5 UFC champions who won their titles in big upsets, then repeated the feat in a rematch
This past weekend at UFC 286, Leon Edwards stunned many fans by overcoming Kamaru Usman for the second time, retaining his welterweight title in the process.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of UFC titleholders just like Leon Edwards who won their crowns in major upsets, but then proved their worth as true champions in rematches.
Often, these rematches seemed to be put together by the promotion with the hope that the former champ would regain their crown. Of course, in these instances, that wasn’t the case.
Here are five UFC champions who won their titles in big upsets, then repeated the feat in a rematch.
#5. Leon Edwards – current UFC welterweight champion
The latest champion to find himself on this list is current UFC welterweight kingpin Leon Edwards, who cemented himself as a true great this past weekend.
Despite going on a lengthy winning streak from 2015 to 2022, very few fans could ever imagine ‘Rocky’ claiming the crown at 170 pounds.
That was largely because titleholder Kamaru Usman had beaten him with relative ease in their first meeting back in 2015, winning a clear-cut unanimous decision.
However, while nobody gave him a chance when he faced ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ last year, Edwards ended up doing the unthinkable. After being dominated for three of the four rouunds, he pulled off a true Hail Mary shot in the form of a head kick, knocking Usman unconscious in the fifth frame.
Given that Usman had been the division’s dominant champion since 2019, a rematch was inevitable, and even though it was booked in Edwards’ home country, the UK, many fans continued to write him off.
After all, it felt unlikely that he’d pull off a similar one-hot knockout, and if he couldn’t do that, how could he win?
The answer to that question was by essentially outfighting Usman in every area. Not only did ‘Rocky’ score the heavier blows on the feet, but he largely avoided the powerful takedowns of ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, too.
UNDISPUTED!!🏆
@LeonEdwardsMMA defends his welterweight title in great fashion! He beats Kamaru Usman via majority decision at #UFC286 https://t.co/HDIjcI583c
In the end, Edwards took a majority decision win, retaining his title and proving himself to be a worthy champion in the process. It’s unlikely that anyone will ever write him off again.
#4. Rose Namajunas – former UFC strawweight champion
When Joanna Jedrzejczyk entered the octagon for the sixth defense of her UFC strawweight title, she was widely recognized as the best pound-for-pound female fighter on the planet.
Very few people were giving challenger Rose Namajunas a chance of dethroning her. After all, while ‘Thug Rose’ had shown herself to be a talented fighter, nothing she’d done before suggested she could overcome the Polish champion.
Remarkably, though, after just three minutes of the first round, a left hook from Namajunas put Jedrzejczyk down and she was unable to recover. It was an upset on a similar level to Holly Holm’s famed knockout of Ronda Rousey.
THUG ROSE, THUG ROSE, THUG ROSE!
Unbelievable! Rose Namajunas stops Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the first round! 🏆
#AndNew #UFC217 https://t.co/tESuLvYSt0
Unsurprisingly, Jedrzejczyk was quick to blame a bad weight cut for the loss. While she gave credit to ‘Thug Rose’, a rematch between the two was quickly signed for just five months later.
Despite her previous win, Namajunas once again found herself being written off, as Jedrzejczyk promised to get back to her best and regain her title.
It wasn’t to be, though. Showing a tremendous improvement in her overall striking game, ‘Thug Rose’ picked the former titleholder apart on the feet, using a ramrod jab to set up her bigger strikes across five rounds.
When the bout went the distance, Namajunas was given a well-deserved unanimous decision win, cementing herself as the true champion. Jedrzejczyk, meanwhile, was arguably never the same fighter again.
#3. Tim Sylvia – former UFC heavyweight champion
It’s been largely forgotten these days, but Tim Sylvia’s UFC heavyweight title victory over Andrei Arlovski in April 2006 remains one of the promotion’s most thrilling title bouts ever.
Arlovski – heavily favored to beat ‘The Maine-iac’ as he’d already dispatched him in under a minute a year prior – looked confident coming in, and apparently he had a right to do so.
He decked Sylvia in the early going with a huge overhand right, and for all intents and purposes, the fight looked to be over. Incredibly, though, Sylvia showed more heart and toughness than he’d ever done before, and managed to lumber to his feet, despite being wobbly.
Arlovski sensed that his opponent was ripe for the taking and lunged in, only to leave himself open. Sylvia spotted an opportunity and countered with an uppercut directly to the jaw.
Seconds later, a new champion was crowned.
Here's a crazy finish: Andrei Arlovski was defending his heavyweight belt against Tim Sylvia. Arlovski had previously defeated Sylvia via submission. One year later, they would rematch for the undisputed title. #UFC59 #RealityCheck https://t.co/KWHElz4Ysg
Due to the high-quality nature of the fight, as well as the nagging feeling that ‘The Pitbull’ was still the better fighter. a rematch was quickly thrown together just three months later.
Unfortunately, not only were the promotion left disappointed when Sylvia again found a path to victory, they were also disappointed by the fight itself, which was awful.
Both men looked gun-shy and wary of the other’s power, and ‘The Maine-iac’ won largely by landing a couple more punches than his opponent.
Still, he’d definitely proven himself as the better fighter of the two as well as a legitimate champion – something that seemed impossible before their previous clash.
#2. Chris Weidman – former UFC middleweight champion
When Chris Weidman faced off with Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title in the summer of 2013, many fans felt that he had a better chance than most of dethroning ‘The Spider’.
‘The All-American’ possessed top-class wrestling and grappling – a style that was supposedly Silva’s Achilles heel – and he was unbeaten with a record of 9-0.
However, at the time, Silva had held his title for the best part of seven years and was widely viewed as unstoppable, even against high-level wrestlers.
When he made the error of attempting to “clown” Weidman by taunting him with his hands down, though, he fell victim to one of the most stunning knockouts in octagon history.
#UFC230Never forget.
You can't play games with @ChrisWeidman 😳 #UFC230 https://t.co/PDI6qQiQqU
Evidently, Silva had not only underestimated Weidman’s reach – the mistake that allowed the challenger to catch him with a brutal left hook – but he’d underestimated his fighting abilities in general.
Given Silva’s prior dominance, a rematch was inevitable. But when the two men faced off five months later, ‘The Spider’ found himself on the wrong end of a violent finish again.
This time, Weidman hurt him with punches early. Although Silva did recover to make the second round, when he threw a leg kick that Weidman checked, disaster struck.
The Brazilian’s leg snapped like a twig, leaving him in agony, and the fight was instantly stopped.
Silva had to miss an entire year of action and was arguably never the same fighter again. Weidman, initially dismissed as a fluke champ, instantly became recognized as the division’s new kingpin.
#1. Frankie Edgar – former UFC lightweight champion
Back in 2010, not only was B.J. Penn the reigning UFC lightweight champion, but he was also considered a pound-for-pound great, too.
The Hawaiian had claimed the vacant title by stopping Joe Stevenson and had defended it in violent fashion against Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez. ‘The Prodigy’ essentially looked to be fighting on an entirely different level to the rest of the promotion’s lightweights.
When he was matched with Frankie Edgar in the UFC’s first visit to Abu Dhabi, then, literally everyone saw ‘The Answer’ as an easy match for Penn. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, though, as Edgar ended up edging a somewhat controversial decision, claiming the title in a major upset.
Given Penn’s standing in the promotion, as well as the fact that many fans felt he deserved the nod over Edgar for landing the heavier blows in the fight, a rematch was quickly signed.
Essentially, it felt like a no-brainer that ‘The Prodigy’ would easily right the wrong and swat Edgar aside, continuing on with his title reign afterwards.
Edgar, though, had other ideas. The New Jersey native turned the heat up on Penn in every single area, pushing a remarkable pace, outwrestling him and outstriking him. ‘The Prodigy’ simply couldn’t cope.
Nobody could complain when Edgar was awarded a decision in this bout. Finally recognized as the legitimate champion, he went onto a strong reign with the title that lasted until 2012.
Penn, meanwhile, was never the same again, and managed to win just one of his next nine fights before retiring in 2019.