In the UFC, if a fighter faces three consecutive losses, it would surely be the end of their UFC career. However, there were some exceptions to this rule. As a result, many fighters managed to break their losing streaks and retain their spot on the UFC roster. In some cases, fighters found themselves cut after hitting three losses, returned to the UFC, and picked up where they left off, and their consecutive UFC losses spanned over years. In this article, we will have a look at fighters who have suffered the largest number of consecutive losses in UFC history.
Steve Cantwell
5 consecutive loss
Steve arrived from the WEC to the UFC in 2008 and fought in the light heavyweight category. He made a great start in the promotion with an impressive performance, scoring a submission victory over Razak-Al-Hassan in the first round. Unfortunately, this was the last time Cantwell won a fight in his professional MMA career.
What followed was a period of poor form and luck that “The Robot” would have never imagined. After earning his first UFC win, Cantawell lost his next five bouts via unanimous decision. His two losses to Luiz Cane and Brian Stann in 2009 were the beginning of his downfall, before Steve suffered several injuries and went out of action for nearly two years. Upon his return to the Octagon in 2011, two more losses were added to his record, this time against Cyril Diabate and Mike Massenzio, before ending his career with another unanimous decision loss to Rika Fukuda in 2012.
Rashad Evans
5 consecutive loss
Rashad Evans began his career impressively with an undefeated streak that spanned 13 fights and included the win of the second season of The Ultimate Fighter and the capture of the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Evans’ professional career ended in 2019 with five consecutive losses. He struggled with serious knee injuries, which kept him out of action for two years between 2013 and 2015. Upon his return to the octagon, it was clear that something had changed for him. After losing his first two fights to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeria, “Suga” had to find motivation and a way to regain his old self.
When Evans used to fight at 185 pounds, two losses via split decision were added to his record, which he suffered against Daniel Kelly and Sam Alway. Rashad decided to drop down to middleweight and move back down to 205 lbs for one final time against Anthony Smith at UFC 225. Unfortunately, he missed the mark once again and found himself on the losing end, too with a brutal finish. Without a win in five years and injuries taking their toll on his body, “Suga” decided to hang up his gloves.
Josh Burkman
5 consecutive loss
Josh Burkman has the rare distinction of having two consecutive five-fight losing streaks during his tenure with the UFC. After compiling an impressive 12-2-0 record on the regional circuit, Josh made his way to the UFC in 2005 via the second season of The Ultimate Fighter. He picked up five wins and had a promising start to his UFC career. Burkman made his first seven appearances before conditions deteriorated. He lost consecutive matches to Mick Swick, Dustin Hazelett and Pete Sell.
When Burkman was relieved from the pressure of performing on the biggest stage, he won nine of his next eleven fights, enough to earn a chance at redemption with the UFC. His first fight in the promotion was deemed a no contest, giving him a chance to earn his first UFC win in eight years against Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 187. In the third round of the fight, Burkman was on the receiving end of an arm triangle choke in the third round, bringing his losing streak to four fights. After three months, Burkman fell victim to a TKO at the hands of Patrick Cote. Burkman’s only win in the nine bouts since returning for his second stint in the UFC came against KJ Noons at Fight Night 82 in 2016. Since then, he lost five in a row and has now retired from the promotion.
BJ Penn
5 consecutive loss
Former UFC fighter BJ Penn is definitely one of the greatest of all-time. He consistently fought the best during his career, which included challenging for the welterweight title on more than one occasion. Things took a big turn for him as “The Prodigy” suffered the worst performance of his career with five consecutive losses since 2010. Which led many calling him to walk away from the promotion. Despite this, Penn fought two fighters, Ryan Hall and Clay Guida, on December 29,2018 and May 11, 2019 respectively, and lost both the fights before officially taking retirement.
Josh Koscheck
5 consecutive loss
Having only two professional fights to his name before going on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, Kosecheck spent almost his entire career with the UFC. Before embarking on a disappointing run that led to him leaving the promotion, “Human Blanket” had a great record of 15-5-0 with the UFC.
Unfortunately for Koscheck, his drive to fight the best in the division ultimately served to ease his downfall, as he began a run that saw him face a series of top contenders. It all started in May 2012 with an extremely close split decision loss to Johnny Hendricks. Next, Josh faced Robbie Lawler and lost via knockout in the first round, followed by a knockout at the hands of Tyron Woodley. After taking some time, Koshchek returned to the octagon in February 2015 to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184 , this time he lost the match via submission in the second round. Coming off a four-fight losing streak, he took a risky bout against Erick Silva just 21 days later in order to get back on the winning streak. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he planned and Silva claimed the victory via guillotine choke in the first round. This also turned out to be Koscheck’s final UFC fight.
Takanori Gomi
5 consecutive loss
After making a big name in PRIDE, Takanori finally made his long-awaited UFC debut in 2010 and arrived with a record of 31 wins and just 5 defeats. There were many high expectations from him, but unfortunately his arrival marked the most disappointing phase of his historic career. In his first four UFC appearances, Gomi went 1-3-0 before picking up wins over Eiji Mitsuoka and Mac Danzig. This was his first consecutive victory in two years. A split decision loss to Diego Sanchez ended any hopes Gomi had of making a serious run for the UFC lightweight title. A year later, “The Fireball Kid” earned his final UFC win via unanimous decision victory over Isaac Valley-Flagg. A string of poor results followed from there and eventually led to Gomi being released from the UFC.
Elvis Sinosic
6 consecutive loss
Elvis suffered six consecutive UFC losses in three separate stints with the promotion over a six-year period. He defeated Jeremy Horn in his promotional debut at UFC 30, and lost the next three bouts within a year, losing via first-round TKO losses to Tito Ortiz and Evan Tanner, followed by a unanimous decision loss to Sobral in 2002.
“The King of Rock n Rumble” returned to the Octagon in 2005, greeted with a first-round KO at the hands of Forrest Griffin. A unanimous decision loss to Alessio Sakara in February 2006 resulted in Sinosic suffering five consecutive losses and he was once again dropped from the UFC roster. After falling a few wins short for the promotion during 2006, he was given one final chance to make it into the UFC as he faced Michael Bisping at UFC 70. Unfortunately, he lost that fight via KO in the second round, suffering sixth consecutive UFC loss.
Andrei Arlovski
5 consecutive loss
“The Pitbull” had a five-fight losing streak but maintained his position on the UFC roster and rebuilt his career, racking up consecutive wins in the process. After claiming the UFC Heavyweight title during his first stint with the promotion, Andrie returned to the UFC in 2014 with high expectations. Things started off quite well, as he won four fights consecutively over Brendan Shaub, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne, and Frank Mir.
Arlovski’s next challenger was Stipe Miocic, who took only 54 seconds to break his winning streak. That’s when Arlovski’s worst run began and he lost four consecutive matches in just 12 months. Five months later, “The Pitbull” faced Marcin Tybura, who did enough to earn a unanimous decision victory, leaving Andrei with five consecutive losses and an uncertain future. Arlovski fought another five fights later in November 2017, defeating Junior Albini to end his poor form and save his UFC career.
Hector Lombard
6 consecutive loss
Lombard was undefeated in 25 bouts between November 2006 and July 2012. He arrived in the UFC with high expectations and a good reputation. What happened next was disappointing because a split decision loss to Tim Boetsch in his UFC debut began a four-fight period of alternating losses and wins.
A no contest against Burkman occurred before “Showeather” began his second run of six consecutive losses, three of which came via stoppage. In 2018, Lombard added additional losses to his record. He was disqualified for late punches in the first round with CB Dolloway at UFC 222, followed by a unanimous decision loss to Thale Leites at UFC Sao Paulo, giving him his most consecutive losses. Lombard currently fights in the Light Heavyweight Division at Eagle FC.
Phil Baroni
6 consecutive loss
Baroni started his career building a strong record before suffering a steep decline toward the end of his career. “The New York Badass” made his promotional debut at UFC 30 and won three of his first four bouts before losing four in a row. After a stint in PRIDE, a few appearances in Strikeforce, and a number of fights in smaller promotions, Baroni was successful in returning to the UFC in November 2009. He was welcomed by inexperienced Amir Sadollah, who won the bout via unanimous decision, giving Baroni five consecutive UFC losses. In 2011, when Baroni faced Brad Tavares, he got his sixth consecutive UFC loss and was once again cut by the promotion.
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