5 UFC champions who were written off prior to their title wins

#4. Randy Couture – Former UFC heavyweight champion

Randy Couture's chances of beating Tim Sylvia at the age of 43 were firmly written off by many fans

When Randy Couture lost his UFC heavyweight title to Josh Barnett in early 2002, it was safe to say that many fans felt his MMA career was basically over. After all, ‘The Natural’ was hardly a spring chicken, having turned 38 years old the year prior.

However, Couture stunned everyone by going on another legendary run, this time at 205 pounds, winning the UFC light heavyweight title on two occasions and overcoming the likes of Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

Nobody expected Couture to continue competing into his 40’s, though, and so when he hung up his gloves following his second loss to Liddell in early 2006, it was a decision that seemed to make sense.

Incredibly, though, Couture’s retirement lasted little over a year, as early 2007 saw him announce a return in the form of a UFC heavyweight title bout with then-champ Tim Sylvia.

Sure, ‘The Maine-iac’ didn’t look like a completely unbeatable champion, but he was at least in his prime, while Couture hadn’t fought in over a year and was also pushing 44 years old. Therefore, for the most part, ‘The Natural’ was firmly written off.

Of course, that turned out to be a huge mistake. Couture stunned everyone by dropping Sylvia with a huge right hand in the opening seconds of the bout and then went onto dominate the champion in every facet of the game en route to a decision victory.

The victory remains one of the most memorable in UFC history and stands as a classic example of a challenger who defied the odds to pull off a victory after being written off.

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#3. B.J. Penn – Former UFC welterweight champion

BJ Penn was not given a chance against dominant welterweight champ Matt Hughes, but pulled off an upset anyway

Given that he’s widely considered the most talented lightweight in UFC history, it seems hard to believe that B.J. Penn would ever have been written off in a title bout, but that’s exactly what happened when he fought Matt Hughes for the welterweight title in 2004.

Not only was Hughes arguably the most dominant champion on the planet at the time, with a total of five successful title defenses to his name during his reign, but Penn had never fought at 170 pounds prior to the bout.

More to the point, ‘The Prodigy’ was hardly in the best form at the time, as he’d last been seen in the octagon in a disappointing draw against Caol Uno, a result that prevented the UFC from crowning a new lightweight champ following the departure of Jens Pulver.

Prior to the clash, Hughes played down Penn’s chances, essentially stating that he was too small to compete at 170 pounds and that he’d be overpowered and beaten down. However, that wasn’t the case at all.

‘The Prodigy’ surprised Hughes with an early takedown, and after stunning him with a big right hand on the ground, he advanced into a dominant position and ended up choking the champion out with seconds remaining in the opening round.

The result sent shockwaves through the entire MMA world, and while Penn never defended his title and fell to Hughes in a rematch just over two years later, he would never again be written off in a title fight.