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The UFC’s first event of 2019 goes down in two weeks time in Brooklyn, New York, and the main event will see an intriguing champion vs. champion fight, as UFC Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will drop to 125lbs to take on UFC Flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo.
It’s a major fight for a number of reasons – Dillashaw is looking to become the 7th fighter to win UFC titles in two different weight classes, while Cejudo is looking to defend the honour of the Flyweight division in general – but most notably, because matches between UFC champions in different weight classes are ultra-rare.
Cejudo vs. Dillashaw will be the UFC’s 5th fight between champions in different weight classes – the first came in 2009, but the 3 that followed have all come under the leadership of WME, who bought the UFC in 2016.
Here’s a look back at the UFC’s previous champion vs. champion clashes – what led to them, what happened in the fight, and what went down in the aftermath.
#1 Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn – UFC 94 – 01/31/2009
What led to the fight?
The UFC’s first champion vs. champion encounter came in January 2009, as UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre defended his title against former Welterweight champ – and reigning Lightweight kingpin – BJ Penn.
St-Pierre was still in the early days of his second reign as Welterweight champion, and had made his first defence against Jon Fitch 5 months before the fight, while Penn hadn’t fought at 170lbs since his unsuccessful title challenge against Matt Hughes in September 2006. ‘The Prodigy’ had been dominant at 155lbs though, beating Jens Pulver and then Joe Stevenson to win the Lightweight title before destroying former champ Sean Sherk in his first defence.
Critics argued that Penn didn’t deserve a title shot at the time as he hadn’t really cleaned out 155lbs while 170lbs had a clear-cut top contender in Thiago Alves, but the fight had a ton of intrigue behind it as the Hawaiian had taken GSP to the limit in their first encounter in March 2006, losing a split decision that many believed he deserved to win.
The fight ended up being built as one of the biggest in UFC history – quite rightfully so – and the promotion dedicated its first ‘Prime Time’ series to build it further.
What happened?
St-Pierre ended up winning the fight via corner stoppage after the 4th round, leading many fans and observers to declare that it was living proof that when skill is relatively equal, a great big man will always beat a great smaller man.
Penn was essentially never in the fight; St-Pierre clinched with him throughout the first round and used his size to wear the smaller man out, never allowing him to impose his boxing game as he’d done in their first encounter. By the time the second round began, GSP used his improved wrestling to force Penn to the ground and cut through the guard of ‘The Prodigy’ like a knife through butter, systematically destroying him with punches and elbows on the mat.
The Lightweight champion simply didn’t have an answer for St-Pierre’s onslaught and by the later rounds, GSP was also styling on him on the feet with superman punches and low kicks. After taking a serious beating in the fourth round, Penn’s corner – which included his brother Reagan and famed boxing coach Jason Parillo – decided to throw in the towel to prevent him from taking any more damage.
What went down in the aftermath?
The feud between the two men was put to bed for good as there was no debate over who was the better fighter after such a one-sided beatdown, but despite what some fans suggested, Penn’s career didn’t really suffer for such a bad loss.
‘The Prodigy’ moved back to 155lbs and picked up where he’d left off in 2008 with dominant victories over Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez, looking better than he’d ever done before. It took until 2010 and the rise of Frankie Edgar to see him dethroned, and many would argue he’s probably still the best 155lbs champion in UFC history.
As for St-Pierre, he continued to hold the Welterweight crown and defended it a further 7 times, cementing himself as probably the greatest fighter in UFC history. Incredibly, however, his stoppage win over Penn would be the last time he finished a fight until his 2017 return from retirement against Michael Bisping.
Overall, the fight drew a great pay-per-view buyrate for the UFC – 920,000 buys – and raised the profile of both GSP and Penn, making the experiment entirely worth it.
#2 Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 205 – 11/12/2016
What led to the fight?
Reigning UFC Featherweight champion Conor McGregor was granted a shot at the Lightweight title right after defeating longtime 145lbs champion Jose Aldo in December 2015 – a sign of his huge popularity and drawing power largely eclipsing the UFC’s usual matchmaking system. McGregor had never fought at 155lbs in the UFC when he was signed to fight then-champion Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 196 in March 2016.
RDA ended up withdrawing due to injury, however, and that left McGregor to face late replacement Nate Diaz, who defeated the Irishman in a non-title affair. After defeating Diaz in a rematch, ‘The Notorious One’ was finally granted his shot at the Lightweight crown when the UFC needed a big fight to main event their debut show in Madison Square Garden.
It wouldn’t come against Dos Anjos, however; the Brazilian lost his title to Eddie Alvarez in July, and so ‘The Underground King’ ended up making his first title defense against the trash-talking Irishman on arguably the UFC’s biggest-ever show to that point.
What happened?
The fight was as one-sided as St-Pierre vs. Penn, but this time it was in the favour of the smaller man – albeit on paper only, as McGregor actually looked bigger than Alvarez when the two faced off inside the Octagon.
The shorter Alvarez simply couldn’t get inside to land any big punches on the Irishman, and McGregor made full use of both his reach advantage and punching power by abusing ‘The Underground King’ from range.
Alvarez was knocked down three times in the opening round alone, and after a clean combination put him down for a fourth time in the second round, referee Big John McCarthy stopped the fight in McGregor’s favour.
When the fight was over, McGregor was furious that the UFC didn’t present him with two title belts, and then refused to apologise for all the trash he’d talked in the build-up to the fight. It was probably his highest watermark in the UFC, as he became the first UFC fighter to hold titles in different weight classes simultaneously.
What went down in the aftermath?
The pay-per-view sold incredibly well – drawing about 1.3m buys – cementing McGregor’s status as the biggest drawing card in MMA history, and was a huge success for the UFC in their Madison Square Garden debut.
However, the fight turned out to be the Irishman’s final one in the Octagon for well over a year, as he refused to defend either one of his titles and instead postured for a boxing match with pay-per-view megastar Floyd Mayweather. That fight went down in August 2017 and saw McGregor stopped in the 10th round via TKO.
During his long hiatus from the sport ‘The Notorious One’ was stripped of both of his titles. Upon his return in October 2018 at UFC 229 he attempted to win back the Lightweight crown he’d wrested from Alvarez, but failed in his bid to defeat new champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The show drew a ridiculous 2.4m pay-per-view buys though – a UFC record – meaning a rematch could go down at some point in 2019.
As for Alvarez, he went on to a trio of truly wild fights – fighting to a No Contest with Dustin Poirier, defeating Justin Gaethje in a brawl and then losing to Poirier in a rematch – before departing the UFC for the ONE Championship promotion in late 2018. He never came close to regaining the title after his loss to McGregor, but remained a semi-big star in the UFC thanks to his exciting style inside the Octagon.
#3 Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier – UFC 226 – 07/07/2018
What led to the fight?
For once the booking of a champion vs. champion fight wasn’t purely based around selling pay-per-views. Sure, the UFC expected the fight between Heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic and Light-Heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier to sell well, but it largely stemmed from both men having beaten all available challengers in their divisions.
Both men fought at UFC 220 in January 2018; Miocic defeating Francis Ngannou and Cormier beating Volkan Oezdemir. With no clear-cut top contender in sight for either man, the fight was hastily signed for July’s UFC 226 show and the two fighters were pitted as rival coaches on the 27th season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Fascinatingly, the fight also represented a unification match of sorts as well as pitting one UFC champion against another. Cormier had been the de facto StrikeForce Heavyweight champion after winning the promotion’s Heavyweight Grand Prix before it was absorbed by the UFC in 2013, and had never lost at the heavier weight – meaning the fight with Miocic was essentially the UFC champion against the StrikeForce champion.
What happened?
Despite Cormier’s unbeaten record at Heavyweight, many fans were favouring Miocic in this one as he seemed to have a large size advantage over his opponent and despite Cormier’s Olympic wrestling background, Miocic was also bringing an excellent wrestling game of his own to go with his powerful striking.
As it turned out, those fans were dead wrong. Both men landed some heavy blows in a hard-hitting opening round, but in the end, it was Cormier’s slightly superior speed that allowed him to pull off a huge victory.
He was able to land shots on Miocic every time the fighters broke out of clinches, and late in the round a short right hand landed flush to the jaw of the Heavyweight champ. Miocic went crashing down and Cormier swiftly followed with some punches over the top that turned his lights out instantly.
With the victory, Cormier joined Conor McGregor on the list of fighters to hold UFC titles in two different weight classes simultaneously, and became the second man after the legendary Randy Couture to hold the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight titles.
What went down in the aftermath?
The immediate aftermath of the fight saw former UFC Heavyweight champion – and current WWE superstar – Brock Lesnar crash the Octagon to challenge Cormier to a fight in 2019, in one of the most talked about moments of the entire year.
Six months down the line, however, that fight still hasn’t been confirmed officially, and Cormier instead ended up successfully defending the Heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230.
As for the Light-Heavyweight title, he recently relinquished it prior to the UFC 232 fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson – which saw Jones win to reclaim the title he lost after testing positive for PEDs following his win over Cormier in 2017.
UFC 226 as a whole didn’t draw as well on pay-per-view as the UFC were hoping – around 380,000 buys – and was probably considered the biggest disappointment of 2018, although nobody really expected a massive buyrate going in, given Miocic’s relatively low profile and laid-back character.
Miocic for his part hasn’t fought since; he’s mentioned an immediate rematch but given his lack of star power, even if Lesnar doesn’t return to fight Cormier it doesn’t appear to be likely. Most fans now consider Cormier to have usurped his position as the best Heavyweight in UFC history, as he’s still never been beaten in the division.
#4 Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 232 – 12/29/2018
What led to the fight?
Like the fight between Miocic and Cormier five months prior, the UFC’s latest champion vs. champion affair largely came about due to a dearth of challengers for either fighter.
Featherweight champion Cris Cyborg had won the UFC title in July 2017 and had defended it twice, but realistically she’d been running the division with an iron fist for over a decade, defeating all the best contenders in an admittedly shallow talent pool.
Amanda Nunes meanwhile had won the Bantamweight title in July 2016 and had made three defences of her title, but despite her success, she was still struggling to gain ground as a star attraction for the UFC. This booking appeared to be an attempt to help her in that area, but it also looked like a very tricky fight for her given Cyborg’s apparent size and power advantage.
What happened?
One of the most shocking results in UFC history, essentially. Rather than use the patient, technical striking game she’d used to beat Holly Holm, Cyborg resurrected her earlier berserker style and came out swinging for the fences. It turned out to be a huge mistake.
Nunes didn’t appear to be giving up any size despite moving up by 10lbs, and more to the point she appeared to be the far quicker and more accurate striker. She stunned Cyborg with an overhand right in the first exchange of the fight, and then didn’t let up, dropping her and then knocking her unconscious to end the fight in under a minute.
Given Cyborg hadn’t lost a fight since her professional debut in 2005 – and had rarely looked in trouble, let alone been hurt in this manner in any of her other outings – this was a huge result for Nunes, who was given a monstrous ovation by the crowd, finally becoming the superstar she’d always threatened to be.
What went down in the aftermath?
Given the fight took place only a matter of days ago, it’s a little tricky to tell right now. At the very least, the win should improve Nunes’ standing as a drawing card for the UFC; the pay-per-view is estimated to have done well, meaning millions likely saw the big victory for ‘The Lioness’. The fact that the crowd completely fell in love with her should do her a lot of good.
Dana White has already stated that he now feels that Nunes is the best female fighter in MMA history, and with wins over Cyborg, Ronda Rousey, Valentina Shevchenko and Miesha Tate it’d be hard to argue with that assessment.
Cyborg has spoken on social media about an immediate rematch, but White has also played that down, and given the former champion’s UFC contract expires in March, it wouldn’t be surprising if the knockout loss is the last time we see her inside the Octagon.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Nunes’ accomplishment will go down in history, as she is now the third fighter in UFC history – along with McGregor and Cormier – to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously.
