5 fighters who were given multiple UFC title shots and lost them all
In the UFC, it's never easy to earn a title shot, and so any fighter who reaches that level deserves respect. Unfortunately, it's even harder to get over that hump and actually win the gold.
Over the years, we've seen examples of highly talented fighters who were given multiple UFC title shots, only to come up short each time.
Sure, other fighters may have lost more title bouts than the men on this list, but they also won a couple, too. These fighters unfortunately never managed to reach the top despite their best efforts.
Here are five fighters who were given multiple UFC title shots, only to lose them all.
#5. Kenny Florian - former UFC lightweight contender
When Kenny Florian made his first appearance on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, he looked about as far from being a UFC champion as it could get.
Fighting as a 185 pounder, 'Ken-Flo' was blatantly undersized, and sported a flimsy MMA record of 2-1. Despite this, he stunned viewers by making it all the way to the finals thanks to a win over Chris Leben, where he fell to eventual winner Diego Sanchez.
As part of the full roster, it looked like Florian would go onto a mid-level career as a welterweight. That all changed in 2006, though, when the UFC decided to bring back their lightweight division after it'd spent two years in mothballs.
'KenFlo' immediately dropped to 155 pounds, and after a single win over Sam Stout, he was handed a shot at the vacant title in a fight with Sean Sherk. In truth, it felt more like the promotion was simply rushing to crown a new champion, as Florian had just one bout in the division to his name while Sherk had never fought there before.
Nobody really gave Florian a chance, and sure enough, Sherk dealt with him relatively easily, winning a five-round fight to become the new champ.
From there, though, something remarkable happened. Florian switched training camps, improved in leaps and bounds, and went on a six-fight tear over the next three years.
Suddenly, 'Ken-Flo' looked like a champion in the making, and nobody could argue when he was awarded a shot at lightweight kingpin BJ Penn.
Unfortunately for Florian, he fell short for a second time, pushing him towards a role as a high-end gatekeeper. A drop to 145 pounds in 2011 appeared to rejuvenate his career somewhat, but when he was given a featherweight title shot against Jose Aldo, nobody really believed he'd win.
Instead, he felt like a big-name victim for Aldo to build his reputation off, and sure enough, the Brazilian eased to victory, leaving 'Ken-Flo' with an 0-3 record in title bouts.
For someone who was never expected to make it that far in the first place, though, there was honestly no shame in his failings at the very top.
#4. Pedro Rizzo - former UFC heavyweight contender
Over the years, the UFC has often been accused of favoring certain fighters over others and looking to push some to stardom despite their shortcomings.
Sometimes this works out for the promotion. However, for every Conor McGregor or Sean O'Malley, there is a Pedro Rizzo.
The protege of former tournament champ Marco Ruas, 'The Rock' burst onto the scene in 1998 by knocking out feared veteran Tank Abbott in his octagon debut. A brutally powerful kickboxer, it looked like the Brazilian had all the tools to make it to the top.
Three more big wins, including one over former titleholder Mark Coleman, put him in line to face off with heavyweight champ Kevin Randleman, but that was where Rizzo's hype train ended.
A counter-striker by trade, 'The Rock' refused to go after Randleman, and when 'The Monster' failed to push the fight too, it led to a dull affair that saw the champion retain his title via decision.
Following the loss, Rizzo rebuilt his reputation with two knockout wins in a row, and in 2001, when Zuffa bought the promotion, his star potential was noticed again. 'The Rock' was handed another title shot, this time against Randy Couture, and the two men produced a stone-cold classic fight.
Unfortunately for Rizzo, though, he once again came up short. Due to the quality of the fight, an instant rematch was signed, but this time Couture was more prepared for the Brazilian's striking, and he ran right through him, stopping him in the third round.
Rizzo's career spiralled downwards after the loss, and just over a year later, he departed the promotion and never returned, sporting an 0-3 record in title bouts.
#3. Urijah Faber - former UFC bantamweight contender
A genuine Hall of Famer, Urijah Faber will always be recognised as a true pioneer of the smaller weight classes in MMA. If anything, he could be seen as the sport's first true featherweight star, as he held the WEC's 145 pound title when it began to blow up as a big promotion in 2007.
However, Faber lost that title long before the WEC's roster was merged into the UFC in 2011, and by that point, he'd moved down to 135 pounds.
'The California Kid' actually debuted in the octagon in a title fight against his bitter rival Dominick Cruz, who by that stage, had been crowned the UFC's first bantamweight champion.
The fight was a razor-close one, but Faber came up short, losing a narrow decision. A rematch was set up for 2012, but Cruz ended up sidelined with a knee injury. That left Faber to face top contender Renan Barao, who was riding a 29-fight win streak, for a hastily-created interim title.
Once again, 'The California Kid' failed to win, and his two losses, coupled with his two failures to regain his WEC title years before, earned him a reputation as a serial bridesmaid.
Despite all of his success, it was a reputation he never managed to shake off. Faber essentially won every non-title fight he was put into, but a second title fight loss to Barao and another to Cruz, albeit at the tail end of his career, left him with a record of 0-4 in UFC title bouts.
Sadly for 'The California Kid', it's a record only equalled by one other fighter in octagon history.
#2. Joseph Benavidez - former UFC flyweight contender
From the moment he emerged into the WEC in 2008, Joseph Benavidez was pegged as a future star, largely due to the links he had with his mentor, then-feathweight champ Urijah Faber.
Unfortunately, while Benavidez did go onto plenty of success both in the WEC and eventually the UFC, he ended up sharing more with Faber than a mentor-protege relationship.
Namely, he ended up finishing his octagon career with an 0-4 record in UFC title bouts, becoming the only fighter to match 'The California Kid' in those stakes.
Benavidez's first title bout came in 2012, in the promotion's inaugural flyweight title fight. It was also the closest he ever came to claiming gold, as he knocked down and almost choked out Demetrious Johnson during their five-round thriller.
However, despite many fans believing Benavidez deserved the nod, 'Mighty Mouse' was instead given the win and the title.
Benavidez quickly worked his way back up the ladder with three KO wins, earning another title shot, and it definitely felt likely that he'd win the second time around.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He suffered a bad first round knockout at the hands of Johnson, and despite winning his next six fights, would not earn another shot at the champ.
That changed when Johnson lost his title to Henry Cejudo in 2018, though. With a new champ now at the top of the division, Benavidez was back in contention. When Cejudo decided to abandon his title and move to bantamweight in 2020, it only made sense for Benavidez to compete for the vacant strap, particularly as he held a prior win over 'Triple C'.
Again, though, Benavidez's title fight curse appeared to strike. Despite opponent Deiveson Figueiredo missing weight, Benavidez suffered a second round knockout loss, and when he was given another shot at the Brazilian, he was dropped and choked out in even quicker fashion.
The defeat meant that Benavidez equalled his mentor's unwanted record of 0-4 in UFC title fights, and while he's now widely seen as one of the best fighters to never hold octagon gold, it must stand as a point of frustration to him.
#1. Chael Sonnen - former UFC middleweight contender
Perhaps no fighter in MMA history is as synonymous with coming up short in title bouts as Chael Sonnen. 'The American Gangster' was a great fighter in his prime and is widely regarded as one of the best microphone workers in the sport's history, but he also never managed to capture a major title during his career.
Sonnen came up short in middleweight title bouts on two occasions in the WEC, first losing to Paulo Filho via submission and then beating the Brazilian in a rematch that ended up as a non-title bout when Filo missed weight.
However, it was his three failed attempts to capture gold in the UFC that really cemented Sonnen's reputation.
Between 2009 and 2010, 'The American Gangster' went on a tear in the octagon, beating three top-ranked contenders to claim a shot at 185 pound champion Anderson Silva. He also drummed up remarkable hype for the fight with an unprecedented level of trash talk.
Remarkably, when it came to fight time, Sonnen literally backed up every word he'd said. He beat Silva up on the feet and on the ground and appeared to be on his way to a title win - only to fall prey to a last-gasp triangle choke with less than two minutes remaining in the fight.
The finish was one of the craziest in MMA history, and turned 'The American Gangster' into one of the sport's biggest stars, even in losing. This year, in fact, the bout is set to be inducted into the UFC's Hall of Fame.
Sonnen bounced back from his defeat with two wins to set up a rematch that was widely considered one of the biggest fights of all time. Again, though, 'The American Gangster' came up short, this time due to an ill-advised spinning backfist attempt that led to a TKO loss.
Sonnen's third title challenge was a little more out of left field, as he basically talked his way into a shot at light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones in 2013, despite not having fought at 205 pounds in years.
Unsurprisingly, 'The American Gangster' was beaten in a fight nobody expected him to win, but even then, there was an ironic twist.
The fight was stopped with less than 30 seconds remaining in the opening round, but in the aftermath, it was revealed that Jones had suffered a gory broken toe. Had Sonnen lasted the round, the fight would've been called off, and 'The American Gangster' would've won the title via doctor's stoppage.
Had he done that, his career would've reached the peak it arguably deserved, but realistically, being a perennial bridesmaid almost suited Sonnen's legend even more.