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In the UFC, action fighters are well known for never having boring fights. Even when they're outmatched by superior opponents, they commit every ounce of energy they have to overcome them. Whether they succeed or fail does almost nothing to damage their reputations.
Fans hold them in the highest esteem due to the thrilling nature of their bouts, whether they win or lose. On occasion, certain action fighters mount enough wins to earn title fights. Alas, many of them fall short of capturing the title. This is what made Robbie Lawler's championship triumph so endearing to fans.
He was an exception among a class of fighters who either kill or are killed every time they step into the cage. At times, other fighters fall just short of gaining a crucial win that launches them into title contention.
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Regardless of the reason, many action fighters never become champions. This list looks at five beloved action fighters who never captured UFC gold.
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#5. Tai Tuivasa, UFC heavyweight
The Australian power puncher has the distinction of being the only entrant on this list who is still an active UFC fighter. Unfortunately, 'Bam Bam' has never captured championship gold in the promotion, nor has he come close. He previously enjoyed a five-fight win streak, with every win coming via KO or TKO.
While impressive, his win streak does not include truly elite heavyweights. The best opponent he defeated was Derrick Lewis, an extremely limited counterpuncher. Tai Tuivasa recently lost back-to-back fights against Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich.
It's somewhat evident that from a technical standpoint, 'Bam Bam' isn't skilled enough to contend with truly elite heavyweights. While he's outrageously powerful, he typically hurts his foes whenever he himself is hurt. Once he's wobbled and trapped against the fence, 'Bam Bam' ducks his head down and throws haymakers.
While this can knock out lesser opponents who take no care whenever they step into mid-range, this is not the case in the upper echelon at 265 lbs. Furthermore, ducking his head down means his eyes are often away from his target, causing him to miss wildly.
Though his fights are always entertaining, he always loses whenever he seems to be on the cusp of title contention.
#4. Dan Henderson, retired UFC middleweight
Dan Henderson is a former Olympic wrestler who made MMA history when he captured the PRIDE welterweight and middleweight titles. By doing so, he became the first mixed martial artist in the sport's history to simultaneously capture two titles in different divisions in a major promotion.
Alas, he was unable to repeat this success in the UFC. Though it was not for lack of trying. Prior to signing with the promotion, 'Hendo' leaned on his Olympic-level wrestling skills. Afterwards, however, he became a violent power puncher with a nuclear overhand right.
Though without much variety in his striking, he became overreliant on catching opponents with his overhand right. Regardless, it was effective enough to earn him three different title fights during his tenure with the promotion. First, he faced Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson for light heavyweight gold.
After failing to become the promotion's 205 lbs champion, he challenged Anderson Silva for middleweight supremacy. Unfortunately, that ended in a submission loss for 'Hendo'. Eight years later, he faced a foe he had defeated seven years prior. To his dismay, he did not defeat Michael Bisping for a second time.
Instead, he suffered defeat at the Englishman's hands and lost his third chance at claiming a UFC title. Afterwards, Henderson called it a career and retired.
#3. Nick Diaz, UFC welterweight and middleweight
To the surprise of many, Nick Diaz is still a UFC fighter. He remains under contract with the promotion, but the 39-year-old's most recent fight took place in September last year. It was not a positive outing for the MMA legend. He faced Robbie Lawler at UFC 266 six years after his last bout.
However, in the third round, Diaz verbally surrendered to award 'Ruthless' a TKO win. It shocked the MMA world, but prior to his loss, the fight was a thrilling affair. The Stockton superstar's usual approach to fighting was on brand. He applied pressure and tried to swarm his opponents with high-volume boxing.
Unfortunately, this never led to championship success in the UFC. To date, Nick Diaz has had two title fights in the promotion. The first was an interim title fight against Carlos Condit, which he lost. The second was an undisputed title fight against Georges St-Pierre.
Diaz was awarded the bout after failing to defeat Condit simply due to enormous fan interest in his rivalry with the Canadian martial artist. As in his matchup with Condit, Diaz came up short against 'GSP' and never challenged for a UFC title ever again.
#2. Nate Diaz, former UFC welterweight
While Nick Diaz was once the more well-known Diaz brother, Nate Diaz later overtook his older brother's position due to his rivalry with Conor McGregor. The two bouts that Stockton's finest had with 'The Notorious' launched him into MMA superstardom.
His win-loss record became a thing of no importance to fans as they simply longed to see the foul-mouthed fighter who handed the Irishman his first UFC loss. However, before Nate Diaz was the promotion's second biggest star, he had a cult following and tried to ascend through the rankings.
He was also a lightweight as opposed to the second half of his career, featuring mainly welterweight bouts. At the time, the Stockton slugger was on a three-fight win streak with a pair of impressive submission wins, including a guillotine choke against Jim Miller.
It earned him a title fight against Benson Henderson. While fans yearned to see him wrestle the belt away from 'Smooth', Nate Diaz was unsuccessful. He lost a five-round decision and never came close to a title fight again.
#1. Donald Cerrone, retired UFC lightweight
At the peak of his powers, Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone was the preeminent UFC action fighter. He had a versatile skill set that enabled him to finish his foes with his striking and submission skills. Before Charles Oliveira and Jim Miller overtook him, 'Cowboy' held the promotional record for the most wins and submissions.
Furthermore, Cerrone fought as often as possible. He made his promotional debut in 2011 and fought five times that year. In 2013, he fought four times before repeating the feat in 2014, 2015 and 2016. At the time, 'Cowboy' was more concerned with having fun as a fighter but eventually gained a title fight.
His opportunity came against the then-reigning lightweight title holder Rafael dos Anjos. The pair had crossed paths before at UFC Fight Night 27. During their first encounter, 'Cowboy' tasted defeat at the Brazilian's hands. To his misfortune, the same result occurred in their rematch.
At UFC on Fox 17, Cerrone was dealt a brutal beating. Within the first minute of the opening round, he crumbled from a body kick before being TKO'ed by dos Anjos' follow-up punches. Afterwards, he abandoned the lightweight division for a new life at 170 lbs but found never found championship success before retiring this year.
