5 great UFC fighters who struggle to finish their opponents

UFC president Dana White often tells his fighters not to leave their fights in the hands of the judges. However, it’s easier said than done to finish an opponent inside the octagon.

Over the years we’ve seen a number of truly brilliant UFC fighters who, try as they might, simply weren’t all that great at finishing their foes off before the final buzzer.

Former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, for instance, came under constant criticism for his lack of finishes, despite being widely recognized as the greatest fighter of all time.

The promotion’s current roster also has a number of fighters who, like GSP before them, often struggle to finish their opponents despite displaying some excellent talent. Whether this will change in the future is hard to say, but for now, it seems that they cannot help but let the judges get involved in their fights.

Here are five current UFC fighters who struggle to finish their opponents.

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#5. Carla Esparza – UFC strawweight

Carla Esparza's recent finish of Yan Xiaonan was her first in the octagon since 2014

From what Dana White has said in recent weeks, it looks like Carla Esparza will face off against Rose Namajunas for the UFC strawweight title at some point in 2022. Given that she’s currently riding a five-fight winning streak, it’s hard to dispute the idea that ‘Cookie Monster’ deserves it.

However, for a lengthy time it looked like the promotion was going to avoid handing Esparza an opportunity to regain the title she lost back in 2015. The biggest reason for this was almost certainly the fact that during her career in the octagon, she has continually struggled to finish her opponents.

Sure, she actually picked up a TKO win in her most recent fight with the highly-rated Yan Xiaonan, earning her a $50k bonus in the process. However, incredibly, the win was her first finish since she choked out Namajunas to become the inaugural strawweight champion in 2014.

It’s definitely fair to say that since her title loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Esparza’s game has developed greatly. Once a one-dimensional grappler, she now possesses a formidable striking arsenal. However, this hasn’t helped ‘Cookie Monster’ improve her finishing abilities, as she’s gone the distance in victory on a total of seven occasions in the octagon.

Despite this, it’s clear that Esparza is a top-quality fighter. Her lack of finishes could well be explained by the fact that she’s essentially never fought anything but a high-level opponent inside the octagon.

Whether she can beat Namajunas for a second time is debatable, but given her usual form, it seems that there’s a high chance of the fight going the distance.

#4. Bobby Green – UFC lightweight

Bobby Green's fighting style has taken him to the final buzzer on multiple occasions in the octagon

When longtime veteran Bobby Green finished off Al Iaquinta via knockout last November, it’s safe to say that UFC fans across the world were left absolutely stunned.

The fact that ‘King’ was able to beat the highly-rated Iaquinta was a surprise in itself. However, the bigger shocker was the fact that Green was able to secure a finish. Incredibly, it was his first one inside the octagon since November 2013.

In the time between those two bouts, Green had fought on a total of 14 occasions. The only one of those fights that failed to go the distance was his 2016 knockout loss to Dustin Poirier.

Despite his lack of finishes, it’s safe to say that nobody could really label Green a dull fighter to watch. With an unorthodox boxing style and a powerful wrestling game, ‘King’ has put on a number of excellent fights over the years, including his wild draw with Lando Vannata and fun fights with Francisco Trinaldo and Clay Guida.

However, the Strikeforce veteran still clearly struggles to finish his opponents off, meaning that when his name appears on a UFC card, it’s always likely that at least one fight on the night will go the distance.

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#3. Katlyn Chookagian – UFC flyweight

Katlyn Chookagian has been a decision machine throughout her UFC career

While current UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is clearly head and shoulders above the rest of her division, there’s probably an argument to suggest that the second-best 125lber in the promotion is Katlyn Chookagian.

‘Blonde Fighter’ has won a total of eight bouts in the octagon as a flyweight, with her only clear-cut losses coming at the hands of Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade.

Along the way, she has defeated high-level opponents such as Joanne Calderwood, Jennifer Maia and Alexis Davis, largely outclassing them both on the feet and on the ground. However, the one skill ‘Blonde Fighter’ doesn’t seem to possess is the ability to finish her foes off.

Thus far into her tenure with the UFC, she’s failed to finish a single opponent, despite dominating a number of her fights.

In this instance, there’s an argument to suggest that even the step up in competition cannot be given as a reason for her lack of finishes. Even prior to arriving in the octagon, Chookagian had just three finishes to her name across seven bouts.

While her lack of finishing ability wasn’t enough to prevent her from earning a title shot in 2019, it seems that it may have caught up with her now. Despite riding a three-fight win streak, at the time of writing it’s up in the air whether the promotion will renew her contract, showing how much Dana White and company value a highlight reel.

#2. Arnold Allen – UFC featherweight

Despite an unbeaten UFC record, Arnold Allen's lack of finishes have left him under the radar somewhat

When the UFC were looking for a featherweight title challenger to replace the injured Max Holloway in his fight with champion Alexander Volkanovski earlier this month, a number of names were mooted.

Those names included the likes of Giga Chikadze, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett, as well as the man who was eventually awarded the shot, Chan Sung Jung.

Curiously, one name that wasn’t mentioned was Arnold Allen, despite the native of England holding a UFC record of 8-0. Why was this? The only reason that stands out would appear to be Allen’s apparent lack of finishing ability.

‘Almighty’ debuted in the UFC back in 2015 with a submission win over Alan Omer. Since then, he’s picked up just one more finish, a come-from-behind choke win over Mads Burnell in 2018. All of his other six victories have gone the distance.

To be fair to Allen, he’s hardly had the easiest opponents to take out, particularly in recent fights. His last three victories have come over Sodiq Yusuff, Nik Lentz and Gilbert Melendez, who have 88 fights between them and have only been finished on seven occasions.

However, cynics would probably suggest that the reason ‘Almighty’ tends to go the distance in the octagon is the fact that he trains at Canada’s Tri-Star Gym, the same camp that produced Georges St-Pierre.

Either way, if he wants to really push into title contention in 2022, a couple of highlight-reel finishes would do Allen the world of good, especially if he can take out Dan Hooker in his next bout in March.

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#1. Leon Edwards – UFC welterweight

Leon Edwards has not picked up a finish in the octagon since 2018

Usually, any fighter who goes on an extremely lengthy winning streak, particularly in one of the UFC’s most loaded divisions, is rewarded with a title shot without much hassle. However, that hasn’t been the case for welterweight Leon Edwards.

Incredibly, ‘Rocky’ has suffered just one defeat since the start of 2015 and that came at the hands of current welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman on his way up the ladder. Outside of that, the native of Birmingham, England has defeated a total of 11 foes, including nine in a row – ignoring his nocontest with Belal Muhammad.

However, while it now looks like he’ll be granted his shot at gold this year, it seems highly likely that the reason he’s been overlooked on multiple occasions is his lack of finishes in the octagon.

‘Rocky’ has picked up just two finishes during his current nine-fight win streak, a submission of Albert Tumenov in 2016 and a TKO of Peter Sobotta in 2018 – and even that finish was achieved with just one second remaining in the final round.

It’s hard to deny Edwards has phenomenal skills when it comes to fight time. Not only is he a fantastic striker, but he’s also a highly underrated grappler with a massively improved ground game. If anything, he may well be the toughest test that Usman will face during his title reign.

However, when his rivals, the likes of Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns, are capable of explosive finishes, even if they might not be as skilled as ‘Rocky’, it’s easy to understand why he’s been so overlooked by Dana White and company at times.