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Winning a UFC title is the dream of nearly every fighter who signs with the promotion. To be recognized as a champion in the world's top MMA organization, which effectively enthrones one as their division's best fighter, is something that most mixed martial artists aspire to.
And to become a champion, a fighter must beat one. Even if only a former titleholder, a win would surely catapult one closer to title contention. Yet, not every fighter who has beaten a UFC champion went on to capture a title for themselves. In fact, there are those who have beaten several champions but still fell short.
Whether they earned title shots for their exploits and failed or never managed to score a fight with their division's reigning champion, they still scored wins over those who are forever immortalized as undisputed titleholders.
#5. Paulo Costa, UFC middleweight
Paulo Costa may not be as good a fighter as he is made out to be. But at one point, the Brazilian was an undefeated fighter whose record was built off the backs of far lesser foes or declining fighters in the twilight of their careers. Among these opponents are former champions Johny Hendricks and Luke Rockhold.
Hendricks, a former welterweight champion, was used as a stepping stone for Costa. Having lost four of his last five fights at the time, Hendricks was hopeless and beaten so one-sidedly that he never looked like he belonged inside the octagon. Rockhold, however, was no better.
Despite being a former middleweight champion, he had lost three of his last four fights via knockout. He still managed to have a somewhat competitive fight with Costa but lost nonetheless. Yet, 'Borrachinha' himself has never been a champion, failing badly in his only title fight against Israel Adesanya.
#4. Yoel Romero, former UFC middleweight
One of the most terrifying but also overhyped forces in middleweight history, Yoel Romero has taken part in four title fights, two of which were for the interim strap, three of which he lost, and three of which he made himself ineligible to win the title for. Ironically, one of the latter three is the only title fight he has ever won.
Still, 'The Soldier of God' has managed to beat a total of three former champions, the first being former light heavyweight titleholder and karateka extraordinaire Lyoto Machida, who he knocked out brutally. Two fights later, he annihilated former middleweight titleholder Chris Weidman with a flying knee.
Again, two fights afterward, he faced another former middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, flattening him against the fence with a crushing knockout. Despite his wins, Romero always fell just short when it mattered most.
#3. Gegard Mousasi, former UFC middleweight
When conversations about the world's most skilled middleweight abound, Gegard Mousasi is often mentioned, albeit mistakenly. Nevertheless, the Dutchman has beaten his fair share of former champions. He first took on striking phenom and former light heavyweight champion Vítor Belfort.
Mousasi TKO'd Belfort in impressive fashion. Two fights afterward, he locked horns with former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, TKO'ing him with knees that the All-American had hoped would be declared illegal due to confusion over what is considered a grounded opponent.
After parting ways with the UFC, Mousasi found himself in Bellator, where he faced former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, to whom he had lost earlier in his career. This time, however, the Dutchman emerged victorious via split decision. However, he never won championship gold in the UFC.
#2. Alistair Overeem, former UFC heavyweight
Another world-renowned Dutchman, Alistair Overeem, is one of the few world champions to have captured titles nearly everywhere he went besides the UFC. But that never stopped him from beating the promotion's former champions. After all, he made his promotional debut with a TKO win over Brock Lesnar.
Three fights later, he defeated Frank Mir via unanimous decision, then had two wins over former heavyweight champions. That tally was increased to four wins over former heavyweight champions when he TKO'd both Junior dos Santos and Andrei Arlovski.
He then increased the number of ex-champions he had beaten to five by beating Fabrício Werdum in a rematch of a much earlier encounter. However, the Dutchman has actually beaten six former champions, as he also holds a win over former light heavyweight champion Vítor Belfort from his Strikeforce days.
#1. Nate Diaz, former UFC lightweight/welterweight
Legendary action fighter Nate Diaz fought once for an undisputed title. This was during his lightweight days when he crossed swords with Benson Henderson in what turned out to be a lopsided defeat. It remains his only crack at a UFC title. However, he still managed to score victories over former champions.
Back in early 2016, he famously scored an upset submission win over then-reigning featherweight champion Conor McGregor in a welterweight bout. His next win was over former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, with whom he had something of a feud.
Then, in his, thus far, last MMA fight, he faced former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who he submitted with a guillotine choke in a near-storybook-picture fashion.
