Styles make fights in MMA.

When the specifics of a particular matchup are examined, opinions are collected and the roles of favorite and underdog begin to take shape. When the alleged gap between the two combatants appears severe, the storyline heading into the fight makes it seem as if one fighter would need to do the impossible in order to achieve victory. 

Over the past 23 years there have been plenty of times where the proverbial hill to be climbed isn't as steep as media and fans have shaped it to be. Here are FloCombat's Top 5 examples of this phenomenon. 



5. Joe Lauzon def. Jens Pulver – UFC 63

For years Jens Pulver was “the guy” at 155-pounds. With heavy hands and a stellar wrestling attack, “Lil’ Evil” picked up wins over a who’s who of the lightweight division. After some time away from the bright lights of the UFC, Pulver made his grand return in what was supposed to be his first step toward reclaiming his title. His opponent that night, Joe Lauzon, a nerdy looking Massachusetts native was just an afterthought. While he did have the skills when it came to the submission aspect of the game, nobody thought he could match Pulver’s ferocity on the ground, let alone on the feet.  But just over 40 seconds into their matchup, Lauzon planted a picture perfect hook to the chin of the UFC veteran, sending him crashing to the canvas. At first it appeared as if Pulver had been the victim of a lucky punch. But as years rolled on and Lauzon picked up win after win and post-fight bonus after post-fight bonus, the world realized it was more than a lucky punch. It was an outcome everyone should have seen coming.



4. Junior dos Santos def. Fabricio Werdum – UFC 90

After walking away with back-to-back TKO victories, Fabricio Werdum was the next logical choice for the next number one contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division. As a multiple time jiu-jitsu champion, no one could match Werdum’s skill set on the ground. This made his next opponent all the more puzzling as he would be matched up with promotional newcomer Junior dos Santos. At the time dos Santos, a stand up specialist, was only seven fights into his MMA career and had recently suffered first round submission loss.

It essentially seemed as if he was being the lions against the veteran Werdum. But 80 seconds into their bout, dos Santo connected with a massive uppercut between the eyes of Werdum, turning his lights off and sending him crumpling the canvas. A star was born. This was just a taste of what would come later as Dos Santos would go on to score off more victories before earning the UFC’s heavyweight championship with a first round knockout over Cain Velasquez. Moral of the story: Anything is possible once that cage door closes.



3. Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva – UFC 162

This may come as a surprise to many, but I do not consider Chris Weidman’s knockout victory over Anderson Silva in the main event of UFC 162 an upset in any sense of the word.  Initially, as their battle approached, I predicted a fairly effortless victory for Silva.  But Weidman did not care, nor should he, about the fans’ or the media’s opinion on his upcoming title fight. All he knew was his fellow fighters, the most important fans in the fight business, had his back.

Looking back at that historic July night, I cannot call Weidman’s second-round knockout victory an upset because almost everyone who actually knew what they were talking about were all saying the same thing: Weidman was going to win. It doesn’t hurt that he would go to defeat Silva in their immediate rematch and follow that up with wins over former champions Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort.



2. Frankie Edgar def. B.J Penn  – UFC 112

Entering as +725 underdog, Frankie Edgar’s unanimous decision win over B.J. Penn, who was widely considered one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters on the planet at the time, was earth shattering. Penn entered this contest having defended his 155-pound title with three consecutive violent stoppage wins.  He looked unstoppable as he licked the blood of victims off his gloves. But that aura of invincibility was stripped away as Edgar shocked the world as he claimed Penn’s UFC title that fateful night in Abu Dhabi. He would follow this with an even more dominant win over Penn in their immediate rematch before putting on back-to-back Fight of the Year performances against Gray Maynard. In hindsight, Edgar’s initial win over Penn was far from an upset, more of a coming out party for one of the world’s top fighters below 170-pounds.



1 . Royce Gracie def. Ken Shamrock –  UFC 1

Shamrock at the time was billed as the “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.” With a bodybuilder physique, a stare that could cut through an opponent’s soul and pedigree that was unrivaled at the time in terms of unarmed combat, Shamrock was the clear favorite to win UFC’s first ever one night tournament back in 1993. After dispatching his first opponent with, it appeared Shamrock was well on his way to running the table. That all changed in the form of Royce Gracie, a scrawny, unknown Brazilian wrapped in what would become his trademark gi.

It took Gracie less than a minute to cut through Shamrock’s defenses on the mat before locking on a tight rear naked choke, forcing his hulking opponent to submit. The rest, as the say, is history. Gracie would go on to not only win that tournament but also UFC 2 and UFC 4, cementing himself as the most important fighter in the UFC’s earliest years and bring the Gracie name to the pantheon of MMA.