Fighters who got better after a crushing defeat

[Shaddows]

the biggest one that was not mentioned was Maia after Silva. He improved his striking to a respectful level.

 

[jko1355]

Rockhold after Vitor

 

[gspieler]

Brock after Mir tapped him
Chuck after Horn tapped him
Anderson after getting his ass handed to him in Pride

 

[eclectocrat]

Rockhold after Vitor

Good one, that was a brutal loss and Rocky came back stronger. I wonder if the PED issue makes the loss easier to handle mentally? If Vitor was clean (Ha!), then maybe Luke would have taken the loss harder?

 

[ArtemV]

Poirier seems to be doing a lot better since McGregor knocked him out

 

[muaytao]

Mm after cruz

 

[Minnja]

the biggest one that was not mentioned was Maia after Silva. He improved his striking to a respectful level.

I'd say dropping to WW is what did it for Maia- not any particular loss. He sort of ditched being a good offensive striker altogether since at WW he won't suffer as much of a strength/size disadvantage and really most of his success has been coming from being relentless with takedowns and implementing his BJJ. Right after the Anderson loss while he was at MW he would have some losses and also some underwhelming victories. But once he dropped to WW he looked awesome again

 

[mbach4307]

RDA lost his first 2 UFC fights.

And he became a monster after the khabib loss.

 

[Otto!]

GSP was the first that came to mind when i saw your thread title. He became a safer fighter, but also very dominating.

 

[mbach4307]

Rumble post Vitor has been an outstanding transformation, I'm still in awe. Chuck after the first Randy fight also comes to mind even Gus after the Davis loss and Silva post Chonan tapout

I agree with all of them. Just to add, Randy looked great after the second chuck loss. He got his head right and won the UFC Hw title plus defended it once.

 

[Shaddows]

I'd say dropping to WW is what did it for Maia- not any particular loss. He sort of ditched being a good offensive striker altogether since at WW he won't suffer as much of a strength/size disadvantage and really most of his success has been coming from being relentless with takedowns and implementing his BJJ. Right after the Anderson loss while he was at MW he would have some losses and also some underwhelming victories. But once he dropped to WW he looked awesome again

nah.
His biggest improvements I saw was on Grove or Jorge Santiago.
Even against Weidman, I recall an interview that Maia decided to test if he could KO someone standing. (He said it was stupid, but something he needed to know).
Once he moved down, I think he kind of abandoned striking again, mostly because he could take people down easier, so he went back to his origins.

But of course, he was killed standing by Rory...

 

[Phronimos]

A defeat is usually a reality check. Whether or not the fighter loses in defeat, or just gets his ass kicked, but still manages to pull out the win, most fighters improve after such a defeat.
Everybody starts at zero and meets defeat constantly early on. That is the road to mastery.

 

[LilNubi]

 

[Buff]

Lawler suffered a crushing defeat against Nick Diaz and is now the champ

And a couple of years before that Nick was beaten silly by Jeremy Jackson...

 

[reddhelium]

Poirier seems to be doing a lot better since McGregor knocked him out

true, but his move back up to 155 might have a lot to do with his resurgence as well.