5 UFC champions who lost their mojo after they lost their title feat. Israel Adesanya and Anthony Pettis

In the world of the UFC, winning a title is incredibly difficult. However, bouncing back after losing that title is almost even trickier again.

Over the years, we've seen a number of UFC champions who looked to be at the top of their game, only to lose their mojo after losing their title.

Often, these champions were never quite the same again, and never did regain that fire they had before and during their title reigns.

Here are five UFC champions who lost their mojo after they lost their title.

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#5. Israel Adesanya - former UFC middleweight champion

Perhaps it's a little premature to include former two-time UFC middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya on this list.

After all, it isn't yet two years since he lost his title to Sean Strickland, and he's only fought once since, suffering a defeat to Dricus du Plessis in a title challenge in 2024.

Indeed, we'll probably know a lot more about the status and the future of 'The Last Stylebender' after his bout with Nassourdine Imavov this weekend. Remarkably, the fight will be Adesanya's first non-title bout in six years.

The signs, though, are frankly alarming. In many ways, it looked like 'The Last Stylebender' lost his mojo after regaining his title from bitter rival Alex Pereira in 2023.

Adesanya was phenomenal in that fight, landing one of the best combinations in UFC history to down 'Poatan'.

However, he looked tired, jaded and out of gas entirely in what sounded like a routine defense against Strickland. And while he showed the odd flash of his old self against du Plessis, he still slumped to defeat and appeared to consider retirement afterwards.

So what's gone wrong for this brilliant fighter? It could well be that after years of sitting at the top of the mountain, he simply got tired in the last eighteen months.

However, one thing is for certain: unless he performs better against Imavov this weekend, it'll be hard for him to ever regain that mojo he once had.

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#4. Miesha Tate - former UFC bantamweight champion

Few fighters had to go on as lengthy an odyssey to a UFC title as former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate.

For years, it felt like 'Cupcake' would remain in the shadows of her great rival Ronda Rousey, who submitted her twice, most notably in their UFC title bout in late 2013.

However, when Rousey lost her title unexpectedly to Holly Holm in late 2015, it offered Tate a surprising opportunity.

'Cupcake' snatched it with both hands, and in an epic fight, choked Holm out to claim the title she'd so long desired.

Unfortunately, in her very first defense, Tate was absolutely destroyed by Amanda Nunes. While Nunes would go onto be recognized as the greatest female fighter of all time, in 2016, her win over 'Cupcake' was a major upset.

Most fans expected Tate to bounce back from the loss, but instead, the opposite happened. 'Cupcake' had entirely lost her mojo following the defeat, and slumped to a disappointing loss to Raquel Pennington just four months later.

Clearly recognizing the fire had gone out, Tate retired after the bout, and would not return for five years. While 'Cupcake' remains one of the best female fighters of all time, she's also a perfect example of someone who lost their mojo after her title was gone.

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#3. Johny Hendricks - former UFC welterweight champion

Few fighters in UFC history suffered as dramatic a drop-off in form after losing their title as former welterweight king Johny Hendricks. Quite what happened to 'Bigg Rigg' remains debatable almost a decade on.

Marked as a blue-chip prospect from his WEC days, Hendricks climbed the ladder in the UFC quickly. He was unfortunate not to defeat the legendary Georges St-Pierre in his first title fight in 2013.

'Bigg Rigg' recovered, though, and claimed the vacant title just months later in a wild fight with Robbie Lawler. However, injuries kept him out following his win, and when he returned, Lawler defeated him in a rematch.

Bizarrely, Hendricks would only win once more as a welterweight in his octagon career.

He returned to bounce back with a solid win over Matt Brown, but didn't quite seem his old, explosive self. When he was forced out of a planned bout with Tyron Woodley due to a weight-cutting issue, then, his fire appeared gone forever.

Hendricks returned in 2016 and was knocked out by Stephen Thompson, and ended up losing two more fights that year, looking jaded in both. Eventually, he lost two of his next three bouts before retiring in 2018.

So what went wrong for 'Bigg Rigg'? In all honesty, it's debatable, with the most believable theory being that the promotion's ban on using an IV to rehydrate made his weight cuts too sapping.

Regardless, though, Hendricks stands as an example of a champion who never recovered from the loss of their title.

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#2. Tyron Woodley - former UFC welterweight champion

It seems crazy now, but back in 2018, when Tyron Woodley dismantled Darren Till to make the fourth successful defense of his welterweight title, there was talk of him pushing for Georges St-Pierre's UFC record of nine successful defenses.

Sure, 'The Chosen One' wasn't always exciting to watch, but he was hugely effective, with heavy hands and an excellent wrestling game to back it up.

Unfortunately, Woodley ran into a horrible stylistic match in early 2019 in the form of Kamaru Usman. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was basically a better version of Woodley, and duly shellacked him to claim the title.

Most fans expected 'The Chosen One' to bounce back. After all, Usman was a fighter who'd been destroying everyone he faced.

Instead, though, Woodley went on an utter career slump. Unable to regain his form, he lost three more fights in a row, falling to Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington, and Vicente Luque before departing the UFC in 2021.

Since then, he's gone onto two embarrassing losses to YouTube star Jake Paul in the boxing ring. While his active fighting career looked all but done, he's among many veterans who recently signed with the Global Fight League (GFL).

In this case, it's arguable that Woodley's mojo went as he aged. During his title reign, it was easy to forget that he was actually in his mid-30's, and so it may have been the case that his post-Usman slump simply coincided with the end of his athletic prime.

Still, it was no less alarming to see him slide down the ladder so rapidly.

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#1. Anthony Pettis - former UFC lightweight champion

When Anthony Pettis submitted Benson Henderson to claim the lightweight title in 2013, it felt like the dawn of an exciting new era for the UFC at 155 pounds.

After years of Frankie Edgar and Henderson dominating the division with fights that tended to go the distance, 'Showtime' was a breath of fresh air. A consummate finisher both standing and on the ground and full of charisma, it's easy to see why Dana White and company viewed him as a potential poster-boy.

However, after a brilliant title defense against Gilbert Melendez, Pettis was well beaten by Rafael dos Anjos in a surprisingly jaded showing.

Many fans suspected that 'Showtime' had just had an off-night, but that turned out to be very wrong.

Instead, Pettis lost his next two fights, suffering a defeat to a grappler in Eddie Alvarez and a kickboxer in Edson Barboza. Somehow, it looked like the magic had gone entirely.

'Showtime' stuck around in the UFC for another four years, but despite the odd flash of his old self - his superman punch knockout of Stephen Thompson, for instance - he just wasn't the same fighter that he was during his climb to the top.

Given that there was no explanation for it - Pettis never failed a drug test, he wasn't ageing, and he didn't suddenly face trickier foes - he remains the prime example of a champion who lost his mojo after losing his title.