5 UFC champions who won their titles in controversial circumstances

#2. Jon Jones – UFC light heavyweight title (2018)

Jon Jones' title win over Alexander Gustafsson was shrouded in controversy after a positive drug test.

There was certainly no controversy around Jon Jones’ first UFC light heavyweight title win back in 2011. Despite being just 23 at the time, ‘Bones’ shellacked then-champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to win the title and kickstart one of the greatest reigns in promotional history.

However, nearly a decade later, it’s safe to say Jones' second reign as champion began in much more questionable circumstances. That was despite the fact that like his first title win, his victory came with a violent TKO.

By that point, Jones had been stripped of the title on two occasions – once due to a suspension following a nasty hit-and-run incident outside of the octagon, and the other due to a positive drug test.

The second instance meant his second reign as champion never officially began. His 2017 title victory over Daniel Cormier was overturned and declared a No Contest.

However, a year later, Jones returned from suspension and set his eyes on the title he never really lost. At that point, Cormier had voluntarily given up the crown due to his heavyweight title victory. So the UFC put together a bout between ‘Bones’ and another of his old rivals – Alexander Gustafsson – for the vacant title.

Their bout was scheduled to headline UFC 232, which was booked to take place in Las Vegas. However, just days before the event, it was revealed that Jones had tested positive for a trace amount of turanibol – the same banned substance he had been caught using previously.

As the Nevada State Athletic Commission would no longer licence him, the logical solution would’ve been to remove Jones from the event altogether. However, the promotion decided against that. Instead, it moved the entire card to Inglewood, California, when that state’s athletic commission agreed to let ‘Bones’ fight.

Whether or not Jones was using a banned substance remains a point for debate. However, either way, he stopped Gustafsson to claim the title in the third round, ensuring that his new reign as champion would begin with more controversy.

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#1. Aljamain Sterling – UFC bantamweight title (2021)

Aljamain Sterling, in 2021, became the first fighter to win a title via disqualification.

While he didn’t do anything wrong per se, the UFC champion who undoubtedly won his title in the most controversial circumstances is reigning bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling. ‘The Funk Master’ remains the only UFC champion to win his title via disqualification.

Sterling earned his shot at then-champion Petr Yan by reeling off five wins in a row, ending with a massively impressive submission victory over Cory Sandhagen, who was, at the time, unbeaten in the octagon.

However, when it came to his fight with ‘No Mercy’, it’s safe to say that things weren’t going completely to plan for Sterling. ‘The Funk Master’ was hanging tough and arguably won the first round of the bout. However, as the fight went on, Yan’s violent striking began to overwhelm the American.

As the fight entered the fourth round, it looked like it would be Yan’s bout to lose – but while he eventually did land a knockout blow, it wasn’t in the way he intended.

‘No Mercy’ caught Sterling with a brutal knee to the face that switched out his lights. However, unfortunately for the Russian, ‘The Funk Master’ was on his knees at the time. The shot was clearly illegal, and with Sterling in no fit state to continue, the only option was to disqualify the champion.

In the year that has followed, Sterling has had to deal with plenty of fans labelling him a paper champion. That's a completely unfair criticism given that Yan was entirely to blame for the incident.

He has got a chance to put things right by beating the Russian in their rematch next month. However, Sterling will always be remembered as a champion whose title reign started under a remarkably controversial cloud.