5 UFC fighters who fought for a title early in their octagon careers
The next big show on the horizon, UFC 275, will see a main event of Glover Teixeira defending his light heavyweight title against challenger Jiri Prochazka, who will be entering the octagon for just the third time.
Prochazka isn’t the first fighter to compete for a UFC title early on into his career with the promotion. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of fighters handed quick title shots.
Often these fighters came into the promotion with a huge reputation and sometimes a title belt from another organization, while others were simply able to capitalize on the correct fight. Either way, it’s always fascinating to see.
With that in mind, here are five UFC fighters who fought for a title early in their octagon careers.
#5. Anderson Silva – former UFC middleweight champion
When Anderson Silva signed with the UFC in mid-2006, he brought with him the reputation of a fighter who was supremely talented, but also slightly flaky. ‘The Spider’ had torn through the likes of Carlos Newton and Lee Murray during his stints with PRIDE and Cage Rage, but he’d also suffered embarrassing losses to opponents like Ryo Chonan.
When he stepped into the octagon for the first time against the iron-chinned Chris Leben, then, many fans didn’t really know what to expect.
It didn’t take long for Silva to make an impression. He became the first fighter to stop Leben via TKO just 49 seconds into the opening round, destroying ‘The Crippler’ with a blitz that saw every strike he threw land cleanly.
Silva's victory against Chris Leben earned him a title shot. He was set to challenge Rich Franklin for the UFC Middleweight title. Anderson Silva finished Franklin in the 1st round with knees. A historic moment in mixed martial arts history. His reign lasted 2457 days. https://t.co/xmMgKVyuKu
Given that Leben was on a 5-0 run in the octagon prior to the fight, it didn’t take long for most fans to jump onto the Silva bandwagon. So, after just one fight in the promotion, he was offered a shot at reigning middleweight kingpin Rich Franklin.
Most figured that ‘Ace’ would be a much tougher nut for Silva to crack, but remarkably, that turned out to be untrue. ‘The Spider’ abused Franklin from the plum clinch in the opening moments of the fight and ended up finishing him via TKO to claim the title.
The rest, as they say, is history, as Silva went on to become one of the most accomplished champions in octagon history, making 10 successful title defenses before losing his crown after a near-seven year reign.