Climbing the mountain the second time (Second attempt at a title)

[Threetrees]

It's been said that the hardest thing in MMA is defending a belt
I think the hardest thing might be winning it after you've lost it, or winning after losing your initial attempt
In MMA we unfortunately get robbed of this narrative happening because whenever there's a close fight there's the tendency to have instant rematches. Plus MMA unlike most sports lends itself to a clearly ridiculous amount of sacrifice to get to the top and we've seen plenty of dudes seem to lose motivation or fall off after losing a title shot

I'm bored as fuck and was watching a bunch of tape on Michael Chandler and this got me thinking about Ronda Rousey and Jose Aldo likely entering this scenario of trying to recapture a title

I think the most obvious example is Georges St. Pierre
Joseph Benavedez and John Dodson deserve mention for fighting their way to two title shots against the same guy
Kenny Florian did it in two weight classes
Cain has the chance to win his title back if he stays healthy, and he deserves mention for losing to Junior and recapturing the belt later

Are there good examples of a guy winning a title shot on his second attempt, or recapturing a belt that's been lost?

 

[Which Doctor]

If you're gonna bring up names like Cain, you might as well bring up Helio, Gotch, Kimura, Hercules.

 

[Sparkie]

Robbie Lawler to me is an inspiration
getting the belt after having fought for many years
once coming back to the UFC
not exactly what you are talking about

 

[Threetrees]

Robbie Lawler to me is an inspiration
getting the belt after having fought for many years
once coming back to the UFC
not exactly what you are talking about

Lawler's an almost perfect one though, not because he made it to a title shot but he was deemed a future champion, fought his way up got stopped - left and recaptured his motivation to gain a belt later on

Cruz fo r different reasons

 

[Sparkie]

Lawler's an almost perfect one though, not because he made it to a title shot but he was deemed a future champion, fought his way up got stopped - left and recaptured his motivation to gain a belt later on

Cruz fo r different reasons

I'd like to see Gustaphsen keep fighting and see if he can get over the hump
he had two mean fights with the best (Jones and Cormier)
coming close to championship form

 

[cwi11iamson]

 

[HHJ]

Arlovski lost his belt to Sylvia,earned another shot,lost, tried again,then left UFC and tried to enter immortality by facing Fedor,failed that,lost to rogers,and somehow worked his way all the way back through the years and nearly earning a title shot in his last ufc run. He is up there with Lawler,Mir,and Bisping as far as career tenacity.

 

[phys_therapy]

That punch marked the end of probably the most boring HW champion ever. I respect Sylvia in a way of course, but damn it didn't make his title reign any more exciting. Second favorite punch after Hendo's H-Bomb on Bisping in MMA.

 

[Threetrees]

That punch marked the end of probably the most boring HW champion ever. I respect Sylvia in a way of course, but damn it didn't make his title reign any more exciting. Second favorite punch after Hendo's H-Bomb on Bisping in MMA.

Poor Timmeh

 

[BisexualMMA]

That punch marked the end of probably the most boring HW champion ever. I respect Sylvia in a way of course, but damn it didn't make his title reign any more exciting. Second favorite punch after Hendo's H-Bomb on Bisping in MMA.

Boring for us, but the most exciting and active life that belt has ever known.

 

[Eater of Souls]

That punch marked the end of probably the most boring HW champion ever. I respect Sylvia in a way of course, but damn it didn't make his title reign any more exciting. Second favorite punch after Hendo's H-Bomb on Bisping in MMA.

Tim is the Rodney Dangerfield of MMA.

 

[HHJ]

His reign wasnt exciting,but Tim wasnt a boring fighter in general. His team kept him real conservative as champ...probably because of his fight IQ. His fight with Nog was pretty awesome though.

 

[Eater of Souls]

Tim is the Rodney Dangerfield of MMA.

What is also amazing is that Tim beat Ben Rothwell in 2001, and Rothwell just fought. Amazing endurance for a HW (Rothwell).

 

[Threetrees]

His reign wasnt exciting,but Tim wasnt a boring fighter in general. His team kept him real conservative as champ...probably because of his fight IQ. His fight with Nog was pretty awesome though.

One of my favorite all time fights, very underrated scrap

 

[phys_therapy]

His reign wasnt exciting,but Tim wasnt a boring fighter in general. His team kept him real conservative as champ...probably because of his fight IQ. His fight with Nog was pretty awesome though.

His fights that ended before going to a decision were fun to watch, but his fights with Monson, Vera, Arlovski 3, and Assuero or Assuerio Silva...

 

[phys_therapy]

Boring for us, but the most exciting and active life that belt has ever known.

The main thing that's been missing with the HW title is frequency of fights. There's so few fights for the title that I almost forget it exists.