Whether it was because of their skills, intimidation or the fear they put into the competition, there were UFC fighters that made even the best want to duck them before they met in the cage at all costs.
While these potential opponents would never outright say they were afraid of throwing down with their opposition, subsequent bout rejections or accepting fights against other individuals left fans and pundits scratching their heads in confusion. Even today, some of the top athletes in the organization have been accused of steering clear of stern or rightful challengers, with some of those duckers residing in the upper most echelon of the sport.
These are the top four biggest duckers in UFC history
November 17, 2024: El campeo³n de peso pesado de UFC, Jon Jones, con su prometida Jessie Moses, celebra su victoria por nocaut to cnico contra el retador Stipe Miocic durante su pelea por el toÂtulo de peso pesado de UFC 309. – ZUMAla2_ 0779969143st Copyright: xKenaxBetancurx
Top Four Duckers: No. 4. Tito Ortiz
Starting off the top four duckers countdown at No. 4, in the early days of the promotion, Tito Ortiz was viewed by many as the UFC’s biggest star. Joining the now global leader in mixed martial arts in 1997, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” swiftly rose to prominence as the face of the company. He also grew into a supremely formidable name in the light heavyweight division, capturing the championship and defending it five times before becoming one of the most notable duckers in the promotion.
It was also during this period in history when another phenom began to carve out his own place in the sport, a man who would go on to become one of the greatest fighters of all time: Chuck Liddell. Making his way into the UFC around the same time as Ortiz, “The Iceman” became a massive fan-favorite for his litany of stupendous stoppages, including knockout wins over Kevin Randleman, Guy Mezger and Alistair Overeem.
Ortiz Earns Place Among Duckers by Avoiding Chuck Liddell
For a time, the two 205-lb titans ruled the weight class together, with a contest between seemingly out of the question, as both men were originally friends that trained together. However, the more Ortiz retained his belt and Liddell kept driving through the competition, a crash course between them seemed inevitable. Though the then incumbent appeared very reluctant to face Liddell, with him citing that they weren’t really getting paid well enough to fight one another and that they made a pact to never fight each other, a pact that Liddell was quick to shoot down.
Eventually, Ortiz would lose his strap to Randy Couture, setting the stage for a climatic showdown between the former training partners at UFC 47. Returning to the organization after a brief Dana White-sponsored run in Pride FC, Liddell was eager to resume his warpath toward gold and had no qualms with bopping his way past his fellow California native. Decimating the former titleholder in just over two rounds, “The Iceman” flattened Ortiz with a sensational knockout.
Chuck Liddell Overcomes Duckers’ Status with Winning Streak
Losing out on contending for his former throne opposite a man he seemed to duck, Ortiz went on to amass a five-fight winning streak to rid himself of the duckers label, propelling him into a rematch with Liddell, who now held his championship, at UFC 66. Lasting one more round than their first tilt, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was once again starched by the heavy-handed champion, with the finish becoming arguably the most iconic of Liddell’s career.
Top Four Duckers: No. 3. Michael Bisping
Although he is known today as a beloved color commentator for the UFC, the No. 3 entrant in our top four duckers countdown, Michael Bisping was at one point one of the pound-for-pound best fighters on the planet Stepping in on 17 days notice to battle then middleweight apex Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, the venerable European entered the PPV main event as a sizable underdog, with some sports books holding Rockhold as a -600 favorite. Making the most of his first title shot, Bisping shocked the world by knocking out the AKA standout in the first three minutes of the fight to become the first English UFC champion.
“The Count” Joins the Duckers by Fighting Dan Henderson in Title Defense
Now the newly-minted king of the 185-lb division, “The Count” had no shortage of amazing contenders to lock horns with in his first title defense. At this time, Yoel Romero was tearing up the weight category with fantastic finish after fantastic finish. Also, a young Robert Whittaker was making a name for himself by taking out stellar names in Brad Tavares and Uriah Hall, which is why it came as an absolute brain scrambler when it was announced that Bisping would be putting his strap up for grabs opposite number 13-ranked Dan Henderson at UFC 204.
For a majority of the fanbase, this seemed like a really missed opportunity for the actual top competitors in the weight class, but looking at the pairing from a business angle, it did make some modicum of sense. More than seven years prior, Henderson had stopped Bisping in possibly the most gruesome knockout of the 2000s, putting the Cyprus native’s lights out with a huge right hand before delivering a thunderous with a second strike that severed Bisping’s consciousness entirely.
Bisping Keeps Duckers Reputation Even With Victory Over Henderson
While the champion would defend his title with a hard-fought unanimous decision, Bisping still faced some severe backlash over allegations of ducking the clear threats to his reign to instead face a 46-year old Henderson.
The allegations intensified even further when the aforementioned Whittaker secured the interim championship, only for the Englishman to take on a returning Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217. Bisping would lose his place at the head of the pack by third-round submission, retiring a mere three weeks later following a short-notice defeat to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122.
Top Four Duckers: No. 2. Germaine de Randamie
After a 46-fight stint in kickboxing, Germaine de Randamie took her talents into the realm of mixed martial arts, gaining entrance into the UFC after a splendid run in Strikeforce, which saw her claim victories over Stephanie Webbe and Hiroko Yamanaka. While a setback to Amanda Nunes stifled her momentum in the organization for a bit, “The Iron Lady” then strung together two wins back-to-back, which included one against future PFL queen Larissa Pacheco. This put the Dutchwoman on a collision course with the equally credentialed Holly Holm at UFC 208 for the inaugural women’s featherweight belt.
Although she did manage to barely eke out a unanimous decision over “The Preacher’s Daughter,” the bout attracted a large degree of controversy after de Randamie struck Holm twice after the round-ending horn was blown, with the European being deducted zero points.
de Randamie Joins Duckers, Bypasses Cyborg
Nevertheless, the kickboxing steamroller had realized the grandest prize in all of combat sports and already had her first challenger all lined up for her in female mixed martial arts legend Cris Cyborg. Garnering a reputation as debatably the scariest woman in the world, the Brazilian knockout artist had put together a mind-boggling 18-bout winning streak, laying waste to notable combatants like Shayna Baszler, Gina Carano and Lina Länsberg, netting a perfect 2-0 record in the UFC by the time de Randamie won the belt.
At that point in time, Cyborg was the obvious next contender to vie for the featherweight championship, but the new queen of the division didn’t seem on board with the idea of fighting the South American, leading to speculation that she was ducking her.
de Randamie Cool With Losing Belt, Despite Duckers’ Status
Speaking with MMAJunkie back in 2017, de Randamie’s manager, Brian Butler, revealed that the Dutchwoman would not be taking on the touted finisher because of the Brazilian’s past issues with performance-enhancing drugs. Despite the fact that she had her place among the duckers confirmed, it was also stated that de Randamie was okay with the promotion stripping her of her championship because she wouldn’t defend her throne against Cyborg.
This ultimately proved to be the case, as the European was relinquished of her belt a mere four months after claiming it. In turn, the now vacant gold was then put up for grabs at UFC 214, with Cyborg recording a third-round stoppage over late replacement Tonya Evinger.
While de Randamie continued to be a prominent figure in the company until her recent retirement a couple of years ago, the fact that she didn’t give Cyborg the chance to contend for the championship against her put a damning blemish on her image in the sport. Even to this day, fans will often cite her ducking of the Brazilian as the most defining moment in her career, and not the fact that she was once the best of the best in the world at 145-lb.
Top Four Duckers: No. 1. Jon Jones
Widely known today as the consensus greatest fighter of all time, Jon Jones has amassed innumerable accolades across his journey as an iconic UFC champion. Earning the light heavyweight strap two times, the New York native would accrue 11 total title defenses before moving up to heavyweight to take that division’s belt. Logging one more defense over revered 265-lb phenom Stipe Miocic, Jones would retire from mixed martial arts earlier this summer.
When it comes to record and accomplishments, “Bones” is clearly in a class all his own, but this hasn’t prevented the Jackson Wink product from encountering his own degree of scrutiny in the later portion of his UFC stint. Over the past five years, the previous kingpin of the 205-lb category had been criticized for apparently becoming one of the duckers when it relates to a few notable challengers, the first being the possibly toughest test of his entire journey as a mixed martial artist, Dominick Reyes, whom Jones barely defeated at UFC 247 by unanimous decision.
Jon Jones Solidifies Status as One of the Duckers Twice Over
Almost immediately, given the nature of the contest, “The Devastator” began calling for a runback, with even the organization allegedly being on board for a second fight later that year. Instead, though, Jones chose to vacate his throne for a prolonged move up to heavyweight, a move that would take up to three years to complete. This didn’t stop the fanbase and other fighters from calling him out for seemingly running from the man who bested him in many people’s eyes.
Another contender that Jones was believed to have ducked was Polish sensation Jan Blachowicz. After dusting Corey Anderson at UFC Fight Night 167, the KSW standout was swift to call out the American for a future championship bout, one that Jones looked to be interested in.
The scrap would not happen, though, as Jones relinquished his strap to take his talents up to 265-lb, leading Blachowicz to conclude that the former light heavyweight ruler ran from him. The Pole would go on to score the vacant championship with a stunning second-round knockout over Reyes at UFC 253.
The ducking allegations appeared to have traveled with Jones into his excursion up to heavyweight, as his unwillingness to face Tom Aspinall drew widespread belief that “Bones” was terrified to unify the belts against the Englishman.
Jones Retires as One of the Duckers in June of 2025
This belief that Jones was actively avoiding Aspinall grew with even more fervor after Jones suddenly retired from fighting, allowing Aspinall to become the undisputed king of the division. Fans will also recall how the 38-year old decided to defend his championship opposite Miocic in a mandatory “legacy fight” instead of taking on Aspinall first, even though the Brit had already claimed interim gold and was the clear next man in line.