In every sport, there are always favorites and underdogs. There are franchises on whom you can place a hefty amount of money on and they’ll pull through for you. Every now and then though, the underdog pulls through and pulls off an unexpected victory: a big upset. Join the Inside Fights crew as we take a look at the Top 10 upsets in MMA history!
10. Scott Smith beats Cung Le at Strikeforce: Evolution
Strikeforce was indirectly marketing Cung Le as the second coming of Mirko Cro Cop. Le had a 17-0 kickboxing record and he was fresh off a victory over MMA legend Frank Shamrock. Even though Cung Le respected Scott Smith and wasn’t looking past him, fans and experts everywhere treated Smith as inferior and labeled him as the dark-horse. Smith got their attention and shocked the wallets of bookies everywhere when he knocked Cung Le out in the third round to claim the victory. – Jon Kirschner
9. Mark Hunt beats Wanderlei Silva at PRIDE FC Shockwave 2004
At PRIDE Shockwave 2004, Kazushi Sakuraba was supposed to be “The Axe Murder’s” next victim. Sakuraba pulled out of the fight and Mark Hunt, with what seemed like a death wish, took the fight on two days notice. Wanderlei was riding an 18 fight win streak and even though he gave up 80 pounds to Hunt, he was favored to win the bout. Hunt stepped up and pulled off a huge upset winning by way of unanimous decision, earning “Fight of the Year” honors by many prestigious publications. – Jon Kirschner
8. Gabriel Gonzaga beats Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70
When the UFC signed Mirko ‘Crocop’ Filopovic back in 2007 they must have felt they had signed the future of the UFC Heavyweight Division. The Croatian had just won the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix in dominant fashion destroying Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett on route to absolute victory. After being unable to secure a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko, and the slow demise of Pride he opted to join the UFC with what seemed like unstoppable momentum. There were signs during his victorious debut against Eddie Sanchez that all was not well, after looking lethargic and uncomfortable within the cage, having spent his entire career fighting in the ring. But no one could have foreseen what awaited him in his title eliminator against BJJ specialist Gabriel Gonzaga. Like so many of his other victims the Brazilian was expected to fall foul to one of Crocop’s patented highlight reel head kicks. As the former K1 standout stalked his opponent, it was he who succumbed to such a fate as ‘Napao’ launched a perfectly timed roundhouse of his own, spectacularly crumbling the Croat and ending his run toward UFC gold. – Luke Cho Yee
7. Quinton Jackson beats Chuck Liddell at UFC 71
Quinton Jackson was not facing the Chuck Liddell everyone thought was past his prime at UFC 71. Liddell was on a seven fight win streak defeating Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz twice and one-off wins against Jeremy Horn, Vernon White and Renato Sobral. As a matter of fact, Liddell’s last loss was against “Rampage” on Jackson’s home turf at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 in Japan. Jackson took the world by surprise after he knocked out Liddell in Round 1. Liddell not only lost his title that night; he was never the same fighter again and only won one of his last five fights. – Jon Kirschner
6. Tito Ortiz beats Ryan Bader at UFC 132
The most recent and certainly the most delicious entry on this list found the UFC’s former #1 draw riding low on a near five year winless streak and forced to fight for his career against highly touted Ryan Bader. Nobody gave Ortiz much of a chance and a lot of the commentary heading into the fight focused on just how sad it was that he was going to have to go out this way. But some bad footwork from Bader and a flawlessly executed guillotine choke catapulted Ortiz into a main event slot at the very next PPV. – Chris Roberts
5. Forest Griffin beats Shogun Rua at UFC 76
Until this point Griffin was best known for his brawl with Stephan Bonner than anything else. He was the Ultimate Fighter winner but hadn’t set the world on fire. Rua was the best LHW in the world at the time and Griffin thought to be the sacrificial lamb. Three rounds later and Griffin shocked everyone (and maybe himself) with the victory. He was a heavy betting underdog and no one in their right mind thought Griffin had a chance; he came out and convincingly beat the best in his weight class (at the time) when no one thought he would survive the first round. Rua was an absolute wrecking machine and Griffin choked him out after winning the first two rounds convincingly. – Scott Sawitz
4. Nick Diaz beats Takanori Gomi at PRIDE FC 33
Despite a minor hiccup at PRIDE Bushido 10, Gomi was walking into the ring at PRIDE 33 virtually undefeated. The Nick Diaz that is expected to fight St. Pierre at UFC 137 is much more evolved than the Nick Diaz that was ready to fight Gomi in PRIDE, so nobody even gave him the light of day. He walked into the ring as an underdog and walked out as the winner after submitting an outclassed Gomi with a gogoplata. Unfortunately for Diaz, they reversed the decision after he failed the NSAC drug test for marijuana. – Jon Kirschner
3. Matt Serra beats Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69
The slip heard round the world. Arguably the greatest fighter in UFC history taken down in his prime by a consensus non-contender, and in most educated opinions, the least talented champion in a long time. Potent statements to say the least. In April of 2007, at UFC 69, Matt Serra defeated Georges “Rush” St. Pierre to become the Welterweight champion. Only training for three weeks, and admittedly taking Serra lightly, St. Pierre was knocked silly after a slip during an exchange. Surely a disheartening way to lose a title in your prime. – Matt Schuerman
2. Frankie Edgar beats BJ Penn at UFC 112
At this point of his career, the lightweight version of BJ Penn seemed to be an unstoppable force. When Frankie Edgar was named as BJ’s next opponent, almost everybody crossed his name off the list as just another victim. While Penn was favored at -780 (which means you had to bet $7.80 just to win a measly $1!), Edgar was labeled as a +540 underdog. The guys who set the odds in Vegas seemed to forget that a great wrestling base will usually cancel out a great jiu-jitsu base. Edgar shocked the world and used strategic striking and smart wrestling to eek out a decision win. – Jon Kirschner
1. Fabricio Werdum beats Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum
Fedor seems all too human these days but try to think way back to June of 2010 as he entered his match with Fabricio Werdum. Most saw the fight as a cop out and easy path to defending his unbeaten streak which at this point had reached 28 fights and nearly 10 years. That one loss on his record was of the weak sauce variety as the ref stopped the contest due to cuts. Everybody makes mistakes and in this case Fedor’s aggression got the better of him and he charged into Werdum’s guard and was submitted minutes later. – Chris Roberts
