5 of the Unluckiest MMA Fighters Ever | Simply Explained
There have been many unlucky MMA fighters through different points of their career.
Here we'll go over the most unluckiest MMA fighters in history early on in their career, middle of their career, and in the prime of their career.
Table of Contents
Early in Their Career
Kenneth Williams
Williams only fought two times professionally and unluckily for him... It happened to be vs UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson.
Both of these fighters ended up being legends of the light heavyweight division and even became champions.
Williams would never fight again after the second fight. Poor guy, he probably thought "This isn't for me" and he just happened to fight two of the baddest men on the planet.
Yuji Nagata
Similarly to Williams, Nagata would only fight twice in his professional career. He did not have much better luck as he would go on to fight and lose to two of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Fedor Emelianenko is always in the 'Greatest of all time' discussion and went on to have an incredible career and at one point amassed a record of 31-1 during his dominant run.
Mirko Cro Cop had a legendary run in the Pride organization, and became a champion there as well and one of the scariest fighters of all time.
In the Middle of Their Career
Marcus Brimage
Brimage was beginning to taste success in his career sporting a 6-1 record, including 3 fights already in the UFC.
He would then go on to face Conor McGregor at 145 lbs and lose via knockout. McGregor would then go on a legendary run to capture both the feather weight belt and lightweight belt.
Shortly after that Brimage decided that dropping down in weight could be in his best interest.
He dropped down to 135 lbs and then ended up facing Cody Garbrandt and also lost that by knockout.
Garbrandt would go on to become the 135 lbs champ and one of the most dangerous strikers in the division.
Could it get worse? It sure can.
After that Brimage would then fight Jimmie Rivera another dangerous fighter who at one point would rack up a 21-1 record.
Shortly afterwards Brimage lost a few more fights to a decision and would stop MMA fighting leaving with a record of 7-7.
In the Prime of Their Career
Tony Ferguson
Ferguson would go on to have one of the most unluckiest events happen during the prime of his career.
He'd amass a 12 fight win streak but never have a chance to fight for the undisputed lightweight belt.
Ferguson fought for the interim title vs Kevin Lee and won, setting up a mandatory unification fight for the real belt vs Khabib Nurmagomedov.
A week before the fight, Ferguson would trip on a cord during a press conference that would injure his knee and cause him to have to pull out of the fight.
He is then stripped of the interim lightweight belt.
Afterwards Khabib and McGregor are both suspended for due to their actions post fight.
Khabib is suspended 9 months, so the UFC sets up another fight for an interim belt. They offer Ferguson a fight vs Holloway but Ferguson declines, so Dustin Poirier takes it.
Poirier would go on to win that fight, become interim champion and then fight Khabib for the belt.
Leon Edwards
Edwards is on a 9 fight win streak and hasn't been able to fight for the Welterweight belt.
Edwards would beat 4th ranked Rafael Dos Anjos and then would sit on the sideline for 20 months without suffering an injury.
How? Tons of bad luck.
Fighters would keep turning down fights vs Edwards and he was unable to get a fight booked.
Eventually, he was schedule to fight Tyron Woodley in London, but a few days before the card would get canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Woodley would then go on to fight Gilbert Burns, where Burns would win that fight and then go on to fight for the belt.
Edwards would finally return to fight Belal Muhammad but the fight would end in a 'No contest', as Edwards accidentally eye poked his opponent so badly that his eye immediately swelled up and he could not see out of that eye, or continue.
Edwards would then fight Nate Diaz, a fight that if he won dominantly would help his stock tremendously with the fans and push his way towards a title.
Well Edwards did do that, for exactly 24 minutes of the 25 minute fight. However, on the last minute of the fight Diaz landed a combination that rocked him, and Diaz almost finished him.
Due to that, that's the only thing that people remember or want to talk about, and anytime Edwards name comes up to fight for the title, fans immediately say "He was rocked and almost finished by a lightweight, what do you think Kamaru Usman would do to him".
Safe to say Edwards has been one of the unluckiest fighters in recent memory.