Unfortunately, for them, some defeats are worse than others. Throughout their storied history, fighters have won and lost. A loss to a passionate opponent usually hurts more than any other. However, some defeats can be far worse, bordering on outright humiliation.
Whether because of the nature of the loss or the opponent, this list examines five of the most humiliating losses in UFC history.
#5 Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor, UFC 194
Before Conor McGregor’s rise to MMA, Jose Aldo was a phenomenon in a long line of Brazilian greats. At that time he was the UFC featherweight champion and all the athletes treated him with reverence and respect. Until December 2015, Scarface had been undefeated for over a decade with 18 straight wins.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, Infamous didn’t just end his streak, he did it in the most humiliating way possible. Firstly, the Irishman constantly teased him mercilessly. Initially, the couple was supposed to cross swords at the UFC 189 tournament. They went on a world tour, during which McGregor insulted and humiliated his opponent.
After Aldo suffered a rib injury that forced him out of the fight, the Irishman derisively said his opponent’s injury was nothing more than a bruise. The two finally faced off at UFC 194 when Aldo was loaded to the brim with months of anger. He desperately wanted to decapitate the infamous.
Early in the fight, he rushed at McGregor, but his dream of revenge was over in 13 seconds. Suddenly, the man who was once hailed as the king of the 66kg division was on the wrong side of the fastest knockout in UFC title history. And he was knocked out by a man he used to call a jester.
#4 Bete Correia vs. Ronda Rousey, UFC 190
In mid-2015, Ronda Rousey was the center of the women’s MMA world as the first true UFC crossover star. Not only was she an undefeated champion, but she also plied her trade in Hollywood as an aspiring actress. No one could resist him.
At that time, Betty Correia had never lost in MMA, she had a 9-0 record. Her claim to fame came with two victories over Shayna Baszler and Jessamine Duke, both friends of Ronda Rousey and members of the Four Horsewomen (a WWE reference).
After each victory, Correia held four fingers up to the camera before lowering one. She earned a title shot for her efforts and vowed to give Rousey the worst loss of her career. It was a bold statement, made worse by the fact that Correia begged Rousey not to cry during the pre-fight bout.
Unfortunately, for Correia, things turned out differently. On fight night, it took only 34 seconds for Rhodey to knock him out. Not only was she defeated, but after the fight, Rosie teasingly asked her not to cry after the defeat.
No. 3. Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva, UFC 101
At the end of 2008, TUF winner Forrest Griffin faced the most embarrassing loss of his career at this point. A third-round TKO loss to Rashad Evans cost him the light heavyweight title he had won months earlier from Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. So in 2009 he needed a win to get back on track.
Unfortunately, he faced Anderson Silva in his prime. The pair met at UFC 101, and Griffin, a former world champion, looked like he didn’t belong in a cage.
Silva has already had two successful techdowns in round one, while Griffin looked absolutely stupid as he couldn’t hit the opponent as Silva easily dodged his punches with Matrix-like head movements. As Griffin lunged forward, Silva backed away, dodging every punch before knocking him out with one blow.
The loss was made even more embarrassing by the fact that the former middleweight champion knocked out the former light heavyweight champion.
#2 Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm, UFC 193
Unfortunately, for Ronda Rousey, the victory over Bete Correia was his last in MMA. Even though his first two fights in 2015 were successful, his last fight of the year couldn’t have been worse. In Melbourne, Australia, Rosie met Holly Holm.
Rousey was considered undefeated at the time, with even commentator Joe Rogan exaggeratingly claiming she could beat half of the UFC’s bantamweight men.
Prior to the fight, Rousey was adamant that she would emerge victorious against Holm. However, when they entered the octagon, the undefeated champion looked vulnerable. Holm landed more punches and landed more often, and Rosie even stumbled awkwardly and fell to her knees after her punch, which her opponent easily dodged.
Rousey looked like a rookie en route to a second-round knockout loss that took her a year to recover. Then Ronda was knocked out by Amanda Nunes and retired.
No. 1. Paulo Costa vs. Israel Adesanya, UFC 253
Much of the preparation for UFC 253 revolved around then-undefeated fighters Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa. They were stylistic counterparts. While former kickboxer Adesanya is an elusive counter-puncher, “Borracinha” is a pressure fighter who traps his opponents at the net.
While preparing for the fight, Costa humiliated Adesanya. He often described the then-middleweight champion as a skinny clown and promised to kill him on fight night. He further bolstered his claims by calling his opponent an infamous champion who constantly runs away during fights.
So when the two men squared off in the octagon, much more was at stake than the middleweight title. The fight didn’t last more than two rounds, with Adesanya beating Costa with low kicks, smashing his face before getting a second-round TKO. As Costa lay unconscious on the mat, Adesanya straddled him from behind and mounted him for several seconds. It was the most embarrassing defeat Costa could have suffered, even Dana White called this fight “Domination of the year”.
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Source: Sport
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
