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Top 5 upsets in UFC history

Roar Rookie
28th May, 2014
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GSP is back! Well, in headlines anyway (Image via FUEL TV)
Roar Rookie
28th May, 2014
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T.J. Dillashaw’s destruction of Renan Barao at UFC 173 to capture the UFC Bantamweight Championship will rank as one of the greatest upsets in UFC history.

This bout was scheduled as a relatively late replacement for the Chris Weidman-Lyoto Machida Middleweight title bout and seemed to be a lock for the Brazilian from the formidable Nova Uniao team.

I’ll put my hand up and say I was skeptical when Dillashaw was announced as the challenger. He was seemingly the last man standing, as Barao had already taken care of Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland and Urijah Faber (twice), while Dominick Cruz and Rafael Assuncao were both unavailable due to injury.

Dillashaw was 5-2 in the UFC heading into the bout and had lost two fights ago to Assuncao, albeit by a contentious split decision.

But no-one told Dillashaw he was a ring-in, or that he was a massive underdog with the bookies, and he proceeded to beat-up the champion and take his belt. So where does this rate in the scheme of great upsets? Everybody loves a list, so I have ranked my top five all-time UFC upsets below.

5. UFC 76 – Forrest Griffin def. Shogun Rua via Submission (rear-naked choke)
When the UFC bought the Japanese-based promotion PRIDE, it gained some of the best MMA talent in the world. One of the most anticipated octagon debuts was that of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix champion.

Shogun was 16-2 with 14 finishes and was considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Forrest Griffin, the winner of the inaugural The Ultimate Fighter reality show, was given the task of introducing Shogun to the octagon, Griffin was 2-2 in his last four fights, losing to Keith Jardine and Tito Ortiz.

Griffin showed amazing heart and solid cardio to outlast Shogun, who was visibly drained after the first round. An exhausted Rua was dropped to the canvas in the third round, where Griffin sunk in a rear-naked choke and forced the tap.

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Both these men would go on to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title, and in a rematch four years later, Rua had his revenge, knocking out Forrest in his home country.

4. UFC 70 – Gabriel Gonzaga def. Mirko Cro Cop via KO (head kick)
Mirko Cro Cop is undoubtedly my favourite fighter of all-time, his head kick knockouts in Pride were legendary and when he was signed to the UFC in 2006, he seemed to be on the fast-track to a title shot.

After dispatching Eddie Sanchez in his first UFC bout, Cro Cop was paired with Brazilian beast Gabriel Gonzaga, a noted striker and Brazilian-Jiu Jitsu expert in a title eliminator bout, the winner to face Randy Couture for the strap.

Early in the fight Gonzaga took Cro Cop down and hit him with some severe elbows, but referee Herb Dean stood the fighters up due to inactivity, seemingly an advantage for Cro Cop. What happened next is one of the most replayed KO’s in MMA, as Gonzaga threw a brutal right high kick that knocked Cro Cop out cold, so much so that Cro Cop’s leg was pinned awkwardly under himself causing injuries to his ankle and knee.

The sight of Gonzaga defeating Cro Cop, with Mirko’s own signature move was one the will stay in the memory of MMA fans for a long time.

3. UFC 162 – Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva via KO (punch)
Anderson Silva’s record coming into this fight was 33-4, he was 16-0 in the UFC with 10 defences of his Middleweight title.

Chris Weidman’s record in total was 9-0, and he was coming off a brutal KO of Mark Muñoz with a beautifully timed elbow. Weidman’s inexperience was a factor in him being a significant underdog in the fight, although his wrestling pedigree was a factor in some pundits picking the upset, as Silva had previously struggled with another strong wrestler Chael Sonnen.

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The first round saw Weidman take Silva down and maintain top position, clearly winning the first, but Silva looked calm as he went to the stool. During the second round Silva started dropping his hands and baiting Weidman to punch him, and when Weidman threw a straight right, Silva clowned around, wobbling at the knees, faking he was stunned by the shot, seemingly mocking Weidman.

Unbelievably while this was happening Weidman threw a combination that finished with a left hook that dropped Silva, with Weidman pouncing on his stricken opponent and finishing the contest.

It was an amazing outcome that stunned the MMA community, and shook the Middleweight division that Silva had dominated for seven years.

2. UFC 173 – T.J. Dillashaw def. Renan Barao via TKO (punches)
I couldn’t quite give the Dillashaw-Barao upset the number one spot on this list but it will be remembered as one of the great upsets. Dillashaw’s development from wrestling his way through The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping versus Team Mayhem, eventually being knocked out by now flyweight John Dodson in the final, to out-striking one of the most dynamic Bantamweights in the world, less than three years later was staggering.

Dillashaw showed amazing technique, movement and cardio to outpoint Barao on the feet, dropping the champion in the first round and completely dominating rounds two, three and four.

Barao’s corner pleaded for him to search for the finish in the fifth, but it was Dillashaw who finished the fight with a swarming attack that was too much for the Brazilian, and capped of a remarkable performance by the teenage-looking 28-year old.

1. UFC 69 – Matt Serra def. Georges St-Pierre via TKO (punches)
The UFC decided to shake up the fourth instalment of its Ultimate Fighter reality show by inviting current fighters who hadn’t fought for a title previously onto the show to compete for a title shot at Welterweight and Middleweight. Serra fought his way through the show defeating Pete Spratt, Shonie Carter and Chris Lytle to win the tournament and receive a shot at titleholder Georges St-Pierre.

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St-Pierre was 13-1 in his MMA career, and had just knocked out future UFC Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes to earn the Welterweight title.

A dynamic athlete, St-Pierre was expected to physically dominate his smaller opponent Serra. Serra was 10-4 in his career and had lost his last fight before entering The Ultimate Fighter, to Karo Parisyan, which was his first fight after moving back up from Lightweight, where he had been for three years.

Serra was a noted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black-belt who prior to the fight had never knocked out an opponent, his 10 wins consisted of five submissions and five decisions.

When the bell rang, Serra surprisingly stood and traded with St-Pierre, throwing a high volume of punches, which eventually started to connect, staggering St-Pierre. GSP’s recovered momentarily but Serra continued to more forward and swarm the stunned champion, dropping GSP again with hard shots, eventually forcing referee John McCarthy to stop the fight at the 3:25 mark of the first round, and giving Serra the title.

St-Pierre eventually got his revenge, and his title back, a year later in Canada, knocking out Serra, but the first fight remains, in my opinion, the greatest upset in UFC history.

Honourable mentions:
Randy Couture’s TKO of Chuck Liddell at UFC 43; Royce Gracie dominating the big guys at UFC 1; and a non-UFC nod to Fabricio Werdum submitting Fedor Emelianenko in Strikeforce.

Well, there’s my top five, let me know what you think below!

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