Five current UFC champions who live in the shadow of another fighter
Becoming a UFC champion should be the pinnacle for any fighter. Unfortunately, even reaching the very top doesn't always guarantee stardom. Right now, there are a handful of current UFC champions who, despite their status, still seem to live in the shadow of another fighter.
Sometimes this is because they're struggling to live up to the accomplishments of a predecessor. In other cases, they simply seem overwhelmed by the star power of a rival.
With this in mind, here are five current UFC champions who seem to live in the shadow of another fighter.
#5. Jon Jones - UFC heavyweight champion - in the shadow of Tom Aspinall
It seems highly controversial to suggest that a UFC champion considered 'undisputed' could live in the shadow of his own division's interim titleholder. It also seems crazy to suggest that Jon Jones, who is rated as one of the greatest fighters ever, could be in the shadow of anyone.
Unfortunately for 'Bones', that is the case. Since claiming the heavyweight title vacated by Francis Ngannou in March 2023, the former 205-pound champion has not stepped into the octagon again.
In the meantime, Tom Aspinall, who has won seven of his eight UFC bouts with his only loss coming via injury, has claimed the interim title by knocking out Sergei Pavlovich.
So how has Jones somehow ended up in Aspinall's shadow? Essentially, it's because of his - and Dana White's - refusal to move away from the plan to have him fight former champ Stipe Miocic next.
Miocic has not fought in well over three years and hasn't won a fight since 2020. He's the most accomplished heavyweight in octagon history, but he's also 41 years old now and realistically, does not warrant another title shot.
Because of Jones' insistence on taking this 'legacy fight' rather than a bout with the interim champ - and his suggestion that he'd rather fight Alex Pereira than Aspinall - he now finds himself in the shadow of the British fighter.
There's a simple solution to this, of course: 'Bones' must fight Aspinall soon to unify the titles. If he doesn't do this, he'll risk being labeled a ducker and a diver by many fans for the remainder of his career.
#4. Alexa Grasso - UFC flyweight champion - in the shadow of Valentina Shevchenko
March 2023 saw one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when Alexa Grasso was able to dethrone longtime flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in an epic four-round encounter.
Shevchenko had never lost a fight at 125 pounds before this, making seven successful defenses of her title. For 'The Bullet' to lose her crown to the Mexican seemed unthinkable.
Despite pulling off the seemingly impossible, though, it still feels like Grasso is in the shadow of her predecessor.
This is probably because September saw the two women face off in a rematch, which ended in a semi-controversial draw.
Shevchenko suggested that she should've been given the nod by the judges, hinting that the event taking place on Mexican Independence Day may have swayed their thinking towards Grasso.
Whether that was the case is honestly debatable, but many fans indeed believed 'The Bullet' did deserve the win.
When you add in Shevchenko's previous dominance, it's easy to see why Grasso appears to be living in the shadow of the Kyrgyzstani star.
With a trilogy bout tentatively scheduled for September, though, the Mexican has a chance to escape that shadow for good. She'll only do it, though, if she wins dominantly.
#3. Raquel Pennington - UFC bantamweight champion - in the shadow of Amanda Nunes
Earlier this year, Raquel Pennington became one of the most unlikely UFC champions of all time. 'Rocky' edged out Mayra Bueno Silva to become the new titleholder at 135 pounds, and extended her winning run to six fights.
Unfortunately for the veteran of 'TUF 18', Silva was not the incumbent champion in the division at the time of their fight. Instead, the bantamweight title was vacant following the retirement of the great Amanda Nunes in June 2023.
It's always tricky for a champion to step out of the shadow of their predecessor if they haven't beaten them, and that's the case here.
Not only was Nunes the dominant champion at 135 pounds, but she was widely considered the greatest female fighter of all time at the point that she hung up her gloves.
More importantly, 'The Lioness' didn't exactly look past her best, as she dominantly defeated Irene Aldana before walking away. Given that she also beat Pennington handily when they fought in 2018, it's hardly a surprise that 'Rocky' remains in the shadow of her rival.
It was telling when Kayla Harrison called out Nunes, rather than Pennington and a title shot, following her own UFC debut in April.
Can 'Rocky' do anything to step out of the large shadow left by Nunes? Unfortunately for her, it's doubtful, unless she can somehow persuade 'The Lioness' to return and can then beat her.
Given that neither thing is likely, the shadow of Nunes may remain cast over the bantamweight division for some time to come, regardless of who holds the title.
#2. Dricus du Plessis - UFC middleweight champion - in the shadow of Israel Adesanya
It's often understandable that a new champion could remain in the shadow of the fighter they defeated for their crown, particularly if that predecessor was a dominant titleholder.
However, it's rarer that a UFC champion could be overshadowed by a former champion from further in the past.
Unfortunately for current middleweight kingpin Dricus du Plessis, that feels like the case right now.
'Stillknocks' reached the top of the mountain earlier this year by dethroning Sean Strickland. However, despite their fight being a close one, it isn't 'Tarzan' who looms large over the division - it's Israel Adesanya.
'The Last Stylebender' lost the title to Strickland in late 2023, but the truth is that for a lot of fans, the native of New Zealand remains the poster boy at middleweight.
To those fans, Adesanya was simply caught by Strickland on an off-night and only missed out on an immediate rematch because he chose against pursuing it.
In their eyes, 'The Last Stylebender' now deserves a shot at du Plessis, and is likely to win when he gets it.
Whether that will happen remains to be seen. However, it's probably understandable that 'Stillknocks' would be somewhat overshadowed by Adesanya. After all, the latter's title reign was dominant and saw him become the biggest star at 185 pounds since Anderson Silva.
Adesanya's star power and skills inside the octagon would be hard for any fighter to overshadow - and the only way that du Plessis will be able to do that will be to beat him.
#1. Islam Makhachev - UFC lightweight champion - in the shadow of Khabib Nurmagomedov
Following his lightweight title defense over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 earlier this month, Islam Makhachev was hailed as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter by most fans.
Unfortunately, despite riding a 14-fight win streak dating back to 2016, Makhachev still feels like he's in the shadow of his mentor, former lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Comparisons between the two men were always going to be difficult to avoid. After all, Makhachev was seen as Khabib's protege during the active career of 'The Eagle', and like Nurmagomedov, Makhachev's primary arsenal comes from his grappling.
However, despite the current champ's accomplishments, Nurmagomedov still has two factors that set him apart. One is the fact that he retired with an unbeaten 29-0 record, and the other is his star power.
At the time of his retirement, 'The Eagle' had become one of the world's most recognizable athletes, partially due to his storied rivalry - and win over - Conor McGregor.
So can Makhachev do anything to overcome these factors and step out of his mentor's shadow? It is possible.
Sure, he can't erase his lone career loss, meaning he'll never retire unbeaten. However, if he can break Nurmagomedov's record of title defenses and stand-alone in UFC lightweight history, it'd be arguable that he would've eclipsed the accomplishments of 'The Eagle'. Interestingly, he needs just one more defense to do just that.
As for star power? That's harder to guess, but while he isn't there yet, the more he wins and the more he accomplishes, Makhachev's drawing power will only increase. Therefore, he could also match his mentor in that area at some point.
It won't be easy for Makhachev to step out of Khabib's shadow, but based on what we've seen before, if anyone can do it, he can.