10 UFC Fighters Who "Won" Despite Losing A Fight

MMA is unlike other sports in that an individual's stock can rise dramatically in defeat. In team sports such as football or basketball, if you lose, you go home, and you've taken a big hit in terms of rankings. However, in MMA, a fighter can lose and still rise in the rankings and possibly even fight for a title after a defeat.

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Throughout UFC history, the aforementioned has happened on many occasions. So, let's take a look at times when a UFC fighter "won", even though they lost their fight inside the cage. To the shock of many fans, it's actually happened many times.

10 Anderson Silva (vs. Daniel Cormier)

The main event of UFC 200 was Daniel Cormier's long-awaited rematch with Jon Jones. However, when Bones popped on the week of the fight, the promotion was trying their best to find a suitable replacement. They eventually found one in former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

The Brazilian got a hero's welcome for taking the dangerous fight on three days' notice. While he ended up losing, Silva put up a valiant effort, and even rocked the champion in the third round with a body kick and flying knee.

9 Thiago Santos (vs. Jon Jones)

Thiago Santos was viewed as another helpless challenger when he took the fight against Jon Jones at UFC 239. Like nearly everyone before him, the Brazilian was expected to get smashed. Instead, he put up the fight of his life, and nearly dethroned Jones.

The fight nearly ended in the first round, when Santos tore his ACL, PCL, and MCL in one leg. Despite that horrific injury, he fought on and arguably defeated Jones. While Santos wound up losing via split-decision, he still remains the only fighter to take a scorecard off of Bones.

8 Kevin Lee (vs. Tony Ferguson)

UFC 216's main event between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee was a bit of a strange one on paper. While El Cucuy clearly deserved the interim lightweight title opportunity, the latter was barely ranked in the top ten and was seen as far from being a contender at that point. Many fans expected Ferguson to run through Lee.

Instead, Lee put up a great fight. In fact, he dominated the early rounds of the contest and dominated the jiu-jitsu ace on the mat. While he was eventually caught in a submission in the third round, Lee proved that he was among the greatest lightweights on the planet that night.

7 Conor McGregor (vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov)

UFC 229 was the biggest UFC pay-per-view ever. However, that doesn't mean that anyone actually expected the fight to be close. Conor McGregor was a big underdog, as it was his first fight in years, and Khabib Nurmagomedov had literally never lost a round in his career to that point.

If Nurmagomedov truly does never compete again, his fight with McGregor will go down as the most competitive of his career. While he did suffer lots of damage, the Notorious landed his fair share of shots and remains the only man to have all three judges score a round for him. He also got paid a lot of money, so he won there too.

6 Nate Diaz (vs. Leon Edwards)

The fight between Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz at UFC 263 was strange matchmaking, to say the least. One was a contender on their way to fighting for a title, while the other was years out of his prime, and fighting up a weight class.

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For the first four rounds, Diaz looked every bit of the underdog he was hailed as going in. However, in round five, he nearly did the impossible, by rocking Edwards badly in the final minute. While Diaz wasn't able to get the finish, his final flurry proved once again why he's one of the most entertaining fighters ever.

5 Yoel Romero (vs. Paulo Costa)

UFC 241 was the sight of one of the greatest fights ever, as Yoel Romero took on Paulo Costa. The Brazilian was the boogeyman of the division, while the Cuban was fresh off his insane rematch with Robert Whittaker.

It's hard to say either man lost in this bout, but technically Romero did by decision. However, the fight was so entertaining that he even received a title shot in his next bout. Sadly, his fight with Israel Adesanya wasn't as entertaining as his bout with Costa.

4 Diego Sanchez (vs. Gilbert Melendez)

Gilbert Melendez was still seen as arguably the greatest lightweight on the planet when he was matched up with Diego Sanchez in 2014. While the former Strikeforce champion was still a top contender, The Nightmare wasn't even ranked. The bout was seen as a bit of a tune-up fight for Melendez going in.

Instead, Sanchez gave Melendez three rounds of hell at UFC 166. While he didn't end up scoring the win, he proved he was one of the greatest action fighters ever. He even received a ranking after the loss.

3 Anderson Silva (vs. Israel Adesanya)

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UFC 234's makeshift main event between Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya was seen as a passing of the torch fight. The latter was seen as a future champion, while The Spider was years out of his prime. Many expected Adesanya to easily run through the former titleholder.

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Instead, Silva and Adesanya put on a technical masterpiece. All the little tricks the former champion had up his sleeve got pulled out in this 15-minute classic. While Silva ended up losing, he was able to leave the cage with his head held high in his final pay-per-view headliner.

2 Lando Vannata (vs. Tony Ferguson)

Tony Ferguson was expected to main event a Fight Night card against fellow contender Michael Chiesa in 2016. However, when the latter fell out on short notice, an unknown Lando Vannata stepped up. Despite being in the midst of his historic winning streak, Ferguson was given a tough fight.

In his octagon debut, Vannata looked like a seasoned veteran against Ferguson. He knocked down El Cucuy and nearly finished him in the first round. While he wound up losing via submission in the second, he made his mark in his debut.

1 Petr Yan (vs. Aljamain Sterling)

Fans had never seen a disqualification in a UFC title fight before, until 2021. Petr Yan was winning his fight with Aljamain Sterling, but everything changed in the fourth round when he landed a big illegal knee.

The bout wound up being called off, and Yan lost his UFC bantamweight title. In a twist of events, he was still being viewed as the champion by many fans who believed Sterling was faking the injury. Their rematch one year later saw The Funk Master badly booed during the buildup, although, he was able to spring the upset.