Sean Strickland shocked the world following his dominant display over Israel Adesanya at UFC 293. After rocking ‘The Last Stylebender’ in the first round, Strickland went on to dominate the fight, winning the middleweight title via a unanimous decision.
Many have claimed in the aftermath of the fight that Strickland’s victory was the biggest upset in UFC history. Are such claims a result of recency bias? Or was it genuinely the biggest shock the UFC has seen?
In this article, we look at some of the other contenders.
Matt Serra vs. Georges St-Pierre – UFC 69
The Jui-Jitsu world champion, Matt Serra, was a huge underdog going into this fight. Prior to challenging for the title at UFC 69, Serra had a 9-4 MMA record. His opponent was the bona fide Hall of Famer Georges ‘Rush’ St-Pierre, who had recent wins over UFC legends Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn.
The Welterweight Champion went into this one with a 13-1 record, his only defeat coming against Matt Hughes at UFC 50, a loss which he later went onto avenge. St-Pierre had a six-inch reach advantage and a four-inch height advantage going into this one.
Round One
In the first thirty seconds, Serra is the one applying pressure. He lands a body shot, but it’s reaching. On his retreat, he blocks a head kick from St-Pierre.
The champion continues to try his luck with the left head kick but misses a couple of shots. Serra then eats a couple of strikes as he closes the distance and hits the canvas – lucky for him, it was only a loss of balance, rather than a result of being wobbled.
Serra wants to be in the pocket, and when he enters, he swings for the bleachers, aiming for the body of St.Pierre. He doesn’t connect with anything meaningful this time. We go past the halfway point of the first round, and Serra’s confidence is growing.
A right hand from Serra connects, and he follows it with a left. St-Pierre stumbles to the cage. Is he dazed or just off balance? It’s hard to tell. Serra lands a right and hurts St-Pierre. Knowing he’s in trouble, the champion starts swinging wildly, landing a couple of shots before a flush right-hand knocks St-Pierre to the ground, this time for good.
Serra unleashes some vicious ground-and-pound. The referee, John McCarthy, gives St-Pierre a chance to get out of the situation he’s found himself in. It’s not long before he stops defending himself, leaving McCarthy with little option but to call an end to the fight. Matt Serra wins via TKO in the second round.
Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey – UFC 193
”Footwork and movement, those are two of the keys for Holly Holm. She’s got to stay on the outside, utilize footwork, movement and angles, land strikes, and particularly, land kicks” were the words of Joe Rogan on commentary as Holly Holm made her way to the octagon. He was right.
Holm went into the fight undefeated in Mixed Martial Arts with an unblemished 9-0 record. Before competing in the UFC, Holm was a distinguished boxer with an impressive 32-2-3 record. She took to martial arts like a duck to water, but she was about to enter a tremendous pressure situation as she faced the biggest star in the sport, the phenom that is Ronda Rousey.
The champion was more than used to the pressure, having had three title fights in the previous nine months which lasted a combined sixty-four seconds. With an MMA record of 12-0, nine wins by armbar and three by knockout, the submission specialist Rousey had never gone the distance before. Most people were expecting no different this time and for her to dispatch Holm with relative ease, as she had done with her previous bouts prior to UFC 193.
Round One
Both women move at electric speed from the outset. Holm is the first to connect with a left hand. Rousey stalks Holm around the cage and lands a right; she is boxing the boxer.
Rousey secures the clinch against the cage just over one minute into the fight, something which Holm would have been training to avoid. They separate, and Holm connects with a left high kick.
Holm seems happy to let the champion do the chasing and uses her boxing prowess to her advantage as she steps in with her right hand. Rousey initiates another clinch and secures the takedown; it’s not long before Holm is back to her feet, avoiding an armbar in the process. A big moment.
Rousey is standing right in front of Holm and eats numerous blows to the face. Remarkably, Holm takes down the champion, but realizing it wasn’t a wise move, she lets Rousey get back to her feet.
Round Two
Less than thirty seconds into the second round, Holm throws a side-kick that lands on the chin.
The champion loses her balance as she throws a right hand but misses. She turns around and approaches Holm to engage. A straight left from Holm wobbles Rousey, and the challenger throws a left head kick, which knocks out her opponent. The crowd goes insane; they can’t believe what they’ve just witnessed. Holm dethrones the Queen and becomes the UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes – UFC 269
Following Ronda Rousey’s defeat to Holly Holm, her last fight in the UFC came a year later against Amanda Nunes. The Brazilian defeated Rousey via TKO in the first round, and the Bantamweight Champion, Nunes, defended her title a further five times before facing Pena at UFC 269.
In the process, Nunes also won the UFC Featherweight title against Cris Cyborg at UFC 232, making her the first female double champion in the UFC. Such accolades meant Amanda Nunes had displaced Ronda Rousey as the greatest of all time.
Standing across the cage from her was Julianna Pena, who had recently just come off The Ultimate Fighter reality series where she coached alongside Nunes. Tensions ran high on a couple of occasions during the show’s run, and the pair couldn’t wait to finally settle their differences inside the cage.
Julianna Pena went into the fight at UFC 269 following victory over Sara McCann at UFC 257, improving her record to 10-4. Had Nunes and Pena not competed against each other on The Ultimate Fighter, this fight would likely have gained much traction with the fans as many expected Nunes to win comfortably.
Pena oozed confidence during the build-up, and her prediction that she was going to beat Nunes with ease seemed genuine. Not many people believed her, but they should have.
Round One
Nunes throws a low kick, causing Pena to lose her footing. She gets back to her feet and engages with Nunes. Joe Rogan says on commentary that Pena needs to turn this fight into a brawl, noting that Nunes has significantly more power.
Pena shows willingness to throw strikes in the pocket, but it’s not long before Nunes sends her to the canvas with another leg kick. Nunes shows patience before throwing a right hand on a grounded Pena.
The challenger briefly returns to her feet but is soon taken down as Nunes fights for an underhook. Pena struggles to get the champion off her, and Nunes takes her back. Excellent takedown defense from Pena as Nunes tries, unsuccessfully, to choke her out.
Pena attempts a kimura; the champion is able to see the clock out.
Round Two
Nunes throws some power shots but misses. Pena lands a nice jab on Nunes and begins to have more success in the pocket.
Multiple jabs follow from Pena, and she stuns the champion with a left hand. Nunes reacts similarly to GSP at UFC 69; she starts swinging. The champion has more success and lands a couple of nice shots; the fight has become a stand-up war.
Nunes is loading up on her shots and missing. She begins to fatigue, and Pena catches her with a left, sending her wobbling. Both women are now just taking turns swinging. One of them is going to drop if this continues.
The left jabs of Pena now land with ease before a right hand sends Nunes into retreat against the cage. The champion is exhausted. Pena knows this and takes Nunes down. She secures a choke and Nunes taps out! Pena becomes the UFC Bantamweight Champion. Rogan claims on commentary, ”That’s the biggest upset in the history of the sport.”
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