, but it’s safe to say that some champions are more dominant than others.
While the likes of Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski look dominant at the minute, the UFC also has a number of champions who are much more vulnerable.
Nobody is saying these champions are bad fighters, nor are they saying that they’ll definitely lose their title in their next fight – it’s more that they have at least one clear weakness that could be exploited.
Here are the five most vulnerable champions in the UFC right now.
#5. Aljamain Sterling – UFC bantamweight champion
While Aljamain Sterling proved that he certainly isn’t a paper champion when he defeated Petr Yan in their long-awaited rematch earlier this year, it’s safe to say that the UFC’s reigning bantamweight king shouldn’t be considered dominant just yet.
Sterling is a genuinely great fighter who possesses arguably the best grappling game in the bantamweight division, and his striking isn’t exactly bad either. However, it’s also fair to argue that he struggled with Yan on the feet in both of their fights, and on another day, could well have lost a decision in that second clash.
Sure, that could be down to the fact that ‘No Mercy’ is a great fighter in his own right – Sterling is the only man to ever beat him in the octagon, after all – but equally, ‘Funk Master’ has not exactly been tested by too many top fighters.
Of the rest of the division’s top ten, Sterling has only faced, and defeated, Cory Sandhagen, meaning fights against T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Vera and Merab Dvalishvili would be extremely difficult to pick.
Sterling has another chance to cement himself as a more dominant champion when he faces Dillashaw in a couple of weeks, but the fact that many people think the former titleholder will dethrone him should tell its own story.
Read about: Current UFC Champions & their Defenses
#4. Jiri Prochazka – UFC light heavyweight champion
It’s arguable that 2022’s most dramatic title fight to date came at UFC 275 in June, as Jiri Prochazka dethroned Glover Teixeira to claim the light heavyweight crown.
The fight was a wild, back-and-forth affair that saw both men take some serious damage. In the end, ‘Denisa’ was able to seal the deal with a rear-naked choke with less than 30 seconds remaining in the final round, becoming the first man to submit Teixeira in the process.
Given that the win put Prochazka on a 13-fight win streak dating back to 2016, is labeling him a vulnerable champion unfair? Perhaps. However, it’s also fair to say that any fighter who performs with the style of ‘Denisa’ ought to be considered vulnerable to an extent.
Sure, the Czech fighter carries brutal knockout power in his strikes, has heart for days, and has a grappling game that is somewhat underrated.
On the other hand, though, Prochazka is very hittable, there are still question marks around his takedown defense, and he looked to be exhausted in the fight with Teixeira – understandable given the pace that was set, but still concerning.
Overall, ‘Denisa’ could well go onto a dominant reign as champion – but he could also very well lose his title to Teixeira if they rematch, or to #3 ranked Magomed Ankalaev, for instance. Therefore, it’s safe to say that he belongs here.
#3. Amanda Nunes – UFC bantamweight champion
A year ago, naming Amanda Nunes on a list like this would’ve been considered sheer insanity. At that point, ‘The Lioness’ was largely seen as one of the most dominant champions in the UFC, having held the bantamweight title since 2016 and the featherweight title since 2018.
However, since then, she was defeated for the bantamweight crown by Julianna Pena, and while she has since regained it in a relatively dominant performance against ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’, it’s safe to say that she feels far more vulnerable now.
Not only did Pena expose a chink in the Brazilian’s armor with her win over her, which was made possible by a willingness to beat her to the punch and also to take her down, but she also came close to securing a couple of submissions in their second bout despite absorbing damage.
Given that ‘The Lioness’ seemed to question her future in the sport following her win over Pena, and considering the fact that she’s now 34 years old, it’s safe to predict that she might not stick around all that much longer.
That isn’t a great place to be as a UFC champion – not when there are hungry fighters like Irene Aldana and Ketlen Vieira hunting for a title shot.
The overall weakness of the bantamweight division might allow Nunes to hold the title for a while yet, but she’s definitely more vulnerable right now than ever before.
#2. Leon Edwards – UFC welterweight champion
Given that his title win saw him knock widely recognized pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman unconscious with a brutal head kick, it might seem ridiculous to suggest that current UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards is vulnerable.
However, when you look beneath the result of his fight with Usman, it’s hard to imagine him really going onto become a dominant champion.
‘Rocky’ was clearly losing his fight with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, and would’ve come up short on the judges’ scorecards had he not landed that head kick with less than a minute to go. It was an amazing victory for him, but it definitely wasn’t fully convincing.
More to the point, even if Edwards gets past Usman in their likely rematch, the list of contenders he may have to face is utterly wicked.
Both Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev would be very difficult matches for him, and while he’d probably be favored against Gilbert Burns or Belal Muhammad, neither fight would likely be a wash.
Essentially, ‘Rocky’ has done a phenomenal job of getting to the top of arguably the UFC’s most loaded division, but it takes a special champion to dominate at 170lbs, and we just don’t know if he’s that kind of fighter yet.
#1. Carla Esparza – UFC strawweight champion
Right now, it probably isn’t a stretch to label strawweight titleholder Carla Esparza as the most vulnerable champion in the UFC.
‘Cookie Monster’ isn’t a bad fighter by any means, and she deserves a ton of credit for climbing back up the ladder to regain the title she first lost in 2015, but to tell the truth, it’s hard to imagine her going onto a dominant run as champion.
Firstly, Esparza’s title win in itself was hardly a convincing one. Her fight with then-champion Rose Namajunas was one of the worst title bouts in the history of the promotion, and ‘Cookie Monster’ only won the title by virtue of doing slightly more than ‘Thug Rose’.
Esparza’s wrestling and top game does mean that she should go into a number of fights with an advantage over her opponents. However, worryingly for her, the likes of Weili Zhang, Jessica Andrade and Marina Rodriguez – all of whom could challenge her in the future – have huge advantages over her on the feet and aren’t bad grapplers in their own right.
Add in the fact that ‘Cookie Monster’ is 34 years old and has been fighting professionally for well over a decade. It’s easy to imagine that she’s on the final stretch of her career overall.
Esparza is set to face Zhang in her first defense in November, and it’s a definite possibility that she’ll go into the bout as an underdog – making her a very vulnerable champion indeed.
