5 UFC champions whose first title defense ended in disaster
Whenever a fighter wins a title in the UFC, the hope is that they'll begin a dynasty of sorts. This was, of course, what the likes of Jon Jones and Khabib Nurmagomedov managed to do.
Over the years, though, we've seen fighters who claimed UFC gold and tried to begin that dynasty, only for their first title defense to end in disaster.
It is always debatable whether these fighters came into said defense with too much confidence or whether they suffered from bad luck. However, what isn't debatable is that their reign ended in devastating fashion.
Here are five UFC champions whose first title defense ended in disaster.
#5. Luke Rockhold - former UFC middleweight champion
When Luke Rockhold dethroned Chris Weidman to claim the middleweight title at the end of 2015, it genuinely looked like a new era had begun at 185 pounds.
Weidman had been a great champion in his own right, but Rockhold destroyed him over four rounds, essentially ending his top-level career in the process.
With incredible striking skills and a smothering, violent ground game, Rockhold didn't appear to have any weaknesses, so to speak. It seemed unthinkable that his title reign would be a short one.
However, when his first defense came around, it instead seemed like his lone weakness was hubris.
Initially pegged to face Weidman in a rematch, Rockhold had to fight a late replacement, Michael Bisping.
On paper, it seemed like an easy challenge for him. He'd already dispatched 'The Count' by submission in late 2014, and Bisping had only gotten longer in the tooth since then.
Unfortunately, taking Bisping lightly was the biggest mistake Rockhold could've made. The champion continually dropped his hands low in the first round, showing no respect for 'The Count' and his striking power, and he paid the ultimate price.
Bisping rocked him with a left hook and then leveled him with a second one, ending his title reign in an instant. It was a truly shocking ending that remains one of the all-time great upsets in UFC history.
Rockhold never really recovered from the loss, and neither did his reputation. He only fought a handful of times afterward before retiring in 2022, and his most memorable moment ended up being his worst-ever loss.
#4. Cody Garbrandt - former UFC bantamweight champion
Cody Garbrandt's bantamweight title victory over the legendary Dominick Cruz in 2016 remains one of the greatest performances in any UFC title fight.
'No Love' not only beat 'The Dominator', he thoroughly outclassed him on the feet over five rounds, something no other fighter had done before or since.
With an unbeaten record of 10-0, Garbrandt looked set to become the new poster boy at 135 pounds and take the division forward. Unfortunately, the exact opposite turned out to be the case.
The promotion matched the new champ with his former teammate turned hated rival TJ Dillashaw in his first defense and built a season of The Ultimate Fighter around the rivalry leading up to the bout.
'No Love' was clearly angered with Dillashaw throughout the whole process, but given how cool he'd been in dealing with Cruz, few fans thought his judgment would be so clouded.
However, when it came to fight time, Garbrandt was more reckless than he'd ever been before, and it cost him.
'No Love' looked amazing in the first round, decking Dillashaw in the waning seconds with a right hand. In the second, though, he was dropped by an early head kick.
While he was able to recover, he simply got too wild in attempting to repay the favor - and ended up walking into a right hand that set up Dillashaw for a violent finish.
It was a crushing defeat for Garbrandt, who failed to reclaim his title in a rematch, too. Realistically, his career has never been the same since.
#3. Rashad Evans - former UFC light-heavyweight champion
Back in the early 2000s, the UFC light-heavyweight title was held by a series of dominant champions like Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
Once Liddell's reign was ended in 2007, though, the title felt like a hot potato, as it moved from champion to champion with nobody really cementing themselves as the true kingpin at 205 pounds.
That felt like it'd changed when Rashad Evans dethroned Forrest Griffin in 2008. 'Suga' held an unbeaten record, took out Griffin with relative ease, and already held a violent knockout win over Liddell, too.
With powerful wrestling and an explosive striking game, the TUF 2 champion looked all set for a dominant reign.
However, when he came up against Lyoto Machida in his very first title defense, that idea was quickly proven wrong.
Evans simply stood no chance against Machida's unorthodox, karate-style counterstriking game. 'The Dragon' picked the champion apart with devastating ease, dropping him in the first round before putting him out of his misery in violent fashion in the second.
'Suga' did rebound from the defeat, returning to climb back up to the top of the division a few years later, although he never did reclaim his title.
However, his first title defense remains one of the most disastrous in UFC history, purely because of how easily Machida dispatched him.
#2. Cain Velasquez - former UFC heavyweight champion
Even before he debuted in the octagon in 2008, observers were predicting big things for Cain Velasquez.
His teammates at the American Kickboxing Academy described the former NCAA Division I All-American as the most naturally talented fighter they'd ever encountered. However, it was quickly reported that he was struggling to find opponents on the regional scene.
After viewing him in a training session, Dana White was sold, and he immediately inked him to a UFC contract. It didn't take long for Velasquez to make an impact.
In just over two years, he destroyed the heavyweight division, culminating in a TKO victory over Brock Lesnar for the gold at the end of 2010.
Not only was Velasquez beating his opponents, but he was making it look easy, too. It felt like he was almost guaranteed to become the promotion's greatest-ever heavyweight.
However, while he arguably did achieve that goal, his first title defense couldn't have gone much worse.
Positioned in the headline bout of the UFC's first-ever show on the Fox network, Velasquez suffered a stunning knockout loss at the hands of Junior Dos Santos after just over a minute.
It was hard to believe, as he'd always looked so dominant before. As it turned out, he was badly hampered by injuries, something that would end up haunting him for most of his career.
However, he returned a few months later, earned a rematch, and then smashed 'JDS' twice to complete their trilogy, showing once and for all who was the better man—even if his first defense had been a disaster.
#1. Georges St-Pierre - former UFC welterweight champion
Georges St-Pierre is widely recognized as the greatest fighter in UFC history. The former welterweight and middleweight champion is also a prime example of a titleholder who built a true dynasty in the octagon.
From April 2008 until December 2013, 'GSP' held the 170-pound title and turned back the challenge of nine different top-ranked challengers, cementing himself as the best welterweight of all time.
However, that reign with the title was actually St-Pierre's second, as his first, brief reign ended in utter disaster in just his first defense.
Incredibly, the Canadian wasn't even faced with the "true" top contender, who at the time was probably the 19-0 Diego Sanchez. Instead, he was matched with Matt Serra, who had claimed his title shot by winning TUF 4.
Given 'The Terror' had struggled to make any kind of mark at 170 pounds, it seemed unthinkable that he could beat St-Pierre, who'd knocked out the legendary Matt Hughes to start his reign just five months earlier.
However, whether 'GSP' was overconfident or just unlucky, the unthinkable happened.
After a brief feeling-out period, a wild overhand right from Serra connected with the back of St-Pierre's ear, rocking him for the first time in his octagon career. He simply couldn't recover, stumbling and sliding all over the place as Serra pursued him, eventually knocking him down and stopping him.
The fight remains probably the greatest upset in UFC history, and it may never be topped. Serra was able to ride the result all the way to a Hall of Fame slot, even if he was defeated by 'GSP' in their immediate rematch a year later.
Even more remarkably, it would mark the final time that the Canadian tasted defeat in MMA.