5 times UFC fighters beat their own worst style matchups

Modern UFC fighters are expected to embody the Jack-of-All-Trades archetype. In order for mixed martial artists to find success inside the octagon, they must be competent in every facet of MMA: striking, the clinch, and ground-fighting. Yet, even in such cases, poor style matchups exist.

Fans are conditioned to regard poor style matchups in direct ways. For example, a strong wrestler is a bad matchup for a striker with poor takedown defense. However, in 2023, a bad-style matchup can be more nuanced than a classic grappler-striker clash. Sometimes fighters are allergic to forward pressure, for example.

While it's a tall task for any fighter to overcome a poor style clash, it's often regarded as downright impossible for fighters to defeat their worst-style matchups. This list, however, looks at five UFC fighters who did just that.

#5. Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns, UFC 258

Former welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman is one of the most successful wrestlers the octagon has ever seen. For most of his career, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' relied on his strong grappling skills to pin his opponents against the fence, where he chained takedowns from the clinch.

While he eventually developed a sharp jab and devastating right-cross, no one foresaw this prior to UFC 258. Before facing Gilbert Burns, he only had two knockouts in 12 UFC bouts. Even after first TKO'ing Colby Covington in a sloppy kickboxing affair, he was still regarded primarily as a wrestler.

AND STILL❗️❗️❗️

Kamaru Usman (-250) beats Gilbert Burns via TKO to retain the UFC Welterweight Championship. 👊

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#UFC258 https://t.co/mP7sXJJSYt

His striking at UFC 245 got the job done, but Usman wasn't likely to be compared to a Muay Thai world champion any time soon. The idea of a wrestler with a basic one-two, whose only loss was via submission, facing a third-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with knockout power seemed more than daunting. Usman couldn't afford to take Burns to the mat lest he welcome a potential submission loss.

Furthermore, his jabs could easily be countered by Burns' overhand-right over the top. This seemed to initially be the case when the two clashed, with the Brazilian hurting his foe badly. However, Usman adjusted by switching stances to change the alignment of his punches en route to an impressive third-round knockout win.

#4. Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero, UFC 248

Back in 2020, Yoel Romero was the boogeyman of the UFC middleweight division. He was an Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling and possessed freakish explosiveness and unparalleled knockout power. Thus, he represented the greatest challenge to Israel Adesanya's then newborn reign as the 185 lbs king.

'The Last Stylebender' is a striker by trade. Hardly anyone can oustrike him, so the clearest path to victory against him is to drag him into a wrestling-heavy bout. No one seemed better equipped to do so than an Olympic freestyle wrestling silver medalist like 'The Soldier of God'. Furthermore, Adesanya's striking matched up poorly with his own.

Israel Adesanya defeats Yoel Romero in UFC 248:

He is now the fastest fighter to go 8-0 in the UFC (755 days), passing Anderson Silva (850 days)

14 of his 19 wins are by KO/TKO

With his title defense, the UFC remains with TWO champions from Nigeria: Adesanya and Kamaru Usman https://t.co/QDutN6MEAc

Romero is well-known for being a low-volume counterpuncher who doesn't come forward much and waits patiently for openings to his explosive KO blows. This made the Cuban phenom nearly impossible for Adesanya to goad into his own counterpunches.

How then, would 'The Last Stylebender' defeat a high-level wrestler who is nearly impossible to counterpunch against? At UFC 248, the Nigerian striking specialist's answer was to stand on the outside and batter him with low kicks en route to a unanimous decision win after his feints drew no reaction from Romero.

#3. Tyron Woodley vs. Darren Till, UFC 228

The formula for defeating Tyron Woodley inside the octagon is no secret. The former welterweight champion doesn't like forward pressure from his opponents. He does his best work if he's given enough space to time his counter-overhand-right with leverage.

Unfortunately, most fighters are wise to this tendency and immediately deprive him of space by pressuring him towards the fence. Thus, a bred-and-born pressure fighter like Darren Till should have been a horrible-style matchup. The Englishman often sandwiches his foes between himself and the fence.

Sep8.2018

Tyron Woodley hands Darren Till his first career loss,

when he finishes him at UFC 228 https://t.co/6nyEIs89p3

Once he traps his opponents, he crowds their space until they desperately lunge forward in a bid to create some breathing room. Instead, they ended up lunging into the path of a counter-straight left. While this seemed like a recipe for disaster for 'The Chosen One' against 'The Gorilla', it was anything but.

As Till backed Woodley up to the fence, he was dropped by an overhand-right and subsequently choked out by 'The Chosen One'. Not only did Woodley defeat his worst-style matchup, but he earned his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt for doing so.

#2. Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 2 & 3, UFC 278 and UFC 286

Reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards is in a unique position given that he is one of the few people to have defeated his worst-style matchup twice. Not only is Kamaru Usman the Englishman's worst matchup in a hypothetical sense, but he first proved it eight years ago at UFC on Fox 17.

He defeated 'Rocky' in the pair's first encounter. Edwards' low-volume striking, low grappling-based cardio and tendency to cede space is a poor combination against Usman's pressure-based wrestling and bottomless gas tank. The Nigerian-born American is a specialist at trapping opponents in wrestling exchanges against the fence.

Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman again. Majority decision this time. https://t.co/yokjiNwx3o

In their first rematch, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' used his pressure and wrestling to drain 'Rocky'. However, with less than a minute left in the bout, Usman fell victim to a thunderous head kick that left him on the wrong end of the greatest comeback in 2022. Edwards made him pay for his habit of slipping punches.

The Englishman faked a straight and as Usman slipped it, the Nigerian wrestler unknowingly slipped into the path of a head kick. In their trilogy bout, 'Rocky' executed a masterful gameplan to defeat his rival via majority decision by counter-wrestling and battering Usman as he came forward with pressure.

#1. Francis Ngannou vs. Stipe Miocic 2, UFC 260

Former heavyweight kingpin Francis Ngannou has only ever suffered two defeats during his tenure in Dana White's promotion. The first loss came at UFC 220 against Stipe Miocic. Prior to the matchup, 'The Predator' was supremely confident that he'd KO the all-time heavyweight great.

Instead, his inexperience inside the octagon was exposed during their first bout. Miocic's superior cardio outgunned Ngannou's shallow gas tank as the Cameroonian power-puncher swung his punches wildly. Ngannou ended up countered by Miocic's crisp boxing combinations and repeatedly taken down.

FRANCIS NGANNOU IS THE UFC CHAMPION! 🏆

🇨🇲 @Francis_Ngannou has knocked out Stipe Miocic! #UFC260 https://t.co/N7MyDF1s1V

He couldn't stop his foe's wrestling due nor could he keep up with his pace. Ngannou seemed completely helpless when they fought. So ahead of their rematch at UFC 260, Miocic favored his chances. Instead, 'The Predator' showed significantly improved wrestling abilities.

Not only did he stop his foe's takedowns, he also secured a takedown of his own—the only takedown of the bout. He also showed greater patience and tighter striking, which led to him scoring a knockdown en route to a brutal second-round knockout, which earned him the divisional crown.