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It is often said that a UFC champion who is yet to defend their belt is not a true champion. That sentiment was first echoed by Hall of Famer and former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes. In Hughes' view, having UFC President Dana White wrap the belt around one's waist is not enough to warrant true championship status.
Instead, it was the welterweight great's opinion that a fighter must, at least once, successfully defend their newly claimed title. While the fairness of such a statement has been frequently contested, there have been more than a handful of UFC champions who have failed to successfully defend their titles even a single time.
Former light heavyweight champions Glover Teixeira and Forrest Griffin, for example, never successfully defended their titles, yet their respective legacies in the sport are spotless. The outcome of the UFC 277 main-event bout between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Peña added yet another champion who failed to defend their title.
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This list looks at Peña and 4 other champions who have never mounted a single successful title defense.
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#5. Luke Rockhold
When Chris Weidman was penning his name in the history books of MMA by snapping Anderson Silva's 17-fight win streak, Luke Rockhold—a rising contender at the time—stormed through the middleweight rankings. By the time the All-American Weidman had defended his title 3 times, although against aging Brazilian legends [Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort], Rockhold had earned a title fight against Weidman himself.
The two men crossed paths at UFC 194, headlined by Conor McGregor and José Aldo. The bout with Weidman was hotly contested for the first 2 rounds before the defending champion threw an ill-advised kick, allowing Rockhold to drag him to the ground. It was the beginning of the end for Weidman as Rockhold secured top control en route to brutalizing his foe with a vicious ground-and-pound.
While Weidman survived the third round, he would not survive the fourth. Basking in the glory of a hard-fought victory, Rockhold seemed primed for a championship run as the next great middleweight champion. Unfortunately, when Michael Bisping replaced the injured Chris Weidman in what was originally booked as a rematch, Rockhold's first title defense ended with a fairytale victory for Bisping.
In the very first round, Rockhold paid for his habit of dropping his lead hand after exiting the pocket as Bisping slipped a left hook through his foe's open side, flooring him. Rockhold sprang to his feet but was dropped a second time before being knocked unconscious by Bisping's follow-up punches, hence losing the middleweight title in his first bout since capturing it.
#4. Petr Yan
To this day, fight fans regard Petr Yan as the consensus best bantamweight in the world. Arguably the best boxer in the UFC, 'No Mercy' captured championship gold by defeating José Aldo for the then vacant bantamweight championship at UFC 251.
At the time, Yan was heavily criticized by current bantamweight champion and divisional rival Aljamain Sterling for what 'The Funkmaster' described as an easy path to the title. Before facing José Aldo, the Russian phenom had faced the 40-year-old Urijah Faber.
Yan's matchup before facing Faber was against Jimmie Rivera: a quality win. Before that, however, the previous bout was against John Dodson, a former flyweight. Thus, it was not difficult to understand Sterling's gripe with Yan's path to the title. Nevertheless, 'No Mercy' successfully captured the title against José Aldo, leading to a hotly anticipated bout with Sterling at UFC 259.
When the two finally clashed, Yan seemed a class above Sterling, dropping him with punches and securing multiple takedowns in a highly convincing performance until the Russian, for some inexplicable reason, slammed an illegal knee into Sterling's head while his foe was grounded on his knees.
With Sterling unable to continue the bout due to the force of the blow, the referee was forced to declare the contest a disqualification, not only causing Petr Yan to lose his championship without managing a single successful title defense, but also causing him to become the first UFC champion to lose a title via disqualification.
#3. Eddie Alvarez
Also known as 'The Underground King', Eddie Alvarez is one of the few mixed martial artists to have won a world title in both the UFC and Bellator. Halfway through 2016, Alvarez was riding a 2-fight win streak that earned him a title fight with lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
At the time, RDA seemed unbeatable, having captured the title from Anthony Pettis in dominant fashion before brutalizing Donald Cerrone within a round to net his first title-defense. On a five-fight win streak that included former lightweight champion Benson Henderson, RDA was thought by many to be set for a long run at the top of the division.
However, when Eddie Alvarez challenged him for lightweight supremacy at UFC Fight Night 90, 'The Underground King' shocked the world. After 2 minutes of a fairly even affair, Alvarez rocked the Brazilian with a long right hook. RDA never recovered and Alvarez battered him against the fence until Herb Dean mercifully stepped in to end the bout.
Alvarez's next bout was his most memorable. 'The Underground King' locked horns with Conor McGregor in the latter's attempt at becoming a two-division champion in the UFC. Alas, at UFC 205, Eddie Alvarez was on the losing end of one of the most dominant championship performances in MMA history.
McGregor defended every takedown attempt while outstriking his foe, dropping him multiple times before earning the second round TKO win in effortless, karmic fashion after Alvarez had described the Irishman as the easiest fight in the division.
#2. Conor McGregor never defended his UFC titles
Conor McGregor is a unique entry on this list for two reasons: he is responsible for Eddie Alvarez having no successful UFC title defenses, but he himself also has no successful title defenses. A trend in the Irishman's career is that he has never taken part in a title-defense bout wherein he is the defending champion.
McGregor first became a champion at Cage Warriors, capturing the promotion's featherweight title against Dave Hill at Cage Warriors: 47. His next bout was not a title defense, however, as 'The Notorious' moved up a weight class to challenge the then Cage Warriors lightweight champion Ivan Buchinger. McGregor was successful in capturing his second championship but dropped both belts upon signing with the UFC.
The Irishman then embarked on a legendary campaign in the featherweight division, defeating every foe by TKO or KO with the exception of Max Holloway, who still remains impossible to knock unconscious and even to knock down. Finally, at UFC 194, the culmination of McGregor's journey came in a 13-second knockout win over the then reigning champion, José Aldo.
But upon capturing the featherweight title, Conor McGregor showed no interest in defending it. Instead, he set his sights on the lightweight title. Though a slight obstacle in the shape of Nate Diaz emerged to hand McGregor his first UFC loss in a non-title bout contested at welterweight. The Irishman bounced back in the only rematch between the pair, claiming a majority decision win before refocusing on his goal to capture a second UFC title.
His chance came against Eddie Alvarez, and McGregor was more than successful. He stupefied his foe with his footwork and counterpunched en route to a world-class ssecond-round TKO win. Alas, as McGregor next went on to box Floyd Mayweather Jr., he neglected his duties as a champion at featherweight and lightweight before eventually being stripped of both titles without ever defending either.
#1. Julianna Peña
Julianna Peña chased a title bout with Amanda Nunes for years. In her words, Nunes did everything in her power to avoid the matchup. However, according to Nunes, Peña was at fault for never managing to amass a win streak.
Both women would engage in back-and-forth spats on social media, with 'The Venezuelan Vixen' repeatedly accusing Nunes of ducking her, while 'The Lioness' scoffed at the athletic merits of a matchup with Peña, claiming she hadn't earned a title fight. Finally, however, at UFC 269, the fight took place.
Nunes has bested every champion in the history of the UFC women's bantamweight division, from Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey to Holly Holm. 'The Lioness' was quickly running out of prey: a consequence of her unrivaled dominance.
In the buildup to their first fight, no one but Peña herself believed she could defeat Nunes. So when the two women locked horns, the world stood in shock as Peña answered every Nunes jab with a jab of her own, stepping in to interrupt the Brazilian great before she could build-off her jab to throw her thunderous right cross that had floored even Cris Cybog in the past.
By the second round, Nunes was exhausted and tapped out to a rear-naked choke with no hooks in. It was one of the greatest upsets in MMA history and set up a highly anticipated rematch a year later at UFC 277. Amanda Nunes explained her loss away as being due to complications from COVID, while Peña was dismissive of her rival’s claims and described them as excuses.
At UFC 277, Nunes dominated Peña, repeatedly dropping and bloodying her to recapture her title and prevent Peña from mounting a single title defense.
