5 UFC titleholders who could not really be considered undisputed champions
As the biggest MMA promotion in the world, the UFC always bills its champions as being ‘undisputed’. Sometimes, however, that isn’t necessarily the case.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of UFC champions who, despite winning their titles cleanly, could not really be considered undisputed.
Interestingly, the latest of these champions is about to be crowned in March when Ciryl Gane and Jon Jones face off for the vacant heavyweight title, with former titleholder Francis Ngannou no longer in the promotion.
Either way, while some of these five UFC champions went onto become genuinely great, none could really claim to be undisputed.
#5. Jamahal Hill – UFC light heavyweight champion
The latest entry to this list is current light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill, who claimed his title by defeating former champion Glover Teixeira last month in a dominant showing.
‘Sweet Dreams’ looked brilliant in the fight and could well have stopped a less gritty opponent. Quite how Teixeira survived five rounds is anyone’s guess.
#UFC283Jamahal Hill was full of emotions after becoming a UFC champ 👏 #UFC283 https://t.co/T2Czr3YAKj
However, it’s still a little disingenuous to call Hill an “undisputed” champion.
‘Sweet Dreams’ did not defeat the last true undisputed champion, although it’s hard to fault him for that. Jiri Prochazka was forced to vacate his crown after suffering a severe shoulder injury and he’s not expected back for some time yet.
More to the point, though, Hill essentially jumped the queue in the rankings, being given his title shot while not actually sitting in the light heavyweight division’s top five.
He was on an impressive run, but the truth is that he only received his shot because Dana White didn’t like the title fight between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, which ended in a draw.
Hill could turn out to be a dominant champion in time, and if he beats Prochazka and either Ankalaev or Blachowicz, it’d be impossible not to consider him undisputed. For now, though, it’s difficult to label him that.
#4. Matt Hughes – former UFC welterweight champion
Prior to the rise of Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes was generally considered the greatest welterweight in UFC history.
Hughes had two reigns as welterweight champion and produced an impressive seven successful title defenses during that time. However, when his second reign as titleholder began in October 2004, it certainly wasn’t possible to label him an undisputed champion.
Hughes had actually lost his title in January that year, suffering a huge upset defeat at the hands of former lightweight B.J. Penn, who choked him out in the first round.
Jan31.2004
BJ Penn moves up to the Welterweight division & ends Matt Hughes' reign of dominance,
to become the new UFC Welterweight Champion https://t.co/OvaJCnmxBN
After the fight, though, ‘The Prodigy’ decided to depart the promotion for Japan’s K-1 organization, forcing Dana White and company to vacate the title in the process.
Hughes ended up defeating a largely raw St-Pierre to reclaim the gold. Given that Penn was still active elsewhere, though, it was hard to view him as the best 170lber on the planet any more, let alone the undisputed champion.
Thankfully for the promotion, the fans didn’t seem to mind. That was even the case when Penn returned a year later and brought the title belt he never lost with him.
Months later, Hughes defeated ‘The Prodigy’ to avenge his loss and could once again call himself undisputed champion, with no asterisk this time.
#3. B.J. Penn – former UFC lightweight champion
B.J. Penn’s welterweight title win over Matt Hughes in 2004 ensured that Hughes could not be considered a true undisputed champion when he regained the then-vacant gold without beating ‘The Prodigy’.
Remarkably, though, just four years later, the Hawaiian found himself in a very similar situation, albeit with the lightweight title instead of the welterweight one.
Penn shellacked Joe Stevenson to claim gold at 155 pounds at the start of 2008. The UFC were quick to bill him as the division’s undisputed champion.
Jan19.2008
10 years ago today,
BJ Penn submitted Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to become the UFC Lightweight Champion. https://t.co/s1Mq4MxB3N
However, that wasn’t entirely true. Stevenson had not held the title when Penn beat him; it was instead vacant thanks to some controversy around previous champ Sean Sherk.
‘The Muscle Shark’ was stripped of his title due to a positive drug test, but question marks over the validity of the test ensued when Sherk challenged the findings and had his suspension reduced from a year to six months.
Essentially, had the UFC simply held off on making the decision to strip him, Sherk could well have come back and carried on as if nothing had happened.
Either way, when ‘The Muscle Shark’ did return, Penn’s title instantly became disputed. Thankfully, though, everyone ended up winning here.
The promotion quickly booked a fight between Penn and Sherk. Due to the controversial feud between the two, it became one of the biggest of 2008. ‘The Prodigy’ ended up winning, erasing any doubt over his status as champion once and for all.
#2. Kevin Randleman – former UFC heavyweight champion
The issue of UFC champions being unable to truly call themselves undisputed dates back far beyond the modern era. In fact, it’s arguable that the first non-undisputed champion in the promotion’s history was heavyweight titleholder Bas Rutten.
He claimed the gold in 1999 by defeating top contender Kevin Randleman rather than champion Randy Couture, who departed the promotion after failing to come to terms with them on a new contract.
However, if Rutten was never an undisputed champion, that feeling became even more magnified when Randleman claimed the gold.
‘The Monster’ didn’t even avenge his loss to Rutten as the Dutchman retired and vacated his title after suffering a litany of injuries. Instead, he was left to defeat Pete Williams, who, realistically, wasn’t even the division’s top contender at the time.
Kevin Randleman defeats Pete Williams and becomes the UFC heavyweight champion at Ultimate Japan 2.
Kevin finally got what he arguably earned at UFC 20 against Bas Rutten. And Pete Williams was no slouch. Kevin was just that good.
#UFC23 https://t.co/MlBQLOH6YE
Randleman was declared undisputed champion, but naturally, the presence of Couture, who was still active, ensured that wasn’t really the case.
Things eventually came to a head in 2000, when ‘The Natural’ returned to the promotion and was instantly matched with Randleman.
Couture ended up winning their fight by TKO to regain the title he never lost. While Randleman is now remembered as a UFC legend, he’s also one of the more disputed champions in the promotion’s history.
#1. Daniel Cormier – former UFC light heavyweight champion
Daniel Cormier is undoubtedly a UFC legend. One of just four fighters to hold two titles in different weight classes simultaneously, ‘DC was quite rightfully entered into the promotion’s Hall of Fame in 2022.
However, while nobody could argue with his reign as heavyweight champion from 2018 to 2019, it was hard to ever consider him the true undisputed light heavyweight champion.
Unfortunately for Cormier, this was down to one man – his most bitter rival, Jon Jones.
Cormier first moved to 205 pounds in 2014. After picking up two impressive wins, he was handed a shot at then-light heavyweight kingpin Jones. However, when the two men met in the headliner of UFC 182, ‘Bones’ won pretty handily.
Just months later, though, Jones found himself in legal hot water after a nasty hit-and-run incident. With Dana White and company concerned for his wellbeing, he was stripped of his title and suspended.
Cormier ended up winning the vacant title by submitting Anthony Johnson. However, despite following that up by defeating Alexander Gustafsson, it was hard to consider him undisputed champion.
That feeling was only magnified when Jones returned in 2016, claiming an interim title before a positive drug test forced him out of a possible unification bout with ‘DC’.
When that fight did happen, Jones won again, this time by knockout, leaving no doubt who was the better fighter.
Aug 5, 2014: DC - "Don't think you're going to kick me in the head with your left leg"
#UFC214: Jones TKOs DC 😮🔮 https://t.co/lUqd7aKtJR
Incredibly, though, while Cormier was still licking his wounds after the defeat, it was announced that ‘Bones’ had failed another drug test.
That negated the result of the fight, turning it into a no contest and meaning Cormier was handed his title back. Despite that, given he’d lost so badly to Jones, it was still hard to consider him undisputed champion.
This one is a difficult case to discuss because it will always feel a little unfair to Cormier to look at his two title reigns as being disputed. But the fact is that Jones – drugs or no drugs – had his number. In turn, it was tricky to ever consider ‘DC’ the best 205lber on the planet.