5 most memorable short notice wins in MMA history

#2. Reinier de Ridder becomes a double champ on less than a week's notice

Over in Asia's biggest fight organization, ONE Championship, we've seen the rise of one of the best MMA fighters today, 'The Dutch Knight' Reinier de Ridder. The undefeated grappling phenom is the only double champ in any major MMA organization right now. After his dominant dismantling of Kiamrian Abbasov at ONE: Full Circle, de Ridder might be on the verge of becoming MMA's first-ever triple champ.

Before he became champ-champ and the modern-day legend that he is now, de Ridder did something more difficult than winning a second belt. He did it on less than a week's notice. Who he did it to also makes the feat even more incredible.

'The Dutch Knight' beat arguably the face of the organization at the time, then-double champ Aung La N Sang. After taking the Burmese MMA legend's middleweight belt, de Ridder snatched the man's second belt just a few months later.

After Aung La's original challenger, Vitaly Bigdash, tested positive for COVID-19, de Ridder came in at the last minute. With most people still seeing his first win as a fluke, de Ridder silenced all critics in one of the most lopsided wins over a champion ever.

Watch de Ridder's 5-round decimation of Aung La here:

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#1. "I'm not surprised, motherf****rs"

These might be the greatest words ever said in a post-fight interview. What makes these words so iconic is the fact that they came after the greatest short-notice win in MMA history. Without a doubt, no one's achieved a career glow-up in winning a fight on short notice quite like Nate Diaz. In March 2016, Diaz shocked the world by demolishing the biggest star the sport has ever seen, Conor McGregor.

McGregor was basically an MMA god in 2016 after starching the dominant featherweight champion Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to win the belt. 'The Notorious' had his sights set on then-lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, with the aspiration of becoming a double champ.

With just 11 days left before the fight, dos Anjos had to withdraw due to a foot injury. The UFC then had to turn to the man who initially called out McGregor in a now-infamous post-fight call out:

The lead-up to the bout, despite having just 11 days, was one of the most entertaining and iconic in MMA history. Pretty much everyone was expecting the 19-2 featherweight champion to steamroll the 18-10 Stockton native. Instead, we saw Diaz submitting the gassed out McGregor in the second round of a crazy, bloody, back-and-forth classic. After the win, Diaz became a household name and one of the biggest pay-per-view draws the sport has ever seen.