Ronda Rousey and 4 UFC fighters who got title fights on their promotional debut
Every UFC fighter in the promotion dreams of the day Dana White wraps their division's undisputed title around their waist as they celebrate in victory. However, to become a champion, a fighter must first defeat either the reigning titleholder or a top contender for a vacant strap.
To do so, fighters must amass enough wins, generally in impressive fashion, to earn the highly coveted title shot. Some fighters, no matter how many consecutive wins they string together, never earn a crack at a championship. Belal Muhammad, a welterweight who is unbeaten in 10 fights, is yet to be given his title shot.
But for every Belal Muhammad, there is a fighter to whom the promotion is more than eager to award a title shot. In fact, some fighters have even been given title shots in their promotional debuts, due either to their perceived star power or a lack of compelling contenders.
#5. Tonya Evinger, UFC women's featherweight
For a long time, Cris Cyborg was regarded as the greatest women's fighter of all time. Unfortunately, she spent much of her late career feuding with Ronda Rousey. However, when she finally signed for the promotion in 2015, a featherweight division was needed, but there were few top women at 145 pounds.
Nevertheless, by 2017, the legendary Brazilian was scheduled to fight for the vacant women's featherweight title after Germaine de Randamie was stripped of the belt for refusing to defend it against Cyborg. With no other options, the promotion signed former Invicta featherweight champion Tonya Evinger.
Her debut fight in her new promotion would be for the women's featherweight title against Cris Cyborg. Despite surviving the first round, she was eventually defeated via third-round TKO in her lone title shot under the Zuffa banner.
#4. Joe Soto, former UFC bantamweight
Joe Soto was given the greatest opportunity of his career on the day of the weigh-ins at UFC 177. The event was scheduled to be headlined by T.J. Dillashaw and Renan Barão. The then Team Alpha Male star had dethroned the Brazilian in dominant fashion, setting up a rematch between the pair.
Unfortunately, Barão had a disastrous weight cut and was hospitalized. One day before the fight, the promotion acted swiftly. Joe Soto, who was set to make his promotional debut against Anthony Birchak, was the subject of a fight card reshuffle, as he was matched up against T.J. Dillashaw for bantamweight gold.
Soto, with less than a day to prepare and the grueling effects of a weight cut to recover from, would fight for the title on his promotional debut. He did somewhat better than anyone could have expected but was nevertheless TKO'd by Dillashaw in the fifth round.
#3. Frank Trigg, former UFC welterweight
Frank Trigg is probably better known to some MMA fans for his bizarre elevator brawl with Bruce Buffer, which did more to enhance the MMA announcer's image than anything else, as there is no exact account of who won. Despite the shenanigans, Trigg was once a highly regarded mixed martial artist.
After amassing a record of 10 wins and just one loss, Trigg signed with the UFC off the back of a three-fight win streak. He was immediately awarded a welterweight title shot against 170-pound legend Matt Hughes on his promotional debut. The two men took part in a grappling-heavy contest, but there was only one outcome.
Hughes prevailed after three minutes, submitting Trigg with a rear-naked choke to defend his title. Trigg fought for the welterweight title one more time but failed to capture it, and after his retirement, became a commentator and even a referee.
#2. José Aldo, former UFC featherweight/bantamweight
In the late 2000s, the premier MMA organization for the lower weight classes was the WEC. Thus, to maintain its position as the crown jewel of the sport, the UFC purchased WEC and absorbed its fighters into its roster. One of those fighters was José Aldo, who was the reigning WEC featherweight champion.
To simplify things, Aldo was promoted to the UFC featherweight champion, and on his first fight with the promotion, defended his newly minted strap Mark Hominick. The pair went to war in a Fight of the Night winner, with Aldo emerging victorious as the defending 145-pound champion.
He would go on to defend the title six more times, building an all-time great résumé, with his record of seven consecutive title defenses yet to be surpassed.
#1. Ronda Rousey, former UFC women's bantamweight
Dana White once made the infamous claim that women would never fight in the UFC. What possessed him to make such a claim in 2011, of all years, remains a mystery despite his attempts at explaining away his statement. Fortunately, a woman by the name of Ronda Rousey changed his mind.
An Olympic bronze medalist in Judo, the first American woman to medal in the sport, Ronda Rousey became an immediate success in MMA, winning the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title in only her fifth professional fight. However, around this time, the UFC had acquired Strikeforce, signing all of its fighters.
Rousey was among these fighters and she was promoted to the UFC women's bantamweight champion. On her first fight in the promotion, she took in Liz Carmouche, defending her newly claimed bantamweight crown via first-round armbar.