Luck is a part of everyday life. Regardless of the business, regardless of the person, every one of us needs a little bit of luck in whatever task we may undertake. Our beloved sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) isn’t any different.
The outcomes of MMA fights are decided by luck as much as they are by hard work and skills. It takes a good combination of all these factors (skills, athleticism, luck, etc) in order to emerge victorious out of something as challenging as an MMA fight.
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The MMA fighters deserve every bit of adulation that they get, however, one can’t ignore the fact that a select few MMA fighters that reached the pinnacle of the sport; were aided just a bit more by their luck rather than their hard work and skills.
In the top MMA promotion as of today, the Ultimate fighting Championship (UFC), such stories of underdogs emerging as the kings and queens of their respective weight-classes are not unheard of. Now, our aim isn’t to discredit these UFC champions in any way but to merely highlight the fact that despite not being the top fighters at the time of their championship reigns, these UFC fighters have tasted gold.
A select few(un) lucky UFC champs have made our list:
#5 Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping is a former kick-boxer and the current UFC Middleweight (MW/185 pound) champion of the world. He has trained in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) since the age of eight. He has a solid kickboxing foundation, good grappling and a high-volume style of striking.
Bisping has been in several number-one contender match-ups in the history of the UFC MW division, against Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson and many others. Each time he was on the brink of a title shot, he’d get knocked down.
And each time he’d get knocked down, he‘d dust himself up and rise again. Bisping’s work ethic and heart are unquestionable. However, as is the case with several mid-tier fighters, Bisping’s skill-set has always been limited.
Now mind you, Bisping has a well-rounded MMA game. But the catch is that although his overall MMA game is balanced, he doesn’t excel at any one aspect of MMA. In spite of the fact that he is a former kickboxer, Bisping doesn’t pack much power in his strikes. In fact, he relies on his grappling and constant takedown attempts combined with a high-volume striking style, in order to outwork his opponents.
Bisping lost yet another number 1 contender fight against lanky MW star, Luke Rockhold. Rockhold beat Bisping by a one-armed guillotine that was preceded by a head-kick. Rockhold went on to win the UFC MW title, and then faced Bisping in his first title defence.
Bisping stepped in on 17 days notice to face Rockhold, after Rockhold’s original opponent Chris Weidman pulled out from the fight owing to an injury.
Bisping went on to knock down Rockhold with a huge left hook and followed up with another on a stunned Rockhold. ‘The Count’ went on to score an incredible first-round finish over an opponent that had dominated him just 18 months prior to their rematch.
And he did all of this at 37 years of age.
Now and here’s the catch; Bisping faced Dan ‘Hendo’ Henderson in a rematch from their UFC100 fight, in his first title defense. Henderson had knocked Bisping out cold in their first encounter and in their rematch at UFC 204, Hendo almost did it again.
In fact, the 46-year-old Hendo, went on to knock down Bisping twice in the rematch and almost finished him with follow-up strikes. Nevertheless, Bisping survived and barely outworked Hendo, thereby defending his MW strap for the first time.
Now with a future fight with either Yoel Romero or Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza for Bisping, he seems to be headed toward a world of trouble in 2017. If a past-his-prime 46-year-old Hendo can beat Bisping from pillar-to-post, imagine what ‘The Soldier of God’ or ‘Jacare’ would do to the current UFC MW champion.
Besides, Bisping is infamous for getting rocked even by mid-tier journeyman fighters, right from C.B. Dolloway to Denis Kang (yes, you heard it right, Dennis Kang!).
On that note, it’s safe to assume that the UFC MW strap will be changing hands in 2017, and if it doesn’t, don’t be surprised. Lady luck has a penchant for shining on the outspoken British champion.
#4 Miesha Tate
Miesha Tate is a former UFC Women’s Bantamweight (BW/135 pound) champion. She is a life-long wrestler and is known for her excellent grappling skills, her heart and tenacity. She is also widely criticized for her terrible stand-up skills and her habit of running into her opponent’s strikes face-first just like her arch-rival Ronda Rousey.
Tate has been rocked and dropped in several of her fights, right from her days as Strikeforce champion to her days inside the Octagon. After losing her Strikeforce belt to Rousey, Tate fought Cat Zingano, a fighter who is known for her Muay Thai (knees and elbows, in particular). Z
ingano has never been a great boxer. However, Tate still managed to run face-first into several punches thrown by Zingano in their three-round war. Despite having success at holding Zingano to the mat, Tate kept trying to exchange with the Muay Thai stylist on the feet, and eventually got battered by Zingano’s barrage of knees and elbows from the clinch.
Yet another example of Tate’s low fight-IQ is her rematch against Rousey. Tate had success at long-range against a rudimentary striker in Rousey, however, she kept shooting in for takedowns on a life-long judoka. It goes without saying that the judoka countered Tate and reversed many of Tate’s takedowns, going on to submit Tate in the third round.
Owing to her terrible stand-up skills and bad fight-IQ, Tate was seemingly destined to be an elite gatekeeper at best.
Tate then went on to face boxing-specialist Holly Holm at UFC 196. After getting thoroughly dominated on the feet, Tate caught Holm in a hail-Mary submission attempt in the waning moments of the final round of the fight.
Tate submitted Holm and won the UFC BW title. She went on to lose her title in her very first defence against Amanda Nunes and then also dropped a clear unanimous decision to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205.
Now, not to take anything away from ‘Cupcake’, but given her terrible striking and bad fight-IQ, it’s surprising that she tasted gold and at the tail-end of her career to say the least.
#3 Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks is a former UFC Welterweight (WW/170 pound) champion. Hendricks was primarily a grinding wrestler with a huge overhand left. He had a few good and bad showings in his career, and then came his controversial fight against Georges St. Pierre.
Hendricks lost that fight via a controversial decision, and the build-up to his fight against GSP was mired with accusations by GSP’s camp that Hendricks was on Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Furthermore, Hendricks’ disagreement to VADA drug increased fan speculation regarding his PED usage.
However, nothing has been proven as of yet against ‘Big Rigg’.
Hendricks went on to outpoint Robbie Lawler at UFC 171, and then dropped the belt to Lawler in their UFC 181 rematch. The loss to Lawler exposed a lot of flaws that several critics of Hendricks’ fighting style had always pointed out.
It exposed his lack of cardio and his boxing deficiencies among other things. Hendricks’ UFC career hit a downward stride thereafter, with him going 1-3 since his loss to Lawler. Hendricks’ fighting style of resorting to stalling tactics, on the ground as well as in the clinch, have earned him flak from a lot of his peers as well as MMA pundits and fans alike.
Besides, Hendricks is a fighter that has routinely struggled to make the WW limit of 170 pounds, especially after the UFC’s recent partnership with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the ban of IV-usage for post-weight-cut rehydration.
Considering the fact that ‘Big Rigg’ was able to bag gold in the shark tank that is the UFC WW division, it’s safe to say that luck played a huge part in Big Rigg’s brief reign as the king at 170 pounds.
#2 Tim Sylvia
Tim Sylvia is a former two-time UFC Heavyweight (HW/265 pound) champion. Sylvia is one of the rare fighters in MMA who made it to the pinnacle of the sport, in spite of not having a proper martial arts foundation.
Sylvia trained briefly in boxing and grappling in his youth, and jumped right into the MMA pro circuit using his size and athleticism to overwhelm his opponents. Throughout his MMA career, Sylvia never demonstrated development in his skill-set, and apart from a good usage of the jab in his third fight against Andrei Arlovski, he never really relied on skills inside the cage.
Sylvia first won the HW title at UFC 44 against Ricco Rodriguez but was stripped of it after his first title defence against Dan McGee. Sylvia tested positive for the PED Stanozolol after his fight against McGee, and was stripped of his title and suspended.
At UFC 59 Sylvia became a two-time HW champion after knocking out Arlovski in a back-and-forth brawl. Arlovski dropped Sylvia with an overhand right that had him on jelly-legs, and Sylvia started swinging at the air after miraculously getting up to his feet.
One of his wild punches connected on Arlovski and a few ground-and-pound shots later, Sylvia was a two-time UFC champ. Sylvia went on to lose the HW title to former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture and went on a terrible downward spiral that lasted until the end of his career.
Furthermore, Sylvia was also infamous as one of the most undisciplined athletes to have ever competed inside the Octagon.
Now, before anyone brings up the name ‘Brock Lesnar’, I’d like to point out that Lesnar was a NCAA Division 1 champion. Lesnar had a legitimate athletic background although he also dabbled into the world of pro-wrestling that is more entertainment-based with scripted outcomes.
On the other hand, Sylvia had no athletic background. Apart from a brief stint as a semi-professional Football player, Sylvia had no elite athletic credentials that’d help propel someone toward a UFC title. Considering this, the very fact that Sylvia won the UFC HW title not once but twice, is nothing short of a miracle.
With his terrible stand-up skills and limited grappling game, Sylvia plodded forward in the UFC HW division and bagged the HW crown two times. If that’s not luck, I don’t know what is.
Carla Esparza is the first UFC Strawweight (SW/115 pound) champion as well as the first Invicta FC SW champion. Esparza is a life-long wrestler and has built her entire MMA game around her wrestling and BJJ. That said, Esparza has terrible stand-up skills. Her striking technique, distance management and defensive mechanisms on the feet are extremely rudimentary.
Esparza won the inaugural SW season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) and was awarded the UFC SW title. She lost her UFC strap in her very first title defence against current UFC SW champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Jedrzejczyk dominated Esparza and beat her from pillar-to-post, handing Esparza a lesson in striking and a technical-knockout defeat in the process.
Esparza had done a decent job avoiding the stand-up exchanges in most of her previous fights, and the fighters that she had faced were either too inexperienced or fellow-grapplers who didn’t capitalise on Esparza’s rudimentary striking.
Esparza returned to the Octagon beating low-ranked UFC SW Juliana Lima by way of decision. Esparza is currently scheduled to face the up-and-coming Randa Markos at UFC’s February event in Halifax.
Esparza, unlike most other fighters on our list, is a smart fighter. However, like most others on our list, although she has a decent all-round MMA game, she doesn’t excel at any one avenue in particular. Besides at the time of her reign as the UFC SW champ (one fight, to be precise), the UFC SW division mainly consisted of grapplers such as Jessica Penne and Juliana Lima or then-inexperienced fighters such as Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres.
Considering the aforementioned factors, it isn’t all too surprising that the ‘Cookie Monster’ takes the cherry, or should I say cookie, of our list.
From one-dimensional grapplers to lazy fighters like the ‘Maine-iac’ Tim Sylvia, the Octagon has been witness to several MMA fighters that have held the throne in their respective weight-classes despite lacking the skill-set to do so. Nevertheless, these UFC champions did something that most mortals can only dream of, and that is stepping inside the Octagon and ascending to the throne. These champions can proudly claim that they were once ‘Kings’ and ‘Queens’ of the world’s top MMA promotion.
