5 former UFC champions who could recapture a title in 2022

#2. Robert Whittaker - Former UFC middleweight champion

Whittaker lost his middleweight title in 2019

Robert Whittaker will face Israel Adesanya at UFC 271 on February 12. The fight will be a rematch after Adesanya won the belt from the Australian back in 2019. While Whittaker suffered a one-sided defeat that night, he has racked up three impressive wins since.

Whittaker only fought once in 2021, scoring a unanimous decision win over Kelvin Gastelum in April. This came off the back of wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier in 2020 that have seen 'The Reaper' re-establish himself as a true title contender.

Importantly, Robert Whittaker appears to have learned from his loss to 'The Last Stylebender'. Having been overly aggressive in the first fight, Whittaker has vowed to fight a more calculated fight this time around. Perhaps this adjustment will lead to 'The Reaper' once again holding gold in 2022.

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#1. Amanda Nunes - Former UFC women's bantamweight champion

Nunes lost the women's bantamweight title in 2021

Amanda Nunes shockingly lost her bantamweight title in December when she was submitted by Julianna Peña in the final pay-per-view of 2021. The fight was one of the biggest upsets in the promotion's history. Naturally, there is already plenty of speculation regarding how a rematch would go.

Nunes had looked untouchable for years and hadn't suffered a defeat since 2014 prior to the loss to Peña. If she is able to re-gain her form, she could give 'The Venezuelan Vixen' plenty of problems in the rematch that appears likely to take place.

One cannot rule out the chance that a rematch with Peña could follow a similar path to the first. However, given just how big a favorite Nunes was heading into UFC 269, it seems many will believe that Nunes's chances of regaining her gold will be high.