5 UFC fighters who were unbeaten in their home country

#4. Jimmy Crute – UFC light heavyweight contender – unbeaten in Australia

Unlike the likes of Robert Whittaker and Tai Tuivasa, Jimmy Crute remains unbeaten in Australia

The UFC has seen plenty of oceanic stars enter the octagon over the years, with the likes of Robert Whittaker, Alexander Volkanovski and Israel Adesanya reaching the top of the promotion by claiming gold.

However, the two City Kickboxing products have lost in their home country, while to name Adesanya, who is unbeaten overall in his MMA career aside from a sole loss at light heavyweight, would practically be cheating for a list like this.

So which oceanic star has never lost in front of his home fans? Aussie stars such as Tai Tuivasa and Mark Hunt suffered a number of defeats at home, but the same cannot be said for current light heavyweight prospect Jimmy Crute.

‘The Brute’ entered the octagon for the first time in 2018 as an unbeaten prospect, with all but one of his eight wins, his victory on Dana White’s Contender Series, coming Down Under.

Since then, Crute has gone 4-3 in the octagon. Despite that spotty record, he has never lost in front of his home fans. His first two wins came in Adelaide and Melbourne, respectively, and saw him defeat Paul Craig and Sam Alvey.

His loss to Misha Cirkunov, meanwhile, came in Vancouver, while his most recent defeats to Anthony Smith and Jamahal Hill both took place in the US.

Whether Crute can keep up his winning run in Australia probably depends on how the UFC match him next time around and whether he’s still with the promotion for the next time they head Down Under. For now, he qualifies for this list.

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#3. Deiveson Figueiredo – UFC flyweight champion – unbeaten in Brazil

Deiveson Figueiredo remains unbeaten in his native Brazil

Current UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is undoubtedly one of the most successful 125lbers of his generation. Given that he’s only lost two fights in his career, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he remains undefeated in his native Brazil.

‘God of War’ spent his entire pre-UFC career fighting at home, where he put together an impressive 11-0 record from 2012 to 2016 before signing for the world’s biggest promotion.

Even in his early days in the octagon, he fought almost exclusively in Brazil. His first three bouts all came there, reeling off wins over Marco Beltran, Jarred Brooks and Joseph Morales. In fact, his 2018 KO of John Moraga was the first time he’d fought outside of his home country.

Fascinatingly, since that fight, Figueiredo has not returned to Brazil to fight, largely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His two losses, as well as his draw with Brandon Moreno, all came in the US.

Given the current success he’s found, winning the flyweight title on two occasions, it’s easy to see a scenario in which the UFC returns to Brazil in 2023 with ‘God of War’ as a headline act. Based on his current form, it’s hard to see him failing to remain undefeated at home for the foreseeable future.