5 UFC fighters who sat out and waited for a title shot – and what happened next
With the so-called ‘legacy fight’ between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic looming large over the heavyweight division, the concept of sitting out for a UFC title shot is a hot topic right now.
Over the years, we’ve seen that sitting out and waiting for a title shot can be very risky business for any UFC fighter.
Often, sitting out runs the risk of being leapfrogged by a rival, or simply ending up too rusty when the title bout comes around. Despite this, it still seems to be a regular occurrence of sorts.
Here are five UFC fighters who sat out and waited for a title shot – and what happened next.
#5. Colby Covington – UFC welterweight contender (2023)
The most recent example of a fighter who sat out for a lengthy period in order to wait for their promised title shot is Colby Covington.
‘Chaos’ was out of action for well over a year leading up to his welterweight title bout with Leon Edwards this weekend, and it felt like the only reason he wasn’t leapfrogged was his high standing with UFC brass.
Covington’s last fight prior to his shot saw him outpoint bitter rival Jorge Masvidal in March 2022, and that win represented his first victory in nearly a year.
However, ‘Chaos’ clearly believed he was deserving of an opportunity to become champion. To the surprise of some, Dana White also acquiesced to this after Covington stood as the backup for Edwards’ title rematch with Kamaru Usman earlier this year.
In hindsight, though, taking so much time away from the octagon was a major error from the former interim champ.
He looked slow and rusty, and didn’t really lay a glove on Edwards, who picked him apart for five rounds, seemingly not needing to fully extend himself.
It’s likely that ‘Chaos’ will not receive another title shot for the foreseeable future, meaning he’ll probably live to regret his lengthy period of waiting on the shelf.
#4. Paulo Costa – UFC middleweight contender (2020)
Few fighters burst onto the UFC scene with as much hype as Paulo Costa did in 2017. The hard-hitting Brazilian smashed his first three opponents to extend his MMA record to 11-0, and after dispatching Uriah Hall in 2018, it was clear he was a legitimate title threat.
When he then edged out former title challenger Yoel Romero in a classic brawl in August 2019, ‘The Eraser’ found himself positioned as the top contender for the middleweight crown then held by Robert Whittaker.
Whittaker duly lost his title to Israel Adesanya a couple of months later, but despite Costa and ‘The Last Stylebender’ having a nasty rivalry already, the title fight was not put together right away.
‘The Eraser’ was supposedly struggling with a bicep injury, and did not want to meet the UFC’s date of March 2020 for his shot, which instead went to Romero.
Adesanya ended up beating ‘Soldier of God’ in a disappointing bout, but with the COVID-19 pandemic then writing off most of the year for the promotion, Costa’s title shot was put back again.
Eventually, he took his shot in September 2020, some 13 months after his last fight. Despite looking confident, the Brazilian’s more straightforward striking simply couldn’t match up to Adesanya’s, and he fell to a second-round TKO.
Whether being on the shelf for less time would’ve helped his chances against ‘The Last Stylebender’ is debatable, but regardless, Costa is a fine example of a fighter who probably suffered for a long layoff.
#3. Nick Diaz – UFC welterweight contender (2013)
When Nick Diaz returned to the UFC in 2011 after a lengthy period away from the promotion, everyone wanted to see him involved in one fight – a title bout with welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre.
‘GSP’ had beaten all comers since reclaiming the title in 2008, and Diaz was positioned as the one man who might stand a chance of beating him.
Sure enough, after beating B.J. Penn in his big return fight, Diaz’s title shot was set.
However, when St-Pierre ripped his knee up in training, that fight turned into an interim title bout with Carlos Condit, and the Stockton native suffered a semi-controversial decision loss.
Realistically, Diaz should probably have looked to bounce back from the loss by beating another highly rated 170lber. Instead, he banked on his popularity being enough for the UFC to give him a shot at ‘GSP’ anyway.
Therefore, the former Strikeforce champ simply sat out and waited for things to play out, all while taunting St-Pierre from the sidelines.
When the Canadian defeated Condit, then, Diaz slid right back into the top contender’s spot, despite being out of action for over a year and despite the presence of the surging Johny Hendricks, too.
Unfortunately, when it came to fight time, the Californian’s gamble just didn’t pay off.
Looking rusty and not at his best, Diaz couldn’t get anything going against ‘GSP’, who eased his way to a unanimous decision win. Staying true to form, Diaz has only fought twice in the decade that has followed.
#2. Vitor Belfort – former UFC light heavyweight champion (2015)
One unique example of a fighter who sat out for a lengthy period while waiting for a UFC title shot is Brazilian legend Vitor Belfort.
In this instance, Belfort’s absence wasn’t exactly his own choice, as the story of his eventual middleweight title clash with Chris Weidman had a number of twists and turns.
A trio of knockout wins in 2013 positioned ‘The Phenom’ as not only the top contender to Weidman’s title, but also as the hottest fighter in the world at 185 pounds. Essentially, Belfort looked unstoppable.
However, it soon came to light that his red-hot form was at least partially driven in controversial fashion, by testosterone replacement therapy. When this practice was banned in early 2014, Belfort’s planned title shot was immediately cancelled, and the Brazilian essentially vanished for a period.
His return was eventually announced later that year, but injuries to Weidman saw the title bout postponed twice, with Belfort steadfastly refusing any replacement opponents and choosing to wait for his shot at ‘The All-American’.
Eventually, the two men squared off in May 2015, 18 months after Belfort’s last fight. With his physique no longer looking as enhanced as it once had, ‘The Phenom’ stunned Weidman with punches in the early going, but couldn’t keep up his pace, and succumbed to a first round TKO.
His TRT trump card now gone, Belfort was essentially never the same again, and he won just two of his last six bouts before retiring in 2018.
#1. Leon Edwards – UFC welterweight champion (2022)
Of all the fighters who chose to sit out and wait for their shot at a UFC title, only one can really be said to have succeeded. That fighter is reigning welterweight champ Leon Edwards.
In the case of ‘Rocky’, the decision to sit out and wait was not only risky from the point of view of ring rust, but also because he almost certainly could’ve been leapfrogged had circumstances been slightly different.
After all, the native of Birmingham, England had to put together a run of 10 bouts across a six-year period before he finally received his shot – something nearly unheard of in the promotion’s history.
Edwards first rose into contention in 2019, when he defeated highly ranked contender and former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos. That win moved him into a top contender’s bout with former titleholder Tyron Woodley, which was set for early 2020.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, though, that bout was scrapped, and ‘Rocky’ found himself stuck on the sidelines. When an intended clash with the surging Khamzat Chimaev in December 2020 also fell apart, Edwards returned in early 2021, only to go to a No Contest with Belal Muhammad due to an errant eye poke.
Still waiting for his title shot, Edwards then edged out popular veteran Nate Diaz in the summer of 2021 in an instant classic.
With champ Kamaru Usman tied up with Colby Covington, though, ‘Rocky’ once again found himself on the outside looking in, particularly when a potential fight with Jorge Masvidal failed to materialize.
Eventually, banking on his lengthy unbeaten run being enough, Edwards simply waited for the Usman fight to come to fruition, which it did in August 2022 – well over a year after the Diaz bout.
It looked like an impossible challenge for ‘Rocky’, but as everyone knows, he produced one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history to knock ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ out in the fifth round to claim the gold.
Therefore, Leon Edwards stands as an outlier here, in the sense that waiting a long time for his shot actually paid off.