5 most unlikely champions in UFC history
This weekend sees UFC 263 go down at Glendale, Arizona. In the main event, Marvin Vettori will hope to upset UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya to claim gold.
If Marvin Vettori wins at UFC 263, he will arguably become one of the most unlikely champions in UFC history, but who else would rank up there with him? Over the years, the UFC has seen several unlikely champions, but the following five fighters stand above the rest:
#1 Michael Bisping (UFC middleweight champion)
Michael Bisping was certainly a great fighter, but it’s difficult to dispute the idea that 'The Count' was also one of the UFC’s most unlikely champions.
When Bisping, initially competing as a light-heavyweight, dropped to the UFC middleweight division in 2008, it seemed as if he was destined to forever be the bridesmaid and never the bride.
'The Count' was a perennial top-ten contender in the UFC middleweight division, but every time he came close to securing a title shot, it seemed as if he would fall at the final hurdle.
After nearly a decade inside the UFC, Bisping seemed a million miles away from the title. At the start of 2016, the UK native was 37 years old and had begun to look past his prime. But Bisping picked up a win over former UFC champion Anderson Silva to open the year.
When Chris Weidman picked up an injury, Bisping found himself thrust into a late-notice fight with UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who had defeated Bisping in 2014.
Nobody expected Bisping to pull off a win, but in one of the UFC’s biggest upsets, 'The Count' somehow managed to knock Rockhold out in the first round, finally reaching the top of the mountain in the process.
Bisping would make one successful defense of his title before losing to Georges St-Pierre in 2017. Nevertheless, he remains one of the unlikeliest champions in UFC history.
#2 Rafael dos Anjos (UFC lightweight champion)
Rafael dos Anjos made his UFC debut way back in 2008. While he picked up some solid wins in his earlier years, defeating fighters like Terry Etim and George Sotiropoulos, he also endured enough losses to keep his name out of contention for the UFC lightweight title.
However, dos Anjos continued to plug away, and by mid-2012, he hooked up with famed coach Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA. Suddenly, the Brazilian’s striking and wrestling improved dramatically and began to catch up with his already stellar submission game.
From there, dos Anjos quietly put together a strong winning streak, defeating six opponents while only losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
But when he was matched with former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson in the summer of 2014, nobody could’ve predicted he’d knock the former champion out. But he did exactly that, becoming the first man to do so.
That was enough to earn RDA a shot at UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. While Showtime was heavily favored, dos Anjos once again shocked the world by dismantling Pettis in a one-sided fight to claim the title.
It was a classic example of a fighter improving steadily over the years and never giving up on his dream, making dos Anjos one of the UFC’s most unlikely champions.
#3 Matt Serra (UFC welterweight champion)
Despite winning the UFC welterweight title well over a decade ago, Matt Serra probably still stands as the promotion’s most unlikely champion. Once considered one of the lightweight division’s brightest prospects, by 2006, Serra was widely recognized as a journeyman fighter.
A renowned grappler with a less than stellar striking game, 'The Terror' sported a spotty UFC record of 4-4 as he entered the fourth season of 'The Ultimate Fighter'.
A UFC title shot was promised to the winner. When Serra outpointed Chris Lytle to claim the welterweight bracket, nobody expected him to stand a chance against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
The Canadian had been destroying every fighter put in front of him, including former champion Matt Hughes. But in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, Serra caught GSP with a series of heavy punches in the first round and finished him off moments later.
Although 'The Terror' was unable to make a defense of his title – losing to St-Pierre in a rematch a year later – the fact that he even won it in the first place was a miracle of sorts.
#4 Robbie Lawler (UFC welterweight champion)
When legendary UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre decided to step away from MMA and vacate his title in 2013, everyone wondered who would step up to fill the void left behind.
Very few UFC fans would’ve predicted the man to do it would be Robbie Lawler, an exciting brawler who never really came close to UFC gold in his first tenure with the promotion.
Lawler fought in the octagon from 2002 to 2004, winning four fights and losing three. When he left the UFC, he settled into a role as a journeyman of sorts.
2013 saw Lawler return to the UFC, but despite picking up a win over Josh Koscheck, it was expected that he’d be a reliable action fighter and little else. However, that perception changed when 'Ruthless' Robbie outpointed high-level contender Rory MacDonald at UFC 167.
The win put Lawler in line for a shot at the title vacated by GSP. Although Lawler fell to Johny Hendricks in his first attempt at winning it, he got right back into contention and then took the title from Hendricks at UFC 181.
Not only did the title win make Lawler one of the UFC’s unlikeliest champions, but it also completed a stunning turnaround in a career that had previously been meandering. That once again proved that in MMA, it’s never a good idea to give up on a fighter with high-level potential.
#5 Dave Menne (UFC middleweight champion)
The UFC’s inaugural middleweight champion, Dave Menne, has largely been forgotten by UFC fans today. However, it’s fair to say that he should also be considered one of the UFC’s unlikeliest titleholders.
How Menne even claimed a title shot is a bit of a mystery two decades on.
Sure, he had some good wins to his name considering the time period – Pele Landi-Jons and Carlos Newton, for example – but his record of 30-7-2 wasn’t the best.
More to the point, just seven months before his UFC title fight, he had lost to PRIDE jobber Hiromitsu Kanehara via TKO. Regardless, at UFC 33, Menne was handed a shot at another unlikely title contender, Gil Castillo, who was making his UFC debut.
After a pretty tough five rounds, it was Menne who had his hand raised, becoming the UFC’s first-ever middleweight champion. Unfortunately for Menne, his title win would be his final one in the UFC, as he was unseated in his first defense by Murilo Bustamante. Dave Menne then went on to lose his next three fights in the octagon.
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