Fighters who were broken and became champ?

Sticko

Black Belt
@Black
Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
7,207
Reaction score
8,457
(Inspired by this recent thread from @CageWalks and the below youtube short from Ramsey Dewey)



Two of the best examples I can think of are Ngannou vs. Stipe I and Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena I. But both of these were already title fights and in the case of Nunes she was already a champion, and we now know that going into it she wasn't fully fit and had an off night, a very un-Nunes-like performance.

I'm wondering who was broken early in their career and developed into a champion later on?

I know Charles Oliveira has the record for most losses in the UFC for someone who went on to become champion. He entered the UFC at an early age and has fought very frequently. But even though he was finished in most of his losses, I'm not sure how often if ever he was broken.

Being broken is not the same as being finished. You can get caught by a KO strike or a submission and it doesn't mean you were broken. If you wake up thinking I just got caught but I can beat this guy, I want to go again, you weren't broken. Even if you tap, it means you got caught in a position you couldn't get out of but doesn't necessarily mean you were broken.

Best example I can think of is the CDF vs. Gregor Gillespie fight where after a very competitive first round, Gillespie got into mount in the second round and Ferreira was too gassed to escape leading to a TKO. CDF is a very good fighter but he's also 38 years old. Has anybody lost like this early on and gone on to become a champ?
 
Who is Robbie Lawler?

Most had written him off as a pudgy MW journeyman with no consistency or drive.....seemingly redefines himself, gets back to the UFC and wins gold at the end of his career. As a huge fan since his first days in the UFC this was something special to see.
 
From getting KTFO by Shonie Carter

Serra-Carter-2.gif


To tapping GSP to strikes...

HalfOptimisticGannet-size_restricted.gif


A picture paints a thousand words...

mma_ufcupsets_10.jpg


PicsArt_01-12-03.23.52.jpg
 
Last edited:
(Inspired by this recent thread from @CageWalks and the below youtube short from Ramsey Dewey)



Two of the best examples I can think of are Ngannou vs. Stipe I and Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena I. But both of these were already title fights and in the case of Nunes she was already a champion, and we now know that going into it she wasn't fully fit and had an off night, a very un-Nunes-like performance.

I'm wondering who was broken early in their career and developed into a champion later on?

I know Charles Oliveira has the record for most losses in the UFC for someone who went on to become champion. He entered the UFC at an early age and has fought very frequently. But even though he was finished in most of his losses, I'm not sure how often if ever he was broken.

Being broken is not the same as being finished. You can get caught by a KO strike or a submission and it doesn't mean you were broken. If you wake up thinking I just got caught but I can beat this guy, I want to go again, you weren't broken. Even if you tap, it means you got caught in a position you couldn't get out of but doesn't necessarily mean you were broken.

Best example I can think of is the CDF vs. Gregor Gillespie fight where after a very competitive first round, Gillespie got into mount in the second round and Ferreira was too gassed to escape leading to a TKO. CDF is a very good fighter but he's also 38 years old. Has anybody lost like this early on and gone on to become a champ?

Nunes also broke against Kat Zingano
 
Conor was mentally broken and gassed in first Diaz bout, then puts on career defining performance against Eddie later that year.
 
From getting KTFO by Shonie Carter

Serra-Carter-2.gif


To tapping GSP to strikes...

HalfOptimisticGannet-size_restricted.gif


A picture paints a thousand words...

mma_ufcupsets_10.jpg



This is literally one of the great moments in MMA and total lightning in a bottle. Although he became champ I am not sure people could say he was best in the division at the time.


To me Tex is the best example of this. Everyone thought his window had closed/he was too old, but he rose like a Phoenix and when he won people were all asking to see him fight for belt. It is was a late career resurrection which isn't meant to happen in combat sports.
 
Nobody expected Glover to come back from this, let alone become champ...

anthony-johnson-glover.gif


RIP Anthony Johnson.
Glover might be a good answer to this thread but not because of this fight. Rumble didn't break him; he knocked him out in 13 seconds. Very much not the same thing.

Glover lost decisions to Corey Anderson, Jon Jones and Phil Davis and I haven't seen all those fights but it's more likely he was broken (if at all) in one of them.
 
Back
Top