5 UFC fighters who went from having impressive win streaks directly to being on losing streaks
In the UFC, few things are as impressive as lengthy win streaks. They often denote a fighter's talent and skill in comparison to their competition. Some even go on to challenge for and capture championship belts. Unfortunately, success isn't eternal unless you're Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones.
Fighters inevitably lose and are forced to rebound from the defeat that snapped their long stretch of consecutive wins by authoring a new one. This, though, isn't always in the cards. Some fighters, who were so used to winning, suddenly start losing and struggle to regain their form.
The promotion has seen plenty of fighters suffer this fate. While some eventually find their way back into the win column, others aren't as fortunate.
#5. Sergei Pavlovich, UFC heavyweight
In the wake of Francis Ngannou's bitter departure from the UFC, another hulking power-puncher emerged to fill the void. Sergei Pavlovich became the latest menacing Russian ready to terrorize a division in the promotion, and for some time he experienced exceptional success.
After a humbling TKO loss to Alistair Overeem on his promotional debut, he went on to rack up six straight wins, all by either knockout or TKO. Among the victims of his crushing power were notable heavyweights like Derrick Lewis, Tai Tuivasa, and Curtis Blaydes. The division had found its new monster.
However, after winning six consecutive fights, he was demolished by Tom Aspinall, who knocked him out within a minute of round one. Thereafter, Pavlovich faced his countryman Alexander Volkov, who butchered him across three rounds to leave him on a two-fight losing streak.
#4. Holly Holm, UFC women's bantamweight
Holly Holm entered the UFC as an undefeated prospect known for her legendary boxing career and thunderous left high kick. The plan was clear, she was being set up as an opponent for Ronda Rousey, and after two victories in the promotion, which left her with an overall record of 9-0, she was ready.
She took on the insurmountable challenge of defeating the then-invincible Ronda Rousey and passed with flying colors. For two rounds, she made 'Rowdy' look foolish and clueless, outstriking her with supreme ease and even out grappling her before knocking her out cold in round two to capture women's bantamweight gold.
Alas, this was not the start of the Holm era. She lost her championship in her first title defense to Miesha Tate, getting choked out for her troubles. Things only worsened from there, as she dropped back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Valentina Shevchenko and Germaine de Randamie.
While she eventually worked her way back into title contention, it was for naught, and Holm never regained her old form.
#3. Cody Garbrandt, UFC bantamweight
With Cody Garbrandt, Team Alpha Male had finally devised a solution to their Dominick Cruz problem. 'No Love' amassed an impressive undefeated record before blasting into the UFC with a five-fight win streak to earn a crack at Cruz's bantamweight belt.
Then 10-0, Garbrandt, for one night, was the greatest bantamweight who ever lived. He styled on Cruz, the divisional GOAT, dropping him twice and making him look slow and sluggish. In the end, he won the five-rounder to go 11-0 in a championship masterclass, enthroning himself as the bantamweight king.
His reign, however, was short-lived. Garbrant would lose his next three fights, suffering back-to-back stoppages against heated rival T.J. Dillashaw before getting TKO'd by Pedro Munhoz. He never truly recovered and remains in unranked territory with no future at the top of the sport.
#2. Tai Tuivasa, UFC heavyweight
Once regarded as the second coming of Mark Hunt, Tai Tuivasa has seriously fallen on hard times. At one point, he was undefeated, before suffering a trio of losses to Junior dos Santos, Blagoy Ivanov, and Serghei Spivac. Thereafter, 'Bam Bam' had to make a change, and he did.
He embarked on his finest-ever win streak, knocking out his next five opponents, including the reviled Greg Hardy and the always-entertaining Derrick Lewis. He was rewarded for his efforts with a heavyweight title eliminator against Ciryl Gane and would have gone on to face Jon Jones had he won.
For a moment, it seemed like he would after knocking Gane down. But his success didn't last. Gane butchered him for the rest of the fight, TKO'ing him in round three. Afterward, Tuivasa lost his next four fights, getting finished in all of them to go 0-5 since authoring his last win streak.
#1. Tony Ferguson, UFC lightweight
Years ago, Tony Ferguson struck fear in the hearts of nearly every lightweight on the roster. After a unanimous decision loss to the inconsistent Michael Johnson, 'El Cucuy' went on a tear for the ages. He viciously conquered his next 12 foes, slicing them open and bloodying them beyond recognition.
It seemed like almost every opponent of his had been in a car accident. There was no stopping him. After all, 12 of the best lightweights had tried and they failed. Along the way, Ferguson captured the division's interim title, but misfortune robbed him of a title unification with longtime rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
When the opportunity arose for him to fight for a second interim title, he took it and was given a life-altering beating by Justin Gaethje, who TKO'd him in round five after the referee had seen enough. Ferguson never recovered and never won again, losing his 8 consecutive fights since his win streak.