5 of the most disappointing debuts in UFC history

#2. Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch – UFC 149

Hector Lombard's UFC debut turned out to be a major disappointment

When the UFC signed Bellator MMA middleweight kingpin Hector Lombard to a contract in 2012, it was hard not to get excited. Simply put, at the time, no other fighter outside the promotion had quite as fearsome a reputation as the Cuban judoka.

Not only was Lombard on a ridiculous winning streak of 20 bouts, but he’d also finished the majority of his opponents with violent knockouts and hadn’t lost since 2006. On paper, at least, ‘Lightning’ should’ve been an instant contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight crown.

Despite the hype, the UFC decided to match Lombard with the largely unheralded Tim Boetsch in his octagon debut. To be fair, the idea did make sense. ‘The Barbarian’ was coming off an excellent win over Yushin Okami, but wasn’t expected to really test the Cuban.

Many fans felt that it was only a matter of time before Lombard landed a knockout blow.

Incredibly, though, he didn’t come close. Not only did ‘Lightning’ not really land anything major on his opponent, he looked painfully gunshy throughout the clash – nothing like the Lombard who’d been destroying people in Bellator.

In the end, the fight petered out and became painfully dull to watch, with Lombard coming out on the wrong end of a split decision loss.

Quite what caused him to perform so badly was anyone’s guess, but given his UFC career ended with six straight losses, it’s probably fair to call him one of the biggest busts in the promotion’s history.

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#1. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Lyoto Machida – UFC 79

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou completely disappointed the fans in his octagon debut

Despite only having a small amount of experience at the time, it’s safe to say that few fighters were signed to the UFC with as much hype as Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. ‘The African Assassin’ had exploded onto the PRIDE scene in early 2007, turning the lights out on both Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Ricardo Arona, and he looked like the hottest fighter in the sport.

When the UFC brought him in, then, signing him to face the unbeaten Lyoto Machida at the final event of the year, literally every MMA fan on the planet was excited. After what he’d done to Nogueira and Arona, two top 10-ranked fighters, how could they not be?

In hindsight, of course, there were clear red flags. Sokoudjou was just 4-1 at the time and nobody really knew anything about how he’d react to adversity. Even his ground game was a massive question mark.

Still, it felt like the majority of fans were expecting him to take out ‘The Dragon’ in a matter of seconds. When that didn’t happen, it was hard not to be disappointed. Worse still, ‘The African Assassin’ didn’t lay a glove on Machida, eventually succumbing to a second-round arm-triangle choke.

Other PRIDE alumni made equally poor debuts in the octagon, but few carried the same hype as Sokoudjou, who simply didn’t come close to living up to the reputation he brought with him.

Over a decade on, his debut remains one of the most disappointing in history.