5 fighters who starred in the WEC but struggled in the UFC

#3 Steve Cantwell

Steve Cantwell (left) lost 5 straight fights in the UFC

The case of Steve Cantwell is definitely one of the more bizarre when it comes to fighters who succeeded in the WEC but struggled in the UFC. ‘The Robot’ was signed by the WEC after just 3 professional fights, and after losing to Brian Stann in his promotional debut, he bounced back by defeating his next two opponents.

As the WEC’s 205lbs division was so thin, that was enough for him to earn a Light-Heavyweight title shot in a rematch with Stann, who had won the title in early 2008, and this time Cantwell came out on top, knocking ‘The All-American’ out in the first round to claim the gold. As 2008 came to an end, it was announced that the WEC’s Light-Heavyweight division would be folded into the UFC, and at the age of just 22, Cantwell appeared to be a prospect to watch.

His first Octagon appearance went well, as he broke the arm of fellow debutant Razak Al-Hassan to claim his first UFC victory, but from there, things went wildly wrong. A tough loss to fellow prospect Luiz Cane was followed by a defeat at the hands of Stann in a rubber match, and from there, an unknown health problem kept him out for almost two years.

In 2011 he returned, only to lose three fights in a row – dropping decisions to Cyrille Diabate, Mike Massenzio and Riki Fukuda – and that was enough for the UFC to cut him from the roster.

Since going 1-5 in the promotion, Cantwell has never fought again. The truth is that he was perhaps too raw and inexperienced to be facing UFC-level competition at that point in his career, but even so, it was still disappointing to see such a good prospect completely crash and burn.