Guys who beat World Famous fighters early in their careers.

[Buff]

Holly Holm took this loss back in her boxing days...

The ref wanted her to be a warrior.

 

[sangreporsangre]

Here's an example with a bit of a twist. Douglas Lima lost to Matt Brown early in both of their respective careers. Now Lima is a world champion (again) while Brown is a respected veteran journeyman about to fight on a prelim.....and yet Brown is probably the more "world famous" of the 2 by virtue of fighting under the UFC banner for so long as opposed to Bellator.

 

[Buff]

Anyone else remember the "who's that Lyoto guy?" era of Machida's career? Also I guess this wouldn't quite fit the bill but worth mentioning that Tibau beat Khabib according to most people's scorecards -- wasn't very early in Khabib's career though and not everyone thought it was a bad decision.

His early record is crazy... 2x Future UFC champions, and Vernon White like it was nothing... His early UFC run was a step down in competition.

 

[Ogata]

Pete Spratt beat Robbie Lawler and many thought he was going to be the future.

Pete Spratt disappeared from the mma after his failed attempt at tuf comeback.

Meanwhile Robbie Lawler went on to become UFC champion and a house hold name.

 

[Buff]

Pete Spratt beat Robbie Lawler and many thought he was going to be the future.

Pete Spratt disappeared from the mma after his failed attempt at tuf comeback.

Meanwhile Robbie Lawler went on to become UFC champion and a house hold name.

This Lawler loss as well...

Nobody ever imagined Robbie would be where he is now after that.

Even when he was out there blinding Trigg and decapitating Manhoef nobody gave him a chance after those losses.

 

[Nabs]

Some guy named Worley actually tapped Colby a long time ago.

 

[Bartosh]

Sokoudjou beat Lil Nog and Arona within his first 5 fights

his only notable win in his later career is probably Jan Błachowicz.

 

[Nabs]

Holly Holm took this loss back in her boxing days...

The ref wanted her to be a warrior.

Damn! Still feels as brutal as it was the first time I saw it. We need this ref in the UFC.

 

[sonhow]

It's by no means early but people have completely forgot that Gomi in his prime was submitted by Marcus Aurelio in Pride despite claims of untouchable aura for the Japanese fighter. He struggled with him in the rematch as well as he only managed to squeak a split decision.

Jose Aldo was submitted by Lucian Azevedo and Benson Henderson was submitted by Rocky Johnson but it wasn't this guy:

 

[Shaquitas EBT]

Matt Hammill made an absolute mess of Jon Jones' elbows with his head.

lol well played

 

[KID Yamamoto]

Jake Sheild's entire resume is him beating very good fighters at weird times.
He tapped Condit at rumble on the rocks lmao.

 

[Buff]

And that cute little kid would end up turning into this flat topped mess...

 

[TimeToTrain]

Mike Tyson. Vitor Belfort

 

[Law Dog]

I swear Datsik became a nazi.

Why do guys with talent become nazis? Don’t they know it will guarantee you never become famous or respected?

That’s probly the last thing on their mind. They're not exactly playing with a full deck.

 

[Buff]

Tito lost to Guy Mezger via guillotine a couple of years before he beat him later on...

It's the catalyst for Tito's moment.

 

[Dorkman]

Nick Thompson beating the piss out of Eddie Alvarez

Mayhem almost dying in his early days to Todd Carney:

Nate "The Great" making a schoolboy error vs a legit Genki Sudo:

Young Machida vs young Rich Franklin

That Thompson v Alvarez fights was the catalyst to Eddie's run at LW. Nick DWARFED him in that 170 fight and beat him down bad. Made a wise decision going down to 155 after that where his aggression couldn't be just outmatched through sheer size.

 

[NoContest]

Holly Holm took this loss back in her boxing days...

The ref wanted her to be a warrior.

Hold on there, you got your crash test dummy all tangled up in the ropes. Let me loosen that up for you.

 

[Buff]

That Thompson v Alvarez fights was the catalyst to Eddie's run at LW. Nick DWARFED him in that 170 fight and beat him down bad. Made a wise decision going down to 155 after that where his aggression couldn't be just outmatched through sheer size.

All true. This was the Bully Beatdown period in Eddie's career, but he was still talented as fuck, and went untithat fight as favourite.

It's so weird to think that Eddie is regarded as a bum because of his UFC run, despite wining gold there, and everywhere else he's fought. Crazy how powerful social media is these days. Memes end careers whike they're still active.

 

[DanAndroid]

135 lbs contender Assuncao beat Masvidal and Lauzon which is nuts considering how small he is.

 

[Poids Moyen]

Who that guy beat ?