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

#2. Matt Serra – Former UFC welterweight champion

Matt Serra's title win against Georges St-Pierre remains one of the biggest upsets in UFC history

It’s probably safe to say that when Matt Serra was basically written off by everyone prior to his UFC welterweight title, it was hardly a surprise. After all, while ‘The Terror’ was always recognized as a solid fighter, there were a number of things counting against him.

Firstly, most of his best wins inside the octagon had come at 155 pounds. Against the majority of fighters at 170 pounds, he seemed undersized. More importantly, he hadn’t really earned a title shot, as he’d gained it by winning TUF 4’s welterweight tournament rather than by knocking off top contenders.

Reigning champion Georges St-Pierre, meanwhile, was coming off a dominant knockout win over legendary former champion Matt Hughes and had already mauled the likes of Frank Trigg and B.J. Penn beforehand.

The idea of Serra somehow toppling the Canadian seemed fanciful, but when it came to fight time, the stars aligned perfectly for the challenger.

He stunned GSP in the early going with an overhand right to the temple, wrecking his equilibrium. From there, he refused to let up, knocking the champion all over the octagon until he could take no more punishment.

The victory immediately shot to the top of the list of the biggest upsets in UFC history, and well over a decade later, it remains there, standing as a prime example of why no fighter should be written off entirely in a title bout.

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#1. Michael Bisping – Former UFC middleweight champion

Michael Bisping's earlier loss to Luke Rockhold meant that he was firmly written off prior to their rematch

It’s probably fair to say that the title challenger who was written off the most by fans and observers prior to claiming UFC gold was Michael Bisping, one of the most unlikely champions in the promotion’s history.

Given what led up to his title shot, which came at UFC 199 in the summer of 2016, it’s still easy to understand why ‘The Count’ was literally given zero shot of winning the middleweight crown in his battle with then-champion Luke Rockhold.

Firstly, Bisping was not supposed to be in the fight in the first place. The title shot was all set to go to Chris Weidman, only for ‘The All-American’ to be forced out on around three weeks’ notice due to injury. That resulted in ‘The Count’ stepping in with little preparation time.

Secondly, when Bisping had fought Rockhold previously, just over eighteen months prior, he’d been well beaten, having been dropped with a head kick before being submitted via a mounted guillotine choke.

Therefore, nobody could really see past another Rockhold win, but unfortunately, Rockhold himself clearly couldn’t either.

He didn’t appear to be taking Bisping seriously and in the early part of the first round, made the error of dropping his hands. That was all that it took for ‘The Count’ to capitalize. He nailed the champion with a pair of brutal left hooks that knocked him completely senseless.

Remarkably, despite being thoroughly written off, Bisping had achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a UFC champion – it had just come in a way that neither he nor the fans could possibly have imagined.