5 former UFC champions who lost to better versions of themselves
As every UFC fighter knows, time at the top is limited, so enjoy it while you can. The UFC has a seemingly never-ending pool of fresh talent - those challenging for the title stay young - while the champ’s hairs go gray from stress. Styles make fights, and the last thing a champion wants to do is fight a younger, hungrier mirror image.
Let’s have a look at five UFC champions who lost to better versions of themselves.
Brock Lesnar [UFC heavyweight champion]
Long before the Francis Ngannou era, another predator-esque beast prowled the UFC heavyweight division, annihilating his prey in a similar fashion. In 2008 former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar won the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 91, steamrolling then-champion Randy Couture with brute strength followed by his characteristic ground and pound hammer-fists.
Lesnar went on to defend his title in emphatic fashion against Frank Mir and Shane Carwin. However, the American finally met his match when he faced Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in 2010. Velasquez looked like the new-and-improved Brock Lesnar, feeding the champion his own medicine - non-stop aggression and a bombardment of punches to get a stoppage in the first round.
Ronda Rousey [UFC bantamweight champion]
Unbeaten in her first 12 professional MMA bouts, it is fair to say that ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey was the first female superstar to ever grace the octagon. Rousey had obliterated the UFC bantamweight division since her move from Strikeforce, finishing all 12 of her opponents inside the distance.
That was until she met Holly Holm at UFC 193 in 2015. While Rousey’s striking game was lauded by many, Holm brought an incredible boxing pedigree to the contest.
Although ‘Rowdy’ survived the first round, she was soon finished by Holm’s movement, hand speed and incredible leg kicks. Ronda Rousey never fully recovered from this loss and was destroyed by current champion Amanda Nunes in her next (and final) MMA fight.
Jose Aldo [UFC featherweight champion]
Until 2015, Jose Aldo was undefeated in 10 years of professional MMA. The Brazilian is a true legend of the UFC featherweight division. ‘Junior’ was finally beaten by the ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor at UFC 194 - and all it took was 13 seconds. While this will always remain Aldo’s most famous loss, it is a more recent fight where we have fully seen a change of guard.
It has been a torturous six years since ‘Junior’ lost to McGregor - a record of 4-5 since - but when he was beaten by Petr Yan UFC 251 last year, it seemed he had finally faced a mirror-image of himself, except younger, angrier and Russian.
Over five rounds Aldo was destroyed by Yan, finished in the fifth by technical knockout. Although the Brazilian defeated Marlon Vera in his last fight, you can’t help but feel his octagon appearances are numbered.
Max Holloway [UFC featherweight champion]
A man who knows all too well about Jose Aldo, Max Holloway has had an incredible UFC career and the Hawaiian is still only 29 years old. The self-proclaimed ‘best boxer in the UFC’ boasts wins over Aldo (twice), Frankie Edgar, Brian Ortega and even current lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
While ‘Blessed’ had a brief yet unsuccessful stint in the lightweight division himself (against Dustin Poirier), his greatest successes have been fought at featherweight. After losing back-to-back fights against current champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 and UFC 251, a shockwave was sent throughout the featherweight division - Holloway appeared to be outmatched both physically and tactically throughout both bouts.
Anderson Silva [UFC middleweight champion]
Frequently named as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, ‘The Spider’ Anderson Silva is a true legend of the sport - his UFC career is a veritable who’s who of elite opponents.
Now, at the ripe age of 46, ‘The Spider’ is somehow crawling his way back into the boxing arena, where he will fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on the 19th of June.
While his last few years inside the octagon have seen his shining star wane, Silva met his twin from another dimension in 2019, when he fought ‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya.
Possibly the most respectful loss ever witnessed, Adesanya’s win over ‘The Spider’ was perhaps the most famous ‘changing of the guard’ moment in UFC history.