5 obscure fighters who hold unbelievable wins over UFC champions

Dana White's Contender Series is always worth a watch for UFC fans looking for future talent. This week's edition, though, is even more intriguing.

This week's edition of DWCS will see Quemuel Ottoni in action. While few fans will have heard of him, he holds a pre-UFC win over current light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.

Ottoni is not the only largely obscure fighter to hold an unbelievable win over a UFC champ prior to their title reign, though. A look at the record of a number of champions will show an eyebrow-raising loss in their early days.

Here, then, are five obscure fighters who hold unbelievable wins over UFC champions.

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#5. Quemuel Ottoni - beat UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira

We begin with Brazil's Quemuel Ottoni, who is set to appear on this week's edition of Dana White's Contender Series. If Ottoni can beat Kody Steele, then a UFC contract will likely be his.

Right now, though, Ottoni's claim to fame is definitely his 2015 victory over current UFC light heavyweight kingpin Alex Pereira.

The fight took place in Brazil's Jungle Fight promotion and was actually Pereira's MMA debut, although 'Poatan' was already a well-established kickboxing star by then.

A top-class kickboxer losing their MMA debut to a slightly more experienced fighter wouldn't normally be too much of a surprise. However, a watch of Ottoni's fight against Pereira is actually a real eye-opener.

That's because a lot of the fight took place standing, and despite Pereira's fearsome reputation, Ottoni was able to absorb plenty of power shots from him and give a lot back, too.

The fight eventually ended in the third round, with an exhausted 'Poatan' having to tap out to a rear-naked choke after being dominated on the ground.

In the near-decade that has followed, Ottoni has not really beaten anyone else of note. He is riding a five-fight win streak into his DWCS appearance, though, meaning a win would likely see him arrive in the big show with plenty of hype.

Until that happens, though, the Brazilian will remain an obscure footnote on the record of an all-time great.

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#4. Jose Caceres - beat former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman

Alex Caceres is one of the UFC's longest-serving veterans, having been with the promotion since his appearance on TUF 12 way back in 2010. However, few fans might be aware that 'Bruce Leeroy' has an older brother, Jose, who also competes in MMA. Even more remarkably, he was the first man to ever defeat former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman inside the cage.

The fight took place back in 2013, just over two years before 'The Nigerian Nightmare' made his octagon debut, and it was Usman's second professional MMA fight.

Caceres, known as 'The Fresh Prince of Kendall', had more experience, with six fights under his belt. However, he was on a three-fight losing streak, meaning Usman would perhaps have been favored to overcome him.

Instead, he succumbed to a rear-naked choke inside the first round. Although only clips of the fight appear to be available online, Caceres was able to fend off a takedown and eventually take Usman's back standing before tapping him out.

While we all know what happened to 'The Nigerian Nightmare', who didn't lose any of his next 19 bouts and claimed welterweight gold in 2019, Caceres' journey has not been so smooth.

After his win over Usman, he suffered a loss to another future UFC star in Colby Covington, and he also fell to defeat against the likes of Niko Price and Uros Jurisic.

He last fought in 2021 and appears to now be retired after losing five of his last six bouts. Therefore, despite his big win over Usman, it's likely he'll always be in the shadow of his more famous brother.

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#3. Bojan Velickovic - beat former UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka

Even hardcore UFC fans might struggle to recall the octagon career of Bojan Velickovic. 'Serbian Steel' competed in the promotion from April 2016 to November 2017, and put together a record of 2-3-1 along the way.

His most notable bouts were losses to Darren Till and Jake Matthews, and he did show his toughness in that none of his defeats saw him stopped. Essentially, he was, to quote the 2011 MMA movie 'Warrior', memorably unmemorable.

Despite this, Velickovic does hold a surprisingly huge win on his extensive ledger, which now stands at 39 fights with 25 wins. In 2012, prior to either man appearing in the UFC, 'Serbian Steel' pulled off a TKO win over future light-heavyweight champ Jiri Prochazka.

The fight was Velickovic's eighth in MMA, while it stood as the fifth fight for 'BJP' after he'd beaten his first four opponents.

Clips of the fight are truly incredible, as they show 'Serbian Steel' taking Prochazka down before punching him from top position until he turns to his side, forcing a referee stoppage.

In fact, it's hard to believe that the Prochazka in this fight is the same one who cut a swathe through the UFC's top 205-pounders and still stands as one of the best in the world today.

Of course, it's safe to say that 'BJP' has improved a lot since the 2012 bout, but that doesn't mean Velickovic shouldn't be proud to be able to say that he beat a future world champion.

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#2. Joseph Duffy - beat former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor

The biggest UFC star of all time, Conor McGregor has lost a total of six fights during his storied MMA career, which dates back to 2008. However, while everyone recalls his legendary defeats to Nate Diaz, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier inside the octagon, 'The Notorious' came to the promotion with two losses already on his record.

Of the two defeats that McGregor suffered on the regional scene, the most notable definitely came at the hands of Joseph Duffy in November 2010.

Despite cutting 'Irish Joe' with an early combination, 'The Notorious' was quickly taken down. From there, Duffy needed just 38 seconds to apply an arm triangle choke and secure a submission win.

Everyone knows what happened to McGregor after the fight, but what of Duffy? After a brief break from MMA to pursue a boxing career, 'Irish Joe' arrived in the UFC in 2015 looking to follow in the footsteps of his former victim.

Unfortunately, despite winning his first two bouts in the octagon, it wasn't to be. Duffy saw his winning run snapped by Dustin Poirier and quickly faded back into obscurity, losing his last three fights before retiring in 2020.

'Irish Joe' is not as obscure as some of the other fighters on this list, but compared to the man who he defeated with ease in 2010, he's little more than a footnote in MMA history.

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#1. Garreth McLellan - beat UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis

While he doesn't always look like the most technically gifted fighter inside the octagon, nobody can argue with the success of current middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.

'Stillknocks' has won his first eight bouts in the octagon and finished all but one of his foes. He's beaten Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Robert Whittaker, and is currently seen as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet.

Remarkably, though, du Plessis does not boast an unbeaten MMA record overall. The South African does sport two losses on his 22-2 ledger, and one came back in 2014 at the hands of a surprising opponent.

That opponent was Garreth McLellan, who had his own run in the UFC from 2015 to 2017.

Their fight was for the EFC middleweight title and stood as McLellan's 14th professional bout, as well as his second title defense. Du Plessis, meanwhile, had only four bouts to his name.

It's easy to see that experience differential in the video of the fight, which shows McLellan largely dominating his younger foe on the ground before submitting him with a third round guillotine choke.

Fascinatingly, the win over du Plessis booked McLellan's ticket to the UFC. However, unlike 'Stillknocks', 'Soldier Boy' struggled in the big show.

He won just one of his five fights in the octagon, and suffered brutal TKO losses to Magnus Cedenblad and Paulo Costa. It's safe to say that history will not look as kindly on him as it will inevitably do on the man he defeated back in 2014.