5 UFC champions who took a bumpy road to the top
Any fighter who manages to claim gold in the UFC is obviously a great fighter. Most champions tend to fall into two categories: fighters who skyrocket up the ranks like Jon Jones or Israel Adesanya, or those who smash everyone in front of them en route to the title like Khabib Nurmagomedov or Kamaru Usman.
Over the years, we have seen some anomalies in this sense. That's seen fighters take a far more arduous road to claiming a UFC title, often after they’d been written off.
With a second-round knockout, @CharlesDoBronxs makes a statement and gets the biggest win of his career! 🇧🇷
He is the new UFC lightweight champion! 🏆
#UFC262 https://t.co/DyNCJHZrRe
In a lot of senses, it’s arguable that the fighters traveling this path ought to be more celebrated than their more dominant contemporaries. After all, sheer persistence has to be admired.
Here are five UFC champions who took a bumpy road to the top.
#5. Rafael dos Anjos – former UFC lightweight champion
When Rafael dos Anjos claimed the UFC lightweight title by thoroughly dominating Anthony Pettis in early 2015, the entire MMA world was largely left in shock. Not only was Pettis seen as a practically unbeatable champion at the time, but ‘RDA’ was the last man anyone expected to dethrone him.
Hey @Showtimepettis it was an honor sharing the cage with you. You are a great fighter and I have nothing but respect for you @ufc
The Brazilian had debuted in the octagon way back in 2008 as a one-dimensional grappler for the most part. When Jeremy Stephens practically took his head off with an uppercut, it threatened to turn him into a punchline before his career with the promotion had really begun.
'RDA' did recover from the loss, defeating mid-level fighters like Terry Etim and Rob Emerson, but another three losses in his next seven fights meant that he never really ascended from the prelim level.
However, after taking a brief period of time away from action between late 2011 and mid 2012, dos Anjos returned to the octagon a different fighter. He’d hooked up with renowned trainer Rafael Cordeiro and not only had his wrestling improved, but so had his striking.
Suddenly, dos Anjos began to destroy his opponents, reeling off wins over the likes of Evan Dunham and Donald Cerrone. When he then knocked out former lightweight kingpin Benson Henderson, it was clear that he was for real. Sure enough, after defeating Nate Diaz to secure his title shot, he then hammered Pettis to claim the title.
While his title reign lasted only a little over a year, it is safe to say that it was remarkable to see him with the gold. To say nobody expected it after seeing him knocked out by Stephens would be an understatement.