5 UFC fighters who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat

#4. Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald – UFC 115

Carlos Condit snatched a win from the brink of defeat against Rory MacDonald.

Carlos Condit’s fight with Rory MacDonald at UFC 115 didn’t feature a sudden comeback. However, it definitely stands as an example of a fighter snatching a victory from the jaws of defeat. The welterweight bout also remains memorable for featuring one of the best coaching pep talks in UFC history too, making it a worthy entry on this list.

Despite having far less experience than Condit, MacDonald, who was just 20 at the time, took down ‘The Natural Born Killer’ consistently, neutralizing his opponent’s offense.

He did eat some hard shots. However, he appeared to be on his way to victory when the second round ended with MacDonald knocking Condit down with a front kick to the body.

Nevertheless, between rounds, Condit’s chief cornerman Greg Jackson decided to attempt to fire his charge up. He screamed into Condit’s face that the next round was ‘five minutes of war’, and to win, he needed to ‘punish the kid’.

Incredibly, Jackson’s words clearly had an effect on ‘The Natural Born Killer’. After blocking a takedown, he managed to get on top of MacDonald, beginning to unleash hell in the form of a steady diet of nasty elbows to the face.

Moments later, it became clear that MacDonald was beginning to wilt. Despite clearly becoming tired, with just seconds remaining on the clock, Condit was able to increase the punishment until referee Kevin Dornan stepped in.

This was undoubtedly one of the UFC’s greatest-ever comebacks. That idea was only hammered home when it was revealed later that Condit was literally seven seconds away from a loss. That’s because he was firmly down on the scorecards before pulling off the finish.

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#3. Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry – UFC on Versus 4

Cheick Kongo came back from the dead to beat Pat Barry in 2011.

In terms of a one-round comeback, you won’t find a UFC fight crazier than the heavyweight clash between Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry in the summer of 2011. This was a fight that featured such a wild ending, it was difficult to even imagine how Kongo managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The fight was billed as a battle of two expert strikers, and in the early going, it looked like Barry would come out on top. After a brief feeling-out period, ‘HD’ landed a huge overhand right that dropped the French fighter, sending him crashing to the ground. Although he got back to his feet quickly, a second right dropped Kongo again and appeared to knock him senseless.

Barry closed in for the finish, but somehow, Kongo rolled and made his way back to his feet, looking horribly wobbly in the process. Smelling blood, ‘HD’ charged forward, only to walk into a sharp right hand that froze him in time.

An uppercut followed, and incredibly, Barry fell to the ground, knocked completely unconscious, as a still-wobbly Kongo collapsed down on top of him.

Fans in attendance were blown away by the finish, as Kongo somehow stole a win in a fight he appeared destined to lose. A decade later. this remains one of the UFC’s greatest-ever comebacks.