5 biggest upsets in UFC title fights

Leon Edwards, Julianna Peña and Holly Holm

UFC title fights are often foregone conclusions in the eyes of fight fans, be it hardcore or casual spectators. Either the defending champion or the title challenger is regarded as a certain winner of these matchups. In many cases, such predictions tend to be true. However, that is not always the case.

There are times when a level of uncertainty engulfs a bout, leaving observers with no clear idea on who will emerge victorious. Though on rare occasions, there are fights that truly shock the world when a mixed martial artist who no one expected to win manages to overcome the dominant reigning champion.

Anderson Silva's first loss to Chris Weidman at UFC 162 was an upset, given that 'The Spider' had not lost a fight in seven years at the time. However, the loss was not a shock in the sense that Weidman's chances against the Brazilian great were nonexistent, since many predicted that he'd win the matchup, with some even describing the American as a bad stylistic matchup for the MMA legend.

What stunned fans and fighters alike was the manner in which Weidman won. This list instead covers five upsets in the strictest sense: UFC title wins that were widely regarded as impossible for the victors due to the sheer dominance of their opponents.

---

#5. Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold - UFC 199

Michael Bisping's legendary title victory at UFC 199 was an upset for two reasons.

First, Luke Rockhold looked all but unstoppable after his brutal TKO win over former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, extending his string of victories to five. Second, Rockhold faced Bisping before at UFC Fight Night 55, knocking the Brit down before choking him unconscious with a one-armed guillotine in the second round.

Thus, no one expected 'The Count' to defeat the AKA standout, least of all because Bisping had inadequate time to prepare as he accepted the fight on 17 days' notice to replace an injured Chris Weidman in what was originally scheduled as a rematch between him and Rockhold.

So, when Bisping and Rockhold again locked horns, his chances were all but written off. Yet, within three minutes of the first round, 'The Count' proved his doubters wrong.

As Rockhold exited an exchange, he dropped his hands low, opting to lean away with his chin exposed. Bisping did not pass up the opening, quickly dropping Rockhold with a left hook. While the champion stumbled back to his feet, Bisping pounced on him, dropping him a second time with another left hook.

With his foe slumped against the fence, the Brit swarmed him with follow-up punches, finishing him to capture championship gold, dispelling all the talk of being pillow-fisted in the process.

#4. Julianna Peña vs. Amanda Nunes - UFC 269

Like every fight on this list, the initial matchup between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña was written off as a certain win for the Brazilian.

Nunes was the most dominant female fighter in history, having beaten every single UFC women's bantamweight champion. Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm all populate her list of victims. Even former women's featherweight champions Germaine de Randamie and Cris Cyborg are among those who fell before her might.

If Nunes' record against former champions need be any more impressive, she has also twice defeated reigning women's flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko. Peña, by contrast, had won but a single fight since her shocking submission loss to former kickboxing champion Germaine de Randamie, an opponent she shared in common with 'The Lioness'.

It was a stunning defeat considering de Randamie's supposed grappling experience compared to Peña's credentials as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt. So, off the back of one win, 'The Venezuelan Vixen' challenged Nunes for the bantamweight title.

While she certainly felt the Brazilian's vaunted punching power, Peña refused to bend, relying on her grit as she interrupted Nunes’ jabs with her own, stopping her foe from building off of her jab.

By the second round, 'The Lioness' shocked the MMA world with her visible exhaustion, succumbing to Julianna Peña's rear-naked choke with no hooks sunk in. Nunes tapped out, and every spectator stood in disbelief.

While the rematch ended differently, their first encounter will forever remain in the history books as one of MMA's biggest upsets.

---

#3. Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey - UFC 193

At one point in time, Ronda Rousey was surrounded by so much hype that Joe Rogan made the flattering claim that the then reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion could defeat half of the men's bantamweight division, a statement that the UFC's resident color commentator recanted years later. This, however, illustrates how unstoppable Rousey seemed at the height of her career.

Before UFC 193, 'Rowdy' finished all 12 of her foes, with only Miesha Tate escaping the first round before surrendering to a third-round armbar. The Olympic bronze medalist looked as unbeatable as any fighter ever had.

Holly Holm, a relative newcomer to MMA, was nothing more than a lamb fattened up for slaughter. At least, that's what the UFC had hoped for. Instead, what ensued was one of the most lopsided losses in championship history.

In front of one of the largest crowds in UFC history, Holm outworked Rousey like no other. She used lateral movement and pivots to evade her opponent's linear charges, making the judoka pay for her linear charges by intercepting her with straight left-counters every time Rousey lunged forward with her chin exposed. The Olympic bronze medalist never moved her head off the center-line nor cut off Holm's angles of escape, instead repeatedly running into counters.

When Rousey managed to force her way into the clinch, Holm wisely tucked her arms close to her torso, denying the judoka an arm to set up a throw or trip with. After the first round, Rousey was bloodied and stunned. The second was more of the same until finally, Holm dropped her foe with a left hand before flattening her with a thunderous left high kick.

Herb Dean mercifully called off the bout, and Rousey was unstoppable no more, suffering her first career loss.

#2. Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman - UFC 278

Last Saturday's matchup between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman was one of many firsts. The rematch was almost seven years in the making and both fighters were vastly different by the time of their second encounter. When the pair first met, Usman did as he had to nearly everyone he's faced in the UFC, suffocating them with his power-wrestling and relentless pressure.

While 'Rocky' put forth a valiant effort in the first round, the rest of the bout was Usman's to claim by unanimous decision. The rematch, now for the welterweight championship that Usman had defended five times, resembled their first outing.

In the first round, Edwards shocked the world by being the first fighter to secure a takedown against Usman in MMA. He immediately advanced to full mount before a scramble led to him controlling the Nigerian's back.

Edwards threatened chokes but Usman escaped the first round unscathed. By the 2nd round, 'Rocky' was tiring, no doubt succumbing to the elevation in Salt Lake City. From then on, Usman wrestled control from his foe, literally. Edwards was repeatedly taken down and controlled as the memory of Usman conceding his first-ever takedown became more distant as the fight progressed.

Seeming discouraged and even dispirited, Edwards looked as if he no longer believed in himself. Pep talks from his corner led to nothing, and by the fifth round, his fate was sealed — or so it seemed.

With Usman a minute away from retaining his title, he glanced at an Edwards jab and left hand, slipping his head to the outside of his foe's straight left. What Usman didn't know, however, was that he had slipped his head into the path of a left high kick.

When Edwards' shin connected, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was put to sleep, falling unconscious as a fighter who looked all but beaten rose to claim victory from the jaws of defeat. Edwards became the first fighter to take Usman down, the first to knock him out, the first to defeat him in the UFC, and all while stopping the Nigerian from equalling Anderson Silva's record of 16 straight wins.

---

#1. Matt Serra vs. Georges St-Pierre - UFC 69

Today’s fight fans remember Georges St-Pierre as an extremely safe fighter who preferred to control his opponents instead of searching for a finish. However, the consensus greatest UFC welterweight of all time has not always fought so conservatively. Before UFC 69, 'GSP' had 13 wins, with only two of them being decision victories.

After capturing UFC gold from MMA legend Matt Hughes, who at that point was the only man to ever defeat the Canadian, St-Pierre seemed primed for a long run as the welterweight champion. While the prediction was eventually right, 'GSP' was scheduled to face his most memorable foe, Matt Serra. Like Julianna Peña before her first bout with Amanda Nunes, Serra had only won a single fight since his previous loss before facing 'GSP'.

No one but Serra himself expected to win. St-Pierre was a significant favorite and had just bested the great Matt Hughes in his prior fight. At UFC 69, however, the events that transpired were too unlikely to believe.

After a few minutes of exchanges, during which 'GSP' seemed intent on establishing a step-in jab, Serra countered his foe with an overhand right over the top: a strike that served him well as the shorter and more powerful fighter.

'GSP' was rocked, stumbling but recovering to his feet. Serra, however, smelled blood and immediately swarmed the Canadian with follow-up punches, dropping him. St-Pierre popped back to his feet but was hurt again before being knocked down two more times. With his rival looming over him, St-Pierre absorbed a barrage of punches that left him limp in what many still describe as the biggest upset in UFC history.