5 most avoided UFC fighters
While UFC fighters aren’t able to pick and choose their opponents quite like boxers, sometimes they avoid promising fighters on the come-up.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of UFC fighters who were supposedly ducked by their peers and who struggled outright to secure bouts in the octagon.
Sometimes, these fighters did manage to gain clashes with big-name fighters, and some of them even went on to win titles.
Here are five UFC fighters who were supposedly ducked by opponents.
#5. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC welterweight contender
Right now, the fighter accusing potential opponents of ducking him is hot prospect Khamzat Chimaev. ‘Borz’ had a phenomenal 2022, defeating Gilbert Burns and Kevin Holland, and he also became one of the UFC’s biggest stars in the process.
However, he won’t be able to climb into title contention in either the welterweight or middleweight division in 2023 unless he can find someone willing to face him.
In a recent video blog, Chimaev outright claimed that he’d been offered to four different fighters in four different countries, and none of them was willing to step up to face him.
Chimaev didn't mince words when discussing his fight plans 👀
(via @KChimaev) https://t.co/jywu2qZTe8
While ‘Borz’ didn’t name the fighters in question, former double champion Daniel Cormier didn’t waste much time in guessing their identities.
‘DC’ named welterweights Colby Covington and Belal Muhammad as two fighters he suspected could’ve avoided a bout with Chimaev. He also named Robert Whittaker, Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa as fighters who should consider a clash with the Chechen.
Whether any of those fights would come to fruition in 2023 remains to be seen, but for now, ‘Borz’ is without an opponent – making him the latest fighter to seemingly be ducked by his peers.
#4. Jon Fitch – former UFC welterweight contender
If you go back around fifteen years, the fighter who was most often said to have been ducked by multiple opponents was Jon Fitch.
Fitch eventually claimed a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the summer of 2008, but he had to put together a lengthy eight-fight win streak in the octagon to do so.
GSP's fight vs. Fitch @ UFC 87,
one of the Most Exciting fights of GSP's Career
It earned Fight of the Night Honors http://t.co/cQoQ32g2tZ
Another remarkable thing was that only one of his wins during that streak came over an opponent who was considered a title contender at that stage - Diego Sanchez in late 2007.
Outside of that, though, Fitch’s wins were hardly over well-known fighters. They came against the likes of Roan Carneiro, Luigi Fioravanti, and a young Thiago Alves. Most of his wins also came in preliminary bouts.
So why were fighters supposedly dodging Fitch? Firstly, Fitch’s fighting style, although effective, was hardly entertaining to watch. Secondly, he didn’t have a lot of charisma, therefore, he didn’t gain the attention of the fans all that much.
Thirdly, and most importantly, at the time, it seemed nearly impossible to beat him. All of that added up to ensure that top-ranked fighters like Karo Parisyan and Joe Riggs never got close to a clash with Fitch, who had to earn his title shot the hard way instead.
#3. Kamaru Usman – former UFC welterweight champion
Before he was defeated by Leon Edwards in one of 2022’s biggest upsets, former UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman was riding a huge 15-fight win streak in the octagon.
Remarkably, ten of those fights came before he won the title in 2019. While he defeated two top-ranked contenders in Rafael Dos Anjos and Demian Maia to earn his shot at the gold, the rest of his wins came over relatively easy fighters.
This was, apparently, because nobody wanted to face ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’. Back in 2018, Ariel Helwani claimed that a source had labelled him “The most avoided fighter in UFC history.”
Kamaru Usman still doesn’t have an opponent for the Chile card, I’m told. They are trying and he is hopeful he’ll stay on. “He’s the most avoided fighter in UFC history,” a UFC source said.
In 2017, Usman himself accused his eventual bitter rival Colby Covington of refusing three fights with him, claiming that ‘Chaos’ preferred to wait around for a possible title shot.
Like Jon Fitch before him, the likely reason for opponents avoiding Usman was his supposedly "dull" fighting style and lack of name value. In this case, though, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had the last laugh and now stands as one of the most credentialed 170lbers in UFC history.
#2. Khabib Nurmagomedov – former UFC lightweight champion
While Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from action in 2020 as one of the UFC’s biggest stars, he definitely had to take a long road to earn that status. One reason for that was that he simply couldn’t get a fight with a big-name opponent for a long time.
Nurmagomedov debuted in the octagon in early 2012, and it didn’t take him long to make an impact. He reeled off five wins in a row to take his overall record to 21-0 and broke into the upper echelon in late 2013 with a win over Pat Healy.
However, from there, he struggled to find his next foe. January 2014 saw former lightweight title challenger Gilbert Melendez bail on a fight with ‘The Eagle’, and according to Dana White, Melendez’s teammate Nate Diaz wasn’t willing to fight him either.
@EDLEZGIN @TeamKhabib @NateDiaz209 nobody wants to fight Khabib
The year 2016, meanwhile, saw him supposedly in line to fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title, only for ‘The Underground King’ to prefer a bout with Conor McGregor, who, at that point, had never fought at 155lbs.
Naturally, it became impossible for anyone to ignore Nurmagomedov when he kept winning and winning, regardless of his opponents. Eventually – though it took him years – he was able to secure a fight for the lightweight title and won the gold.
That led to his legendary clash with McGregor, and the rest, as they say, is history. However, it’s safe to say that while ‘The Eagle’ became one of the biggest stars in the promotion’s history, he could’ve gotten there quicker had opponents not dodged him.
#1. Islam Makhachev – UFC lightweight champion
Like his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev had to ascend the ladder at 155 lbs the hard way. Makhachev was forced to fight numerous opponents who weren’t exactly highly-ranked before securing a title shot.
In fact, it’s arguable that prior to defeating Charles Oliveira for the title last October, Makhachev had just one win over an elite-level foe to his name, his win over Dan Hooker. This was despite the Dagestani holding no fewer than eleven straight victories in the octagon.
Essentially, it always felt like the lightweight division’s top fighters were avoiding Makhachev for the usual reasons – a lack of name value and a formidable fighting style that wasn’t perceived to be exciting.
Who exactly ducked Makhachev? According to Daniel Cormier, in 2021, numerous ranked lightweights had avoided fights with the Dagestani, including Rafael Dos Anjos and Paul Felder.
After comparing Makhachev to Kamaru Usman, ‘DC’ claimed that he’d simply advised Makhachev to “smash everybody.” Cormier’s suggestion was that if he kept winning, it’d be impossible for the promotion to ignore him.
It was advice Makhachev would take – beating the likes of Thiago Moises and Bobby Green en route to his title shot. However, he didn’t do this quietly, taking to Twitter in 2021 to label the lightweight division’s top ten a “bunch of old ass slick fighters.”
TOP 10 of LW division is a bunch of old ass slick fighters. Not a single one accepted the fight they were offered.
NO MATTER WHAT, I’M GONNA KEEP MOVING AND GET THAT BELT SOON, with or without these clowns. See you July 17 @ufc @espnmma twitter.com/espnmma/status…
Now that he holds the lightweight title, of course, it’s unlikely that anyone will duck a fight with Makhachev again.