5 of the worst title challengers in UFC history

#3 Joe Soto

Joe Soto unexpectedly challenged for the Bantamweight crown in 2014

Since Zuffa’s takeover of the UFC in 2001 – discounting inaugural title fights in new divisions - only 3 fighters have ever debuted in the UFC in a title match. One was understandable – StrikeForce champion Gilbert Melendez challenged for the UFC Lightweight title in his debut and came up slightly short – while another, Frank Trigg, was given his shot due to the general dearth in talent at the time and went on to prove his worth as a top fighter in the Welterweight division.

The third, however, turned out to essentially be a solid journeyman at best, and he remains one of the strangest UFC title challengers of all time. His name? Joe Soto. Signed by the UFC in mid-2014, Soto had put together a solid record of 15-2, and even held Bellator’s Bantamweight title in 2009. But he’d been signed to fight on the undercard of UFC 177 against Anthony Birchak, not for the UFC title.

That was exactly what happened, though. Renan Barao – who was scheduled to fight TJ Dillashaw in a rematch for the title – ended up knocking himself out during his weight cut, and had to withdraw on the day before the event. And so Soto was given the shot in his UFC debut, essentially because he was slightly more qualified than Birchak, and the two men were the only other Bantamweights on the card.

To be fair, Soto didn’t put up a bad fight – he lasted until the 5th round when Dillashaw knocked him out with a head kick – but the fact that he went 3-4 in the UFC after the fight and lost his next two – including a knockout to his initial opponent Birchak – suggests he should never have gotten as far as a title shot in the first place. He was simply in the right place at the right time.