5 unheralded fighters who got to retire UFC legends

This weekend's UFC Fight Night event will see the final octagon appearance of Anthony Smith. 'Lionheart' will hang up his gloves after the show, giving the unheralded Mingyang Zhang the chance to make a name for himself by retiring him.

Most UFC fighters, even legends, tend to hang up their gloves on the back of a loss, but it isn't always top contenders who get to send them into retirement.

Over the years, we've seen numerous fighters who were unheralded at the time be given the chance to retire a legend - and not all of them went onto capitalise on their newly-found fame.

Here are five unheralded fighters who got to retire UFC legends.

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#5. Chris Gutierrez - retired Frankie Edgar at UFC 281

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is widely recognized as one of the greatest "smaller" fighters in MMA history.

Always undersized at 155 pounds, 'The Answer' won the lightweight title in a major upset over BJ Penn in 2010 and defended it three times before losing it to Benson Henderson.

Later, he had a successful run at 145 pounds, beating the likes of Chad Mendes and Yair Rodriguez and twice challenging for the featherweight title.

When he dropped to 135 pounds, though, he was painfully past his best, and was coming off a bad knockout loss to the Korean Zombie.

Edgar scraped past Pedro Munhoz in his bantamweight debut, then found himself stopped by Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera, his once-iron chin well and truly cracked.

Late 2022 saw him state that he'd retire after one final fight in front of many of his home fans in New York, and the UFC quickly confirmed his opponent as Chris Gutierrez.

'El Guapo' was basically an unknown coming into the fight, although his octagon record of 6-1-1 suggested he was a prospect to watch.

It was a golden opportunity for Gutierrez, and indeed, he grasped it with both hands - and legs - knocking out Edgar with a brutal knee after just two minutes.

The win vaulted Gutierrez into the top 15, but unfortunately, he's not really been able to follow it up, with losses to Munhoz and Song Yadong shoving him back down the ladder.

Still, he'll always have a claim to fame as the man who retired a true legend of MMA.

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#4. Eryk Anders - retired Chris Weidman at UFC 310

At this stage, seven years into his UFC career, it's probably fairer to describe Eryk Anders as a journeyman rather than an unheralded fighter.

After all, 'Ya Boi' has 18 octagon bouts to his name and even headlined an event against former light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida in 2018.

However, it still came as a surprise when he was named as the opponent for what looked like former middleweight champ Chris Weidman's retirement bout in 2024.

'The All-American' had won just two of his last six bouts, and given Dana White had already pleaded with him to hang up his gloves, the chances of him continuing on past UFC 310 seemed slim.

Therefore, the chance to retire the former middleweight champion must've been a huge selling point for Anders, and he was able to deliver the goods.

Weirdly enough, the first round saw Weidman drop his foe, and it looked like he might be able to end his octagon career on a high note. It wasn't to be, though, and when Anders found himself on top in the second round, he destroyed Weidman with ground-and-pound to force a stoppage.

While Weidman has not officially retired since - although he has been released by the UFC - the chances of him competing in MMA again now seem slim. Anders, therefore, will always be able to call himself the man who retired the former middleweight champ.

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#3. Max Griffin - retired Carlos Condit at UFC 264

When former interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit announced his retirement from MMA in 2016 following a loss to Demian Maia, it always felt slightly premature.

When 'The Natural Born Killer' returned to the UFC in 2017, then, nobody was really surprised. Unfortunately, the time away seemingly hadn't helped him, and he lost his next three bouts in a row to take his losing streak to five.

This time, Condit simply took some time away to regroup, and when he returned in 2020, his batteries genuinely did look recharged.

Condit showed flashes of his best in his wins over Court McGee and Matt Brown, and it looked like a stunning career resurgence could be about to take place.

When the promotion matched him with largely unheralded journeyman Max Griffin, then, it felt like the next step in Condit's rehabilitation.

Unfortunately for fans of the former champion, it wasn't to be. Condit tried his best, but after suffering knockdowns in the first and third rounds of the bout, Griffin ended up winning a clear-cut decision.

Condit didn't announce his retirement directly after the fight, instead waiting a couple of months. This meant that many fans have probably forgotten that 'Pain' was the man to retire him.

Indeed, Griffin hasn't really capitalized on the win since, losing three of his next five bouts.

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#2. Arnold Allen - retired Gilbert Melendez at UFC 239

A rare example of a fighter who was unheralded when they retired a UFC legend but has since gone onto become a title contender is Arnold Allen.

The UK-based featherweight is currently ranked No.6 in the 145-pound division, and is largely viewed as one of the most dangerous men in the division.

When he faced Gilbert Melendez in the former Strikeforce lightweight champ's first bout in the octagon at 145 pounds, though, he was largely unknown.

'Almighty' had won his first five fights in the octagon, but many observers still saw him as the perfect foe for 'El Nino' to relaunch his career against.

Melendez hadn't fought as a featherweight since his younger days, but after losing four bouts in a row, clearly needed some way of getting his mojo back.

Allen, though, was having none of that. In a brilliant performance, he methodically broke 'El Nino' down with his leg kicks and combinations, leaving the judges no doubt who'd won when the fight ended.

Indeed, Allen was handed a decision win, and Melendez was subsequently cut from the UFC and then quietly retired shortly after.

Some six years on, he remains arguably the biggest name that Allen has defeated, even if he was clearly not in his prime at the time. In this case, he was the perfect launchpad to send the British fighter into contention.

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#1. Ihor Potieria - retired Shogun Rua at UFC 283

Perhaps the best example of an unheralded fighter who was given the opportunity to retire a UFC legend - and took it - is light-heavyweight Ihor Potieria.

'Duelist' came into his clash with former 205-pound champ Shogun Rua on the back of a bad TKO loss in his octagon debut, and had little to no hype around him.

Given that the fight was set to take place in Shogun's home country of Brazil, and the legend had already announced his retirement prior to the event, this definitely felt like the promotion's way of trying to give him a win on his way out.

Unfortunately, Potieria put an end to that idea late in the first round.

After some early striking exchanges that saw Potieria get the better of his more experienced foe, Potieria landed a right hand that dropped Shogun badly.

Referee Herb Dean gave the former champ every chance to recover, but the Ukrainian fighter continued to pour on the punishment, and when it was clear Shogun could not fight back, the bout was stopped.

A questionable post-fight celebration from Potieria garnered some controversy, as many fans deemed it disrespectful, but it was impossible to question the way that he'd won.

Unfortunately, Potieria certainly hasn't made the most of being the man who retired Shogun in the years that have followed. He was knocked out by Carlos Ulberg in his next bout, and then lost four of his next five fights - resulting in his release from the promotion earlier this year.