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Across 10 UFC divisions, 12 new full and interim champions have been crowned in 2016 alone. The shuffle in gold this past year has been larger than ever before in the world’s top MMA promotion and it has been at the cost of many UFC champions, divisions and respective contenders.
But 2016 is not the only year where we’ve seen a large contingent of championships change hands. In fact, throughout the UFC’s 20+ year existence, the promotion has seen a large number of champions never successfully defend their titles.
Whether it’s a vacated title, never actually defended or lost within its first title defence, here are Sportskeeda’s top 10 champions who never successfully defended their titles.
#1 Luke Rockhold
Rockhold had pretty a stellar 2014-2015 sustaining a 5-fight win streak in the UFC. It was so successful that he found himself facing former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman for the division’s crown at UFC 194.
It took the AKA fighter 4 rounds to finish Chris Weidman to become the UFC middleweight champion of the world. But his glory didn’t last more than a couple of months when he agreed to take on Michael Bisping, a former rival, on short notice at UFC 199 in his first title defence.
Also read: 5 shortest championship reigns in UFC history
In perhaps one of the shocking upsets of 2016, Bisping knocked Rockhold out cold within the first round to snatch his title. It was a clear mark of underestimation on Rockhold’s part – something he later admitted and hopes to avenge.
#2 Holly Holm
Since her title loss to Miesha Tate at UFC 196, Holly Holm’s run through the women’s bantamweight and featherweight division hasn’t been mighty successful. In fact, her once glorified status as Ronda Rousey’s flawless executioner at UFC 193 has massively faded.
As we all know, Holm claimed the 135-lb crown after knocking out the ever-dominant Rousey in Australia. She decided that a quick turn around would be her most favourable option and she would go on to defend her title for the first time against Miesha Tate.
Unfortunately, that night would be the beginning of her downfall, since she ended up losing her title via a 5th round rear-naked choke and ultimately lost her title.
After yet another attempt at gaining a championship belt, Holm took on Germaine de Randamine at UFC 208 for the inaugural women’s featherweight title and lost that fight via a controversial decision to let yet another title escape her hands.
We can only hope the talented bantamweight will get back on the winning track soon.
#3 Eddie Alvarez
The Underground King was supposed to be the one to beat Conor McGregor. He was supposed to be the one that would inflict that “nightmare” fight on the Irishman and keep him from becoming the first simultaneous two-weight division champion that the UFC would ever see.
But things didn’t play out that way. In fact, they played out the exact opposite of how Alvarez fans would have wanted them to.
At UFC 205, the then UFC Lightweight champion made a point after winning the title against Rafael Dos Anjos that he wanted an “easy” fight and that meant big money McGregor.
However, instead of dismantling the Irishman, the Irishman completely dismantled him instead and snatched his title in two horrible rounds, spoiling his first title defence. An unfortunate and short run for the former Bellator and UFC champion.
#4 Matt Serra
Before shockers such as Ronda Rousey’s downfall at UFC 193 and McGregor’s 13-second knockout of long time champion Jose Also at UFC 194 ever happened, there was Matt Serra’s title win.
At UFC 69, Serra did the unthinkable and completely embarrassed Georges St-Pierre, claiming his coveted welterweight title.
Leading into the fight, Serra was one of the biggest underdogs the sport had known and to many; he was simply the sacrificial lamb against GSP. The upset stood as one of the most shocking for several years until stars like Rousey and Aldo met their decline.
Unfortunately for Serra, the high of the upset didn’t last long since GSP got an immediate shot at the title and avenged his loss with utmost certainty via a 2nd round TKO at UFC 83.
#5 Rashad Evans
Evans is one of the most storied UFC fighters that is still actively competing today.
Despite the recent hardships he has faced – like losing 3 in a row or making an unsuccessful debut at middleweight - his past feats are enough to consider him a worthy hall of famer. Evans’ first and only taste of gold was when he won the UFC Light Heavyweight title against Forrest Griffin at UFC 92.
That title bout was an incredibly memorable one, mostly because these two men were major stars at the time and Griffin’s chin was certainly tested to its ultimate breaking point.
But when Evans defended his title against karate practitioner Lyoto Machida at UFC 98, his own chin was also tested and he ended up losing the belt via KO in round 2.
#6 Frank Mir
Mir is one of the most unique heavyweights the UFC and perhaps even the MMA landscape has ever come to witness.
The former heavyweight champion’s prime of his career was robbed by a horrific car accident. It was an event that caused him to take two years off thanks to tearing all the ligaments in his knee and also breaking his leg in two places.
Mir was obviously unable to compete, let alone defend his title and so he was forced to be stripped of his title due to inactivity. It is a shame really, considering his outstanding BJJ game, his versatility at such a heavy weight class and his ability to finish so many top challengers in his wake.
To think what his championship reign would have been like - especially during that time as it was his prime - is really an interesting fantasy to craft.
Unfortunately, that is not the way it ended up happening and it felt like the injury really did take away Mir’s best years because his UFC career was never the same.
#7 Conor McGregor
What can you say about the Notorious one? Although there is still time to see him defend one of his UFC belts, his history with championships already proves that he has no desire to do so.
McGregor has won two championships in the UFC, two for Cage Warriors and one other in a regional promotion in the UK.
He has defended none of these titles throughout his career and instead (as we are seeing now) is often more intrigued by bigger and more thrilling prospects such as (currently) booking a fight with Floyd Mayweather.
Unfortunately, being a UFC champion means a lot more scrutiny on your next move, a queue of contenders awaiting a shot at the title and a lot less places to hide when the title isn’t being defended.
It seems less and less likely that McGregor will defend his lightweight title as the idea of jumping weight classes, having a rubber match with Nate Diaz and landing his hand in boxing seem more compelling.
#8 Evan Tanner
Of course, it makes sense that most fans would think of the likes of Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin when they think of dominant middleweight champions. But Tanner is one of the most underrated middleweights that the UFC has ever seen and it’s an unfair reality.
Tanner spent most of his career bulldozing his middleweight competition and it’s recorded in his record, which is a wickedly rare 40 fights with 29 finishes.
Considering the fact that we’ve seen fighters struggle aplenty to even finish fights, Tanner’s feat is pretty damn impressive. Another one of his feats that is often forgotten is his short period as the UFC middleweight champion in 2005.
He won the vacant belt against David Terrell at UFC 51 but then lost it in his first title defense against the legendary Rich Franklin.
#9 Miesha Tate
Tate is one of the most experienced, well-rounded and dangerous female fighters the MMA world ever been graced to see.
Prior to her inevitable retirement this past year, she finally touched UFC gold after multiple tries against Holly Holm at UFC 196. Her performance was a flawless execution of her wrestling, grappling and strength and it was certainly one for the books.
Tate turned around after that fight and went on to defend her title against Amanda Nunes at UFC 200.
Her first title defence was a highly disappointing start to the end of her career, seeing as she not only had her nose broken, but the fight also finished early and her championship belt was subsequently wrapped around another woman’s waist.
#10 Bas Rutten
Bas Rutten is perhaps the most famous MMA fighter not currently fighting. The man, known worldwide for his self defense techniques, acting cameos as well as his podcast, is one of the best to have ever stepped inside the UFC Octagon.
A submission artist with a base in Judo, Kyokushin Karate and Taekwondo, Rutten turned to MMA at a young age, after being relentlessly bullied in his childhood. He went on to become one of the most technically-proficient fighters ever.
What many may not know, however, is that at one point in time, Bas Rutten did indeed become the UFC Heavyweight Champion of the world, a title that he, unfortunately, could never defend.
Rutten won the title from Kevin Randleman at UFC 20 via Split Decision. The victory was an emotional one and Rutten had finally achieved his dream. However, he didn’t hold on to the title and had to vacate it, following a potential bout with Frank Shamrock for the middleweight title nearly materialising.
Unfortunately for Rutten, the fight didn’t materialise and training injuries eventually forced him to retire from the sport.
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