The UFC was built by great fighters giving their all inside the Octagon, but the promotion rose to mainstream recognition on the backs of dominant champions. Fighters like Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell helped bring the UFC to the forefront, while Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva gave sports fans an understanding of technical brilliance. 

Nevertheless, even though a champion may have a healthy reign atop a division, there is always a hungry challenger waiting to dethrone them. And sometimes that process can result in a lopsided beatdown. Here are FloCombat's Top 5 examples of a champion getting trucked by a challenger.



5. T.J. Dillashaw vs. Renan Barão – UFC 173

I was cageside for this one so I can speak from personal experience how one-sided T.J. Dillashaw’s decimation of reigning bantamweight champion Renan Barão truly was. UFC commentator Joe Rogan called it the perfect performance and after re-watching this contest, it’s hard to argue with him.

Dillashaw set the tone early as he landed a massive overhand right early in the first round sending the champion crashing to the canvas, almost ending the fight right there. What came next was four more rounds of Dillashaw stalking the visibly dazed Barão before ending the contest with headkick and a flurry late in the final frame, cementing himself as the UFC’s 135-pound champion and earning a spot amongst the biggest underdog winners in combat sports history.



4. Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos II – UFC 155

Cain wanted something more than just the belt. He wanted vengeance for his previous loss and boy did he ever achieve this. For 25 straight minutes, the AKA product hit heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos with everything but the kitchen sink. While it seemed he could have finished the contest on more than one occasion with a simple rear-naked choke, Cain never relented as he landed blow after to blow to the the swollen face of Dos Santos. Only the closing bell would save Dos Santos as fans witnessed arguably the most lopsided title change to end in a decision.



3. Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin – UFC 64

Not much to say here that hasn’t been already said over the years. For some reason Franklin was the favorite heading into this one. Maybe it was the fact Silva only had one fight under the UFC banner or maybe it was because Franklin entered this contest riding an eight-fight win streak, which two straight successful defenses of UFC middleweight title. Regardless, from the opening bell Franklin looked one stepped behind his Brazilian foe. As the rest of the world witnessed Silva plant knee after knee to the already broken nose of the champion, one could only shudder as the Franklin succumbed to the soon to the eventual pound-for-pound great.



2. Carla Esparza vs Joanna Jedrejczyk – UFC 185

Esparza entered this contest having picked up four straight victories over Top 15 opponents, including an dominant third round submission over the fan favorite Rose Namajunes in the pair’s title fight at the TUF 20 Finale. With crisp combinations and a powerful wrestling attack, ‘The Cookie Monster’  looked very much the part of a dominant champion who was well on her way to joining Ronda Rousey as the face of women’s MMA. That is until she was paired up with polish import Joanna Jedrejczyk.

Esparza’s gameplan was made evident as she almost immediately shot for takedown early in the fight.  This surprised no one as it was her strong top game that won her the belt in the first place. The only problem: Jedrejczyk defended it. From this point on Esparza looked like a fish out of water as her opponent repeatedly threw her off followed by a series of huge shots from up close. A visibly frustrated Esparza had no answer for Jedrejczyk who lit up the champion with a hurricane of strikes against the cage late in Round 2, forcing the referee to step in and save her.



1. Jon Jones vs. Maurcio ‘Shogun’ Rua – UFC 128

Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua entered this contest having earned his light heavyweight title with a violent first round knockout over then champion Lyoto Machida  For fans, Shogun’s coronation seemed inevitable as the former Pride legend made his UFC debut after years wreaking havoc in Pride’s 205-pound division. This culminated in winning the 2005 PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix Champion after rattling off 5 straight wins in a single calendar year. It seemed the UFC had found a champion worthy of a long title reign. That is until he ran into the pound-for-pound greatest fighter of his generation.

Jon Jones, who accepted the fight on six weeks notice, looked very much the part of the legend killer as as he planted a flying knee right between the eyes of the champion mere seconds after the referee signaled for the start of the bout. Jones never took his foot off the gas as he battered Shogun with a barrage of strikes, including a bone shattering elbow to the skull of his opponent. Finally after a perfectly placed hook to the body, the champion crumpled against the fence, succumbing to the might that was Jon Jones. The rest, as they say, is history.