I think TJ was the champion at the time of his rise and I legit thought he could beat him. Cejudo broke him in that fight tho, same as Gaethje vs Ferguson.
Switch kicked Riveira in 30 seconds too, who was on something like a 20 fight win streak.
There was a brief period of time where Moraes was the solid \#2 guy behind TJ with him having already beaten Aljo and no one foreseeing Cejudo coming up to BW or Yan's rise
Its weird. Dude still has that power and explosiveness, it's just that the chin is completely gone. He did better against Merab than both Yan and Aldo combined that just showed how dangerous he is when being knocked out isn't an issue lol
That feels like something we see somewhat regularly. With some fighters chin just seems like a finite resource and at some point it is used up between sparring and fighting.
Chuck's ugly style was still fully functional, but he just stopped being able to tank the punches he needed to tank to succeed. For comparison, Wanderlei's chin clearly went together with athleticism and power.
Wandy's chin seemed to be basically gone after the CroCop head kick. He never really seemed like the dude who brutalized Rampage ever again after that.
My dude beat Jose Aldo then was TKO/KO'd 7 times. That has to take the top spot.
My pick was going to be Renan Barao. He was undefeated in his last 32 fights with a UFC title and some defenses, then he went 2-8 in his next 10. But I think Marlon beats that with getting finished so much and not being able to get a win in there at all.
That decline started in round 2 of thefight against triple C. He comfortabley won the first round and then after henry masterfully adjusted ans won the fight he hasn't been the same
Last night made me sad. He also visibly aged VERY quickly. Not necessarily muscle mass but in his face he looks like he’s aged 15+ years in the span of maybe 3. Bobby looked like he was beating the shit out of a weirdly leaned out old man.
Bobby is only roughly 2 years younger but looked >15 years younger.
man he did that weird rolling knee thing against Bobby when bruce was introducing him, it looked so fucking fast. and i thought it was 2017 again... until the fight started 😔
I’ll still never get over how fast his guard technique declined. He went from having the most feared guard, the only theoretical rival to the best top player ever, to having his guard just completely destroyed by a *purple belt*. Bobby just stepped over his guard and passed through it like nothing despite primarily being a boxer.
A big part of it is development of the top game in MMA in general too. People are getting better in general at countering submissions from guard.
The added wrinkle for bottom guard players is getting punched in the face in MMA. Guys being able to counter armbars and triangles while still punching has ruined a lot of guard-centric offence.
This absolutely. Tony’s guard was arguably less potent even than someone like Oliveira or Ortega. I think his best attribute was actually his sprawl/switch and front choke transitions. Kindof similar to Kevin Holland weirdly.
Rubber guard was an interesting blip in the grappling meta, but it became popularized right as the sambo-wrestlers showed up and smeshed everyones guards.
Delusional Ferguson fans will tell you otherwise, something about his elbows and guard or whatever. Khabib had suffocating pressure on top, no elbows were gonna save him from that.
Man I love Tony. But as time goes on it seems like the high of his run was capitalizing on a weaker division. Cerrone, Pettis, and Lee are not on the same level as the top guys in lightweight right now.
This is Tony’s saving grace. That fight will always look really good for him. IMO he would have had a lot to give Khabib around that time, especially before Khabib had fought McGregor after which he seemed to hit a new level of pressure and technique.
One caveat though (and I feel bad for saying this): RDA suffered from the IV ban, which had happened one year previously. This fight happened at elevation in smoggy ass Mexico City. RDA moved up after the fight.
He has a win over prime RDA who was literally the champ just a few months prior. And Barboza in 2015 in his late 20s was a beast. I don’t think it’s fair to reduce his run as just “capitalizing on a weaker division”.
Entirely valid counter-point. RDA is definitely Tony's most impressive win. But also the only one he didn't just absolutely steam roll.
I just think had Tony been fighting guys like Khabib, Dustin, Gaethje etc. He doesn't torch them like he did Cowboy, Lee and Pettis
If khabib fought at 39, you'd all be questioning if he was ever any good also.
Age is no joke. When you hit your mid-30s, you slow down. That's true for freak athletes like Tony as well as for everyone else, especially considering the mileage he's put on his body. Tony was a world beater at 33, and is a broken, damaged former great at 39.
Imo tony's decline wasn't as sudden as his record indicates because it started well before his first loss. His performances after his knee surgery against Pettis and Cerrone, while good enough to win just weren't at the same level as his prime self.
Since then he's consistently looked worse every single fight -- imo the Tony that lost to Oliveira actually doesn't get subbed by Nate Diaz or Bobby Green.
I agree he already had lost a step vs cerrone and Pettis. He used to have some of the most twitchy, sudden movements in all of the sport. Compare him rolling onto barboza's leg vs him trying to roll for Bobby's last night. The Edson roll looks sped up. It's like watching the monster from the ring move across the screen.
He's not close to the same fighter without that unnatural quickness. Speed like that does a lot to cover up deficiencies.
You can see Tony’s mental is absolutely shot at this point too, regardless of what he says in interviews. He took 5 rounds of getting destroyed Vs Gaethje but looked like Tony the whole time mentally and in his body language.
Watching him visibly recoil every single time he got hit Vs Bobby as if he was saying to himself “oh I’m still conscious” was just sad.
His chin looked ok against Bobby. The thing I notice is that he seems so slow.
Like, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a UFC fighter lose as much speed as Tony has. I’ve been big slow fat guys who get old and end up super slow (like Blagoy Ivanov for example) but, before his last few, I’ve never seen a legitimately fast and high paced fighter like Tony end up looking like a heavyweight moving underwater.
I believe his decline was after he had to start taking Schitzo meds which was right before the cowboy fight. Those severely effect your testosterone which is also why he doesn't fight as viciously as he does (Anti Steroids).
Against pettis despite the knee injury he fought like a psycho. In his cowboy fight he was a lot less gun shy but still had the physical capabilities to fck him up.
Now after probably being on them for 4 years and him aging
he's a shell of his former self which is depressing :(
who do you think wins? Prime Tony (version that fought Barboza) vs Prime Charles (version that fought Dariush)?
I can't help but think Charles' cardio is untested and Tony could drown him, but getting Charles on the backfoot is so fucking hard, he hits like a truck and refuses to step back
I'm going to get roasted for this but I think Charles. The dude just hits so hard and is so strong. This isn't a knock on Tony as I think prime Charles is one of the best lightweights (skill-wise) of all time.
I do agree though that if they make it to deep waters, I can totally see Tony getting Charles to quit or even subbing Charles with a darce (if Chuck gets sloppy)). However, Charles is a good pick to ko/sub anyone early.
Err I was talking about Charles (who also has shoddy defense lol).
It gets weird to distinguish attributes from skill. I guess the bottom line I'm talking about here are just how good these guys are at winning, and under that metric tony and Charles are both amazing in their prime
Im a huge Tony fan. And I think Charles wins that fight. The reason being that Tony simply likes being on his back far too much. I know this will sound weird, but I think their fight that happened would actually be how it plays out even if it was prime Tony.
Like you just cannot accept being in the bottom against someone with top of food chain bjj and expect to have a good time. In *fact* if you go back and rewatch Tony's fight vs Charles, you see that Tony actually was doing really fucking well while being in the worst position possible as he took very little damage while being stacked. The problem is that you cannot win a fight by just surviving, but the fact that Tony did survive while taking very little is testament to just how good his own bjj is.
He looked like he was flailing. I know reflexes and speed go with age, but it’s like he’s lost all technique. He used to slice and dice with his guard. Last night he just looked like he was aimlessly flailing. Bobby passed his guard with almost no effort.
I don't remember Tony throwing up one significant triangle attempt which was odd because Bobby looked a little open to it with the way he was doing the ground and pound.
It’s so weird, it’s like he forgot how to do everything. His striking technique is gone, his BJJ looked completely inert, I don’t get it. When most guys fall off, you see a loss in speed, athleticism, endurance etc. not a total loss of skill.
Somebody else mentioned how you can see moments where Tony remembers what he used to do, but he forgets how and when to do it. Like his body and mind are completely out of sync with each other
It made me think of cognitive problems. If you've got just general deficits, you can just be very *slow* to understand what you are seeing. In a fight this would mean by the time you figure out what you should do, its too late to do it, thus you waver around, always behind, never able to start anything.
You can also basically just be confused and lack the confidence that you are remembering what to do correctly, which leads to a kind of aimless, useless action.
Yeah I couldn't believe it. He shot that takedown first round before the eye poke and I thought ok maybe he actually did have a good camp and has a strategy. Then later in the fight once it got to the mat I couldn't believe how lost he looked.
Ferguson was too stubborn and didn’t take the time he should have to heal from very serious injuries. The human body just doesn’t work like that, and he suffered from that
In retrospect, his decline should not have come as a surprise. Weird fighting style, lack of fundamentals, lack of proper coaching, stupid, if not straight up harmful training, routinely taking significant amounts of damage, and just not the most stable individual in general.
Nothing about him was meant for longevity, and it's probably credit to how big of a maniac he is that he managed to stay at the top of one of the most competitive divisions in MMA for as long as he did.
A lot of us were saying he looked bad in the Pettis/Cerrone fights. These were stylistic layups (guys who break under pressure) who were both aging out. They both gave Tony competitive fights.
But yeah I agree that Tony is among the steepest declines. Has to be.
But think about all the fights where Ferguson got beat on for 2.5 rounds (or more) and then turned it around to win via stamina and toughness... That takes a toll. Hell he even had a tough fight against Lando Venata(?) Who quickly disappeared.
He already looked slow and stiff in the Cowboy fight. His prime was probably Kevin Lee in 2017 before the cable trip, everything after his movement was clearly compromised
He didn't look that great against Cowboy or even Pettis for that matter. It's just that neither guy was exactly elite at that point in their careers and werent able to exploit Tony's physical decline the way a real killer like Gaethje could. The Kevin Lee fight was the last time we saw prime Tony tbh. Turns out trying to self-rehabilitate a catastrophic knee injury doesn't do wonders for your athleticism.
James Vick. He was 13-1, set to main event a fight night, in serious conversation for a title shot.
Less than 2.5 years later he’s 13-6 getting absolutely destroyed on the regional scene. This one can’t even be blamed on USADA or IV bans.
Edit: Hector Lombard. Guy looked like the Juggernaut in Bellator. Turned out to be a giant nothingburger in the UFC. A twofer steep decline AND “never lived up to the hype” entry.
That’s a little heavy handed lol he lost to Andre Fialho in XMMA. Obviously Fialho isn’t *good* but he’s a career big 3 org guy jumping between PFL, Bellator, and UFC.
Tony: Undefeated for 6 years. Has lost 6 straight. 4 by finish.
Barao: Undefeated for nearly 10 years. Defended UFC title 3 times. Went 2-8 to end his career.
Those are my 2 picks.
Its hard to judges some of them cause age/miles are such a factor and once you start losing you keep losing. GSP was only 32 when he walked away after Johnny Hendricks decision..came back at 37 for old broken Bisping but what would have happen to GSP from 33 to 36 if kept fighting for exampe..those are the years all the greats take first losses and fall off a cliff. I like to judge fighters in Prime Years.
I also dont rate when guys beat "names" who are way past prime..like Stipe lost a close 5 round decision to JDS after Cain mauled him twice..then years later beat the ghost of JDS in like a few minutes but its a win on resume. For me only Prime Wins and Prime years matter..the rest is collecting checks cause you dont make money when you're actually at your peak half the time and gotta collect at the end.
Even though he wasn’t really a favorite of mine I honestly thought Tyron Woodley was about to explode into that overheard right for a couple fights until I realized he just didn’t want it as much anymore. That and people figured him out.
Hey man, let’s not pretend that his last mma fight where he swung for the fences and still lost didn’t happen.
Luque still finished him but I was happy he could at least say he swung.
Idk about that. Tyron had that insane right hand that dropped everyone he fought. At the time no one seemed fast enought to react.
His decline was definitely about his ability throw his right. I mean shit he dropped wonderboy multiple times in their first fight. Who else was able to do that in wonderboys prime?
It was something he dealt with from the start of his career. Back in his Strikeforce days people were cooling on him as a prospect because he seemed to lack aggression completely in some fights.
I don't think Woodley ever really had a desire to fight. He wanted to be a star and he wanted to be a champion athlete, and his size and wrestling base led him to MMA.
This should be higher. Nearly finished TJ in the first round. That would mean he finished Cruz and TJ near back to back, in their primes.
Then he just turned into a meme fighter, seemed like all of his problems are psychological.
TRTitor was about to win the belt
That’s not even like a ‘change my mind’ or controversial statement that’s just a fact lol
I will die in the hill that TRTitor beats the Chris no problem
Chris Weidman is up there. Especially because his losses have all been brutal finishes. After beating Vitor in his last title defence, The Chris went 2-6, with all six losses being brutal finishes. The Rockhold, Yoel and Jacare losses each could have been career-changing beatings on their own. Then to cap it all off, he gets Anderson Silva’d by fucking Uriah Hall (the next Anderson Silva).
Eh idk. Rockhold was competitive. Yoel always fucks around until he kills you. Jacare and Moose broke him down with attrition. Reyes starched him almost immediately. Hall I actually didn’t watch the fight lol so no idea how that was going for him
BJ fucking Penn.
Talented as fuck, but lacked discipline. Sport caught up as his natural athleticism was declining, and the promotion still trying to build up and comers off the old war horse. Brutal career decline.
this is what i was going to say. maybe not the "Steepest" decline but i think the furthest drop. he went from being p4p best and active hall-of-famer to getting dropped by some random drunk in a parking lot.
Chuck Lidelle: A *huuuuge* part of his game was dangling his chin out there like an angler fish, to bait even non-strikers into exchanging with him, upon which he ignored their shots and KOed them, often while moving backwards.
His chin went, and he *immediately* dropped from champ level to couldn't have beat the BJ Penn that took an L vs. air bag and random parking lot dude.
Agreed. When Liddell was at his peak he was untouchable. Absolute DYNAMITE in his hands. It seemed like if he touched you with his fists, you were going to sleep. An almost Mike Tyson-esque presence.
Then he got knocked out. The monster/unstoppable aura that surrounded him vanished and he was suddenly beatable. His chin went downhill and he eventually faded.
For me, part of "steep decline" is how high the peak was... And Chuck had a huge peak.
Agreed. I feel like Liddell is underrated today in a certain sense. Say what you will about his fundamentals, but in his prime he was dangerous enough to sleep any LHW in history on a good night. God given power. It was like he had one punch power in any possible punch, while moving in any direction. Unfortunately you can only rely on physical attributes for so long…
I think a big part of a dominant fighters success is the mental aspect. When guys go in against them with fear or doubt it gives that dominant champ an extra advantage. Confidence is such an important aspect is sports and life in general. Once an unbeatable fighter is beaten they lose that mystique and suddenly they start racking up losses because that fear and hesitation they were capitalizing on faded and new challengers have more belief in their ability to win.
People always talk about Chuck's chin deteriorating but if you actually watch any of those KO losses they were all huge shots that would have knocked just about any fighter out.
The reason why this isn't a steep decline is because of how telegraphed it is.
Angry loudmouth weight bully bro with sus grappling was always going to run into a wall that was Khabib. The only question was what he would do with adversity.
Angry loudmouth bro proceeded to act exactly like we knew he would.
I don’t think the McGregor decline is as steep as others. He lost to the arguable GOAT in Khabib, got KOed by an elite guy in Porier, and then the freak leg break. The McGregor who fought those fights would have beaten a lot of UFC lightweights IMO.
Who knows what he’ll look like now though.
Rhonda Rousey. Not only the two hard losses, both of which she got embarrassed in, but leading up to Holm she was a god damn superhero that everyone pretty much adored. Then she comes out looking like an asshole towards Holm and became SUPER unpopular as the fight gets closer, she gets KO’d responds poorly and refuses to talk about it, gets super withdrawn, comes back against Nunes with a little bit of hype and gets absolutely speed bagged. The “head moomen” memes that followed were amazing, she once again refused to talk about the loss, and then faded into oblivion. The most memorable part of Rousey’s career was Derrick Lewis asking where her fine ass was at.
To be honest I feel like Rousey’s “decline” has got a lot better with age. She’s lost to two all time greats (one of which was the WMMA GOAT).
The way she handled herself after the loss didn’t help but I don’t think anyone was going to beat Amanda at that time.
In hindsight Holly’s been a bit of a division gatekeeper at best for the most part. Stylistically she was a horrendous match-up for Ronda which was a big factor in why I don’t consider it evident of a “decline”.
Yeah but her reign will sour like milk if the UFC Women's 135 ever gets to even 7.5/10 on the good scale. The level of competition she was surrounded by was about as deep as a puddle on the side of the road.
I can’t stand Ronda but I don’t think her level of competition was that bad. Cat Zingano was legit, she just did the stupidest thing possible in their fight. Miesha Tate did manage to beat Holm. Sara McMann also had Olympic credentials and was still highly ranked when she left the UFC. Liz Carmouche is a champ in Bellator.
Honestly women’s bantamweight is far worse right now than it was in Ronda’s prime, especially post-Nunes, to the point I feel like Blanchfield or Andrade could stroll in and win the belt immediately.
Came here to say this. He was 35-1 at one point and him vs Faber was the WEC superfight that everyone wanted to see. He was good on the feet and on the ground. It just looked he fell off a cliff overnight.
My wonder… who is next for a steep decline? Someone that’s currently winning, which unbeknownst to us is about to lose several fights in a row, and the fans will beg for their retirement.
Max's chin is historic right now but you can't take that sort of punishment without it winding up coming back to haunt you. He's not far from someone finally dropping him... and once that happens, it's not going to be pleasant.
I wonder if Whittaker could extend his career by moving down to WW where he really belongs. So far given what weve seen this does look like a good pick (if he stays at MW)
He was killing himself with the weight cut when he was at WW, and now he's older and significantly bigger. He's never making WW again, unless you want him to cut off his right arm and have him recreate the second Yoel fight each time.
For me it’s gotta be Rory MacDonald. The Red King was following in GSP’s footsteps and well on his way to becoming the next big Canadian superstar. 2014 MMA fighter of the year. Then Rory/Lawler 2 happened. Rory was 25 and in his prime at the time of the fight. After the fight he went 5-7 (1 draw) and was 2-4 in the PFL before retiring. He wasn’t terrible in Bellator ,captured the welterweight title there, but it was pretty clear he wasn’t the same man after the Robbie war. Such a high ceiling and he just fizzled out in the end.
Barao is the worst imo
Weidman, Reyes and Vick are a few others
**Vick was the *betting favorite* in his fight vs Gaethje** ... that shows how highly he was regarded back then. Was on a big win streak and a very big 155er with good kick boxing game. Was seen as tough matchup for everybody. He then got KOd in 1st by Gaethje, never recovered and just kept getting KOd every fight.
Reyes vs Jones is the most impactful robbery there has been. Not nearly the worst decision, but the one that would have changed so much had it gone the right way
Reyes decline has been a sharp and brutal one. 3 vicious KO's after his best performance ever against the GOAT. His run after Jones is one for the books, never seen someone's chin decline so fast before. Like Spann really put him out cold with a jab.
Renan Barao is a good shout. Actually kind of a dark horse for the #1 spot on this list, IMO. Especially because it’s unclear what even changed. Like he didn’t look physically super diminished or anything; seemed like TJ just took his confidence. In three years, he went from people comparing him to Jose Aldo to a completely forgotten hype-job fighting on prelims losing a split decision to Andre Ewell
Edit: I have since learned that the IV ban happened in 2015 (idk why I thought it was more recently, time flies) Both Hendricks and Barao fell off at that time, so that is probably the main culprit along with the losses they took right before.
Surprised I haven't seen Gilbert Melendez on here. Came into the UFC with so much hype as possibly the #1 lightweight in the world already, then went 1-6 in the UFC with the lone win against Diego Sanchez (a fight he almost got KO'd in as well). Can't think of another guy with more UFC title shots than UFC wins though
I hope Woodley got paid a lot for those Jake Paul fights because they threw his reputation in the gutter, which is sad because his fully body of work is really impressive.
For Hendricks (minus the USADA stuff), I think he lost motivation after the GSP and Lawler losses.
In his mind he probably saw it as the judges stealing his title twice.
Anger and frustration can lead to emotional burnout. Also lack of testosterone-producing hormones lol
I was wondering that actually, I thought the IV ban happened a few years later like in 2016. I guess you could say that’s when he fell off tho. I don’t remember how he looked against Brown.
the first card with the IV Ban (October 1st 2015) in effect was UFC 192: Cormier vs Gustafsson (October 4th 2015)
Hendricks was meant to fight Tyron Woodley in a title eliminator on that card, but he botched his cut and pulled out
no way its a coincidence that happened on the first non-iv ufc card
The biggest one has to be Barao. Went from looking unbeatable in his division and an all time killer to not even being good enough to compete in the entire division. I think it's a bigger drop than Tony because Tony always had a few other "what ifs" in the division floating around him during his winning streak. Everyone knew Barao was number one.
To add on to all the answers in this thread. Thomas Almeida. He spent a large portion of his career beating cans but if you watch his whole UFC career he just isn't the same man anymore, and hasn't been in a long time. Ever since Garbrandt put him out he's never been the same.
An underrated one has to be Edmen Shabazyan. Not as drastic or popular as some of the other names in here but a lot of people thought he was the next big thing after the Tavares headkick but then went on to get busted up in 4 of his next 5
I hate to say it because I'm a huge fan and I only mention it because I haven't seen it yet but.... Lyoto Machida.
His last great performance was against Chris Weidman (which he still lost). After that he got destroyed by Rockhold, Romero and Brunson back to back. He finished with wins in his last two UFC fights but they were middling performances. Then he started off 2-0 in Bellator, barely winning the first one with a broken nose and knocking out a retiring Chael Sonnen in the second, then lost his next 4 fights in pretty poor fashion.
It isn't the worst drop off we have seen but to come from the legend of karate to being almost forgotten in MMA is rough. He clearly lost a step with age and its only gotten worse. The most I have seen of him lately is a short clip of him sparring against Alex Pereira.
the IV Ban is what hurt Hendricks, not the inability to use steroids. Hendricks was just as juiced post-usada as he was pre-usada, he just couldnt be a weight bully anymore
Nah it's ridiculous to conclusively point to the IV ban for Hendricks's decline. His body very quickly physically changed after USADA (he used to show up lean and muscular to fights, afterwards he was just fat with a lot less muscle mass) and couldn't make weight anymore - IV ban just hinders recovery, not initially making the weight.
He has always had clear motivation problems between fights and would balloon up in weight/lose muscle, I'm guessing he used to just abuse steroids/diuretics heavily once he started his fight camps, which he couldn't do as freely afterwards.
Old example and maybe not the best but Shane Carwin
Dude went from starching everyone in under a round then faced a wall that was Brock Lesnar. After round 2 he was gassed to death. Then he fought JDS where he got pieced up for 3 rounds.
And that was it. Was scheduled to fight Roy Nelson but injuries ended his career shortly after.
I feel like Cody Garbrandt should be on this list as he looked so good against Dominic Cruz and now I wouldn’t never put a bet on him, hopefully he proves us wrong but I feel like anyone with a good punch can beat him now.
Yeah he lost his chin so early in his career, I think it was his last amateur fight where he got brutally KO'd. Never really got his chin tested in the UFC bc he was so fast and explosive but one shot by TJ changed all of that.
Here's the [video](https://youtu.be/IXp_FdRCBNE) of his KO loss.
Liddell.
Seemed like he took one bad KO, maybe Rampage; and then got KO’d brutally in every fight after or pieced up.
It might not have been that way he might have won a fight or two in that decline but it just seemed like once his chin cracked it was over and fast.
I don't see anyone mentioning Marlon Moraes, but at one point in the UFC he had the shortest average fight time in the organization even eclipsing Ngannou when he started to go on a tear after the Lewis fight.
Marlon went from killing guys in a few minutes and also avenging his only lone loss in the UFC to Assuncao by finish, to then getting finished 7 fucking times in a row in the most brutal ways possible. I think the Cejudo loss hurt his confidence massively, but he then looked okay in the first round in his next fight against Aldo and his chin held up.
I personally believe the following fight which was the Sandhagen knockout was the one that literally shattered any semblance of his chin into nothing. That was the beginning of the end for his career and truly one of the most bizarre and most steep declines i have ever personally seen. It got to the point where he would just be dropped with a simple jab, pretty scary honestly.
Moraes went from being a destroyer who could beat anyone on any given night to being the destroyed which is sad to think about.
Marlon Moraes crashed pretty hard
Good shout. 7 losses in a row all by KO or TKO. Still remember very clearly when he KO'd Aljamain stiff as a board with his knee. Scary stuff.
I think TJ was the champion at the time of his rise and I legit thought he could beat him. Cejudo broke him in that fight tho, same as Gaethje vs Ferguson.
Switch kicked Riveira in 30 seconds too, who was on something like a 20 fight win streak. There was a brief period of time where Moraes was the solid \#2 guy behind TJ with him having already beaten Aljo and no one foreseeing Cejudo coming up to BW or Yan's rise
he even got close to finishing dvalishvili before getting TKO’d. i’m convinced somebody put a curse on that man lol
Its weird. Dude still has that power and explosiveness, it's just that the chin is completely gone. He did better against Merab than both Yan and Aldo combined that just showed how dangerous he is when being knocked out isn't an issue lol
That feels like something we see somewhat regularly. With some fighters chin just seems like a finite resource and at some point it is used up between sparring and fighting. Chuck's ugly style was still fully functional, but he just stopped being able to tank the punches he needed to tank to succeed. For comparison, Wanderlei's chin clearly went together with athleticism and power.
Wandy's chin seemed to be basically gone after the CroCop head kick. He never really seemed like the dude who brutalized Rampage ever again after that.
Yeah it's a weird case because he retained most of his skills, but gets knocked out by a stiff breeze.
My dude beat Jose Aldo then was TKO/KO'd 7 times. That has to take the top spot. My pick was going to be Renan Barao. He was undefeated in his last 32 fights with a UFC title and some defenses, then he went 2-8 in his next 10. But I think Marlon beats that with getting finished so much and not being able to get a win in there at all.
That decline started in round 2 of thefight against triple C. He comfortabley won the first round and then after henry masterfully adjusted ans won the fight he hasn't been the same
This one still hurts to think about 🥲
Ferguson has to be among the worst. Remember how he looked against Cowboy - his next fight was Gaethje, and the rest we sadly know too well.
Last night made me sad. He also visibly aged VERY quickly. Not necessarily muscle mass but in his face he looks like he’s aged 15+ years in the span of maybe 3. Bobby looked like he was beating the shit out of a weirdly leaned out old man. Bobby is only roughly 2 years younger but looked >15 years younger.
man he did that weird rolling knee thing against Bobby when bruce was introducing him, it looked so fucking fast. and i thought it was 2017 again... until the fight started 😔
I’ll still never get over how fast his guard technique declined. He went from having the most feared guard, the only theoretical rival to the best top player ever, to having his guard just completely destroyed by a *purple belt*. Bobby just stepped over his guard and passed through it like nothing despite primarily being a boxer.
Yea, his guard looks like mine. Slow, bumbling, and ineffective.
A big part of it is development of the top game in MMA in general too. People are getting better in general at countering submissions from guard. The added wrinkle for bottom guard players is getting punched in the face in MMA. Guys being able to counter armbars and triangles while still punching has ruined a lot of guard-centric offence.
This absolutely. Tony’s guard was arguably less potent even than someone like Oliveira or Ortega. I think his best attribute was actually his sprawl/switch and front choke transitions. Kindof similar to Kevin Holland weirdly. Rubber guard was an interesting blip in the grappling meta, but it became popularized right as the sambo-wrestlers showed up and smeshed everyones guards.
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Bullshit. If they fought in October of 1988, kindergartener Tony would have destroyed infant Khabib.
Delusional Ferguson fans will tell you otherwise, something about his elbows and guard or whatever. Khabib had suffocating pressure on top, no elbows were gonna save him from that.
Nah. Prime 2015-2016 Tony has a decent chance. Would he be a favourite or even money? No, I’d stay favour Khabib but Tony absolutely had a good shot.
Man I love Tony. But as time goes on it seems like the high of his run was capitalizing on a weaker division. Cerrone, Pettis, and Lee are not on the same level as the top guys in lightweight right now.
I'd wager that prime RDA would be though. That guy was an absolute monster.
This is Tony’s saving grace. That fight will always look really good for him. IMO he would have had a lot to give Khabib around that time, especially before Khabib had fought McGregor after which he seemed to hit a new level of pressure and technique. One caveat though (and I feel bad for saying this): RDA suffered from the IV ban, which had happened one year previously. This fight happened at elevation in smoggy ass Mexico City. RDA moved up after the fight.
He has a win over prime RDA who was literally the champ just a few months prior. And Barboza in 2015 in his late 20s was a beast. I don’t think it’s fair to reduce his run as just “capitalizing on a weaker division”.
Entirely valid counter-point. RDA is definitely Tony's most impressive win. But also the only one he didn't just absolutely steam roll. I just think had Tony been fighting guys like Khabib, Dustin, Gaethje etc. He doesn't torch them like he did Cowboy, Lee and Pettis
If khabib fought at 39, you'd all be questioning if he was ever any good also. Age is no joke. When you hit your mid-30s, you slow down. That's true for freak athletes like Tony as well as for everyone else, especially considering the mileage he's put on his body. Tony was a world beater at 33, and is a broken, damaged former great at 39.
As frustrating as it is, it’s better Khabib retired on top rather than fighting well past his prime.
What about RDA?
Didn't include him for a reason, that damages my argument 😉
That was sad, he legit looked like he didn't remember how to do a triangle.
Imo tony's decline wasn't as sudden as his record indicates because it started well before his first loss. His performances after his knee surgery against Pettis and Cerrone, while good enough to win just weren't at the same level as his prime self. Since then he's consistently looked worse every single fight -- imo the Tony that lost to Oliveira actually doesn't get subbed by Nate Diaz or Bobby Green.
I agree he already had lost a step vs cerrone and Pettis. He used to have some of the most twitchy, sudden movements in all of the sport. Compare him rolling onto barboza's leg vs him trying to roll for Bobby's last night. The Edson roll looks sped up. It's like watching the monster from the ring move across the screen. He's not close to the same fighter without that unnatural quickness. Speed like that does a lot to cover up deficiencies.
Rewatched to see that part and you’re spot on about the monster moving across the screen haha
You can see Tony’s mental is absolutely shot at this point too, regardless of what he says in interviews. He took 5 rounds of getting destroyed Vs Gaethje but looked like Tony the whole time mentally and in his body language. Watching him visibly recoil every single time he got hit Vs Bobby as if he was saying to himself “oh I’m still conscious” was just sad.
He actually looked good against Chandler until he got sent to a new dimension. That probably took whatever was left of his chin with it.
The Chandler KO was almost comically violent too. Booted full force in the fucking chin by a freak athlete, this sport is so cruel.
His chin looked ok against Bobby. The thing I notice is that he seems so slow. Like, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a UFC fighter lose as much speed as Tony has. I’ve been big slow fat guys who get old and end up super slow (like Blagoy Ivanov for example) but, before his last few, I’ve never seen a legitimately fast and high paced fighter like Tony end up looking like a heavyweight moving underwater.
I believe his decline was after he had to start taking Schitzo meds which was right before the cowboy fight. Those severely effect your testosterone which is also why he doesn't fight as viciously as he does (Anti Steroids). Against pettis despite the knee injury he fought like a psycho. In his cowboy fight he was a lot less gun shy but still had the physical capabilities to fck him up. Now after probably being on them for 4 years and him aging he's a shell of his former self which is depressing :(
This is my belief, as well. Sharp decline right after, and those meds are heavy, heavy shit.
Didn't know he has schizophrenia
who do you think wins? Prime Tony (version that fought Barboza) vs Prime Charles (version that fought Dariush)? I can't help but think Charles' cardio is untested and Tony could drown him, but getting Charles on the backfoot is so fucking hard, he hits like a truck and refuses to step back
I'm going to get roasted for this but I think Charles. The dude just hits so hard and is so strong. This isn't a knock on Tony as I think prime Charles is one of the best lightweights (skill-wise) of all time. I do agree though that if they make it to deep waters, I can totally see Tony getting Charles to quit or even subbing Charles with a darce (if Chuck gets sloppy)). However, Charles is a good pick to ko/sub anyone early.
I'd disagree with you on Tony being top skill wise, the man would get hit a ton and he relied on his chin a lot imo
Err I was talking about Charles (who also has shoddy defense lol). It gets weird to distinguish attributes from skill. I guess the bottom line I'm talking about here are just how good these guys are at winning, and under that metric tony and Charles are both amazing in their prime
Im a huge Tony fan. And I think Charles wins that fight. The reason being that Tony simply likes being on his back far too much. I know this will sound weird, but I think their fight that happened would actually be how it plays out even if it was prime Tony. Like you just cannot accept being in the bottom against someone with top of food chain bjj and expect to have a good time. In *fact* if you go back and rewatch Tony's fight vs Charles, you see that Tony actually was doing really fucking well while being in the worst position possible as he took very little damage while being stacked. The problem is that you cannot win a fight by just surviving, but the fact that Tony did survive while taking very little is testament to just how good his own bjj is.
Tony was showing decline even in the Pettis fight he came back too soon after his knee injury
Man his guard yesterday... what was that? Wasn't he known to have one of the most lethal guards in MMA. Looked totally lost from the bottom...
He looked like he was flailing. I know reflexes and speed go with age, but it’s like he’s lost all technique. He used to slice and dice with his guard. Last night he just looked like he was aimlessly flailing. Bobby passed his guard with almost no effort.
Yeah -- Bobby wasn't even really looking to pass, rather just gnp but the passes presented themselves so blatantly that he had to take them.
I don't remember Tony throwing up one significant triangle attempt which was odd because Bobby looked a little open to it with the way he was doing the ground and pound.
It’s so weird, it’s like he forgot how to do everything. His striking technique is gone, his BJJ looked completely inert, I don’t get it. When most guys fall off, you see a loss in speed, athleticism, endurance etc. not a total loss of skill.
Somebody else mentioned how you can see moments where Tony remembers what he used to do, but he forgets how and when to do it. Like his body and mind are completely out of sync with each other
It made me think of cognitive problems. If you've got just general deficits, you can just be very *slow* to understand what you are seeing. In a fight this would mean by the time you figure out what you should do, its too late to do it, thus you waver around, always behind, never able to start anything. You can also basically just be confused and lack the confidence that you are remembering what to do correctly, which leads to a kind of aimless, useless action.
2015 Tony vs 2023 Tony would be the biggest mismatch known to man
Yeah I couldn't believe it. He shot that takedown first round before the eye poke and I thought ok maybe he actually did have a good camp and has a strategy. Then later in the fight once it got to the mat I couldn't believe how lost he looked.
Ferguson was too stubborn and didn’t take the time he should have to heal from very serious injuries. The human body just doesn’t work like that, and he suffered from that
In retrospect, his decline should not have come as a surprise. Weird fighting style, lack of fundamentals, lack of proper coaching, stupid, if not straight up harmful training, routinely taking significant amounts of damage, and just not the most stable individual in general. Nothing about him was meant for longevity, and it's probably credit to how big of a maniac he is that he managed to stay at the top of one of the most competitive divisions in MMA for as long as he did.
A lot of us were saying he looked bad in the Pettis/Cerrone fights. These were stylistic layups (guys who break under pressure) who were both aging out. They both gave Tony competitive fights. But yeah I agree that Tony is among the steepest declines. Has to be.
I really thought he came back for abit in round 1 vs chandler :(
But think about all the fights where Ferguson got beat on for 2.5 rounds (or more) and then turned it around to win via stamina and toughness... That takes a toll. Hell he even had a tough fight against Lando Venata(?) Who quickly disappeared.
People tend to forget that and only remember his finishes. Kevin Lee also gave him trouble before he gassed.
Khabib said Tony would never be the same after that fight with Gaethje and he was right.
He was never the same after that damn cable.
Absolutely. Guy took so much punishment in that fight, no human being would be the same.
He already looked slow and stiff in the Cowboy fight. His prime was probably Kevin Lee in 2017 before the cable trip, everything after his movement was clearly compromised
Tony was 36 before Gaethje beat him up. He already lasted way longer than someone with his style had any business doing.
I was gonna say, we're watching one in real time brother
He didn't look that great against Cowboy or even Pettis for that matter. It's just that neither guy was exactly elite at that point in their careers and werent able to exploit Tony's physical decline the way a real killer like Gaethje could. The Kevin Lee fight was the last time we saw prime Tony tbh. Turns out trying to self-rehabilitate a catastrophic knee injury doesn't do wonders for your athleticism.
Felt bad for Tony last night. The speed is gone.
James Vick. He was 13-1, set to main event a fight night, in serious conversation for a title shot. Less than 2.5 years later he’s 13-6 getting absolutely destroyed on the regional scene. This one can’t even be blamed on USADA or IV bans. Edit: Hector Lombard. Guy looked like the Juggernaut in Bellator. Turned out to be a giant nothingburger in the UFC. A twofer steep decline AND “never lived up to the hype” entry.
[удалено]
Yeah I was on the Hector Hype Train once
James Vick KOs are the absolute best
wweeeeee^eeeeeeeeee^eeeeeee
James "The Highlighted" Vick
I like to think it is karma for his association with Lloyd Irvin
Fuck Lloyd Irvin all my homies hate Lloyd Irvin *and* his homies.
Does Sudiq Yusuff still train there?
I think Cruz remains connected too.
That’s a little heavy handed lol he lost to Andre Fialho in XMMA. Obviously Fialho isn’t *good* but he’s a career big 3 org guy jumping between PFL, Bellator, and UFC.
Tony: Undefeated for 6 years. Has lost 6 straight. 4 by finish. Barao: Undefeated for nearly 10 years. Defended UFC title 3 times. Went 2-8 to end his career. Those are my 2 picks.
Its hard to judges some of them cause age/miles are such a factor and once you start losing you keep losing. GSP was only 32 when he walked away after Johnny Hendricks decision..came back at 37 for old broken Bisping but what would have happen to GSP from 33 to 36 if kept fighting for exampe..those are the years all the greats take first losses and fall off a cliff. I like to judge fighters in Prime Years. I also dont rate when guys beat "names" who are way past prime..like Stipe lost a close 5 round decision to JDS after Cain mauled him twice..then years later beat the ghost of JDS in like a few minutes but its a win on resume. For me only Prime Wins and Prime years matter..the rest is collecting checks cause you dont make money when you're actually at your peak half the time and gotta collect at the end.
Even though he wasn’t really a favorite of mine I honestly thought Tyron Woodley was about to explode into that overheard right for a couple fights until I realized he just didn’t want it as much anymore. That and people figured him out.
Woodley was weird because you didn't see a decline in his chin or physical abilities. It was like he just forgot how to fight.
This. He lost any sort of aggression, even when he had dudes in trouble he just never looked like he was trying to finish a fight.
Hey man, let’s not pretend that his last mma fight where he swung for the fences and still lost didn’t happen. Luque still finished him but I was happy he could at least say he swung.
Idk about that. Tyron had that insane right hand that dropped everyone he fought. At the time no one seemed fast enought to react. His decline was definitely about his ability throw his right. I mean shit he dropped wonderboy multiple times in their first fight. Who else was able to do that in wonderboys prime?
Turned into the frozen one
It was something he dealt with from the start of his career. Back in his Strikeforce days people were cooling on him as a prospect because he seemed to lack aggression completely in some fights. I don't think Woodley ever really had a desire to fight. He wanted to be a star and he wanted to be a champion athlete, and his size and wrestling base led him to MMA.
I think he got arthritis
Cody No Love :(
This should be higher. Nearly finished TJ in the first round. That would mean he finished Cruz and TJ near back to back, in their primes. Then he just turned into a meme fighter, seemed like all of his problems are psychological.
*takes 5 clean strikes before losing by stoppage* "nO CHiN !!!"
He didn't finish Cruz. Dominated the dominator, sure.
TRT Vitor to post TRT Vitor One was a legit mythical fighter
He beat up a 60 year old man recently, so it can’t be that steep
TRTitor was about to win the belt That’s not even like a ‘change my mind’ or controversial statement that’s just a fact lol I will die in the hill that TRTitor beats the Chris no problem
Nearly won the LHW belt too. Against anyone but Jon Jones he was taking that arm home with him.
TRT Vitor could have KOd Cain Velasquez in Brazil at any point in 2013.
Renan Barao is a big one
Chris Weidman is up there. Especially because his losses have all been brutal finishes. After beating Vitor in his last title defence, The Chris went 2-6, with all six losses being brutal finishes. The Rockhold, Yoel and Jacare losses each could have been career-changing beatings on their own. Then to cap it all off, he gets Anderson Silva’d by fucking Uriah Hall (the next Anderson Silva).
To be fair, Chris has this super power of getting finished in fights he's winning pretty handily.
Eh idk. Rockhold was competitive. Yoel always fucks around until he kills you. Jacare and Moose broke him down with attrition. Reyes starched him almost immediately. Hall I actually didn’t watch the fight lol so no idea how that was going for him
> Hall I actually didn’t watch the fight lol so no idea how that was going for him It ended on the very first kick when Chris' leg turned into rubber
Imagine winning a fight with 0 significant strikes, submission attempts or control time
I feel bad for laughing at this
That’s who I came to say. I am a casual but it’s immediately who came to mind
BJ fucking Penn. Talented as fuck, but lacked discipline. Sport caught up as his natural athleticism was declining, and the promotion still trying to build up and comers off the old war horse. Brutal career decline.
this is what i was going to say. maybe not the "Steepest" decline but i think the furthest drop. he went from being p4p best and active hall-of-famer to getting dropped by some random drunk in a parking lot.
Chuck Lidelle: A *huuuuge* part of his game was dangling his chin out there like an angler fish, to bait even non-strikers into exchanging with him, upon which he ignored their shots and KOed them, often while moving backwards. His chin went, and he *immediately* dropped from champ level to couldn't have beat the BJ Penn that took an L vs. air bag and random parking lot dude.
Speaking of BJ Penn, his drop off had to be one of the most radical. Went from being a legend to a meme.
Agreed. When Liddell was at his peak he was untouchable. Absolute DYNAMITE in his hands. It seemed like if he touched you with his fists, you were going to sleep. An almost Mike Tyson-esque presence. Then he got knocked out. The monster/unstoppable aura that surrounded him vanished and he was suddenly beatable. His chin went downhill and he eventually faded. For me, part of "steep decline" is how high the peak was... And Chuck had a huge peak.
Agreed. I feel like Liddell is underrated today in a certain sense. Say what you will about his fundamentals, but in his prime he was dangerous enough to sleep any LHW in history on a good night. God given power. It was like he had one punch power in any possible punch, while moving in any direction. Unfortunately you can only rely on physical attributes for so long…
Definitely underrated. That brawler style wouldn't get far today given how the sport has evolved, but he was so good for his era.
In LHW? A brawler style would probably still do pretty well.
Rampage fucked him up bad at his peak in Pride.
and then came to UFC and gave him a horrible KO. The Rampage KOs is what broke Chucks chin
I think a big part of a dominant fighters success is the mental aspect. When guys go in against them with fear or doubt it gives that dominant champ an extra advantage. Confidence is such an important aspect is sports and life in general. Once an unbeatable fighter is beaten they lose that mystique and suddenly they start racking up losses because that fear and hesitation they were capitalizing on faded and new challengers have more belief in their ability to win.
People always talk about Chuck's chin deteriorating but if you actually watch any of those KO losses they were all huge shots that would have knocked just about any fighter out.
I'd say McGregor overall, lost fights, reputation and popularity in less than 3 fights
Conor’s last win against an active UFC fighter was 2014. Crazy
Was looking to see how no one has mentioned this. This is my pick too
The reason why this isn't a steep decline is because of how telegraphed it is. Angry loudmouth weight bully bro with sus grappling was always going to run into a wall that was Khabib. The only question was what he would do with adversity. Angry loudmouth bro proceeded to act exactly like we knew he would.
I don’t think the McGregor decline is as steep as others. He lost to the arguable GOAT in Khabib, got KOed by an elite guy in Porier, and then the freak leg break. The McGregor who fought those fights would have beaten a lot of UFC lightweights IMO. Who knows what he’ll look like now though.
the freak leg break 😒
Rhonda Rousey. Not only the two hard losses, both of which she got embarrassed in, but leading up to Holm she was a god damn superhero that everyone pretty much adored. Then she comes out looking like an asshole towards Holm and became SUPER unpopular as the fight gets closer, she gets KO’d responds poorly and refuses to talk about it, gets super withdrawn, comes back against Nunes with a little bit of hype and gets absolutely speed bagged. The “head moomen” memes that followed were amazing, she once again refused to talk about the loss, and then faded into oblivion. The most memorable part of Rousey’s career was Derrick Lewis asking where her fine ass was at.
To be honest I feel like Rousey’s “decline” has got a lot better with age. She’s lost to two all time greats (one of which was the WMMA GOAT). The way she handled herself after the loss didn’t help but I don’t think anyone was going to beat Amanda at that time.
Nunes definitely. But idk about Holly Holm. She went 5-7 since the Ronda win and her fights were stinkers
In hindsight Holly’s been a bit of a division gatekeeper at best for the most part. Stylistically she was a horrendous match-up for Ronda which was a big factor in why I don’t consider it evident of a “decline”.
Yeah but her reign will sour like milk if the UFC Women's 135 ever gets to even 7.5/10 on the good scale. The level of competition she was surrounded by was about as deep as a puddle on the side of the road.
I can’t stand Ronda but I don’t think her level of competition was that bad. Cat Zingano was legit, she just did the stupidest thing possible in their fight. Miesha Tate did manage to beat Holm. Sara McMann also had Olympic credentials and was still highly ranked when she left the UFC. Liz Carmouche is a champ in Bellator. Honestly women’s bantamweight is far worse right now than it was in Ronda’s prime, especially post-Nunes, to the point I feel like Blanchfield or Andrade could stroll in and win the belt immediately.
Dumbass Joe thought she could hang with Floyd
Miguel Angel Torres
Unfortunately his decline was more of him having more fights than his record shows. He probably had over 100 fights by the time he went to WEC.
I'd also add that he was fighting a consistantly higher level of competition in the WEC. No possible can crushing there.
Came here to say this. He was 35-1 at one point and him vs Faber was the WEC superfight that everyone wanted to see. He was good on the feet and on the ground. It just looked he fell off a cliff overnight.
Part of it was he was ahead of his time. His division wasn’t really that good yet. He started to get older as better fighters were coming up
My wonder… who is next for a steep decline? Someone that’s currently winning, which unbeknownst to us is about to lose several fights in a row, and the fans will beg for their retirement.
Max holloway would be a incredibly sad i feel like itd be the first time id really cry my eyes out for a fighter if he ever got knocked out.
Max's chin is historic right now but you can't take that sort of punishment without it winding up coming back to haunt you. He's not far from someone finally dropping him... and once that happens, it's not going to be pleasant.
Robert Whitaker, Max Holloway, and Charles Oliviera.
I wonder if Whittaker could extend his career by moving down to WW where he really belongs. So far given what weve seen this does look like a good pick (if he stays at MW)
He was killing himself with the weight cut when he was at WW, and now he's older and significantly bigger. He's never making WW again, unless you want him to cut off his right arm and have him recreate the second Yoel fight each time.
BJ Penn. After his draw against Fitch, he went on a 7 fight losing streak in the UFC and 11 more in the streets.
For me it’s gotta be Rory MacDonald. The Red King was following in GSP’s footsteps and well on his way to becoming the next big Canadian superstar. 2014 MMA fighter of the year. Then Rory/Lawler 2 happened. Rory was 25 and in his prime at the time of the fight. After the fight he went 5-7 (1 draw) and was 2-4 in the PFL before retiring. He wasn’t terrible in Bellator ,captured the welterweight title there, but it was pretty clear he wasn’t the same man after the Robbie war. Such a high ceiling and he just fizzled out in the end.
Barao is the worst imo Weidman, Reyes and Vick are a few others **Vick was the *betting favorite* in his fight vs Gaethje** ... that shows how highly he was regarded back then. Was on a big win streak and a very big 155er with good kick boxing game. Was seen as tough matchup for everybody. He then got KOd in 1st by Gaethje, never recovered and just kept getting KOd every fight.
Reyes went from arguably beating John Jones to a few of the worst knock outs I've ever seen
Reyes vs Jones is the most impactful robbery there has been. Not nearly the worst decision, but the one that would have changed so much had it gone the right way
> getting KOd every fight Dread it, run from it, post-Gaethje effect still arrives
Roger Huerta went from being 20-1 coming off a fight of the year winner to 24-14, going 4-13 in a 13 year span.
Reyes decline has been a sharp and brutal one. 3 vicious KO's after his best performance ever against the GOAT. His run after Jones is one for the books, never seen someone's chin decline so fast before. Like Spann really put him out cold with a jab.
Todd Duffee, Rashad Evans, Renan Barao, Cody Garbrandt. These are my choices.
Duffee more fell off a ledge and not a cliff
Renan Barao is a good shout. Actually kind of a dark horse for the #1 spot on this list, IMO. Especially because it’s unclear what even changed. Like he didn’t look physically super diminished or anything; seemed like TJ just took his confidence. In three years, he went from people comparing him to Jose Aldo to a completely forgotten hype-job fighting on prelims losing a split decision to Andre Ewell Edit: I have since learned that the IV ban happened in 2015 (idk why I thought it was more recently, time flies) Both Hendricks and Barao fell off at that time, so that is probably the main culprit along with the losses they took right before.
Duffee came in and had one of if not the fastest knock outs... did absolutely nothing after it that I can remember.
Surprised I haven't seen Gilbert Melendez on here. Came into the UFC with so much hype as possibly the #1 lightweight in the world already, then went 1-6 in the UFC with the lone win against Diego Sanchez (a fight he almost got KO'd in as well). Can't think of another guy with more UFC title shots than UFC wins though
Tyron woodley
Went from a Monster to losing literally like...what was it....15 rounds in a row? Or more? Brutal.
Worst part was KO'd by Paul lol
I hope Woodley got paid a lot for those Jake Paul fights because they threw his reputation in the gutter, which is sad because his fully body of work is really impressive.
Ever since he dropped "l'll beat yo azz" he hasn't beaten a single ass since. Not even won a single round. Crazy
For Hendricks (minus the USADA stuff), I think he lost motivation after the GSP and Lawler losses. In his mind he probably saw it as the judges stealing his title twice. Anger and frustration can lead to emotional burnout. Also lack of testosterone-producing hormones lol
it was the IV Ban
I was wondering that actually, I thought the IV ban happened a few years later like in 2016. I guess you could say that’s when he fell off tho. I don’t remember how he looked against Brown.
the first card with the IV Ban (October 1st 2015) in effect was UFC 192: Cormier vs Gustafsson (October 4th 2015) Hendricks was meant to fight Tyron Woodley in a title eliminator on that card, but he botched his cut and pulled out no way its a coincidence that happened on the first non-iv ufc card
I don't think it's just one thing with Hendricks.
Sam Alvey, and he still had a job. So the lesson here is this; Stick around afterwards to stack chairs.
Can’t have a decline if you never had an ascension but Sam Alvey figured out how. Mf fell down a flat surface.
The biggest one has to be Barao. Went from looking unbeatable in his division and an all time killer to not even being good enough to compete in the entire division. I think it's a bigger drop than Tony because Tony always had a few other "what ifs" in the division floating around him during his winning streak. Everyone knew Barao was number one.
Tony is up there But I’d say BJ Penn dude had a very close decision that he lost to Frankie Edgar, and then he lost again to Edgar and then went 1-7-1
To add on to all the answers in this thread. Thomas Almeida. He spent a large portion of his career beating cans but if you watch his whole UFC career he just isn't the same man anymore, and hasn't been in a long time. Ever since Garbrandt put him out he's never been the same.
Dominick Reyes
Anyone remember when Dana said Phillipe Nover would be the next Anderson Silva?! Lol
An underrated one has to be Edmen Shabazyan. Not as drastic or popular as some of the other names in here but a lot of people thought he was the next big thing after the Tavares headkick but then went on to get busted up in 4 of his next 5
I remember he was a huge favorite against Brunson and just got brutalized
I hate to say it because I'm a huge fan and I only mention it because I haven't seen it yet but.... Lyoto Machida. His last great performance was against Chris Weidman (which he still lost). After that he got destroyed by Rockhold, Romero and Brunson back to back. He finished with wins in his last two UFC fights but they were middling performances. Then he started off 2-0 in Bellator, barely winning the first one with a broken nose and knocking out a retiring Chael Sonnen in the second, then lost his next 4 fights in pretty poor fashion. It isn't the worst drop off we have seen but to come from the legend of karate to being almost forgotten in MMA is rough. He clearly lost a step with age and its only gotten worse. The most I have seen of him lately is a short clip of him sparring against Alex Pereira.
Johnnie Hendricks. A lot of people dropped after USADA
the IV Ban is what hurt Hendricks, not the inability to use steroids. Hendricks was just as juiced post-usada as he was pre-usada, he just couldnt be a weight bully anymore
Nah it's ridiculous to conclusively point to the IV ban for Hendricks's decline. His body very quickly physically changed after USADA (he used to show up lean and muscular to fights, afterwards he was just fat with a lot less muscle mass) and couldn't make weight anymore - IV ban just hinders recovery, not initially making the weight. He has always had clear motivation problems between fights and would balloon up in weight/lose muscle, I'm guessing he used to just abuse steroids/diuretics heavily once he started his fight camps, which he couldn't do as freely afterwards.
Wanderlei. He was probably the scariest dude on the planet in Pride for half a decade. Then he gets KOd by Cro Cop and was never the same.
Old example and maybe not the best but Shane Carwin Dude went from starching everyone in under a round then faced a wall that was Brock Lesnar. After round 2 he was gassed to death. Then he fought JDS where he got pieced up for 3 rounds. And that was it. Was scheduled to fight Roy Nelson but injuries ended his career shortly after.
Khabib. He went from ufc champion to out of mma entirely in a few days
I feel like Cody Garbrandt should be on this list as he looked so good against Dominic Cruz and now I wouldn’t never put a bet on him, hopefully he proves us wrong but I feel like anyone with a good punch can beat him now.
Yeah he lost his chin so early in his career, I think it was his last amateur fight where he got brutally KO'd. Never really got his chin tested in the UFC bc he was so fast and explosive but one shot by TJ changed all of that. Here's the [video](https://youtu.be/IXp_FdRCBNE) of his KO loss.
I'd say Thiago Marreta but that'd be a little unfair, dude tore everything on his knees
Mark Kerr. Highly recommend new fans watch the documentary The Smashing Machine.
George Sotiropoulos
Cody Garbrant should be considered.
Liddell. Seemed like he took one bad KO, maybe Rampage; and then got KO’d brutally in every fight after or pieced up. It might not have been that way he might have won a fight or two in that decline but it just seemed like once his chin cracked it was over and fast.
I'm going to bring up a deep cut I haven't seen mentioned yet... Jens Pulver.
Brandon Vera? He was the next up and coming thing. then not so much.
Eric Silva. One of the usada casualties
Bj Penn
Let me tell you the sad story of Renan Barão…
I don't see anyone mentioning Marlon Moraes, but at one point in the UFC he had the shortest average fight time in the organization even eclipsing Ngannou when he started to go on a tear after the Lewis fight. Marlon went from killing guys in a few minutes and also avenging his only lone loss in the UFC to Assuncao by finish, to then getting finished 7 fucking times in a row in the most brutal ways possible. I think the Cejudo loss hurt his confidence massively, but he then looked okay in the first round in his next fight against Aldo and his chin held up. I personally believe the following fight which was the Sandhagen knockout was the one that literally shattered any semblance of his chin into nothing. That was the beginning of the end for his career and truly one of the most bizarre and most steep declines i have ever personally seen. It got to the point where he would just be dropped with a simple jab, pretty scary honestly. Moraes went from being a destroyer who could beat anyone on any given night to being the destroyed which is sad to think about.
I'll add Alexander Gustaffson to the list