UFC Fighters Who Rose To The Title Fastest
UFC is the biggest MMA promotion with over 800 fighters on their roster, split into 12 weight classes. Naturally, each fighter needs at least a few years to make a name for themselves, climb the rankings, and potentially win the title.
Even the most talented and marketable ones need at least 2 or 3 years to capture the championship.
But as in any sport, there are rare exceptions of fighters who, due to multiple factors playing in their favor, have managed to rise quickly and win the title in a record-breaking time. So in this article, we are going to look at the 5 legendary UFC fighters who rose to the title fastest.
Inaugural champions like Ronda Rouse and Demetrious Johnson are excluded from the list.
Alex Pereira (371 days)
Pereira’s UFC run toward winning the UFC title in just 371 days was spectacular. It was amazing to witness a decorated kickboxer with such little MMA experience reaching the pinnacle of the sport in such a short time.
Prior to transitioning to MMA, Pereira was a world champion in kickboxing where he famously beat Israel Adesanya twice. During his time in kickboxing, he managed to win titles in two separate weight classes, middleweight and light heavyweight.
Seeing Adesanya enjoying a lot of success, Pereira decided to do the same and give the MMA career a try.
Pereira made his UFC debut with a highlight reel knockout over Andreas Michalilidis at UFC 268 on November 6, 2021. He then won a unanimous decision against Bruno Silva on March 12, 2022, before knocking out Sean Strickland at UFC 276. Although he was just three fights in his journey, the matchmakers decided to cash out on his rivalry with the reigning champion at the time, Israel Adesanya.
At UFC 281, Pereira was in for a rough night in the office with Adesanya dominating the striking exchanges for 4 rounds. However, the Brazilian woke up in the fifth to leave it all inside the octagon and get a TKO two minutes into the round.
Brock Lesnar (287 days)
Brock Lesnar came into the UFC as a WWE superstar and at the time, no one was really sure how this transition was going to play out. The concerns were reasonable because Lesnar had only one match before signing with the UFC.
But despite losing his debut fight at UFC 81 against the veteran Frank Mir at UFC 81 on February 2, 2008, Lesnar would close the year with the championship belt around his waist. And he did it by literally storming through the heavyweight division.
First, he beat Heath Herring in August via unanimous decision, a win that secured him a shot at the title that came a few months later. At UFC 91 on November 15, 2008, Lesnar faced the legendary Randy Couture for the heavyweight belt. After stuffing a couple of Couture’s takedowns, he managed to score a knockdown and close the show with vicious ground and pound in the second round to win the title.
He would later unify the belt by beating Frank Mir at UFC 100, and defend it successfully against Shane Carwin.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (231 days)
With 5 successful title defenses on her record, Jedrzejczyk is among the greatest female fighters of all time. As a world champion kickboxer, she didn’t need much time to put her exceptional striking to work and fight her way up toward winning the title. Only 231 days to be more precise.
She made her UC debut on July 26, 2014, against Juliana Lima. After putting on a dominant performance, the UFC matched her against Claudia Gadelha in December in a title eliminator bout. Jedrzejczyk managed to walk away with a close split decision and the guaranteed shot at the strawweight belt.
She didn’t have to wait much as the match got set up for Match 14, 2015 at UFC 185 against the reigning champion, Carla Esparza. Right from the opening bell, it was obvious that Jedrzejczyk was there to win, and she did with a second-round TKO.
From there, she would go on to defend her throne five times and look unstoppable in each one. Also, it’s worth mentioning that Jedrzejczyk was the first female European UFC champion, and first champion to come out of Poland.
Rampage Jackson (113 days)
Before he joined the UFC roster, Rampage spent five years competing at the highest levels of PRIDE FC during the glory days. He was already a superstar when he arrived, so it’s not a surprise that UFC decided to fast-track him to the title.
Rampage made his debut at UFC 67 on February 3, 2007, against Marvin Eastman with a second-round knockout. This was more than enough for the matchmakers to put them right into the title fight against the legendary Chuck Liddell. The two met at UFC 71 in May 26, 2007, just 113 days after his debut fight.
90 seconds into the match, Rampage managed to land a vicious right hook to send Liddell down to the canvas. He followed up with a couple of ground-and-pound shots to close the show and win the light heavyweight title. He then beat Dan Henderson at UFC 75 in September to unify the UFC title with the Pride middleweight championship.
After Losing the belt to Forrest Griffin in 2008, Rampage would fight his way back to the title contender position. However, he failed to win it again after being finished by Jon Jones at UFC 135.
Anderson Silva (108 days)
Widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, Silva’s rise was nothing but….fast. The Brazilian needed 108 days from making his debut to spectacularly winning the middleweight title. This on its shows you how skilled Silva was in his prime.
Silva arrived in the UFC as the Cage Rage champion in 2006. The UFC put him right into the fire by matching him against the veteran Chris Leben in a title eliminator bout. Silva needed less than a minute to dismantle Leben with laser precision and timing to secure a title shot.
The current champion at the time was Rich Franklin, and the two met at UFC 64 on 14th October the same year. The fans were in for a massive shock as Silva managed to destroy Franklin in the same style as he did Leben. No one could believe that a fighter could join the UFC and instantly demolish 2 of the best fighters in a division.
Silva went on to defend his title 10 times and set multiple records.
