5 fighters who had a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC

Getting to the top of the UFC is difficult for any fighter, and downright impossible for most. That's why it's a surprise when some athletes rise up the mountain quickly.

Over the years, though, there have been numerous fighters who had a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC, often ending with them claiming gold in the octagon. Some of these fighters were champions in other organisations, while others simply caught the crest of a wave and couldn't be stopped.

Here are five fighters who enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC.

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#5. Brock Lesnar - former UFC heavyweight champion

One fighter who definitely enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC was Brock Lesnar.

After debuting in the octagon in February 2008, it took him just 10 months to claim the heavyweight title, positioning him as the promotion's new poster-boy in the process.

More incredibly, 'The Beast Incarnate' actually lost his octagon debut to Frank Mir, suffering a first-round submission via a kneebar.

However, after bouncing back with a one-sided beatdown of PRIDE veteran Heath Herring, Lesnar was granted a shot at veteran heavyweight champ Randy Couture. After shocking 'The Natural' with a power punch in round two, a new king was crowned.

Of course, Lesnar's meteoric rise to the top of the UFC should come with an asterisk of sorts. Any other heavyweight debuting and losing to Mir probably would've had to fight through numerous contenders to reach the top.

Lesnar, though, was already a former megastar with WWE, and had the kind of crossover appeal that nobody else in the promotion at the time could match.

He was always likely to receive a big promotional push, and in reality, his shot at Couture stemmed from 'The Natural' believing he could maximise a pay-per-view payout with the fight.

Couture probably also believed that his own legend would only be enhanced by slaying the beast - a theory that ended up being painfully incorrect.

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#4. Holly Holm - former UFC bantamweight champion

Another fighter who ended up claiming UFC gold less than a year after she'd made her octagon debut was Holly Holm.

'The Preacher's Daughter' was signed by the promotion after a stellar boxing career, and her slick striking had already allowed her to build a 7-0 record in MMA.

To be fair, Holm actually didn't impress all that much in her first two bouts on the big show. She edged out tight decisions against Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau, and hardly came off as a star.

However, with the UFC desperate for fresh foes for their bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who'd been dispatching her contenders in rapid fashion, Holm was fast-tracked to a title shot.

Nobody really gave her a chance of dethroning 'Rowdy', particularly because her ground game was so untested and Rousey's modus operandi was all about using her judo to hit a takedown and sink a submission.

Incredibly, though, a mix of Holm's underrated takedown defense and Rousey's bizarre willingness to trade on the feet led 'The Preacher's Daughter' to land a second-round head kick KO.

The shot instantly turned Holm into both the new champion and a superstar, and remains considered one of the UFC's greatest-ever upsets to this day.

While her title reign didn't last for long, 'The Preacher's Daughter' has remained a headlining act for the promotion ever since, and definitely enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top.

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#3. Cody Garbrandt - former UFC bantamweight champion

When bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt debuted in the UFC in early 2015 with a KO win over Marcus Brimage, it looked like his future would be bright.

Few fans, though, would've expected 'No Love' to enjoy a meteoric rise to the top that saw him claim the promotion's 135-pound title less than two years later.

The key to Garbrandt's rapid rise was seemingly his willingness to take fights - and win - in quick succession. After picking up one more win in 2015, he then took out three highly rated foes - Augusto Mendes, Thomas Almeida, and Takeya Mizugaki - in the first eight months of 2016, all via KO.

Despite these wins, it was still a bit of a shock to see him granted a shot at near-legendary bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz at the end of 2016. Fewer fans still gave 'No Love' a chance of dethroning 'The Dominator'.

Incredibly, though, Garbrandt proved everyone wrong by producing one of the greatest performances in UFC history, using his quick hands and footwork to pick Cruz apart for five rounds, even dropping him on multiple occasions.

At the age of 25, Garbrandt had reached the top of the mountain in meteoric fashion, and while his time at the top did not last, his climb remains hugely memorable.

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#2. Anderson Silva - former UFC middleweight champion

Unlike the other fighters on this list, Anderson Silva was a highly credentialed champion in smaller promotions before he made his UFC debut in 2006.

Still, the fact that 'The Spider' claimed gold in the octagon in just his second fight there, and then ended up holding the middleweight crown for the best part of seven years remains truly remarkable.

At the time he signed with the UFC, Silva was seen as a hugely talented, if mercurial fighter. He clearly had the ability to beat anyone, and had taken out top fighters in PRIDE and Cage Rage.

However, he'd also suffered some head-scratching defeats, too, and seemed too inconsistent to reach the very top.

That idea quickly changed, though. After slicing through Chris Leben in less than a minute in his promotional debut, he was offered a shot at 185-pound champ Rich Franklin, and destroyed him in equally devastating fashion.

In the space of just four months, 'The Spider' had gone from being considered a talented-but-flaky fighter to the world's best middleweight, and he never looked back.

Over a decade later, Silva is still renowned as one of the greatest fighters of all time, and his meteoric rise to the top of the UFC only contributed to that legend.

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#1. Alex Pereira - UFC light heavyweight champion

Over the years, only a handful of fighters have been able to claim two titles in different weight classes in the UFC, and usually, it takes these fighters a while.

For Alex Pereira, though, things worked out a little differently.

The legendary kickboxer only made his octagon debut in November 2021, but just over two years later, he claimed his second UFC title by stopping Jiri Prochazka to claim the vacant light heavyweight crown.

If he can defeat Jamahal Hill to retain his title next month, 'Poatan' will hold victories over five different former titleholders, and ought to be considered one of the greatest fighters of all time.

So how did the Brazilian achieve such an insane feat in such a short period of time? It's arguable that history and timing, as much as his own phenomenal skills, played their part.

Pereira came to the promotion in late 2021, and while his MMA record only stood at 3-1, his reputation from kickboxing was huge. Most notably, he held two victories over then-UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.

With 'The Last Stylebender' having pretty much cleared out his division, there was always a chance that 'Poatan' would be fast-tracked.

Sure enough, after three wins, he was given his shot at Adesanya and took it, stunning him in the fifth round via KO to become the new 185-pound titleholder.

Pereira's title reign didn't last too long, as Adesanya was able to avenge his three losses and reclaim his crown in their second octagon meeting.

After this, though, 'Poatan' moved up to 205 pounds, where he caught a stroke of luck.

He edged out former titleholder Jan Blachowicz in his first bout as a light heavyweight, and with then-champion Hill forced to vacate his crown due to an injury, was matched with Prochazka in a fight for the empty throne.

The rest, of course, is history, as Pereira's huge punching power crushed 'BJP' in the second round, making him a two-division titleholder.

Given that there are still a number of question marks around his overall skills, the achievements of 'Poatan' are truly remarkable. If he can keep going at this rate, though, he'll cement his own legend in the promotion, propelled by his meteoric rise.