5 UFC champions who avenged upset losses in rematches
This past weekend at UFC 285, longtime flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko was finally dethroned in a huge upset by challenger Alexa Grasso.
Valentina Shevchenko is likely to be given a chance to avenge her loss to Alexa Grasso and claim her title back in a rematch. If she manages it, she won’t be the first UFC champion to do so.
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous examples of champions who fell to defeat in major upsets, only to bounce back by reclaiming their title in a rematch. Sometimes, these rematches came immediately, as is likely for Shevchenko. Other times, they took a little longer.
Here are five UFC champions who avenged upset losses in rematches.
#5. Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort – UFC 49
When Randy Couture defended his UFC light heavyweight title against old rival Vitor Belfort at the start of 2004, nobody expected ‘The Phenom’ to pull off a victory. After all, the Brazilian had lost to Couture in one-sided fashion back in 1997, shattering his unbeatable aura in the process.
However, when the two men faced off with gold on the line, Belfort scored probably the luckiest win in octagon history. A missed punch saw the stitches on his glove catch Couture’s eye, practically ripping the lid off.
The bout was immediately stopped and ‘The Phenom’ was declared the new champion, even though he didn’t feel like a winner.
Unsurprisingly, Couture was given a shot at avenging this upset loss just seven months later, and he didn’t miss a beat.
Aug21.2004
Randy Couture avenges his loss to Vitor Belfort,
to become the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion https://t.co/uDv3ubWgBe
‘The Natural’ dismantled Belfort over the course of three rounds, leaving him a bloody mess and reclaiming his title via TKO. It was as if he’d never lost his title in the first place.
#4. Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier – UFC 241
Whether Stipe Miocic’s UFC heavyweight title loss to Daniel Cormier in the summer of 2018 was an upset or not is probably a fair debate to have.
After all, while the fight was Cormier’s first at heavyweight since 2013, he was also highly accomplished there, holding wins over opponents like Frank Mir and Antonio Silva.
Despite that, Miocic had ruled the division with an iron fist since claiming the title in 2016 and was coming off a huge win over Francis Ngannou. To most people, he was the clear-cut favorite. So. to see ‘DC’ spark him out in the first round was a big shock.
Miocic didn’t take the loss too well. After the promotion didn’t treat him to an immediate rematch, he took an extended period away rather than face a different opponent.
By the summer of 2019, though, after Cormier had easily dispatched Derrick Lewis, there was no other direction to go but to hand Miocic a shot at redemption.
This time around, things were very different. Not only did Miocic look refreshed from his time away from the octagon, but he also seemed more durable, probably because he hadn’t fought Ngannou a handful of months prior.
Eventually, Cormier began to tire as the bout went on, partly due to the body shots he ate from Miocic. In the fourth round, the former champion landed a fight-ending combination, stopping ‘DC’ for the first time as a heavyweight.
STIPE KNOCKS OUT DC IN ROUND 4!!!
#AndNew! What a fight! #UFC241 https://t.co/ocJIfpRvyj
The two men later went on to have a trilogy bout, with Miocic winning again. The second fight, however, was the crucial one, marking Miocic out as a truly great champion.
#3. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno – UFC 270
After claiming the vacant UFC flyweight title by stopping Joseph Benavidez in the summer of 2020, Deiveson Figueiredo looked set to have a dominant reign as champion.
‘The God of War’ made his first title defense look easy, submitting Alex Perez in under two minutes. However, he had more trouble with Brandon Moreno a month later.
Figueiredo still would’ve won the fight, which went to a draw, had it not been for a point deduction after a low blow. However, the bout was so exciting that a rematch was booked six months later.
Remarkably, Moreno pulled off an upset in that clash, choking the Brazilian out in the third round. Figueiredo blamed the loss on a bad weight cut, though, and so a trilogy fight was swiftly put together.
While Moreno lasted the distance, this time ‘The God of War’ left no doubt as to who was the better man by defeating the Mexican via unanimous decision, claiming his title back in the process.
#UFC270 (via @ufc)Figueiredo drops Moreno with a MASSIVE right hand just before the bell in Round 3 😲 #UFC270 (via @ufc) https://t.co/Dnfxv344cR
By going five rounds with the Brazilian again, though, ‘The Assassin Baby’ had truly proven his worth. When a fourth bout was put together, he pulled off a win again, but this time it didn’t feel like an upset, and he now stands as the undisputed champion.
#2. Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Serra – UFC 83
Matt Serra’s welterweight title win over Georges St-Pierre in April 2007 still stands as one of the greatest upsets in UFC history.
GSP was coming off a knockout win over the legendary Matt Hughes, had already dealt with dangerous contenders like Karo Parisyan and B.J. Penn, and looked set for a dominant reign as champion.
Serra, on the other hand, had won his title shot by claiming a dubious win over Chris Lytle in the finals of TUF 4. Nobody was giving ‘The Terror’ a shot, but he proved everyone wrong by knocking St-Pierre out in the first round.
A year later, though, GSP was given a chance to avenge his loss to Serra, and in his hometown of Montreal to boot.
The Canadian hadn’t been handed his shot on a plate. He’d earned it the hard way by defeating top contender Josh Koscheck and then destroying Hughes in a third bout to claim an interim title while Serra was injured.
His rematch with ‘The Terror’ immediately turned into a huge deal, as Serra attempted to get under his skin with some seriously abrasive trash talk. All that did was make GSP more angry and driven.
When it came to fight time, there was no chance of Serra repeating his upset. St-Pierre dismantled him over two rounds, taking him down to punish him on the ground and eventually stopping him with knees to the body.
Georges St-Pierre vs Matt Serra 2 full fight video #ufc83 mmafighting.com/2017/11/4/1659… https://t.co/eNq1kGESFy
It was probably the best way possible for GSP to avenge his loss, and it turned him into a genuine hero in Canada, too. Incredibly, St-Pierre would never lose another fight until his 2017 retirement.
#1. Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena – UFC 277
By the time she stepped into her bantamweight title defense against Julianna Pena in December 2021, most fans recognized Amanda Nunes as the greatest female fighter in UFC history.
Not only had ‘The Lioness’ not lost inside the octagon since 2014, but she’d also claimed both the bantamweight and featherweight titles. She also held wins over six current or former UFC champions.
Pena, in contrast, had gone 2-2 in her last four fights and had never beaten anyone near to Nunes’ level. It looked like a simple defense for ‘The Lioness’.
Remarkably, though, that turned out not to be the case. Nunes didn’t quite look herself in the bout and ended up being outstruck by ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’, who then took the Brazilian down and choked her out in the second round.
It was the biggest upset to take place in the octagon in years, but it also felt like the end of an era in many ways. Nunes was given an immediate rematch, but the idea of her bouncing back and reclaiming her title didn’t seem so cut and dry.
However, when the two women faced off for a second time, Nunes left nothing to chance. Looking far better than in the first fight, she beat Pena in every possible area, dropping her three times and generally beating her down.
CHAMP CHAMP ONCE AGAIN! 👑👑
[ @Amanda_Leoa | #UFC277 ] https://t.co/2nK2tb7xk0
The bout went the distance, but there was no doubt as to who deserved the win. Sure enough, Nunes was awarded the victory and her title back. She’d avenged her loss in the best possible way, adding to her legend in the process.