The 5 worst title reigns in UFC history
This week I covered the best title reigns in UFC history – the ones that lasted seemingly forever, and saw the champion defend their title numerous times while becoming a bonafide Octagon legend. Now though, it’s time to look at the flipside of things.
Not all UFC title reigns go down as great ones – for various reasons, be it a lack of title defences, a strange beginning or ending to the reign, there have been plenty of terrible title reigns in UFC history too.
That doesn’t mean that the fighters who had such bad reigns are or were bad fighters – in fact, a couple of them could be considered amongst the all-time greats in UFC history. It’s just that their title reign didn’t go down as planned.
Here are the 5 worst title reigns in UFC history – with a few honourable mentions, too.
Honourable Mentions
Dave Menne – UFC Middleweight title – 09/28/2001 to 01/11/2002
The inaugural UFC Middleweight champion, Dave Menne beat Gil Castillo to become the king of the newly formed 185lbs division at the infamously bad UFC 33 show in 2001. It was a strong achievement, but realistically, Menne was never the best 185lber in the world – I’m not actually sure how he got the shot at the new title given he’d lost his previous fight to journeyman Hiromitsu Kanehara, in fact.
Despite all of his experience – a record of 31-7-2 after beating Castillo – it was clear that there were better 185lbers than Menne in the UFC, and it came as no surprise when he lost his title in his first defense against Brazilian Murilo Bustamante. Menne didn’t disgrace himself in his title reign, but it remains a weak footnote in UFC history.
BJ Penn – UFC Welterweight title – 01/31/2004 to 05/17/2004
Widely recognised as one of the most talented fighters in UFC history, BJ Penn pulled off a big-time upset when he moved up from 155lbs to choke out longtime Welterweight champ Matt Hughes at UFC 46 in early 2004. Unfortunately, rather than mark his own Hughes-like legacy, Penn chose to move to the Japanese K-1 promotion and fight in random weight classes – forcing the UFC to strip him of the title.
Penn’s move left him on the outside of the UFC looking in for well over a year, and was the inspiration for the UFC introducing the notorious ‘champion’s clause’ into their contracts – ensuring that a fighter could no longer jump ship to a rival promoter whilst holding a UFC title. But they were unable to stop Penn from moving – which means his title reign goes down as one of the worst ever.
Josh Barnett – UFC Heavyweight title – 03/22/2002 to 07/26/2002
When Josh Barnett defeated long-reigning champion Randy Couture at UFC 36 to become the UFC’s Heavyweight kingpin, it looked like the dawning of a new era. Barnett was just 25 years old, had just one loss to his name, and generally looked like perhaps the best fighter on the planet.
It wasn’t to be, though – ‘The Babyface Assassin’ failed a post-fight drug test for anabolic steroids and was subsequently stripped of his title. The failed test turned Barnett into a pariah in the MMA world, and rather than make a return to the Octagon, he moved to Japan, further muddying his reputation. While he successfully returned to the UFC in 2013, his controversial title reign remains probably the worst in Heavyweight history.