5 UFC fighters who were dominant until they weren’t
In the UFC, dominance can be taken for granted. Long win streaks and strong performances can define a fighter's career, often leading to championships, whether interim or undisputed. Furthermore, dominance can lead to fighters being regarded as unbeatable and unstoppable.
However, barring legendary lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov, few fighters remain dominant until the very end of their careers. Usually, there is always an eventual end to everyone's beginning. Dominant streaks reach their conclusion, and suddenly, fighters once thought unstoppable become exceedingly beatable.
The UFC has seen several formerly dominant fighters suddenly find themselves trapped in rough patches, and sometimes even unable to rack up more than one win consecutively. This list looks at five such cases.
#5. Junior dos Santos, former UFC heavyweight
It's easy to forget just how dominant Junior dos Santos was over a decade ago given how poorly he's performed over recent years. Back in late 2008, 'JDS' made his UFC debut as a 6-1 heavyweight prospect. His opponent was legendary 265-pound submission specialist Fabricio Werdum.
Within a minute, 'JDS' had flattened his fellow Brazilian with a thunderous uppercut, knocking him out to embark on a lengthy win streak in the promotion. By mid-2011, he had won seven consecutive fights, with five knockouts. His exploits earned him a title fight against the then undefeated Cain Velasquez.
2 minutes and a bit of Cain Velasquez giving Junior Dos Santos a miserable time in their second fight.
@cainmma became the first fighter in the UFC to land over 100 significant strikes and 10 takedowns in a single fight with this performance. https://t.co/3S8qGONuFg
Just as with his promotional debut, dos Santos needed no longer than a minute to capture UFC gold, knocking Velasquez out cold with an overhand-right. He subsequently defended his title against former champion Frank Mir before facing Cain Velasquez in a rematch.
This marked the beginning of the Brazilian's downswing. He lost the fight and his title in lopsided fashion. It was a brutal beating. While he bounced back with a win over Mark Hunt, he lost the rubber match to Cain Velasquez in a similarly one-sided manner. He proceeded to go 2-2 in his next four fights.
While he briefly amassed a three-fight win streak between 2018 and March 2019, it came to a screeching halt in June that year. He lost his next four UFC fights via TKO and was booted from the promotion, only to lose to Yorgan De Castro in Eagle FC, making him 0-5 since 2019.
#4. Luke Rockhold, former UFC middleweight/light heavyweight
As the last Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold's jump into the UFC was a natural progression of his MMA career. Unfortunately, his promotional debut couldn't have gone worse. The then 10-1 fighter suffered his second-ever loss, courtesy of a thunderous spinning heel kick from Vitor Belfort.
Fortunately, Rockhold recovered from the loss and embarked on a tear in the middleweight division, racking up four consecutive wins while finishing every foe who dared stand in his way. It earned him a title fight against the then undefeated middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman.
Michael Bisping vs Luke Rockhold https://t.co/m9KMTfzHLE
At UFC 194, Rockhold stunned the MMA world by handing Weidman a crushing loss via fourth-round TKO to capture the middleweight crown. It was his fifth straight win, and left many wondering if it was the beginning of the Rockhold era. That, however, never came to be.
He subsequently lost his title to Michael Bisping in his first defense, a major upset. While he bounced back with a win over David Branch, his streak of dominance was over. He lost his next three bouts, two via brutal knockouts, before announcing his retirement from the sport.
#3. Chris Weidman, UFC middleweight
Undefeated fighters are rare commodities in MMA. More than that, however, fighters who are fast-tracked to titles are even rarer. In only his 10th fight, Chris Weidman challenged Anderson Silva for the middleweight title. The All-American was on a five-fight win streak, having spent half of his career in the UFC.
He stunned the MMA world by knocking 'The Spider' out, snapping the Brazilian's 17-fight win streak in the sport with an all-time great knockout. Their rematch, however, featured an even more shocking moment. Just as he had previously snapped Silva's win streak, he then snapped his shin by checking his low kick.
Luke Rockhold becomes Middleweight champion.
The ill-advised wheel kick leads to the downfall of Chris Weidman in this fight & as a whole.
Atrocious from Herb https://t.co/RNJxE7QkHq
He followed his two wins over 'The Spider' by finishing two more Brazilian legends in Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. It was his third successive title defense, and at 13-0, he seemed all but unbeatable. That was until Luke Rockhold arose to challenge him.
The pair crossed swords at UFC 194. While competitive, the bout culminated with Weidman absorbing tremendous damage in the third and fourth rounds. It was a brutal TKO loss. What followed were two more knockout losses. After a three-fight losing streak, he managed to score a win against Kelvin Gastelum.
Unfortunately, it wasn't a sign of things to come. Weidman went 1-3 in his last four fights thereafter before a brutal leg break in his fight against Uriah Hall sidelined him.
#2. Tony Ferguson, UFC lightweight
There has never been a lightweight more terrifying than Tony Ferguson in his prime, making his alias 'El Cucuy' more than fitting, for he was once the boogeyman of the 155-pound weight class. His reign of terror began in late 2013 when he faced Mike Rio in a bid to bounce back from a loss to Michael Johnson.
Ferguson won the bout with a D'Arce choke, a submission that would later become his signature move on the ground. On the feet, a bottomless gas tank, constant pressure, and a striking buzzsaw punctuated by razor-sharp elbows defined him. He either choked his opponents out or sliced them open.
One year ago today: Justin Gaethje vs Tony Ferguson https://t.co/uMZuxw8ADJ
It led to a 12-fight win streak that saw him capture the UFC interim lightweight title. Despite the promotion's best attempts to book him in a matchup with the similarly dominant Khabib Nurmagomedov, the fight never came to fruition. The very last time it was tried, Justin Gaethje stepped in as a short-notice replacement.
Nurmagomedov was confined to Russian soil by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Ferguson's battle against Gaethje was not his 13th win. Instead, it was a one-sided beating that left him forever changed. It was his first loss in eight years, and four more followed.
Suddenly, 'El Cucuy' was on a five-fight losing streak, and worse than that, unranked in the lightweight division. The man who had refused to tap to Charles Oliveira's armbar and Beneil Dariush's heel hook, instead tapped out to Nate Diaz's guillotine choke.
#1. Anderson Silva, former UFC middleweight
It could be some time before anyone breaks Anderson Silva's legendary UFC win streak of 16 consecutive wins under the promotion's banner. From 2006 to 2012, he was superhuman inside the octagon. Even when Chael Sonnen dragged him to the brink of defeat back at UFC 117, he refused to lose.
A last-minute triangle armbar forced 'The American Gangster' to tap out. Everyone else, however, including Sonnen in the pair's rematch, was made to look foolish against 'The Spider'. Former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin was part of Anderson Silva's magnum opus in the cage.
Silva outstruck him effortlessly, slipping his punches and dropping him with near-cartoonish ease before knocking him out after three minutes. The UFC middleweight title was firmly in his grasp and had been for years. So when Chris Weidman stepped up to challenge him, the conclusion was foregone.
Il y a 10 ans jour pour jour c’était la fin de l’ère Anderson Silva 🔙Il y a 10 ans jour pour jour c’était la fin de l’ère Anderson Silva
Ce jour là CHRIS WEIDMAN choqua le monde en mettant KO le légendaire ANDERSON SILVA
Il mettait fin à une série de 16 victoire de suite à l’UFC https://t.co/O4K8ChU04h
But at UFC 162, one of the greatest upsets in MMA history took place when Weidman knocked Silva out in the second round. Their rematch led to the sport's most infamous injury when the Brazilian's shin snapped in half. After over a year in recovery, he returned against Nick Diaz, winning via unanimous decision.
But a positive PED test saw the result overturned into a no-contest. His next two bouts were losses, and suddenly, a fighter who was 16-0 in the UFC, was now winless in his last five. While he snatched a win from Derek Brunson, he lost his next three fights to go 1-7 (1) in his last 9 fights before being released.