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Like any combat sport, the pinnacle of UFC for fighters lies in the championship belts. The path to gold is what defines the careers of the baddest men and women on the planet.
There are champions who retire on top, like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Henry Cejudo. There are also those who lose their belt in a title defense. Such is the nature of mixed martial arts.
Losses are a big, defining part of an athlete's career, but not every fighter handles them well. Those who do, win our hearts and stay in our memories forever. Here's a list of 5 UFC champions who showed the world how to handle a loss well:
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5) GSP - Former 2 division UFC Champion
Georges St-Pierre is widely regarded as one of the best martial artists to ever grace the sport, not only because of his abilities inside the octagon, but also for his conduct outside of it.
GSP fought Matt Serra at UFC 69, where the 11-1 underdog Serra shocked the world with a TKO victory against the reigning welterweight champion St Pierre. In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, St Pierre made no excuses, simply stating that Serra beat him fair and square.
4) Dominick Cruz - Former UFC Bantamweight Champion
Dominick Cruz is easily one of the greatest bantamweights the sport has ever seen. Having fought his way through injuries time and again to come back and beat the best in the world, Cruz is the definition of perseverance.
He fought Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 where he not only lost his belt, but suffered his first loss in nearly 10 years. To say he took it like a champ would be an understatement. Dominick Cruz carried his championship mentality through the night, stating in the post-fight press conference that losing isn't tough, it's part of life.
3) Robert Whittaker - Former UFC Middleweight Champion
While his nickname may be 'The Reaper', Robert Whittaker is, without a doubt, one of the nicest guys in MMA. He was scheduled to fight Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight title defense at UFC 234, but was forced to pull out from the bout at the last minute owing to an injury.
What followed was a a fight for the ages between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya for the interim middleweight belt at UFC 236. Then, at UFC 243, in front of his home crowd in Melbourne, Robert Whittaker fought Israel Adesanya in a title unification bout. He lost via TKO in Round 2.
Bobby Knuckles took the loss with his chin up and made absolutely no excuses.
2) Max Holloway - Former UFC Featherweight Champion
Max 'Blessed' Holloway is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest featherweights to ever compete. He beat Jose Aldo, arguably the best featherweight the UFC has ever seen, in the Brazilian's own backyard of Rio de Janeiro to become the undisputed champion.
In Holloway's fourth title defense at UFC 245, he lost via unanimous decision to Alexander Volkanovski. While Holloway and a large number of MMA fans were disheartened, he continued to conquer hearts with his brilliant display of sportsmanship.
1) Israel Adesanya - Current UFC Middleweight Champion
This man has been called a 'hype train' repeatedly, even though he's always proven the naysayers wrong. In his most recent outing, the middleweight champion boldly moved up a weight class to challenge Jan Blachowicz for the light heavyweight belt.
Given his 20-0 record, Izzy went in to the fight as the betting favorite, but constantly said that he's approaching it as the underdog. The legendary Polish Power was not to be underestimated, after all. After a 5 round chess match, Jan Blachowicz won a convincing unanimous decision victory.
While Adesanya didn't look to be entirely in his element during the fight, he made no excuses whatsoever. Many naysayers were chuckling about his perfect 20-0 becoming 20-1 and calling for the beginning of the end to his 'hype train'.
Being the champion that he is, Adesanya took the "L" like an absolute boss and continued to win us over at the post-fight press conference.
