Top 10 Most Shocking UFC Upsets In 2016
Everyone loves a good underdog story, and over the past 12 months we’ve seen plenty of memorable examples of fighters delivering major upsets inside the UFC’s Octagon.
Truth be told, mixed martial arts is perfectly suited to breeding unexpected outcomes like this due to the sport’s inherently unpredictable and unforgiving nature, where just a single strike, a momentarily exposed neck or a split-second lapse in concentration can result in even the very best fighters in the world being finished in the blink of an eye.
In this article we’ll count down the 10 most jaw-dropping examples in 2016, shining a light on both up-and-coming fighters who made a mockery of the bookmaker’s odds, and underappreciated stars who confounded the critics to emerge victorious in some of the year’s highest profile fights.
No.10: Bryan Caraway vs. Aljamain Sterling
Aljamain Sterling was a hotly tipped rising star heading into his fight against Bryan Caraway at UFC Fight Night 88 in May, but things would not go according to plan for ‘The Funk Master’ that night.
Sterling had been on the fast-track to title contention after compiling a perfect 12-0 start to his MMA career, including four victories in a row inside the Octagon, leading to him being installed as a –400 favorite to win.
That being said, though he often gets more attention for being Miesha Tate’s long-time partner, Caraway is an experienced veteran who had a 5-2 UFC record at the time, and he’d prove that it was a mistake to overlook him by grinding out a split decision victory to bring and end to Sterling’s unbeaten run.
No.9: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Holly Holm
Given the accolades that Holly Holm received after her KO win against Ronda Rousey back in November of last year, few would have foreseen that she’d then fail to register a win in 2016, but that’s the card she was dealt.
After losing her bantamweight title to Miesha Tate earlier in the year, there was little hesitation from oddsmakers in installing her as the favorite going into her next fight with Russia’s Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of July’s UFC On FOX 20 event.
That made sense given that Holm had been winning her fight with Tate up until being surprised by a submission deep into the final round, and with Shevchenko being more likely to settle for engaging on the feet, that would give the former boxing champion a chance to shine where she’s most comfortable.
However, while Shevchenko was only ranked No.7 in the division at the time after a 1-1 start to her UFC career, she was still a multiple-time kickboxing champion and her striking skills would prove too much for Holm on the night, leading to ‘Bullet’ recording a comfortable unanimous decision victory.
No.8: Eddie Alvarez vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Heading into his latest title defense against Eddie Alvarez, UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was riding an incredible wave of momentum.
While he’d once been considered just a mid-tier 155lb’er, RDA had developed into a monster, compiling a 10-1 run that had included unexpectedly one-sided victories against some of the dvision’s top talents like Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone.
On the other hand, former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez had lost his first UFC fight against Cerrone and then narrowly emerged with split decision victories against Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis, so while he was still considered a threat, he was widely considered to be the underdog.
As fate would have it though, UFC Fight Night 90 in July would prove to be ‘The Underground King’s’ time to shine as he rocked Dos Anjos with a counter right hand mid-way through the opening round, then teed off on the champion against the cage until the referee stepped in to put the battered RDA out of his misery and crown Alvarez the new lightweight champion.
No.7: Bryan Barberena vs. Warlley Alves
TUF Brazil Season 3 winner Warlley Alves marked himself out as a force to be reckoned with when he compiled a four-fight winning start to his UFC career, taking his overall career record to a flawless 10-0.
On the other hand, there wasn’t nearly as much hype behind Bryan Barberena heading into their fight at UFC 198 in May, with ‘Bam Bam’ having compiled a 2-1 UFC record at the time and was coming off a win over the relatively green Sage Northcutt.
As such, the general consensus was that Barberena was just another stepping-stone for Alves and the Brazilian closed as a whopping –650 favorite to emerge victorious.
Barberena had other plans though and produced one of the biggest underdog stories of the year as he showcased his toughness to survive an early storm from Alves and then outworked his opponent in the rounds that followed to emerge with a unanimous decision victory.
No.6: Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
When Nate Diaz agreed to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on less than two weeks notice in March, the general consensus was that the Irishman should be considered a significant favorite to emerge victorious.
After all, Diaz had literally been partying on a yacht in Mexico when he received the UFC’s call, while McGregor was coming off a huge 13 second KO win over long-time featherweight champ Jose Aldo and had been training hard for months to fight lightweight title holder, Rafael dos Anjos.
Nevertheless, though McGregor was as much as a 5-1 favorite to win there were warning signs that this match-up might not go his way.
For one thing, Diaz had looked in excellent form in his previous fight with Michael Johnson on FOX just a few months earlier, while the fact the Stockton native had successfully lobbied to have the fight take place at 170lbs also worked in his favor as the naturally larger man.
In the early stages of the fight McGregor’s speed and clinical striking appeared to be edging the contest, but Diaz took his best shots and then turned the screw as ‘The Notorious’ began to tire in the second round.
Initially hurting him with punches, Diaz then took advantage of a desperate takedown attempt from from McGregor to take his back and tap him out with a rear-naked choke, becoming the first fighter to defeat the superstar in the Octagon and notch up what was undoubtedly the most talked about upset victory of the year.
Directly addressing those who had doubted him pre-fight, Diaz then took to the mic and infamously declared, “I’m not surprised motherf***ers!”
No.5: Brandon Moreno vs. Louis Smolka
As a UFC newcomer accepting a fight on just nine days notice, the odds were always going to be firmly stacked against Brandon Moreno heading into UFC Fight Night 96 in October.
To make matters worse, he’d been lined up to fight Louis Smolka, who was riding high on a four-fight winning streak in the UFC and had tasted defeat just once in his twelve fight professional career.
Smolka closed as over a 6-1 favorite to extend his unbeaten run, so even the 22 year-old Moreno was shocked by how swiftly he was able to end the fight, locking in a rear-naked choke submission mid-way through the first round to announce his arrival in the UFC with a flourish.
No.4: Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva
Michael Bisping appeared to be able to do no wrong in 2016 and it all began with landing a dream fight against former middleweight champion Anderson Silva in his native England at UFC Fight Night 84 in February.
To be fair, while Bisping had been pursuing a fight with Silva for years, it finally came at a time when the Brazilian superstar appeared to be past his best, having lost two fights in a row against Chris Weidman and then had a win over Nick Diaz amended to a no-contest after testing positive for steroids.
Still, as arguably the greatest fighter of all time in his prime, Silva was still the favorite to stop the Brit in his own backyard.
Bisping had other plans though, and he got the better of the 40 year-old Silva in the opening rounds, and even managed to drop him with a combination in the second.
Then came a moment of high drama and controversy late in the third round when Bisping became distracted telling the referee that he’d lost his mouthpiece, leading to Silva connecting with a flying knee to the face that slumped him to the mat.
Silva reeled off to celebrate, but the referee ruled that the bell had sounded just as he was connecting with the strike, and due the fact that Bisping was still conscious that meant that the fight wasn’t over.
Bisping then dug deep and rallied in the remaining rounds to emerge with a memorable upset victory on the scorecards that would pave the way for a title shot a few months later.
No.3: Eric Spicely vs. Thiago Santos
In 2016 you’d be hard pushed to find a bigger underdog than Eric Spicely heading into his fight with Thiago Santos at UFC Fight Night 95 in September.
Arriving in the UFC via TUF Season 23, Spicely was submitted by Sam Alvey in his first fight and had then been informed by the UFC that he was going to be cut.
However, due to the UFC being bought up by WME-IMG there was a hold-up in Spicely’s paperwork being processed to seal his exit, and so in the mean time the promotion offered him a fight with Santos.
There’s little doubt that the UFC saw this is an opportunity to give the highly regarded Santos an easy fight to bounce back from a tough loss to Gegard Mousasi a few months earlier that had broken his four-fight winning streak.
Apparently Spicely didn’t get the memo that his opponent was a 9-1 favorite to win though, and so just 2.58mins into the first round he threw a huge spanner in the works by tapping out the Brazilian via rear-naked choke.
No.2: Miesha Tate vs. Holly Holm
2016 proved to be a rollercoaster ride for Miesha Tate, who experienced both sides of the coin as far as major upsets go over the course of the year.
All of her fights this year were under consideration for this article, but we’ll focus in on UFC 196 in March, as her opponent Holly Holm opened up as much as a 4-1 favorite to win that night in Las Vegas.
While Holm was a perfect 10-0 heading into the title encounter and also had a wealth of experience as a multiple-time boxing champion, it was really her devastating head kick knockout of dominant superstar, Ronda Rousey that had everyone convinced that she was becoming an unstoppable force at 135lbs.
What made Tate’s eventual victory even more shocking was the fact that for the best part of five rounds she was largely coming off second best to ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’, who used her superior movement and striking, together with excellent takedown defense to build a lead on the scorecards.
However, Tate never gave up and her tenacity finally paid off with less than two minutes of the final round remaining as she managed to spin around to get the black clinch and sink in a rear-naked choke.
Despite Hom’s valiant attempts to fight her off, Tate would not be denied and was able to take her to the mat and choke her unconscious to win the title in a dramatic fashion that will live long in the memory.
No.1: Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold
Quite possibly one of the most unexpected upsets in a title fight not only this year, but in UFC history, few people gave Michael Bisping a chance at beating middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in June.
At the time Rockhold was in scintillating form and opened as a 10-1 favorite, having won five fights in a row that not only included a previous dominant win over Bisping by submission, but also other leading contenders like Lyoto Machida and a convincing TKO victory over Chris Weidman to claim the belt.
Add in the fact that Bisping had agreed to the title opportunity on just two weeks notice while on the set of a movie and the odds just seemed too firmly stacked against ‘The Count’ for his fairytale dream of winning the title to come true.
However, that’s exactly what happened as Bisping stunned the champion with a left hook that floored him in the opening round and then followed up with more punches to seal a jaw-dropping knockout victory that no one could have predicted.
Add in his big win over Anderson Silva earlier in the year, and it leaves little room for doubt that Michael Bisping was the undsiputed King Of The Underdogs in 2016.
