Mauricio Rua - John Jones (light heavyweight title)

Tournament: UFC 128

Date and place: March 19, 2011, Newark (USA)

It is hard to imagine, but the once-current first number of the rating of fighters, regardless of weight categories, was not considered as the first contender for the light heavyweight title. Initially, Mauricio Rua's rival was to be his teammate Rashad Evans, but a sudden knee injury made adjustments. As a result, the UFC had to release him to replace the 23-year-old John Jones, who at that time had 12 victories in one controversial defeat.

In Jones, they already saw the future champion, and bookmakers considered him a favorite. But few expected him to surpass Rua so much. To defeat the Brazilian, it took him only two and a half rounds, during which he dominated the trophy holder both in the stance and in the stalls. The ending turned into a uniform beating, according to which John became the youngest UFC champion in history.

Nick Diaz - Carlos Condit (interim welterweight title)

Tournament: UFC 143

Date and place: February 4, 2012, Las Vegas (USA)

In this case, it is not so important who exactly replaced, and who was considered the main contender. At first, the rival of Saint-Pierre in the fight for the title was to be the odious Diaz, who for several months had insulted the Canadian. But because of the disregard for attending press conferences, Dana White deprived him of this right and called Condit the first contender for the title.

However, Georges, who at that time owned a welterweight belt, suffered a knee injury and was eliminated indefinitely. As a result, the fight for the title was canceled altogether, and the duel between Nick and BJ Penn became the main event of the 137th tournament. One of the most scandalous fighters in the history of UFC easily figured out the ex-champion of the lightweight category and regained the title of main challenger.

But Saint-Pierre, healing one injury, earned another - tore the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee. The Canadian dropped out for a year and White decided to play the time zone. Condit, who won four consecutive victories, became the opponent of Diaz.

However, even this did not provide Nick with the status of a favorite, because at that time the opponent was rightfully considered one of the strongest welterweight in the world. The battle turned out to be very equal, but Carlos kickboxing and the strategy of his coaches in the person of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljon did their job. The nominee outsider interrupted the unbeaten run of the opponent from 11 fights and postponed one of the most anticipated confrontations in this category. A year later, Diaz still met with Saint-Pierre, but only in order to give way again.

Renan Barao - TJ Dillashaw (Bantamweight Champion)

Tournament: UFC 173

Date and place: May 24, 2014, Las Vegas (USA)

Unlike the previous duel, the battle between Dillashaw and Barao promised to become one of the most one-sided in the history of mixed martial arts. Many journalists and experts gave the victory to a more experienced Brazilian in advance. Renan approached this tournament with a series of 32 consecutive victories and was considered an unsurpassed master of MMA, which only confirmed his impressive successes in the battles with Uraia Faber and Michael MacDonald. But the fiasco in May 2014 was so crippled by the athlete that over the next six years he gained the upper hand in only two out of nine fights.

Dillashaw, though he was considered a talented and promising fighter, but initially did not even have to fight with Barao. At UFC 173, he had to face off with Takei Mizugaki, but because of problems with selecting an opponent for the champion, he was suddenly raised to the main fight. Bets on TJ were accepted with a coefficient of 5.75, but he managed to create one of the main sensations in the history of MMA. For five and a half rounds, he replayed the Brazilian in all aspects and even sent him knocked down, and in the middle of the final five-minute he completed what he started.

Anthony Johnson - Daniel Cormier (light heavyweight title)

Tournament: UFC 187

Date and place: May 23, 2015, Las Vegas (USA)

In the main fight of the tournament, the current champion Jones and one of the brightest knockouts in MMA Johnson were to meet. The audience was already looking forward to the battle of two stars of the light heavy division, until the owner of the belt became a member of a scandal. At that time, he had not yet tarnished his reputation with doping stories and numerous hits in police reports, so the situation with an accident was a shock for many.

In April, Jones allegedly triggered an accident that injured a pregnant woman. At the same time, many were outraged by the actions of an athlete who hastened to leave the scene of the incident without providing assistance to the victim. An investigation was initiated against him, during which the UFC struck out the athlete from the ratings and stripped him of his rank.

As for the show itself, Johnson suffered the most, having received the rivals of the most uncomfortable counterpart in the person of partner and friend Nurmagomedov - Cormier. He had almost a month to prepare and appeared in the octagon in optimal shape, and Ramble was not ready for battle with the fighter. In the first round, Anthony nearly knocked out Daniel with a sweeping overhand, but was subsequently exhausted on the ground and lost by change.

Luke Rockhold - Michael Bisping (middleweight title)

Tournament: UFC 199

Date and place: June 4, 2016, Inglewood (USA)

In December 2015, Luke Rockhold defeated Chris Weidman in a dramatic duel and became the UFC middleweight champion. In June, the long-awaited revenge between the two main stars of the division was to take place, but the former owner of the belt received a neck injury. The second applicant in the person of Ronaldo Souza was considered as a replacement at that time, but the operation was already planned for him. In the end, the chance to compete for the title went to Michael Bisping, who had an active victory over the middle peasants Thales Leites and CBS Dollarway, as well as extremely controversial success in a duel with Anderson Silva.

Bisping was not added by the fact that earlier he was already inferior to Rockhold, and ahead of schedule. The battle turned out to be quite one-sided and ended in surrender already at the 57th second of the second round. The Englishman’s chances did not even increase the stories about how once during a sparring he did not leave Luke a chance. But contrary to all forecasts, Michael managed to surprise in a champion fight. Rockhold came out extremely relaxed and unassembled, for which he paid. Bisping sent a knockout in a series of punches, becoming the first champion from England in the UFC.

Max Holloway - Dustin Porrier (interim lightweight title)

Tournament: UFC 236

Date and place: April 13, 2019, Atlanta (USA)

This fight became possible for two reasons. The current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was suspended from speaking for his behavior at the end of UFC 229 and could not defend his champion title, and the first challenger in the person of Tony Ferguson refused to fight with then featherweight king Max Holloway for the time zone. As a result, his place was taken by Dustin Porrier, who had five victories in six battles.

Due to its impressive success in the category up to 65 kilograms and high growth, Holloway was considered as the favorite of the fight. Earlier, many had already predicted him a bright career in lightweight and expected that the coming success would mark his final transition to the Nurmagomedov division. But Dustin thwarted these plans and created a sensation. Of course, the judicial decision turned out to be ambiguous, and Max could have won, but the dominance of Diamond in the first rounds played a role.