5 UFC fighters who made a career from one big moment in the octagon
To become a star in the UFC usually takes years of big victories and finishes, as well as a charismatic personality and the ability to work a microphone.
Over the years, though, a handful of UFC fighters have become stars, to an extent, based purely off one big moment in the octagon. Often, these fighters were then pushed into prominent positions time after time, only to never really be able to recreate their star-making moment again.
With that in mind, here are five UFC fighters who made a career from one big moment in the octagon.
#5. Scott Smith – former UFC middleweight contender
Scott Smith came into the UFC in 2006 with some substantial hype behind him as the WEC light heavyweight champion, but a debut loss in the octagon to David Terrell quickly derailed him.
A stint on the fourth season of The Ultimate Fighter followed, but ‘Hands of Steel’ suffered another disappointing loss, this time to eventual winner Travis Lutter. Despite this, Smith was offered a shot on the undercard of the season finale, and it was there that his career trajectory changed entirely.
‘Hands of Steel’ not only produced a crazy war against castmate Pete Sell, he also pulled out one of the UFC’s all-time great comebacks, stopping Sell with the last punch he had in his arsenal after being badly hurt by a body shot.
Scott Smith vs Pete Sell, I love this clip!! One of the craziest things I have ever seen in a fight @ufc #dwcotd http://t.co/HV9DW3B0Ah
The single punch went viral, and turned Smith from basically a nobody into a fighter who Dana White and company were desperate to push as a star.
Unfortunately, despite being handed two showcase fights on the main card of major pay-per-views, Smith failed to reproduce his epic knockout – even if a moment that saw him play possum in his loss to Patrick Cote sent the announcing team wild for a moment.
Despite this, Smith’s reputation didn’t seem to suffer too badly. He left the promotion for Strikeforce, where he was given a number of showcase bouts, including major headliners against Nick Diaz and Cung Le.
Essentially, the one punch ‘Hands of Steel’ landed on Sell both rejuvenated his career and made him plenty of money, too.
#4. Uriah Hall – former UFC middleweight contender
During the 2013 tapings of the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White claimed that he’d discovered the ‘next Anderson Silva’.
The fighter being talked about in such tones by the UFC president turned out to be Uriah Hall. He instantly went viral across the planet when his vicious spinning hook kick knockout of Adam Cella aired early in the season, and it felt like a star had been born.
If you listen closely you can hear Uriah Hall's heel hitting Adam Cella's jaw in this GIF.
#TUFFinale https://t.co/HAZW45VkQI
Despite making it to the season finals, though, Hall flattered to deceive in his first two visits to the octagon. First, he lost to castmate Kelvin Gastelum, missing out on the TUF title, and then fell to John Howard in a bizarrely dull outing.
‘Prime Time’ eventually rescued his career by stopping veteran Chris Leben. He even climbed into the middleweight division’s top 10 for a time thanks to wins over the likes of Gegard Mousasi and Antonio Carlos Junior.
However, the Jamaican-born fighter also lost to practically every elite opponent he faced, and ended his career with the promotion with nearly as many losses (nine) as he had wins (10).
Despite this, 'Prime Time' still headlined multiple events, was considered a staple of main cards, and was even allowed to be the final octagon opponent of the great Silva in 2020.
Essentially, were it not for his famous knockout of Cella, he probably would never have been considered the attraction he was, and may have had a far shorter stint in the promotion.
#3. Gabriel Gonzaga – former UFC heavyweight contender
When Gabriel Gonzaga entered the octagon for his headline bout against PRIDE legend Mirko Cro Cop in April 2007, the most notable thing about the Brazilian wasn’t exactly positive.
‘Napao’ had won three bouts in a row, but the only one that came on the main card was 2005’s consensus worst fight, a slow-paced stinker against Kevin Jordan.
Despite looking like cannon fodder for his more established foe, though, Gonzaga produced both one of the biggest upsets and one of the most brutal finishes ever seen inside the octagon.
He landed a savage head kick that knocked Cro Cop senseless in the first round, and the former PRIDE star was never really the same again.
#OnThisDay in 2007: Cro Cop got Cro Cop'd in the most shocking fashion! 😳
📽 ufc.tv/page/fightpass https://t.co/tmt0o66G0p
The win set up Gonzaga for a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, and many fans expected him to smash his way through Randy Couture to become the promotion’s new kingpin.
That didn’t happen, though, as ‘Napao’ fell to a comprehensive defeat to ‘The Natural’, and then lost his next fight with Fabricio Werdum, too.
In the years that followed, Gonzaga regularly defeated weaker, unheralded foes, but would almost always lose to his stronger opponents like Junior dos Santos and Stipe Miocic.
However, ‘Napao’ was regularly placed in prominent positions at big events, and was always greeted with a loud roar from the crowd, too.
Essentially, were it not for the Cro Cop knockout, his MMA career would be a decent, if unspectacular one. Thanks to that knockout, though, ‘Napao’ was considered a star for the best part of a decade.
#2. Joaquin Buckley - UFC middleweight contender
Back in 2020, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UFC was one of the only sporting organizations in the world to continue with business almost as usual.
Sure, their shows were all held behind closed doors, but at least the promotion was producing live sport. Despite this, though, the lack of atmosphere meant that the fights didn’t seem quite as big a deal as they were pre-COVID.
The promotion was crying out for something to go truly viral, and in October 2020, they got just that from little-known middleweight Joaquin Buckley.
‘New Mansa’ landed a spinning heel kick to the face of Impa Kasanganay, knocking him out immediately. Clips of the finish spread across the world like wildfire.
KO of the Year! 🔓
Go all angles on @NewMansa94's masterpiece 😳
[ #UFCFightIsland5 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] https://t.co/1ywVZzin5U
The video quickly became the most viewed UFC clip in the promotion’s history on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter, and ended up generating more than 65 million views.
However, while Buckley has been pushed quite heavily by the promotion since, he just hasn’t come close to replicating his famous knockout.
Sure, he has been able to finish two more opponents via knockout, but neither one was as flashy as his stoppage of Kasanganay, and he’s also lost on three occasions too.
Essentially, Buckley will probably have a long career with the UFC thanks to this single knockout, but right now, it seems unlikely that he’ll ever reproduce the hype he gained from it in the future.
#1. Holly Holm – former UFC bantamweight champion
Perhaps the best example of a fighter who became a UFC superstar on the basis of one single moment is Holly Holm.
Despite her big moment coming nearly a decade ago now, the former bantamweight queen is still greeted with huge reactions across the world, even if she’s never really come close to replicating it since.
‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ came into the UFC with plenty of hype in early 2015, but few fans were expecting her to turn out to be the kryptonite for then-bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, who looked unstoppable.
However, Holm proved to have the perfect style to counter Rousey’s, and in November 2015, she shut her lights out with a brutal head kick, ending her epic title reign in the process.
Never forget when @HollyHolm shocked the WORLD against Ronda Rousey 😱
Holm is back in action Saturday in our #UFCSanAntonio co-main event! https://t.co/24hQBRYD9H
‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ became a megastar overnight, with everyone expecting a rematch to be one of the biggest fights of all time.
That rematch never happened, though, as Holm lost her title to Miesha Tate just four months later, while Rousey fought once more and then retired at the end of 2016.
In the years that have followed, Holm has remained a star with the fans and has headlined or co-headlined multiple events, including pay-per-views.
However, she’s produced just one more finish in that time – a head kick knockout of Bethe Correia in 2017 – and has tended to put on dull fights for the most part.
While that kind of fare would usually sour the fans on a fighter, for Holm, it seems that no matter what she does, she’ll always be fondly remembered for her finish of Rousey. Essentially, her whole career has been built on that one moment.