The Career Killers - Five Fighters Who Have a Habit of Sending Opponent's Careers into Freefall

Some fighters have a habit of not just beating their opponents, but breaking them mentally and/or physically to the point that they're never the same again

As the old saying goes, "Father Time remains undefeated".

Any fight fan knows that the vast majority of fighters in combat sports stay in the game well past their prime, with most experiencing a late-career decline as their age and the toll their chosen profession has taken on their bodies adds up.

Other than the rare exceptions that retire on top (or near it) without experiencing a significant decline (think: Georges St. Pierre, Khabib Nurmagomedov), in most fighters you'll see a gradual degradation of their athleticism and possibly skills as they progress to the latter stages of their competitive journey.

Slower reactions, limited agility, less explosiveness, quicker to fatigue, less durability - all are par for the course for an aging cagefighter.

Sometimes however, it seems that a single fight completely changes certain fighters and triggers a steep and unexpected decline.

Whether that one fight was simply the straw that broke the camel's back and the damage they took over their careers (not only in the cage/ring but in training as well) finally caught up to them, their confidence or drive was shattered and they were unable to ever fully regain it, or their style and its flaws were exposed for others to exploit, for certain fighters one can point to a specific performance that saw said fighter drastically decline following it.

Sometimes that fighter's career is naturally winding down anyway due to their age or mileage on their body, even if recent performances didn't seem to indicate it (think: Anderson Silva, whose incredible middleweight run was shattered by Chris Weidman, when Silva was already 38 years old).

Sometimes however, a fighter is seemingly broken in the middle of their prime or rise toward the top, a surging prospect beaten down and never again coming close to their potential.

While such a defining performance is rare to see in itself, there are certain fighters who seem to have a knack for bringing out swift and drastic declines in fighters they have faced, inspiring this phenomenon not just once during their careers but on multiple occasions, smashing their victims off of the combat sports mountain and leaving them unable to return to the level they previously competed at.

This is the case with the list of UFC fighters below - career killers who have sent multiple opponents tumbling away into obscurity after they dared share the Octagon with these chosen few.

As always, rankings are subjective, but more emphasis was placed on champions or top contender-level opponents being knocked from future relevance, with a particular focus on their age at the time of the fight as well.

5. Frankie Edgar

This top five was hotly contested, and the man in this article's main image certainly served as one of the inspirations for this list, but thanks to the far less deep heavyweight division and thus many fighters being able to remain relevant long after their best days are past, Cain Velasquez was narrowly overtaken for the final spot on this list.

In steps Frankie "The Answer" Edgar, one of the most universally beloved fighters by MMA fans everywhere and the man widely known as the "little engine that could".

Fighting up at lightweight for most of his career despite having the size and stature of the average bantamweight, Edgar regularly defied the odds throughout his legendary career and not only became a UFC champion at 155 pounds, but remained one of the top few fighters in his chosen weight class for over a decade.

His chin, ridiculous toughness and unfathomable heart was on full display in many epic wars he took part in during his career, a living embodiment of the "New Jersey tough" mantra.

What people often forget however, is just how dangerous he could be to his opponents.

One of the premier wrestle-boxers of the sport, though he had sharp boxing and fast hands, he was never known to be a particularly heavy hitter or knockout artist, the majority of his wins coming via decision - and yet, drastic and surprising declines in two elite lightweights were delivered by his hands, including one who was the undisputed greatest lightweight the sport had ever seen at the time and a two-division champion.

A young and undefeated Frankie Edgar would make his UFC debut way back in 2007, quickly running his overall record to 9-0 with three straight victories that year in the UFC; this success saw him paired up with fellow undefeated prospect and NCAA Division I wrestler Gray Maynard.

The two engaged in a very close back-and-forth scrap which saw Maynard narrowly take home the victory on the judges' scorecards, igniting a rivalry which would later turn into one of the greatest trilogies in MMA history.

From there, Edgar would bounce back and rattle off another three-straight victories to earn himself a title fight opposite UFC legend BJ Penn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

Edgar receiving the shot at Penn was somewhat controversial at the time given that Maynard, who had defeated Edgar just two years prior and had won his following four fights, was passed over in favour of the New Jersey native - Maynard however had won his last two in very close split decisions and particularly in his fight with Nate Diaz, had stunk up the joint with an extremely conservative and hesitant gameplan which didn't exactly excite the crowd.

Regardless of any arguments over who the top contender truly was, Edgar made the most of his opportunity by doing the impossible - taking the belt off of the mighty BJ Penn, who was at the height of his powers following utter dissections of Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez.

His highly active footwork and constant activity certainly made the fight far closer than anyone expected heading into their title fight, however any controversy that was stirred up heading into the fight was quickly overshadowed by the massive controversy that ensued over the judges' decision.

After five rounds, while the fight was close, BJ Penn's sharp jab and heavier shots had most fans scoring at least three rounds in his favour - even the stats, which don't take into account the quality of what is landed, didn't work in the New Jersey native's favour as Penn outlanded the challenger and stuffed 12 of his 13 takedown attempts, with Edgar succeeding in grounding Penn for a total of just a few seconds in the final stanza.

Despite this, all three judges gave the nod to Edgar and the MMA world was left stunned by the massive upset. The razor-thin decision forced an immediate rematch - and that is when Frankie would ultimately enter the ranks of career-killers.

At UFC 118 in Boston, most fans expected to see an angry, motivated BJ Penn take his title back from the unlikely champion. Unfortunately for them, Penn looked like a shell of his former self and Frankie not only matched his prior performance, but had clearly improved on his game.

Penn's legendary takedown defense, which had certainly held up in their first fight, was all of a sudden thrown out the window as Frankie was able to ground the Hawaiian legend multiple times in the opening round alone.

Penn's boxing, which had always been some of the most technical in the sport in terms of both offense and defense, didn't appear to make the trip to Boston as Frankie landed at will while BJ was surprisingly inactive.

In the championship rounds, Penn would turn to takedowns himself (which he was successful with despite Edgar's wrestling credentials), yet in both rounds would find himself on the bottom as Edgar reversed the situation and ended up on top not only for longer but while actually landing shots.

The controversy over the first fight was rendered moot as Edgar swept all five rounds on the judges' scorecards and deservingly defended the lightweight strap.

Edgar not only became the first and only lightweight to defeat the 31-year-old Penn since Jens Pulver took home a majority decision in Penn's fourth pro fight (which Penn later avenged), but now he did so convincingly and showed his dominance in the rematch.

Penn's decline wasn't immediately apparent following the loss to Edgar, as in his next fight he would take on an old rival in the 37-year-old Matt Hughes, knocking him out in just 21-seconds in Penn's return to the welterweight division.

It would be the last victory in Penn's legendary UFC career.

He proceeded to fight to a draw against Jon Fitch in Australia, looking good early but gassing out badly late and simply holding on to his larger opponent in order to see the final bell.

Then came an absolutely horrific beatdown at the hands of Nick Diaz as Penn, though he landed some solid shots in the opening minutes, became a punching bag for the remainder of the fight, offering virtually no offense and simply being too tough to go down despite getting ruthlessly battered by his larger opponent.

Penn would seemingly retire in the cage following the disappointing performance, saying he simply didn't have it anymore - unfortunately for everyone, he would come back. Many, many times.

He came back a year later to be ragdolled and battered by Rory MacDonald in Seattle, again appearing to retire in the ring.

A year-and-a-half later, Penn would again return, this time surprisingly dropping down to featherweight (145 pounds), a weight class he had never competed in before (though for most of his career it didn't exist in the UFC) but he insisted he could make comfortably - and he'd do so to chase after old rival Frankie Edgar, who after his title reign ended had dropped down to featherweight.

It would turn out to be one of the most depressing and sad performances in UFC history, as Penn opted to come out with an absolutely bizarre and utterly useless stance on the feet, then utilized a completely ineffective "X-guard" on the ground.

Edgar for his part was initially hesitant as he was presented with Penn's odd behaviour, likely concerned that Penn had some sort of trap up his sleeve.

As he slowly realized BJ had no tricks for him and was simply a ghost under the ring lights, he began to utterly batter the once-great fighter, smacking him around on the feet and taking him down with ease then proceeding to pound away on him with heavy ground and pound while Penn offered nothing in return.

The referee mercifully stopped the beatdown in the third round. After such a dreadful and sad performance, once again BJ Penn retired, this time with fans thinking it was over for good.

Though he had glimpses of his old self in the years since his second bout with Edgar, the third fight was when Edgar had fully, completely killed the legend's career.

And yet the nightmare was not over.

Three years later, he would come back again to the featherweight division to face rising prospect Yair Rodriguez, who battered the empty shell of BJ Penn en route to a second round TKO. Undeterred, Penn returned to face Dennis Siver and at least in that case he made it to a decision and didn't look quite as lost, even if he was on the losing end and clearly no longer had what he once did.

The loss sent him into another "so-called" retirement, only to see him return a year later back at lightweight, where he got quickly heel-hooked by Ryan Hall to mark the first submission defeat of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend's career. He returned once more to face Clay Guida in Brazil, dropping another lackluster decision before the UFC finally cut him off and refused to offer him another fight.

The once-legendary lightweight and one of the first two-weight world champions in UFC history lost a UFC-record seven straight fights, going winless in eight given a draw before that streak. It was one of the most depressing and shocking death spirals of an elite champion in the sport's history.

Edgar's career-killing days on the other hand, were not over yet.

Following his back-to-back victories over Penn, Edgar would once again meet old rival Gray Maynard for his next title defense, who had solidified his contendership by defeating Kenny Florian on the same night Edgar had won against BJ for a second time.

It looked like Edgar's cindarella story would come to an abrupt and brutal end as Maynard came out with a vengeance, dropping the champion not once, not twice, but three times in the opening stanza, repeatedly landing bombs on poor Frankie and rocking him with virtually every shot he landed, very nearly finishing him on multiple occasions and sending him rolling across the Octagon.

Somehow, despite the horrific damage he was receiving, Edgar kept managing to get up and survive the onslaught, holding onto his belt by the skin of his teeth.

The first round, many argued, was even worthy of an unheard-of 10-7 score - it was a miracle Edgar had even made it to the second round, let alone what he did next.

Edgar not only began the second round, but he went on to win it, clawing his way back into the fight as Maynard struggled with exhaustion, his offensive onslaught and the adrenaline dump it must have brought wreaking havoc with his cardio.

Frankie really solidified his unbelievable heart and determination in that second round by picking up his larger opponent (who had outwrestled and smothered Edgar in their first meeting), running him to the middle of the Octagon and slamming him into the canvas.

Maynard managed to dig deep himself to get back into it in the third, closing the gap and solidifying the fight as an all-time epic as the two men fought for every square inch of the Octagon.

After five gruelling, back-and-forth rounds, the fight was declared a draw - one of the rare instances where such a result seemed fitting, as although most fans agreed Edgar won three rounds, the first round was an undeniable 10-8 in favour of Maynard (and even had a case for a 10-7 round).

The end result of a draw of course required a rematch, which came at UFC 136 in Houston. To say it began with a strong sense of deja vu would be an understatement.

Maynard once again began by battering the champion throughout the opening stanza, officially dropping Edgar just once on this occasion but rocking the ridiculously tough Edgar multiple times. Though it wasn't quite as brutal as the first round of their last meeting, it was still a one-sided ass-kicking and the challenger had a 10-8 in the bag after the first five-minutes.

Once again however, Edgar not only survived, but began to turn the tide in the second round, outworking Maynard on the feet while the two elite wrestlers nullified each other's grappling, neither man able to secure a takedown.

It looked like the fight was heading to a similar result as the first, but while Maynard's output waned, Edgar simply continued to gather steam as the fight wore on, culminating with a shocking finish in the fourth.

Edgar, never being known for having power in his hands, rattled Gray late in the fourth and had the challenger backing into the fence, only for a massive right hand to send Maynard to the canvas. Edgar poured on left hands as Maynard slumped facefirst onto the floor, completing another monumental comeback and shocking the MMA world with the unexpected, brutal finish.

While Edgar would lose his next three outings (albeit both losses to Benson Henderson were exceptionally close, controversial decisions), his legendary career was far from done as he would go on to become a perennial contender in the featherweight division for years to come.

Maynard on the other hand was simply never the same following the back-to-back wars with Edgar.

The 32-year-old went on to win a razor-thin split decision against Clay Guida before getting brutally knocked out by TJ Grant in just over two-minutes.

Not long after, he was battered and finished by an onslaught courtesy of Nate Diaz. Nearly a year later, he was knocked out by Ross Pearson.

The heavy-handed wrestle-boxer had never been knocked out in his career prior to his trilogy-capper against Edgar, yet had now been finished by strikes in three straight appearances and in four of his last five outings.

He lost a fourth-straight fight by decision against Alexander Yakovlev before finally getting a victory against a drastically lower-level opponent in his featherweight debut. His momentary success in the new weight class would be stifled by Ryan Hall as his bizarre strategy of diving on leglocks and flopping around frustrated Maynard to no end and completely nullified his offense, leading to a dreadful fight Hall won by decision.

Maynard managed to defeat the failed prospect Teruto Ishihara before the immense weight cuts forced him return to lightweight, only to see him get knocked out by Nik Lentz, a man certainly not known for his finishing ability.

Maynard would retire with a 13-7-1 record despite having been 10-1-1 at the conclusion of his trilogy against Edgar. Of his seven losses, five were via form of knockout; this was made especially sad given the noticeable decline in his speech toward the end of his career.

Edgar would continue to find success at the top of the featherweight division for years, but like Maynard, would stay far past his best-by date and find himself knocked out on multiple occasions, ending his career with three-straight knockout losses after having dropped down to the bantamweight division.

The legendary New Jersey native is still highly regarded as one of the best to ever don the four-ounce gloves and to have had such a run at lightweight (not to mention his durability) despite his size is simply astounding - the fact that he triggered the downfall of two elite lightweights, including one of the most talented fighters to ever compete in the sport, is even more incredible.

Final Hit List - BJ Penn, Gray Maynard

4. Jose Aldo

The legendary Brazilian Jose Aldo has enjoyed a ridiculously long career at the top of the sport (particularly for a fighter in the lower weight classes) and has managed to remain one of the top ranked fighters of his chosen division for 15 years and counting, to say nothing of his dominant reign as the WEC/UFC featherweight champion from 2009-2015.

His crushing Muay Thai, particularly his vicious, whipping low kicks and devastating knees, combined with his sharp boxing, explosive athleticism, razor-sharp timing, brilliant defense, ridiculous takedown defense, and world-class jiu-jitsu made him an unstoppable force as he tore through the WEC's featherweight division on his path to the throne.

After walking through top contender Cub Swanson in just eight seconds, Aldo would square off with then-champion Mike Brown (who would later become one of the most successful coaches in the sport) and would effectively end Brown's career at the top of the division.

Aldo cut through Brown like a buzzsaw, dissecting his game with ease - he picked him apart on the feet, outwrestled the Maine high-school state champion and NCAA Division III wrestler despite having never been in a wrestling competition in his life, easily controlled the typically dominant grappler on the mat and battered Brown en route to an early second round TKO.

To be fair, Brown's career decline wasn't as steep as many on this list and he was getting older as he lost to Aldo at 34 years old, but the loss put an end to a 10-fight winning streak and ended his title reign at two successful defenses. Prior to the fight against Aldo, Brown was 24-4; following it, he lost three of his next five including a crushing first round KO loss to Manny Gamburyan, and finished his career in 2013 having gone 4-4 post-Aldo against middling competition.

Aldo on the other hand, was just getting started.

He went on to absolutely maul the face of the WEC, Urijah Faber, skewering him with leg-kicks in a brutal, one-sided beating before going on to spark the afforementioned Manny Gamburyan.

Aldo would then face the highly touted (and very durable) Canadian Mark Hominick at the UFC's first stadium show at UFC 129 in Toronto, Ontario, which also served as both men's UFC debuts following the organization's merger with the WEC.

The 20-8 featherweight had won five straight and seven of his last eight, a technical striker with sharp hands and a solid jab. Against Jose, he got absolutely battered, a massive hemotoma forming on his forehead that had Joe Rogan convinced Hominick had an alien growing on his skull.

Though he landed some peppering shots of his own, Hominick was unable to mount any meaningful offense and was simply surviving against the far more explosive and skilled champion, Aldo's legendary low kicks taking their toll while his powerful hands sent him reeling on more than one occasion; as was the case earlier in Aldo's career, he even mixed in his grappling, taking Hominick down with relative ease and controlling him on the ground without much issue.

Having put on bulk as he eyed a potential move up to lightweight, Aldo's pace and rough weight cut however caught up to him as he was exhausted by the fifth, with Hominick turning the tides in the fifth round after surprisingly scoring a takedown.

Knowing he was up four rounds and merely had to survive to see the final bell in order to get his hand raised, Aldo wasn't in a panic to get back to his feet even as Hominick rained down punches from his guard, doing everything he could to pay Aldo back for the four rounds of pain he had caused him.

Ultimately it was too little too late for the outclassed Canadian, but the 28-year-old's future still appeared to be bright and his gritty performance earned him plenty of new fans eager to see him try to earn another crack at gold. Little did everyone know however, that defiant fifth round against Aldo would be the last success Hominick would see inside the Octagon.

Later that year, following the untimely passing of his longtime coach and mentor Shawn Thompkins, Hominick would be knocked out in just seven seconds by "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung.

Emotional heading into the fight with the loss of his coach looming large, most fans understandably wrote the loss off as Hominick was uncharacteristically aggressive and ran right into Jung's heavy hands, a mistake which cost him dearly but didn't really reflect on his overall talent.

Unfortunately, while he wasn't finished again in his career, his fortunes didn't get any better in the Octagon.

Hominick went on to lose a close decision in an entertaining scrap with the middling Eddie Yagin, then lost another decision to the failed prospect Pablo Garza, who had lost his last two and went on to lose his next bout before retiring. It was a far cry from what was expected of the once-title challenger, and at just 30 years of age, Hominick would hang up his gloves for good, a surprising and steep decline ending the once title challenger's run in the sport early.

Aldo followed up his victory over Hominick by dissecting longtime lightweight contender Kenny Florian, who had earned a title shot after successfully dropping down to 145 pounds and defeating rising prospect Diego Nunes. Aldo easily picked Florian apart everywhere the fight went, and his brutal leg kicks did so much damage that Kenny would later state he suffered from nerve damage in his leg for over a year following his failed title bid, which also served as the final fight in his highly successful UFC career.

Jose would go on to play a not-insignificant role in the career decline of his rival Chad Mendes, who he would quickly knock out in their first meeting before engaging in an absolute war with the Team Alpha Male standout in their rematch.

At UFC 179, Aldo and Mendes showed they truly were the two best featherweights on the planet that night, as Mendes (who had notably improved his already powerful striking after Duane Ludwig infamously joined his team) gave Aldo everything he could handle in an epic back-and-forth five-round war.

Despite regularly being mentioned as one of the best UFC fights in history by longtime fans, the two rivals' rematch at UFC 179 still remains underrated in this humble writer's opinion as the two arguably put forth the greatest fight in featherweight history.

Aldo would come out on top in the epic battle, but Mendes certainly had nothing to be ashamed of after such a performance. Such a war however does exact a price on its combatants, and in truth neither man ever looked quite as good again as they did that night.

Mendes would assert his number two ranking over the division with a quick KO over Ricardo Lamas, but then took a fight against Conor McGregor on just two weeks' notice after Aldo broke a rib and was forced out of his own showdown with the brash Irishman. Though he had early success, Mendes tired quickly and was summarily dispatched in the second round.

Not six months later, Mendes was shockingly knocked out cold in the first round against Frankie Edgar, a man not known for having heavy hands.

The devastating loss and what looked to be the deterioration of his chin following his war with Aldo and his back-to-back knockout losses put his future as a contender in doubt - this was made worse when Mendes was flagged by USADA and suspended for two years for a growth hormone stimulator, which Mendes attributed to a topical cream he used to treat psoriasis.

The former featherweight number two would return with a quick finish of Myles Jury before running into future champ Alexander Volkanovski and getting knocked out in the second round of a thrilling barnburner. Mendes would hang up the gloves following that loss, having lost three of his last four bouts, all via stoppage.

Following his epic title defense against Mendes at UFC 179, Aldo himself would see his own career derailed as he let emotions get the best of him and charged headfirst into Conor McGregor's left hand at UFC 194, losing his featherweight crown and ending his decade of dominance in just thirteen seconds.

He seemed to return to form by absolutely dominating Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 to regain his title following McGregor's forray into boxing, but then proceeded to be battered and finished by Max Holloway to relinquish the throne once more.

Aldo would lose a rematch in almost identical fashion after taking the fight on short notice with the new Hawaiian king; having lost two in a row and three of his last four, many thought the end was near for Aldo, but he was determined to make another run at gold.

That began with the detonation of Jeremy Stephens' lengthy UFC career.

Though the 28-14 veteran had lost plenty of fights before, the 32-year-old Stephens fought a who's who in both the lightweight and featherweight divisions and was known for being a hard-nosed brawler with an excessively hard punch. Having just viciously knocked out Josh Emmett and riding a three-fight win streak, it looked like Stephens had finally put everything together and had entered his "prime".

But then Stephens made the mistake of brawling with Jose Aldo.

It was a mistake that quickly proved costly as Stephens started getting tagged by the crisper, cleaner boxer before he was crippled by a nasty left hook to the liver.

The stoppage was just the second knockout/TKO loss of Stephens' lengthy career, his last coming at lightweight against Yves Edwards some six years prior.

Following the loss, Stephens' career took a nosedive as he lost his next four fights in the UFC (ignoring a 15-second eye poke No Contest), a skid that saw him miss weight in one bout before returning to lightweight only to be submitted in 65 seconds.

"Lil Heathen" proceeded to join the PFL ranks only to lose two of his next three before retiring from the sport, his lone win a split decision over a low level 11-7 journeyman.

Aldo wasn't yet done his career killing antics however.

Fast-forward to December 2021; after smashing Stephens and Renato Moicano before losing a close title eliminator to future featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski, Jose Aldo decided to drop down a weight class and surprised many by not only being able to make the weight, but look good doing so as well.

Facing off with Marlon Moraes, Aldo would arguably beat the former bantamweight title challenger but ended up on the wrong end of a split decision - despite the outcome, the UFC disagreed with the judges and gave Aldo a crack at bantamweight champion Petr Yan anyway.

Aldo surprised many by doing extremely well against the Russian destroyer in the first half of the fight, but as the fight wore on the pace and the damage Aldo sustained gassed the former featherweight champ and saw him finished in the final stanza, a fight which arguably should have been stopped sooner by his corner.

With the loss technically marking his third straight in the L column, many expected or even hoped Aldo would retire as it seemed his title aspirations were over - but Aldo would once again remain defiant, and once again defied the odds, picking up an impressive win over Chito Vera before showcasing a defensive masterclass against Pedro Munhoz.

The streak set up a showdown with Rob Font, a long but powerful puncher with a slick jab and a penchant for putting a pace on his opponents, something that many thought would give him an edge over Aldo especially given it was a five-round main event.

Font was riding a four-fight win streak and was eying a title shot of his own, coming into his matchup with Aldo as the betting favourite. Unfortunately for him, fights don't take place on paper.

Font certainly kept a high pace and threw plenty of volume, finding success with his combination punching against the savvy vet - he however found himself devastated by Aldo's power and timing as the featherweight GOAT rocked or dropped him in every stanza, nailing him with heavy counters then controlling him on the floor to secure himself the rounds, even the fifth and final stanza which most saw Font having a clear advantage in if the fight lasted that long.

The aging vet dominated the surging contender and in a just world, would have gotten a title shot off of his dominant streak (instead, the UFC opted to hand it to TJ Dillashaw, more on that later). Unfortunately for Font, it also marked a sudden and drastic decline in his career trajectory.

Heading into the Aldo fight, the 34-year-old Font had a record of 19-4; since, he's gone one and three.

Following his disheartening loss to Aldo, Font missed weight and proceeded to drop a decision to Marlon Chito Vera, then had a three-minute slugfest with Adrian Yanez that saw him return to the win column with an awesome knockout, only to follow it up by being absolutely dominated on the ground by both Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo in his next two bouts, both bantamweights exploiting the weak ground game Aldo exposed back in 2021.

Font could still turn things around and is currently set to return to action in October, but at 37 and given his recent string of losses, it's likely that his time in the upper end of the division is over.

Aldo meanwhile, saw his earned title shot stolen and proceeded to lose a close decision to future champ Merab Dvalishvili in Salt Lake City back in 2022.

Aldo would retire following the disappointing loss, however the fight saw Aldo stuff all sixteen of Merab's takedown attempts and nullify his offense to the point that Merab simply hugged him against the cage; for comparison, Merab's subsequent fights saw him take down Petr Yan eleven times and Olympic wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo five times on eleven attempts.

Following a brief but successful stint in boxing, Aldo made a surprise return to the UFC earlier this year and put a masterclass on surging prospect Johnathan Martinez, snapping Martinez's six fight winning streak.

Considering how he looks in the cage even at 37 years old, Aldo may still have a few career-killing performances left in him.

Final Hit List - Mike Thomas Brown, Mark Hominick, Chad Mendes (partially), Jeremy Stephens, Rob Font

3. Justin Gaethje

Justin Gaethje is one of the most exceptionally violent (and entertaining) fighters mixed martial arts has ever seen, which is really saying something considering the sport has never been short on violent individuals.

The hard-nosed brawler who has forever refused to use his wrestling offensively and instead chooses exclusively to stand and bang until someone falls over or cries "Uncle!", is also one of the hardest hitting lightweights in the sport, so it's no surprise he has been the bane of more than a few of his opponent's existence.

His career-killing days started way back during his time in the World Series of Fighting, an organization that would later transform into the PFL. Gaethje would go on to capture their lightweight title and defend it a whopping five times while running up his record to a pristine 17-0 before making his long anticipated debut in the UFC.

On his ascent toward the WSOF's lightweight crown, Gaethje's hilariously violent offense and penchant for drowning his opponents in deep waters had more than a few of his victims contemplate or pull the trigger on retiring early from the sport.

His second opponent in the WSOF, Brian Cobb, was brutally battered and succumbed to leg kicks in the third round; Cobb had held a 20-7 record heading into the bout, emerged victorious in five of his last six and fought no less than twice a year since his professional debut in 2004, yet following his loss to Gaethje in 2013, the 33-year-old would take three years off before eventually returning and getting submitted in 2016 before retiring for good.

Justin's next victim was one many MMA fans may recognize - Dan Lauzon, the younger brother of UFC legend Joe Lauzon.

Though not as talented or well-known as his brother, Dan was a scrappy, well-rounded lightweight with a solid 17-4 record.

Despite being just 25 years old when he faced Gaethje, he already had two separate stints in the UFC. The first, when he was just 18 with only four bouts to his name, saw him knocked out by the vastly more experienced Spencer "King" Fisher at UFC 64.

After going 8-1 following that loss, he would return once more to the UFC in 2010 where he lost by submission to Cole Miller, and then dropped a decision to Efrain Escudero in his follow-up outing, seeing him once again cut from the UFC's stacked lightweight division.

Since then the 25-year-old had rattled off five straight wins (including a submission over Bobby "King" Green) and looked well on his way to earning another chance in the UFC - unfortunately for him, he ran into the buzzsaw that was Justin Gaethje.

Lauzon was painfully demolished by "The Highlight" before being knocked out in the second stanza. The brutal loss had Lauzon contemplating his career path and sadly for the younger Lauzon brother, he would be knocked out in his return nearly two years later by a 9-7 opponent before he retired from the sport at just 27 years old.

Continuing on his career-killing spree, Gaethje faced Richard Patishnock for the WSOF's inaugural world title; Patishnock, then 26, sported a promising 6-1 record, yet he lasted just 69 seconds against Gaethje and proceeded to lose his next two outings, his promising prospect status devolving as his record fell to 8-6 by the time he retired in 2020.

Gaethje would continue racking up wins against the best regional talent the WSOF could muster before making his way to the UFC, where he would engage in a thrilling firefight with UFC vet Michael Johnson en route to a second-round knockout that earned the pair 2017's "Fight of the Year" honours.

Gaethje himself would then find himself at a crossroads in his career, as despite being involved in another one of the best fights of 2017 against Eddie Alvarez, and then engaging in 2018's "Fight of the Year" against Dustin Poirier, Gaethje found his unbeaten record in tatters as he was TKO'd twice in a row.

Following his loss to Poirier, Gaethje vowed to learn from his mistakes and bounce back stronger - just four months later, he found himself locked in the cage with James Vick, a hard-hitting 6'3 Texan with a 13-1 record who was riding a four-fight win streak in the UFC.

Calling Gaethje the MMA version of "Homer Simpson", Vick criticized Justin's fighting style and vowed to end Gaethje's UFC career, stating that the fan-favourite Gaethje was already punch-drunk and was just a stepping stone on his path toward the lightweight title.

Vick would come to famously regret those pre-fight antics as he was dispatched in under 90 seconds.

Following the vicious knockout loss, Vick's career (and chin) never recovered; the once-promising prospect dropped a decision in his next outing before being knocked dead by Dan Hooker. He moved up to welterweight to try and right the ship, only to be brutally KO'd by Niko Price, marking his fourth straight loss.

Over a year later he would return in a smaller show only to be knocked out on his feet, this time by Andre Fialho. Vick would go on to meager runs in small kickboxing and boxing shows, most recently being viciously knocked out in typical James Vick-fashion by a switch kick in Karate Combat.

The once-potential title challenger went from being a hot 13-1 prospect to retiring at 13-6 in MMA, while his post-MMA combat sports career (encompassing regional boxing, kickboxing, and Karate Combat appearances) have combined for a dismal 4-4 record. Perhaps making fun of Justin Gaethje wasn't the best career choice.

Unfortunately, the next two men who would have their career trajectories demolished by Gaethje were far more beloved by fans than Vick ever was.

Following a quick knockout victory over Edson Barboza, Gaethje would make an appearance up north by facing Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in Vancouver.

After his welterweight run saw mixed success, Cowboy had returned to his home at 155-pounds and put himself back into title contention with victories over Alex Hernandez and Al Iaquinta before squaring off with "El Cucuy" himself, Tony Ferguson.

The two clashed in a thrilling back-and-forth battle that Ferguson got the better of, though its ending was anti-climactic - following a second round which saw Ferguson put a beating on Cerrone's face, Cowboy foolishly blew his nose, immediately causing his eye to swell shut and forcing a doctor's stoppage.

Despite the unfortunate result, Cowboy showed he was still near the top of the division and could always be counted on to put on an entertaining scrap which he was always known for. It also showed he was still capable of withstanding punishment.

Facing Gaethje just three months after the loss to Ferguson however, Cerrone was simply outgunned and that durability he was known for was promptly shattered. After an atypical (for Gaethje) feeling-out process, Cowboy was dispatched late in the opening round and would never look the same again.

After the knockout loss, Cowboy would return just four months later for a quick payday against Conor McGregor, where he would embarassingly be knocked out in just forty seconds.

Cowboy would end his legendary UFC career going win-less in his last seven outings, with six losses (including another TKO, this time to Alex Morono) and one draw before he called it quits in 2022, a sad closing chapter of a lengthy and legendary career that up until his duel with Gaethje in Vancouver, still looked to have plenty of life in it.

Following his dispatching of Cerrone, Gaethje would face Cowboy's last opponent - Tony Ferguson - in a showdown for the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship.

"El Cucuy" of course was riding a historic 12-fight winning streak with nine finishes during that span, cementing his place as one of the very best lightweights on the planet and one of the most exciting fighters in the sport.

At UFC 249 in an empty arena in Jacksonville, Florida (this event occurred when the lockdown hoax first began), Gaethje's fists loudly announced to the world that "Tony Time" was over.

Justin absolutely battered Ferguson over the course of five rounds, landing his vicious overhand right at will and beating on El Cucuy to the point that many fans on social media wanted Ferguson's corner to throw in the towel. Tony's lone moment of success came at the end of the first round as he momentarily dropped Gaethje as Justin comically over-loaded an uppercut - it marked his only significant offense of the entire fight.

The empty arena made the beating sound even worse as every thudding blow Gaethje landed could be heard by all; late in the fifth round, after an odd reaction following another dehabilitating strike from Justin, referee Herb Dean finally stepped in to save Ferguson from taking any further damage.

The lopsided beatdown was absolutely brutal and surely took years off of Ferguson's life - it didn't help that Ferguson had cut weight twice in less than a month, as he opted to make weight on the original date of their fight despite the event being called off and postponed due to the COVID bullshit, an unneccessary stunt that certainly didn't help him when he did make the walk to the cage.

Ferguson would go on to be absolutely dominated in his next two fights opposite Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, then after finding brief success in the first round against Michael Chandler, he was viciously knocked out cold in the second.

Four straight losses wasn't enough for Tony unfortunately; after his twelve-fight winning streak was shattered by Gaethje and he took further losses against top-ranked opposition, Tony would add an additional four-straight losses against increasingly lesser competition to make it a UFC record 8-straight losses, his most recent being a first round submission loss in a return to welterweight against Michael Chiesa.

Gaethje meanwhile has fought for the lightweight strap twice since his destruction of Tony Ferguson, losing by submission both times opposite Khabib Nurmagomedov and later Charles Oliveira.

Sandwiching those losses were thrilling wins over Michael Chandler (2021's Fight of the Year), Rafael Fiziev, and Dustin Poirier whom he head-kicked to avenge his loss some five years ago to and earned himself the "BMF" belt.

His most recent fight however saw him lose a lopsided "Fight of the Night" against Max Holloway at UFC 300, where he was unbelievably, viciously knocked out with just one-second to go in the fight.

Time will tell if the 35-year-old still has one last run at the lightweight title left in him - and whether he will add another victim's career to his lengthy list of derailments.

Final Hit List - Brian Cobb, Dan Lauzon, Richard Patishnock, James Vick, Cowboy Cerrone, Tony Ferguson

2. Robbie Lawler

Speaking of legendary action-fighters, Robbie Lawler enjoyed a lengthy, legendary yet wildly inconsistent career in the cage.

One thing that was immediately apparent from the time he made his UFC debut at just 20 years of age way back in 2002, was that Robbie Lawler was a violent, ruthless man.

In just his fifth MMA bout Robbie went to war with vet Aaron Riley and picked up a highly impressive victory at UFC 37, announcing himself as a future star of the sport and one hell of an entertaining fighter - despite his solid high school wrestling background, Lawler preferred to slug it out on the feet and had dynamite in his hands, hands that he was more than happy to throw at anyone who stood in his way.

Two slugging knockouts later (including a righteous slaying of Tiki Ghosn, who would later become a prominent MMA manager but has recently found himself in hot water given his alleged misconduct with young women that former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland publicly unveiled) and the UFC was sure they'd found themselves their next breakout star.

A knee injury in his next outing blemished his perfect record, but he once again got to his winning ways by defeating fellow action-fighter Chris Lytle in another thrilling scrap.

Matched up against fellow surging welterweight prospect Nick Diaz, the two were expected to put on a banger with Lawler seemingly having the advantage on the feet given his explosive power and sharp hands, while Diaz would hold the upper hand on the floor thanks to his elite Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Diaz however shocked Lawler and the MMA world by showcasing his awkward yet incredibly effective boxing, picking Lawler apart and utilizing his since-mythical chin to withstand everything Robbie threw back. Nick stunned and faceplanted Lawler in the second round, a knockout that would be shown countless times in UFC highlight reels and promos for years to come.

Following the surprising setback, Lawler moved up to middleweight only to be submitted by the late Evan Tanner in the very first round (Tanner went on to win the inaugural UFC middleweight title in his very next fight).

The UFC didn't re-sign the talented Lawler, who instead returned to the regional scene and began racking up knockout wins, finishing all six of his next victories (including one submission) opposite one defeat at the hands of Jason "Mayhem" Miller. This run included a nasty KO over Joey Villasenor in PRIDE as well as a downright disturbing finish over Frank Trigg.

Lawler would then join the budding EliteXC promotion and immediately fought for their middleweight title, knocking out Murilo "Ninja" Rua (brother of PRIDE legend Mauricio "Shogun" Rua) to take the belt.

After a thrilling scrap against the extremely durable Scott Smith in his first title defense resulted in an unfortunate No Contest due to an eye poke, Lawler would finish Smith in the second round after another exciting war in their rematch.

It was then that Lawler's career would really begin to turn into a rollercoaster ride.

After EliteXC collapsed, Lawler, like many EliteXC vets, had his contract picked up by Strikeforce, where he would face former EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields at a catchweight of 180 pounds, as Shields was testing the waters of a move up in weight. Shields submitted Lawler in just over two minutes.

Robbie bounced back against notorious glass cannon Melvin Manhoef, an offensive juggernaut who was absolutely shredding Lawler's legs with low kicks. Lawler looked like he was mere moments away from being another victim on Manhoef's lengthy highlight reel, but instead, Lawler posterized Manhoef with a vicious hail Mary to earn himself 2010's KO of the Year and one of the most shocking comeback finishes in the sport's history.

The celebrations were short-lived however as in his next bout he was defeated by Renato "Babalu" Sobral in a dull decision up at a catchweight of 195 pounds, killing off any momentum he sought to ride following the epic knockout in his last outing.

Lawler made up for it by demolishing former Olympian Matt Lindland in just 50 seconds in what many hoped was a return to form.

Unfortunately, Lawler would lose three of his next four bouts, being submitted by Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, dropping a decision to Tim Kennedy, knocking out Adlan Amagov with his cup (seriously - a flying knee/kick missed but instead Amagov was hit square in the face by Lawler's cup and subsequently knocked out), and then dropping a lackluster decision to Lorenz Larkin.

The knockout artist and exciting brawler seemed to get stuck in a rut, oddly hesitant on his feet and resigned to being outgrappled when he was taken down. After Strikeforce was purchased by the UFC and its stable of fighters were absorbed into their roster, Lawler was eager to set things right and return to his old home in style.

At UFC 157, more than a decade after he had made his UFC debut and nearly 9 years after he had last stepped foot in the Octagon, Lawler made his return to the premier combat sports league on the planet.

Dropping back down to welterweight, Lawler would unveil a new and improved version of himself that would shock the MMA world and begin one of the most epic and entertaining title runs in the sport's history - and he would slaughter more than a few careers in the process.

His first victim was Josh Koscheck, who for years remained one of the top contenders in the UFC's welterweight division. His extensive NCAA Division I wrestling credentials had most fans believe Lawler would be dropping another lackluster decision and thus he entered his UFC return a heavy underdog - unfortunately for Koscheck, Lawler gave zero fucks about Koscheck's wrestling pedigree.

Lawler shucked off several of Koscheck's early takedown attempts, but the esteemed wrestler did manage to ground Robbie - unlike in some of his other recent fights however, Lawler didn't simply accept the position, worked to get back to his feet and made Koscheck fight for every inch in the Octagon, pressuring him at every opportunity.

Late in the opening round, Lawler managed to pressure Koscheck back toward the cage and the wrestler shot in for a takedown, instead getting rocked by a Lawler uppercut. Lawler proceeded to get on top of him and began raining down hellacious ground and pound, his victim turning to the fetal position and praying the referee would save him from the "Ruthless" one.

Just like that, Lawler was back in the UFC with a vengeance.

Koscheck on the other hand, would never be the same.

Though many would cite his second loss against Georges St. Pierre as the beginning of Koscheck's downfall, and with good reason - he suffered a badly broken orbital bone thanks to GSP's powerful stepping jabs, something that would effect him in various future fights - yet Josh had proven to still be a rightful contender after that championship encounter.

Knocking out an old Matt Hughes may not have proven it, but he took home a hard fought victory over then-top ten Mike Pierce and followed it up with an extremely close split decision loss to the surging knockout artist Johny Hendricks (who would later capture thetitle), a fight in which many fans had Koscheck winning.

Following his knockout loss to Lawler however, Koscheck was never the same and lost his next three fights, one via knockout against Tyron Woodley and two via submission before the UFC gave him his pink slip in 2015; two years later he returned to fight in Bellator, only to be knocked out by a 12-7 journeyman that ended his career for good.

Lawler meanwhile was just getting started as he battered fellow Strikeforce vet Bobby Voelker en route to a second round head-kick, then took home a close decision in a back-and-forth scrap with surging prospect Rory MacDonald, a fight that would earn Lawler a crack at the then-vacant title after Georges St. Pierre retired.

Facing off against GSP's last opponent, Lawler put on one hell of a performance against the heavy-hitting Johny Hendricks, his southpaw boxing and takedown defense (as well as ability to get back to his feet) looking sharper and more refined than ever to complement his massive power.

The two would participate in 2014's Fight of the Year in a back-and-forth, gruelling affair that saw both men rocked at multiple points - after five rounds, many fans felt Lawler did enough to earn himself the elusive UFC title, but instead the judges awarded Hendricks with the victory.

An immediate rematch was expected given how close the epic fight was, but Hendricks was due for surgery - never one to sit on his laurels when fights were there to be fought, Lawler would return to the cage just two months after his gruelling five-round war with Hendricks.

His next career victim would be Jake Ellenberger, who at the time was just 29 years old and held a 29-7 record overall, an impressive 8-3 in the UFC. Ellenberger was coming off a decision loss to Rory MacDonald and was eager to upset the recent title challenger; instead, he was battered and knocked out in the third round by the Ruthless one.

Ellenberger would be submitted in the first round of his next outing against Kelvin Gastelum before getting a submission victory over the floundering Josh Koscheck; he went on to lose six of his next seven bouts, with the lone win a surprise body shot-finish over Matt Brown before he lost the last four bouts of his UFC career by knockout and retired at the age of just 33.

Still not content to simply wait for Hendricks to return, Lawler stayed busy and faced off against fellow pioneer Matt Brown, a knockout artist in his own right who was riding a seven fight winning streak with five straight knockouts at the time.

Though Brown would uncharacteristically miss weight, the two action fighters unsurprisingly went to war in a five-round affair, with Lawler's power, slick boxing, and surprisingly even a few takedowns and top control making the difference on the judges' scorecards to keep his claim to a title shot intact.

With Hendricks healed up, it was time for the two to once again engage in a five round war for the welterweight championship of the world, the two so evenly matched up, with Lawler's more robust boxing giving him a slight advantage there while Hendricks' extensive wrestling background gave him the advantage in the grappling department.

After another gruelling 25-minute affair, Robbie Lawler this time was crowned the undisputed welterweight champion of the world, something that just two years' prior would have been impossible to believe.

Not only had Lawler experienced a career resurgence unlike any before, but he had improved in all aspects of his game to become a truly elite fighter and a worthy champion.

In the process of capturing the title, he also (along with plenty of help shortly after from USADA, which began its drug-testing program in 2015 in the UFC) took a sledgehammer to Johny Hendricks' career.

Following his wars with Lawler, Hendricks would return and looked like a shell of himself as he struggled to make weight and scraped out a highly unimpressive lay-and-pray-heavy decision win over Matt Brown.

Later that year, with USADA's new testing regime in full swing, Hendricks was forced out of a fight with Tyron Woodley after he suffered kidney stones while cutting weight. He came back early in 2016 to face Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, where he once again struggled to make weight and looked like a far cry from his championship form, his mythical left hand looking exactly that - like it was purely a myth.

He was knocked out in the opening stanza by Wonderboy, then he missed weight (ironically against a fighter who was notorious for missing weight himself) against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200, losing a decision to mark the first back-to-back losses of his career.

He missed weight even worse in his next fight and dropped a dull decision to gatekeeper Neil Magny, signifying a massive fall from grace.

Hendricks would get his hand raised one final time in the Octagon opposite Hector Lombard, where he took home a lackluster decision victory after being forced to move up to middleweight and fought another man who was in the middle of a brutal career death spiral of his own.

Then came perhaps his most embarassing performance, as despite being an undersized middleweight at 185 pounds and being the former 170 pound champion, Hendricks missed the middleweight limit by three pounds and proceeded to be finished by Tim Boetsch.

Despite his horrendous performances and inability to consistently make weight across two weight classes, Hendricks was given one last fight in the UFC, but more as a "here's the door" rather than a parting gift, he was matched up with surging prospect Paulo "Borrachinha" Costa, a man who everyone knew would demolish the ghost of Johny Hendricks.

That he did, and so ended the MMA career of "Big Rig", his prime cut short by back-to-back wars with Robbie Lawler and "surprising" physical deterioriation after USADA came into the picture.

One may think that an epic title run which derailed three elite welterweights' careers, including a champion's and a two-time title challenger's, would be enough for one man's resume, but Robert Glenn Lawler wasn't done there.

Lawler's next fight would earn him 2015's Fight of the Year honours as he faced off against Canadian contender Rory MacDonald in a rematch of their first meeting less than two years prior.

The two would participate in a slow-burning, gruelling battle of attrition over the course of over twenty minutes, both battering the other with a diverse arsenal of strikes as the two warriors refused to give ground or back down from a firefight. Lawler's powerful hands and slick defense gave him the upper hand at points, while MacDonald's integration of kicks and elbows gave him the advantage at other times, both men getting hurt repeatedly yet refusing to give in.

The welterweight warriors were both bathed in blood following four rounds of combat as they stared each other down in one of the most intense and memorable moments in the sport's history; Lawler's mouth was gruesomely shredded and looked like someone had taken a hatchet to his upper lip, while Rory's face was a mask of red as his badly broken nose poured crimson like a faucet.

Early in the fifth and final stanza, Lawler landed another of his left hands right on the badly broken nose of the Canadian, causing unbelievable pain as Rory's body finally shut down amidst the gruesome onslaught.

Though he may have lost the war, MacDonald had nothing to be ashamed of and the two will forever be linked for having put on one of the greatest, most epic battles in the sport's history.

Unfortunately for the 26-year-old challenger, he would never again come close to the heights he did going into his rematch with Lawler.

Multiple surgeries on his badly broken nose followed, including after he dropped a lackluster decision to Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson in his return to the Octagon a year after his failed title bid.

Shockingly, the UFC let Rory MacDonald go into free agency and he signed with Bellator, what was seen as a major win for the then number two promotion.

Though he would initially see success in the Bellator ranks with wins over Paul Daley and then Douglas Lima to capture their welterweight title, he was a far cry from the exciting prospect he once was - he appeared far more timid and hesitant on the feet, lacked the aggression he once had, and seemed satisfied to simply smother his opponent's with grappling rather than doing damage like the well-rounded entertainer he once was.

He would move up to middleweight only to be finished by Gegard Mousasi; returning to 170 pounds, he would surprisingly fight to a draw against an old Jon Fitch, then beat the unremarkable Neiman Gracie in a dull decision before losing a gruelling rematch with Douglas Lima to drop his Bellator title.

From there Rory would move to the PFL, where he was expected to have a very good shot at earning a million-dollar payday by winning PFL's yearly tournament.

For two years in a row, Rory failed to make a dent in the PFL rankings, ultimately going just 2-4 and ending his career with a sad first round knockout loss to the unknown Dilano Taylor before hanging up his gloves for good.

The once best hope for Canada to earn another UFC belt following GSP's retirement went from being a truly elite contender with an 18-2 record, with his only losses coming to Carlos Condit early in his UFC career and Lawler in their first meeting via a split decision, to being a shadow of his former self posting a dismal 5-7-1 record against inconsistent competition.

It was a sad and slow crumbling of Canada's best contender at the time, the damage he sustained in his war with the great Robbie Lawler forever changing him and leaving him a shell of his former UFC title-challenging self.

Despite the damage Lawler in turn received that night, which added to an already extensive career filled with gruelling battles, Lawler forged ahead to make his next title defense against fellow grizzled veteran Carlos Condit.

Condit for his part fought an amazing fight, keeping the heavy-handed champion at bay with his activity and work rate to pick up rounds in the close striking affair. Heading into the fifth round, many felt Lawler needed a finish to retain his title, with it being tied at two rounds apiece being the best possible scenario for Lawler.

With his corner telling him he needed to throw caution to the wind, fifth-round Lawler came out like a bat out of hell and punished Carlos for standing in his path toward victory.

Lawler fully lived up to his "Ruthless" moniker and dragged Condit to the depths of hell, rocking the notoriously iron-chinned "Natural Born Killer" as he fired back and tried desperately to keep the champion at bay, the two delivering an all-time classic final round of battle.

After five full rounds, Lawler was given the razor-thin split decision victory - although many felt Carlos did enough to take three rounds on the scorecards, it was hard for anyone to argue that Lawler didn't deserve to retain his belt after such a fearless and violent fifth round charge, and while Condit may have been busier, Lawler was landing the cleaner, more impactful shots.

The 32-year-old Condit, a former dominant WEC champion who had also managed to capture an interim UFC welterweight title, was heartbroken after failing to capture the undisputed belt in his second attempt.

His career would take a surprising turn for the worse after that fateful title bout, as he lost his next four outings - three by submission - over the next two years, prompting Condit to take some time off from the sport.

With his speed notably declining and his once-uncrackable chin also showing signs of wear against lesser competition than he once faced, it seemed the writing was on the wall for the fan-favourite, but in 2020, he did manage to return to the win column by picking up a hard-fought victory over Court McGee, then followed it up by winning a fun scrap with fellow vet Matt Brown; in July of 2021, Condit dropped a decision to Max Griffin and finally announced his retirement.

Prior to his bout with Lawler, Condit sported a 30-8 record having fought virtually all of the best welterweights on the planet; following his war with Robbie, he went just 2-5.

Lawler's epic title run was unfortunately cut short after the Condit fight - after an unusually timid opening two minutes, Lawler was knocked out by the heavy-handed Tyron Woodley, Lawler's legendary title reign unceremoniously coming to a crashing halt.

Robbie would take some much deserved time off before returning a year later to defeat Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in an entertaining scrap, before he ran into former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos; Lawler would blow out his knee early in the fight, and although he made it to the final bell after five rounds, he was unable to get any offense going and lost a lopsided decision.

After another year out, Lawler returned to welcome undefeated 18-0 Olympic alternate wrestler and multi-promotional MMA champion Ben Askren to the UFC fold.

In the opening moments, it looked like the old Lawler had returned as he viciously slammed the decorated wrestler and was mere moments away from a TKO victory, but Askren was somehow able to survive and hold on for dear life.

From there, the fight largely turned into a wrestling match as Askren stuck to the former champion like glue; midway through the opening round, when Askren went for a bulldog choke, disaster struck - referee Herb Dean stepped in and called off the fight, thinking Lawler went unconscious from the submission, yet Lawler immediately protested and was in fact still clearly conscious.

The extremely controversial and disappointing ending tainted the result, yet surprisingly the UFC opted not to have the two participate in an immediate rematch.

Instead, Askren would proceed to be posterized for all eternity by a flying knee courtesy of Jorge Masvidal; Lawler went on to lose a five-round decision to Colby Covington, the former champion showing clear signs of aging as he struggled with the pace and was never able to get out of first gear.

A similarly lackluster performance against gatekeeper Neil Magny had the writing on the wall for the storied career of the Ruthless one, but then came an opportunity 17 years in the making - the chance to redeem himself for his fateful loss way back at UFC 47 against one Nick Diaz.

Diaz himself was on a losing streak of his own, having dropped back-to-back title bids opposite Carlos Condit (for an interim title) and Georges St. Pierre. Some time later in 2015, he had dropped a decision up at middleweight in a bizarre fight against the former middleweight king Anderson Silva, which was Silva's first fight after having his leg gruesomely broken against Chris Weidman. Though Silva had won the rather lackluster yet entertaining decision, he had subsequently popped for steroids, turning the result into a No Contest.

After failing his own drug test for marijuana (which he had done multiple times in the past), Nick was ridiculously punished with a five year suspension, though that would ultimately get tossed in court and result in a much shorter punishment being doled out, only for Diaz to be suspended for another year by USADA for failing to give his whereabouts to be drug tested on three separate occasions.

Although he was eligible to return in 2018, Diaz was clearly done with the fight game and had largely turned to partying if his drunken and high appearances on social media were any indication; with financial difficulties mounting though, Diaz would eventually make his way back to the Octagon in 2021, now 38 and having not fought in over six years.

While Diaz's dedication to the sport was definitely up for debate, Lawler was more motivated than ever, the Ruthless one returning in prime form to face his old rival.

Even after Nick demanded the fight be moved up to middleweight, a full 15-pound difference, while Lawler was on the plane travelling to Vegas for fight week, Lawler immediately accepted his demands and made no complaints.

From the opening bell he took it to Nick, who looked awkward and slow yet was still plenty active with his unorthodox volume punching. His legendary chin was still intact as he took bombs from Lawler, who didn't relent his assault even throughout the second round, his gas tank rejuvenated by the motivation such a chance at revenge provides.

By the third round, Nick had already eaten dozens of Robbie Lawler nukes and after getting rocked by a heavy shot, took a knee. Lawler, still hoping more violence was on the horizon, backed off to let his opponent up, only for Diaz, who just like his brother Nate was always renowned for his incredible heart and toughness, to say "no mas".

Despite the exciting throwback war between the two legendary fighters, it was a sad ending and one that should have been the end of Nick's time competing; though Nick hasn't returned to the cage and is now 41, he was set to make a comeback late this summer before travel issues "postponed" the fight; here's hoping, for his sake, he stays retired and can get his life in order outside of the cage.

Lawler would return to face the always-tough Bryan Barbarena, earning himself Fight of the Night honours and winning the first round with a vicious onslaught, Barbarena's sturdy chin keeping him in a fight most would have wilted in. Lawler however no longer had the gas tank to sustain that kind of pace, and was ultimately TKOd late in the second.

He returned for one final fight in 2023, taking on Niko Price at UFC 290, where he stunned his far younger opponent, knocking him out in just 38 seconds with a vicious series of hooks from the clinch. It was the perfect ending to a wild and storied career, one final display of wanton violence from a man who, as kind and calm as he may be outside of a cage, was the embodiment of violence and bloodlust inside of it.

His legendary career would conclude with the Ruthless one having not only won the welterweight championship of the world, but he defended it twice, participated in some of the most epic and gruelling fights in the sport's history, and ultimately triggered the downfall of five elite welterweights (including one former UFC champion, one former interim UFC and undisputed WEC champion, and one former Strikeforce and WEC champion).

Not bad for a man who was once considered washed up at just 30 years old and had many questioning the UFC for having even signed him back to the promotion back in 2012.

Final Hit List - Josh Koscheck, Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz

1. TJ Dillashaw

When an MMA fan thinks of TJ Dillashaw, they're likely to remember him most for killing his own career, which he managed to do in style (more on that later) - but before he tanked his own legacy, he was responsible for two of the most unexpected, most sudden, and steepest declines of UFC champions in the sport's history.

A former NCAA Division I collegiate wrestler, the Team Alpha Male-trained Dillashaw made a name for himself as a solid bantamweight prospect while competing on the 14th installment of The Ultimate Fighter; there, his proficient wrestling and grappling chops, athleticism, and improving striking led him to a finale berth opposite John Dodson, a small but extremely powerful and explosive future flyweight title challenger.

With his size and grappling pedigree, Dillashaw was a sizeable favourite yet was stunned by the lightning-fast hands of Dodson, who finished the Team Alpha Male standout less than two minutes into their matchup.

While Dodson would immediately return to flyweight and quickly earned himself a title shot, losing a very close decision to flyweight GOAT Demetrious Johnson, the 25-year-old Dillashaw began to rebuild himself and work his way back up the bantamweight division's ladder.

TJ handily defeated Walei Watson to bounce back from his first career loss and followed it up with an impressive mid-first round neck crank over Vaughan Lee; shortly after this, Dillashaw's most impressive growth as a fighter and his journey to a world championship would begin in earnest.

Though Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male remained one of the premier gyms in the sport and had a deep roster of contenders in the lower-weight classes, they often fell short at the championship level, with Faber, Chad Mendes, and Joseph Benavidez all coming extremely close to capturing gold but unable to bring it home in the UFC.

Seeking to find that missing championship link, Faber hired recently retired former UFC fighter and kickboxer Duane "Bang" Ludwig to help the team evolve their striking to match their famously high-level grappling.

The team immediately saw results as multiple Alpha Male standouts improved their game on the feet in leaps and bounds, in particular their offensive prowess, with men like Chad Mendes and Joseph Benavidez delivering bone-crunching knockouts and looking like new and improved beasts mere months after Ludwig joined the team.

Dillashaw, just four months after pairing with his new coach, scored an impressive knockout via head kick over Issei Tamura. Later that year, he decimated undefeated 7-0 prospect Hugo Viana to earn a first round stoppage and a fight with perennial contender Raphael Assuncao.

There, Dillashaw's improved striking was fully on display as he proved he belonged with the division's elite, going toe-to-toe with one of the best bantamweights on the planet.

Under Ludwig's tutelage, Dillashaw quickly developed a striking style heavily focused on footwork, with constant movement eerily reminiscent of bantamweight legend Dominick Cruz; like Cruz, Dillashaw's movement was unpredictable and had him constantly darting in and out, side to side, always entering and exiting on angles, perpetually switching stances and even switching them mid-combination.

Dominick Cruz's style, while similar on a visual level, was almost entirely focused on safety - though Cruz was never a very hard hitter, this was exacerbated by his unwillingness to "sit down" on his strikes, instead throwing volume while he was moving to score points and most importantly avoid getting hit.

This elusive style worked wonders against his opponents, who almost always became mesmerized by his unusual movement and were rendered largely ineffective at landing anything clean on the longtime champ.

Dillashaw meanwhile, adopted a far more offensive approach - sacrificing some of the safety that Cruz enjoyed, Dillashaw utilized similar footwork to gain dominant angles and launch heavy strikes at every opportunity.

TJ also integrated kicks heavily into his style, something most of his teammates used rather sparingly (or not at all), particularly his lean-over head kick.

Though his style at the time he faced Assuncao was still under development, and with the risks associated with Assuncao's powerful counter-punching it made for a timid affair, but when combined with his top control most felt TJ did enough to defeat the longtime contender after a very close three-round affair; unfortunately for TJ, the judges disagreed and handed Assuncao the split decision victory.

Nevertheless, the fight proved to the world that Dillashaw could hang with the top-tier bantamweights of the world and for Dillashaw, it proved all the work he was doing in developing his unique style was time well spent.

TJ bounced back with an emphatic decision win over the very durable Mike Easton, dominating Easton both on the feet and on the floor. TJ's output was vastly increased compared to his far more hesitant outing against Assuncao, no doubt aided by the fact that Easton wasn't the kind of heavy-hitting counter-puncher that Assuncao was.

Normally that would have earned Dillashaw another crack at a top contender, but instead, the budding prospect found himself in just the right place at just the right time.

At UFC 173, Dillashaw was scheduled to face veteran bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki while bantamweight champion Renan Barao defended his throne against one Raphael Assuncao on the card's main event.

More than a month prior to the event however, Assuncao couldn't make it to the fight due to a rib injury suffered in his previous outing - in stepped TJ Dillashaw, a fitting replacement given that he arguably beat Assuncao less than a year prior.

Despite his promising developments and performance against Assuncao, Dillashaw was seen as a sacrificial lamb to the dominant champion - given that his only fight against truly elite bantamweight opposition came against Assuncao, he was facing a massive step-up in competition, especially compared to his originally scheduled opponent.

On the other side of the coin, Renan Barao was at the height of his powers and was ranked as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, with many comparing him to his teammate and the longtime featherweight king, Jose Aldo.

Some media members and MMA personalities of course went a little far in suggesting that Barao was as good or better than the legendary Aldo, but Barao was certainly a highly-skilled and dominant bantamweight.

The Nova Unaio standout did indeed have a similar skillset to Jose Aldo, with powerful kicks, sharp boxing, elite takedown defense, and a world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu game, with Barao opting to focus more on the grappling element than his stablemate Aldo, who almost always preferred to stand and trade.

Even at the time, while Barao was a world-class fighter and dominant champion, his skills didn't quite measure up to Aldo - Jose's boxing was far more polished and defensively sound, his low kicks more impactful and explosive, and his wrestling defense was second-to-none; the only area Barao could really claim to be an equal to his (less than one year) older teammate would be in the jiu-jitsu department, though Aldo's tendency to simply not use that aspect of his game made even that hard to judge.

Regardless, the 27-year-old champion had extensive experience and a remarkable 34-1 record, having lost his professional debut and subsequently rattled off a ridiculous 34 straight wins (ignoring one No Contest where he was fouled).

The Brazilian standout had entered the WEC with two submission wins before being absorbed into the UFC alongside the rest of the organization's talent, where he would rattle off three more victories to earn a crack at a newly created interim UFC bantamweight title, given that champion Dominick Cruz was forced out of his trilogy fight against Urijah Faber due to injury.

In stepped Renan Barao to face Faber for the belt, where the Team Alpha Male would be shut out of his chance at UFC gold over the course of five rounds, the rangey Barao picking him apart at range and stuffing every single one of the former WEC champion's takedown attempts.

It was a dominant showing and Barao followed it up with a beating of 15-1 prospect Michael McDonald, submitting him in the fourth round to defend his interim crown.

Barao defended his interim title a second time while waiting for Cruz to return from various injuries (Cruz at that point had already been out almost two full years), becoming the first man to knock out former WEC champion Eddie Wineland in the process.

Barao was scheduled to finally face Cruz to unify the titles at the beginning of 2014, but once again Cruz was forced out with another injury, the UFC finally promoting Barao to undisputed bantamweight champion as a result.

In what was arguably his third undisputed title defense (officially it was his first, with two interim defenses), Barao would once again square up against Urijah Faber, who like always had worked his way back to a title fight courtesy of four straight wins (including three submissions).

Barao made quick work of the tough veteran, TKOing the Team Alpha Male star late in the opening round - though the fight was certainly stopped prematurely by referee Herb Dean, shrouding the fight in controversy.

Despite the disappointing result and frustrating referee decision, Faber used his post-fight interview to promote his teammate, TJ Dillashaw, stating that he would soon be fighting for the title. Little did he know, Dillashaw would be Barao's very next opponent.

After losing Assuncao as a dance partner, Barao was expected to dominate Faber's latest protege, swelling to a massive 10-1 favourite on some sportsbooks against Dillashaw.

Unfortunately for the young Brazilian champion, fights aren't fought on paper and his title reign would come to a shocking and brutal end.

From the opening moments of the fight, Dillashaw put on a striking clinic, confusing the champion with his constant shifts between stances, his darting movements and odd angles making him miss and subsequently pay. TJ dropped the champion and nearly finished him in the opening round with a massive right hand; though the tough Brazilian survived the first round onslaught, he was simply outclassed at every turn as the fight continued.

Dillashaw consistently battered the champion, landing heavy during exchanges and making the normally accurate striker miss at a shocking rate. His work rate never let up while Barao's steadily declined, continuously being broken down by a torrential downpour of offense until eventually he was knocked out in the fifth and final round.

It was one of the most shocking and dominant upsets in UFC history, as well as one of the most masterful performances the sport had ever seen.

Barao insisted he had simply been caught early and never recovered, stuck on autopilot - given his tenure as a champion and the stunning nature of the upset, an immediate rematch was scheduled for an event just three months later, and Barao, in an extremely stupid move, accepted such a quick turnaround just months after being battered and knocked out for the first time in his career.

Regardless of his brain recovery (or lack thereof), Barao would ultimately not make it into the cage to face Dillashaw at UFC 177, as on the day of weigh-ins he collapsed and was taken to the hospital as a result of his weight cut, forcing him out of his chance at redemption.

Dillashaw opted to remain on the card and fought against former Bellator featherweight champion Joe Soto on just a days' notice, with Soto originally scheduled to make his debut on the prelims that night.

The newly crowned champion would of course batter the unlikely challenger, Dillashaw thoroughly smashing any hope Soto had of starring in his own cindarella story. For his part, Soto fought valiantly and survived just six seconds less than Barao did, getting knocked out via head kick midway through the fifth and final stanza.

After the weigh-in debacle, Barao was forced to take another fight in order to keep his spot in line, albeit one a bit lower in the rankings against Canadian prospect Mitch Gagnon.

Expected to make quick work of Gagnon to make a statement in his return, Barao instead struggled with his overmatched opponent despite dropping him in the opening round. Barao was outworked at times and even likely lost the second round in most fans' opinions, though he was able to eventually secure an arm triangle choke to earn the tap late in the third round.

It was far from the most impressive performance of his career, but as he eventually earned the submission and got himself in the win column, it did serve as a tune-up fight to get Barao back on track and ready for a rematch with the man who dethroned him.

At least, that's what most thought.

Instead, when the two elite bantamweights met once again in the cage late in July of 2015, Barao was once again hopelessly outgunned and soon overwhelmed by his unforeseen rival.

The opening round was more competitive than their first meeting as Renan avoided being dropped this time and landed more shots of his own than he did in any round of their previous fight, but even still it wasn't enough to win the round - and from there, it was all downhill.

TJ once again mesmerized the Brazilian with his constant movement and powerful offense, and even though TJ was unable to officially secure any takedowns, off of scrambles he was able to gain top control and batter the former champion on the ground as well.

After rocking Barao at the end of the third round, it was clear that once again Barao was simply no match for Dillashaw and the former champ was simply having the spirit beaten from him - very early in the fourth, TJ unleashed a brutal volley of punches and while Barao managed to stay on his feet, the referee mercifully saved him from suffering any more damage and stopped the fight to rule a very appropriate standing TKO.

The performance solidified TJ's standing as the rightful champion and eliminated any claims of a fluke or that Barao had overlooked or not taken his unlikely challenger seriously the first time, as not only was the rematch very nearly a recreation of the first, if anything TJ had proved to be even better in the second fight than the first over a former champion hungry to regain his throne.

Though he had suffered two bad beatings in just over a year, at just 28 most felt Barao still had plenty of time and talent to right the ship, and had plenty of potential as a featherweight given how much weight he cut to make the 135 pound division.

As one can guess given this article, Barao never did right the ship, and instead saw one of the steepest and saddest declines of a UFC champion in the modern era.

Moving up to featherweight and returning to a weight class he hadn't competed in since long before his UFC or even WEC days, Barao looked to bounce back after nearly a year off by facing longtime UFC vet Jeremy Stephens, a hard-hitting and iron-chinned former lightweight who was a staple of the organization and had fought the who's who of the lightweight and most recently featherweight division, even if he was often on the losing end of a decision.

Having lost three of his last four outings (albeit to very stiff competition in Cub Swanson, Charles Oliveira, and Max Holloway), Stephens was seen as a solid test for Barao in his new weight class while providing an excellent opportunity for Barao to get back in the win column.

Barao started off well and picked up the first round, outworking Stephens and using plenty of grappling to try and wear on his striking-heavy opponent; but instead, it was Stephens who picked up the pace as the fight wore on, landing heavy shots and stunning the former bantamweight king on multiple occasions, picking up a hard-fought victory on the judges scorecards after outworking Barao and scoring far more damage in the second and third rounds.

After having dropped three of his last four, Barao was given a massive step down in competition and faced failed prospect Phillipe Nover, a low-level (for the UFC) featherweight sporting a highly underwhelming 11-6-1 record. Nover was best known for once being hyped by Dana White as "the next Anderson Silva" during his season of The Ultimate Fighter (Nover went on to lose in the finale) and had already been cut once from the UFC following three straight losses.

Barao was finally able to get back into the win column, yet even then he hardly inspired confidence - the 29-year-old looked like a shell of his former self, taking Nover to a dull decision in a fight that had it happened a few years prior, Nover likely wouldn't have made it past three minutes let alone a full three rounds.

That would be the last victory of Barao's career as he continued his lengthy, depressing death spiral.

Opting to return to bantamweight, he was instead forced to compete in a catchweight of 140-pounds against rising prospect Aljamain Sterling as the California commission refused to sanction a fight at 135-pounds given his prior hospitalization during a weight cut; Barao lost a lopsided decision as Sterling outworked the fading Brazilian at every turn, and even though Barao managed to get plenty of top control, he did virtually nothing with it while Sterling was constantly working and peppering him with shots.

His next fight saw a proper return to bantamweight against an entertaining journeyman in Brian Kelleher, where once again he would lose a disappointing decision; his next outing saw him widely miss the bantamweight limit by weighing in at a whopping 141.75 pounds and subsequently he dropped a close decision to the very low-ranked Andre Ewell, who also managed to drop Barao in the opening round.

Despite his dismal results and an egregious weight miss, Barao was given another chance at bantamweight, only to once again miss weight, weighing in at 138 pounds against prospect Luke Sanders, who proceeded to knock Barao out in the second stanza.

Forced to move back up to featherweight, Barao was given one last shot to turn things around - instead, he was battered by Douglas Silva de Andrade in Brazil, gassing out badly in the third and getting beat on, barely surviving to the final horn.

Following a remarkable 34-fight winning streak, Barao was absolutely broken following his two fights with Dillashaw, posting a 1-6 record in the years since against lesser opposition, and he missed weight in two of those contests to boot before he was finally cut by the UFC.

Though he was scheduled for several bouts over the coming years in small regional promotions, those bouts ultimately all fell through; eventually he would return to action late in 2023 in Kuwait, dropping a decision to a 12-4 fighter and running his post-TJ record to 1-7, which it will hopefully stay though he hasn't officially retired.

Barao's drastic fall-off was really one of the most surprising in UFC history - the man was once regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound forces in the sport, only to have his skills rapidly deteriorate before he had even hit thirty. The losses to TJ saw his confidence completely shattered, his aura of invincibility relegated to a distant memory.

It wouldn't be the last time Dillashaw cratered the career of a young champion though.

Returning to the Dillashaw story, drama soon gripped the Team Alpha Male squad mere months after Dillashaw's second beatdown of Barao.

Duane Ludwig was forced to leave the camp due to a litany of issues with gym owner and TAM leader Urijah Faber, with Dillashaw opting to follow Ludwig as he set up shop in Colorado, thus drawing the ire of the rest of the Team Alpha Male fighters.

Without getting too into the drama that unfolded, Dillashaw was accused of being a traitor and a "snake in the grass", to use a phrase made famous and associated with TJ by Conor McGregor while he served as a coach opposite Urijah Faber on a then-recent season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Among the most vocal Team Alpha Male fighters publicly bashing former teammate Dillashaw was a young Cody Garbrandt, an undefeated prospect with ridiculous speed, a strong wrestling base and sublime boxing that was tearing through the bantamweight division in his path to title contention.

While still embroiled in controversy, Dillashaw would face old Team Alpha Male rival Dominick Cruz for his next title defense; though his long anticipated fight against Renan Barao would never materialize after Cruz's lengthy injury layoff and of course Barao's reign being spoiled by Dillashaw, Cruz had finally returned to action after three years away from the cage, scoring a stunning 61-second knockout over Takeya Mizugaki and demanding he be given a shot at the crown he never lost inside the cage.

Despite his triumphant return after such a lengthy layoff and having been promised a title shot, Cruz would again be injured with a blown-out ACL and sat out the entirety of 2015, watching from the sidelines as TJ demolished Barao for a second time.

When Cruz finally saw his long-awaited return to a title fight, it resulted in a thrilling five round affair between two similar styles, with both men darting in and out and at odd angles with their unusual and constant footwork.

In spite of his more defensive approach to striking, Cruz showed a willingness to "sit down" on his punches that he hadn't in the past, landing surprisingly heavy shots at times yet still managing to get out of the way of any significant counters from the slower Dillashaw, who seemingly grew frustrated at his inability to land clean on the "Dominator" as the fight wore on.

It was an extremely close and technical title fight, with neither man really able to establish dominance on the feet or on the mat; though Cruz succeeded in getting TJ down at multiple points, he was unable to establish control or keep him there, and TJ was only able to do so himself for a single short period in one round before Cruz made his way back to the feet, where both men were able to land but were unable to score anything overly damaging or sustained.

At the end, it appeared that Cruz's slight edge in being able to land cleaner shots on the slightly less agile Dillashaw was the deciding factor, with Cruz extending his remarkable winning streak to twelve and regaining his title after having fought just once in the past four years, having suffered several major injuries (including blowing out one of his knees requiring surgery, only for a cadaver ACL to be rejected by his body forcing him to undergo another surgery, then blowing out his other knee).

It marked one of the most inspiring career comebacks in UFC history, one-upping TJ's own title-winning underdog story.

While Cruz would go on to face and handily defeat longtime rival Urijah Faber to settle their longstanding rivalry in a trilogy fight, TJ would get right back on the horse, avenging a previous controversial loss by defeating Raphael Assuncao in a convincing decision before absolutely battering the heavy-handed John Lineker, who somehow survived to see the scorecards read.

Although he had settled the score against Team Alpha Male's leader, Cruz still had an active rivalry with the gym and engaged in a war of words against undefeated prospect Cody Garbrandt, a 25-year-old phenom sporting a sterling 10-0 record with nine knockouts, half of those fights coming inside the UFC.

Cruz was certainly able to talk circles around the easily flustered Garbrandt, who showed he wasn't exactly made to be a public speaker, yet when the two met in the cage at UFC 207, it was Garbrandt who would have the last laugh.

Garbrandt, like his former teammate Dillashaw did in his title-winning effort, put on an absolute masterclass, this time on the greatest bantamweight in the sport's history.

His ridiculous speed made even Cruz look slow at times, his head movement and defense making the typically accurate volume striker miss consistently and fail to mount any meaningful offense, his sprawl and wrestling ability shutting down every one of Dominick's takedown attempts and even briefly saw him take down the "Dominator" when he felt like it.

It wasn't just his speed and defense however - his power and timing were on full display as he managed to catch the ever-elusive Cruz many times during their title tilt, dropping the legendary champion on multiple occasions and easily scoring the most damaging blows even when Cruz managed to stay upright.

Garbrandt had the time of his life in the Octagon that night, at times taunting his opponent and playing with his food, even dancing after dropping the former champ instead of trying to finish the fight, content to simply embarass his team's longtime rival rather than pursue a finish or possibly give Cruz a chance to get himself back into the fight.

It was a spectacular showing that saw him unseat the Dominator, a man who had not lost in over eight years across thirteen fights (seven of those being title fights), and sent the former champ into another lengthy layoff as he once again was plagued by injuries and was left out of the UFC picture for over three years (again).

With Garbrandt now holding the title and his former teammate Dillashaw having worked himself back into the top contender slot, the stage was set for a massive grudge match between the two former friends, their scintillating matchup and heated rivalry taking over the MMA world as the two men served as coaches on a season of The Ultimate Fighter.

After a Garbrandt injury postponed their eagerly anticipated showdown, the two men were slotted into the co-main event of the epic UFC 217 card, which featured three massive title fights including the return of welterweight GOAT Georges St. Pierre as he sought to become a champion in a second weight class.

After the night's first title fight resulted in a shocking upset with Rose Namajunas dethroning longtime champ Joanna Jędrzejczyk with a first round knockout, Garbrandt looked like he would hold the line for the reigning champions that night as once again his remarkable speed and power were on full display.

Though the first round consisted of plenty of feints and movement from both men as they waited for the other to make a mistake, when they did engage, Garbrandt's speed looked to give him the edge, highlighted right at the end of the round as Dillashaw became more aggressive only to be dropped in the closing seconds of the round, stumbling back after the bell rang and he made it back to his feet while his rival flipped him the bird.

After drawing first blood and nearly ending the fight, Garbrandt had set the stage for what looked like another masterful performance.

Garbrandt once again taunted Dillashaw early in the second as Dillashaw looked to land kicks from the outside, then had a takedown easily stuffed by the young champion - it looked as though TJ was running out of ideas and that Garbrandt's defense was simply too good for him to penetrate.

TJ Dillashaw however was never one to give up on himself, and he just kept trying.

Until something landed.

A quick lead headkick caught Garbrandt's chin, momentarily dropping him which Cody bounced right back up from, lucky that only the foot connected. While Garbrandt recovered, it was enough to make him hesitant and gave TJ plenty of confidence that he could land on his rival.

Midway through the round, TJ continued his feints then stepped into the pocket, inviting Garbrandt into an exchange - and that's when disaster struck for the champion.

After throwing a pair of hooks, Garbrandt, square to his opponent, stayed in the pocket and loaded up a right hand; he never saw Dillashaw's own right coming.

TJ swarmed all over him as Cody desperately tried to get up, but he was limply moving with his face on the canvas, not properly defending himself from the onslaught he was in the midst of receiving, the ref forced to stop the fight - TJ Dillashaw was once again the UFC bantamweight champion of the world.

A wobbly Garbrandt stood up and protested the stoppage, with TJ returning to triumphantly roar in front of him, forehead to forehead as the dazed former champ tried to process what just happened.

Despite his protests against the stoppage, Garbrandt did make his way over to TJ to shake his hand and TJ momentarily embraced his former teammate, a rare gentle moment between the two men who had spent the last year verbally sparring and then traded bombs inside the cage.

Given the rivalry between the two, Garbrandt's protest over the stoppage as well as scoring his own knockdown during the fight, the UFC saw fit to put on an immediate rematch, the two once again engaging in a war of words before they stepped foot in the cage.

The fight began unsurprisingly with drama, as TJ offered his hands to "touch gloves" before the fight when the two men squared off in the center of the Octagon, but Garbrandt refused - moments later, the rematch began, this time Garbrandt looking extremely serious and eschewing his normal playful taunts even as he made TJ miss early.

Not two minutes into the bout, Garbrandt stunned TJ with a big right hand, but TJ landed one in return as he stumbled back, stopping him from charging forward. A short time later, Garbrandt charged and forced TJ to stumble back when he threw a kick from in too close, Cody swarming on him with right hands as he turned to get back to his feet and re-establish his stance.

He did so and landed a short right hand of his own which ended up being more of a push; both men firmly stood in their stances, and just like in the first fight, Garbrandt forgot about his defense and looked only for the kill, loading up on his right hand while leaving his left down and chin exposed, concentrating so fully on taking out his rival that he left himself wide open.

Once again, TJ capitalized with a right hand of his own, dropping Garbrandt and ending up on top of him as he tried to spring back to his feet. After a few short shots in the transition, Cody would gain separation and make his way back to the center of the cage, but he still looked unsteady on his feet.

Rather than focusing on staying defensively sound to recover, Garbrandt loaded up every time TJ came in, hoping to catch him or dissuade him from entering his range, but once again leaving himself open to being hit in doing so.

As TJ pressed forward, he stopped throwing and instead made Garbrandt uncomfortable simply by waiting, forcing Cody to make a move first, with the former champ faking a takedown attempt then coming over the top with a wild hook.

TJ easily ducked the shot and answered again with his own right hand, wobbling Garbrandt once again and sending him to the canvas with a follow-up shot. Garbrandt valiantly tried to make his way back to his feet, which he did, with TJ holding onto him from behind while sending a relentless flurry of right hands around to batter the side of his head.

Garbrandt managed to turn and face TJ while continuing to eat right hands, only to then receive a massive knee to the face that put him on queer street. Several follow-up shots landed as Garbrandt's head movement failed to avoid TJ's hands and referee Herb Dean had seen enough. Though Cody protested the stoppage again as he wobbled back to his corner, it was clear Dean had simply saved him from any further brain damage.

After looking nigh-unbeatable in the cage up to and including the first round of his fight against TJ Dillashaw back at UFC 217 and particularly in his performance against Dominick Cruz, Garbrandt had now been dropped four times and finished twice in the last two rounds he fought in.

In defeating his young rival, TJ had also clearly exposed a flaw in Garbrandt's boxing - while he was defensively sound at range, he was overaggressive in the pocket and didn't move his head there, instead opting to load up on his right hand, willing to eat a shot in order to land his own - a strategy that was simply unneccessary and ridiculously risky for a man with the kind of speed and ability that Garbrandt had.

When it comes to pure athletic ability and promise, Cody Garbrandt ranks amongst the top fighters in the sport's history - his combination of speed, power, and skill made him a champion at just 25-years-old and one of the most talented fighters the sport had ever seen.

Yet for all his skill, he could not seem to shore up his fatal flaw - one that TJ exposed to the world, and one that would plague Garbrandt's career ever since, turning him from a surefire legend to a failed talent, a flash in the pan who would never again come close to a title.

At just 27, Garbrandt at the time was expected to turn things around - clearly TJ had his number, but plenty of fighters have suffered setbacks and come back stronger. Now that his problem was clearly exposed, surely he would be able to address it.

In his next outing against Pedro Munhoz, he faced adversity early as Pedro Munhoz was chopping away at his legs, but things would take a turn for the worse when an inadvertant headbutt rocked Garbrandt midway through the round, leading to Munhoz gaining top control.

Pissed off at being fouled with the ref not having seen it, as soon as he returned to the feet he fired off a flying knee and went into "kill" mode, throwing massive hooks and charging forward like his name was Wanderlei Silva.

He managed to land plenty of bombs and hurt the iron-chinned Brazilian, but Munhoz was more than happy to stand and bang - something that Garbrandt shouldn't have been, yet he foolishly allowed himself to be roped into extended exchanges once again, his left hand down and his chin unmoving.

It wouldn't take long for Munhoz to land a massive right hand that sent Garbrandt down, and just like that, Cody had lost three straight fights, all via knockout.

Cody would take an extended break to rest his compromised chin, returning to face Raphael Assuncao, who was riding a two-fight losing streak himself. Cody was much more reserved, to the point of being hesitant, though he opened up more in the second stanza and looked sharp, smartly avoiding getting into the kind of exchanges that had derailed his time as a champion.

In the closing seconds of the second round, as Assuncao turned on the aggression, Garbrandt released the kind of magic he had previously been known for.

Heavily dipping his head toward Raphael before popping upright, he did the same motion almost immediately after, getting Assuncao to bite and throw his hands at the lowered target, only to pop his head up and throw a massive right hand as he did so. The one-hitter-quitter sent the longtime Brazilian contender to the canvas as stiff as a board just before the horn sounded, no follow-up shots needed.

It was just the second time in Assuncao's lengthy career that he had been knocked out, the first time coming nearly a decade before despite Raphael facing off against a who's who of the bantamweight division during that time.

Garbrandt then surprised many by stating he would be dropping down to flyweight to challenge Deiveson Figueiredo for that division's strap, but he was forced to pull out of the fight due to contracting a bad case of COVID and pneumonia.

He returned at bantamweight instead and lost a lopsided decision to Rob Font, looking slower than normal and getting outworked from the opening bell, Font's jab wreaking havoc as he landed combinations while Garbrandt struggled to land much significant of his own - he also seemed to tire relatively early on, something not seen in any of his prior fights and an indicator he was perhaps still compromised from his recent illness.

Opting to re-commit to dropping down to flyweight, Garbrandt would successfully make the 125-pound limit against budding contender Kai Kara-France at UFC 269; less than midway through the opening round, Kara-France landed a massive overhand right as Garbrandt attempted a naked leg kick, sending him crashing to the canvas.

Cody made his way back to his feet and went on the retreat as Kai rushed to land another big shot, with Cody even waving him on before ducking a combination to try and secure a takedown, which Kai made his way up from and went back to applying pressure, albeit slightly less recklessly.

It didn't take long for Kai to set up another right hand which stunned Cody once more, with several follow-up shots as Cody tried to circle off the fence sending him falling to the mat once more, ending the fight.

After beginning his career a remarkable 11-0 and capturing the UFC title, Garbrandt had now lost five of his last six fights, four of those by knockout, and had been dropped seven times during that stint.

It was one of the most sudden and shocking fall-offs from a UFC champion in modern history - arguably the biggest since...Renan Barao.

After taking more than a year off, Garbrandt returned and righted the ship against a much lower ranked opponent, taking home a decision which saw him even use his much-ignored wrestling to control his opponent. While it was certainly a "safe" performance, it at least served to get Garbrandt's confidence back, which he used to propel himself into a one of his classic knockout wins as he starched the durable Brian Kelleher in his next outing.

Returning to top-tier competition, Garbrandt looked like he was returning to form when he faced off against Deiveson Figueiredo on the historic UFC 300 card, landing heavy shots and winning the first round against the former flyweight king who had moved up in weight.

Figueiredo was able to drag Garbrandt down to the floor in the second round however, where Cody looked uncharacteristically immobile, soon after getting tapped out by a rear-naked choke.

Cody would later explain he suffered from a bout of vertigo during the round, something that he had been dealing with in recent years. Though he insisted that problem was unrelated to fighting, the damage he has received in his career certainly couldn't have helped.

At just 33, there's still a chance Garbrandt can turn things around, but there's no doubt the fighter that ran through the bantamweight division and styled on Dominick Cruz was never the same after his fights against Dillashaw.

Since those two fights, Garbrandt has gone just 3-4 with two of those wins coming against much lesser opposition, turning his once pristine 11-0 record into a far less imposing 14-6.

As for Dillashaw, after being the catalyst for the two most surprising and most precipitous career declines in bantamweight history, he would set his sights on the next career he'd destroy - his own.

Before he did that however, there is one other fighter that needs to be added to Dillashaw's ledger, one whose career had been derailed since his last fight way back in 2014 - 6-0 Team Alpha Male standout and The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Chris Holdsworth.

Chris Holdsworth was at one point a very bright undefeated bantamweight prospect determined to work his way up the UFC's rankings - unfortunately, after suffering a concussion in training, he would deal with post-concussion syndrome for years, something that ended his competitive career.

His last fight came at UFC 173 in 2014 when he was just 26 years old, with Holdsworth instead transitioning into a full-time coaching gig at Team Alpha Male.

During the Dillashaw-Garbrandt feud, it was revealed that along with PED issues (more on that later), Dillashaw had a tendency to be overly aggressive during training and had reportedly caused injuries to multiple teammates over the years.

It was also revealed that a knee to the head from Dillashaw (which reportedly was thrown when it would be illegal in an MMA bout, leading one to question what on earth Dillashaw was doing throwing it in practice) is what gave Holdsworth the concussion which would go on to end his career.

Now it's very unlikely Dillashaw was intentionally trying to injure Holdsworth in such a manner, but with plenty of others claiming he would go far too hard in sparring, it's clear that Dillashaw's competitive streak crossed the line on more than one occasion and it's extremely sad that a fighter like Holdsworth who held such promise and was already well on his way in the UFC had his career cut short simply because TJ is a dick and can't control himself.

Returning to his in-Octagon exploits, Dillashaw set his sights on gaining a second title, opting to move to flyweight to face Henry Cejudo for a chance to become the first simultaneous two-division champion to have gone down a weight class in order to get a second belt.

Dillashaw however had a big frame for a bantamweight let alone a flyweight, with many doubting he could make the weight, and still many more believing he would be severely depleted after such a cut. Undeterred, Dillashaw set out to prove everyone wrong.

On the one hand, Dillashaw did indeed make weight despite looking like he was on death's door in doing so with his disturbingly low level of body fat.

On the other, Dillashaw's gamble backfired spectacularly as Cejudo ran through the bantamweight champion in just 32 seconds, clipping him with a right hand early then swarming on him and dropping him a second time as Dillashaw tried to work his way back to the feet.

Although the stoppage was a bit early, the massive weight cut was simply unhealthy and a foolish move from a man who was well on his way to making a bulletproof case for being the best bantamweight fighter in MMA history.

But the worst was yet to come - mere months after his humiliating defeat, Dillashaw was forced to vacate his bantamweight crown after his samples were flagged by USADA.

Now here's where things get interesting - during their feud, Garbrandt had repeatedly accused Dillashaw of doping, to the point where in a later interview, long before TJ would ever test positive, he even specifically named the substance TJ was using - "EPO".

Sure enough, Dillashaw would test positive for recombinant human erythropoietin, or "EPO" as it's commonly known as.

Some may recognize EPO as being the drug Lance Armstrong made famous - it's an extremely potent PED which increases oxygen in the blood, significantly improving athletes' cardio and endurance. It can also only be injected, meaning any claims of a "tainted supplement" or "accidental ingestion" are off the table.

Thus Dillashaw admitted to the usage, though he claimed he only used it for the Cejudo fight, since dropping down to flyweight was affecting his body so much he had to use it to compensate - of course, the problem with that is Garbrandt had accused him of using that very same drug years earlier before a move to flyweight was even being considered.

It's also a drug that is incredibly difficult to test for, as even the most recent improvements to testing still requires the EPO to be injected mere hours before the test sample is taken.

USADA claimed to have re-tested his older samples and found no EPO, but again, detecting EPO is extremely difficult and is more a matter of lucky timing (or bad timing on behalf of the athlete); combined with Garbrandt's accusation from years' prior for that exact same substance, anyone who believes Dillashaw was clean prior to accepting the Cejudo fight is probably not the brightest bulb.

The shocking failure as well as the past accusations being vindicated immediately made Dillashaw one of the most notorious cheaters in MMA history in the eyes of many.

After serving his two year suspension, then 35-year-old Dillashaw returned to the Octagon in a contendership fight with surging prospect Cory Sandhagen, earning a razor-thin decision victory that many fans felt Sandhagen should have won on the scorecards. Dillashaw also suffered a knee injury during the bout, forcing him back to the sidelines for more than a year.

Despite the controversial win and his tarnished name given the EPO debacle, the UFC still saw fit to grant TJ Dillashaw a title shot against Aljamain Sterling, despite fans calling for UFC/WEC legend Jose Aldo to receive a far more earned title shot given he was riding a three-fight winning streak (including victories over Marlon "Chito" Vera, Pedro Munhoz, and Rob Font) and unlike Dillashaw didn't have any controversies attached to his name.

Regardless, the UFC foolishly gave Dillashaw the title shot, and a career of bad karma caught up with the former two-time bantamweight champ and blew up in the UFC's face.

With his body steadily breaking down in recent years, Dillashaw (though he kept it hidden until during the fight) had reportedly been plagued by a shoulder injury that resulted in his shoulder regularly dislocating and rendering his arm largely useless.

Mere moments into his attempt at a third bantamweight title reign, Dillashaw's left arm popped out of its socket, Dillashaw frantically trying to pop it back in and fight with a bum arm. Though on the feet Sterling still seemed hesitant to engage, he was able to ground TJ, where he held a distinct advantage given his opponent had only one functioning arm.

Despite this, Dillashaw valiantly fought off his attacker and survived late into the second round before Aljo was finally able to pin TJ and rain down ground and pound until the referee stepped in to save the defenseless one-armed contender - considering his opponent was severely compromised, Sterling's lack of finishing instinct didn't exactly look good for the reigning champion, while fans felt TJ robbed the fans of a proper fight by heading into it with such a debilitating injury, especially when more deserving contenders were passed over in order to gift TJ his shot.

With his body falling apart from injuries, it would be Dillashaw's final performance in the Octagon as he retired with the disappointing performance, his once incredible legacy completely overshadowed by his high-profile cheating.

At the end of the day, Dillashaw was certainly a wrecking ball when it came to fighter's careers - he was able to single-handedly derail the careers of two of the most talented bantamweight champions in the sport's history in Barao and Garbrandt despite both men being in their prime when they fought (or arguably before their prime should have been given their ages), sent one very promising prospect and The Ultimate Fighter winner into an early retirement, and capped it off by destroying another one of the greatest bantamweight's legacies - his own.

Final Hit List - Chris Holdsworth, Renan Barao, Cody Garbrandt, TJ Dillashaw

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Cain Velasquez

Hit List:

• Brock Lesnar (UFC heavyweight champion, 5-1 prior to Cain fight, 0-1 with 1NC for PEDs after)

• Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva (18-4 prior to Cain II, 1-10 1NC after with 8 KO losses, plus 2 kickboxing KO losses, 1 boxing KO loss, 1 bare knuckle boxing KO loss, for a total combat sports record of 1-14 with 12 knockout losses)

• Travis Browne (18-3-1 prior to Cain fight, 0-3 after)

• Junior Dos Santos (UFC heavyweight champion prior to Cain II fight, was never the same after their trilogy, but still remained in title contention for years after)

Kamaru Usman

Hit List:

• Alexander Yakovlev (24-7-1 prior to Usman fight, 1-5 after)

• Emil Weber Meek (9-2 prior to Usman fight, 1-3 after)

• Tyron Woodley (19-3-1 prior to Usman fight, 0-3 after and 0-2 in boxing)

• Jorge Masvidal (35-13 prior to Usman fights, 0-2 after and 0-1 in boxing)

Dustin Poirier

Hit List:

• Josh Grispi (14-1 prior to Poirier fight, 0-3 after)

• Akira Corrassani (12-3 prior to Poirier fight, 0-2 after)

• Eddie Alvarez (29-5 1NC prior, 1-2 1NC after and 1-1 in bare knuckle boxing)

• Conor McGregor (hasn't fought since their third fight over three years ago, most recently pulled out of a fight against Michael Chandler due to a broken pinky toe)