5 fighters who pushed a UFC champion to the limit but still came up short

Winning a title in the UFC is often the most difficult thing a fighter can attempt to do, largely because the promotion’s champions tend to be almost impossible to beat.

Obviously titles do change hands. However, some of the UFC’s champions over the years have been remarkably dominant, meaning challengers have come close to beating them only to come up short.

On a couple of occasions, these challengers were able to secure a rematch and sometimes they even ended up winning the title. Other times, however, they ended up slipping backwards in the queue instead.

Here are five fighters who pushed a UFC champion to their limit, but still came up short.

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#5. Alexander Volkanovski vs. Islam Makhachev – UFC lightweight title (2023)

Alexander Volkanovski pushed Islam Makhachev like no other, but still couldn't overcome him

The latest example of a fighter who pushed a dominant champion to their limit is reigning UFC featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski.

‘Alexander the Great’ stepped up to 155 pounds to challenge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in a superfight. The Australian was naturally hoping to become a simultaneous double titleholder.

In the end, though, Volkanovski came up just about short, despite pushing Makhachev harder than arguably any other fighter had done in the Dagestani’s octagon career.

Makhachev was able to secure some of his trademark takedowns, but only managed a total of four across the five-round bout. And while he did control Volkanovski for lengthy periods during the first and fourth rounds, the other stanzas saw him fending off striking attacks from his smaller foe.

In fact, ‘Alexander the Great’ outlanded Makhachev on the feet, scoring 164 strikes to his opponent’s 95. Had he been able to fend off the takedowns a little more effectively, he may have won.

As it is, he’ll have to pride himself in the knowledge that he pushed Makhachev to his limit, and will be hopeful of going one step further at some point in the future.

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#4. Taila Santos vs. Valentina Shevchenko – UFC flyweight title (2022)

Nobody expected Taila Santos to push Valentina Shevchenko as hard as she did

When Taila Santos was given a shot at UFC flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko in 2022, to say few fans were giving her a chance would be an understatement.

Shevchenko had previously reeled off six successful defenses of her title, dominating the likes of Jessica Andrade, Katlyn Chookagian and Jessica Eye. Santos, meanwhile, was riding a four-fight win streak but had never shown anything that suggested she stood a chance against ‘Bullet’.

However, when it came to fight time, the Brazilian showed that she was far better than anyone was giving her credit for. She took the fight to the champion in the first round and took her back, coming close with a rear-naked choke attempt that stunned observers.

That opening stanza set the tone for the bout, as Santos grounded Shevchenko again in the second and third rounds, giving her a seemingly unassailable lead on the scorecards.

‘Bullet’, though, fired back in the fourth and fifth rounds, hurting the challenger with strikes and ending up in top position on the ground.

She couldn’t finish her challenger off, though, and when the bout went to the judges, it felt like a new champion was about to be crowned. The judges, though, saw things the other way and awarded ‘Bullet’ a controversial split decision.

While it probably wasn’t much of a consolation, though, Santos had pushed Shevchenko to her limits, more than any other fighter at 125 pounds had done before. She should probably feel aggrieved, in fact, that she wasn’t given an instant rematch.

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#3. Johny Hendricks vs. Georges St-Pierre – UFC welterweight title (2013)

On another day, Johny Hendricks would've defeated the great Georges St-Pierre

By the time he defended his UFC welterweight title against Johny Hendricks in late 2013, Georges St-Pierre was already widely seen as a living legend of sorts.

‘GSP’ had defended his title on a record-setting eight occasions and had been incredibly dominant over tough foes like B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz.

However, the heavy-handed Hendricks, who had scored big knockouts over Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch, wasn’t willing to lie down for the Canadian. Instead, he pushed him to his limits like no other.

From the opening round, it was ‘Bigg Rigg’ who was scoring the heavier blows on the feet, busting St-Pierre open. He landed some strong takedowns, too, which was a rarity against ‘GSP’.

Despite St-Pierre doing well in the third round, he found himself on the wrong end of some heavy ground-and-pound in the fourth, and it felt like Hendricks was on his way to a win.

‘Bigg Rigg’ seemed overconfident coming into the fifth round, though, and a gutsy St-Pierre was able to finally take the fight to his foe, grounding him late on.

The final stanza was enough to put doubt in the judges’ minds, and with the first round also close, the strong finish meant St-Pierre was declared the winner, narrowly holding onto his title.

Nobody had pushed him quite like Hendricks had, though, and it came as no surprise to see the Canadian vacate his title and walk away after the fight for some well-earned recovery time. He would not fight for another four years.

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#2. Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jon Jones – UFC light heavyweight title (2013)

Alexander Gustafsson took the fight to Jon Jones like nobody had done before in their first bout

Jon Jones was well into his second year as UFC light heavyweight champion when he was matched with Alexander Gustafsson in late 2013.

Given that ‘Bones’ had dominated challengers like Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, few were giving Gustafsson a chance, even if he was considered a worthy challenger.

However, in a back-and-forth fight, ‘The Mauler’ turned out to be more than a match for the champion. His long reach allowed him to beat Jones to the punch on multiple occasions, and at one stage, he even took him down.

By the time the fourth round began to tick away, it seemed like Jones’ title reign was about to end. He’d clearly lost two of the previous three rounds, and he seemed to be losing that one, too.

Showing the true heart of a champion, though, he swung the pendulum back into his favor by cracking Gustafsson with a spinning elbow that hurt him badly. Jones couldn’t finish the Swede, but suddenly, the momentum was his.

Gustafsson kept coming in the fifth, but by that point, ‘The Mauler’ looked spent, and by the narrowest of margins, he ended up losing a decision.

Still, the fact that he’d pushed Jones to his limits, becoming the first fighter to do so, turned Gustafsson into a star in his own right, a status he still enjoys to an extent to this day.

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#1. Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva – UFC middleweight title (2010)

Chael Sonnen snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against his rival Anderson Silva

Probably the greatest example of a fighter who pushed a UFC champion to their limit only to fall short at the last is Chael Sonnen.

‘The American Gangster’ famously challenged Anderson Silva for his UFC middleweight crown in the summer of 2010. He talked a crazy amount of trash, promising to do what nobody had done before in the octagon and find a way to overcome ‘The Spider’.

Nobody really bought into what he was saying, feeling he was simply ranting to build the fight up. After all, nothing he’d done previously gave any indication that he could dethrone the Brazilian.

Remarkably, though, Sonnen lived up to every word he’d said when the two finally met in the octagon.

Not only did he take Silva down with ease, but he battered him on the ground with punches and elbows and even got the better of him standing.

As the fight ticked away, observers around the world began to accept that the unthinkable was about to happen, and that Silva was finally going to lose his title. Incredibly, though, with just under two minutes to go, the Brazilian rolled the dice one last time and threw up a triangle choke.

Suddenly, Sonnen was in trouble, and before he had a chance to react, the hold was locked in and ‘The American Gangster’ had to tap out.

Essentially, the challenger had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, after pushing Silva like nobody had done before. He made a major name for himself in the process, of course, but it would’ve been far better for him had he held on and actually won the title.