In Ronda Rousey’s interview with Ellen, she said something that made me pause. Truth be told, she said several things that made me (and many others) do a double take. But one item in particular stood out. She mentioned being tired, possibly from the number of fights she’s been in recently.
Three title fights in nine months does sound like a lot, but nothing too insane. So, with the fervor of a mega-nerd, I dove into UFC title fight histories to see if anyone else had been unfairly burdened with this mighty weight. I looked at any fighter who had been involved in three-consecutive title fights, either as champion or challenger with a time frame of 300 days (roughly 10 months).
Overall Findings
There were 37 instances of a fighter having three title fights inside of 300 days. It should be noted that some fighters (which I’ll get into more detail later) had four title fights, with the first and third and the second and fourth taking place less than 300 days apart. So, technically, two different instances. Anyway, of those 37 occurrences, only seven included the bout where the champion lost their belt.
Here’s a chronological look.
Frank Shamrock
The very first case might be the most impressive. Frank Shamrock won what eventually became the light heavyweight title on 12/21/97, defeating Kevin Jackson. He then beat Igor Zinoviev on 3/13/98 and Jeremy Horn on 5/15/98. That means Shamrock, in the dark age days of the UFC, had three title fights in just 145 days. He also beat John Lober on 10/16/98, giving him another three-fight stretch in 217 days.
Pat Miletich
Next on the list is another name from the pre-TUF era, the original welterweight champion, Pat Miletich. Pat beat Mikey Burnett on 10/16/98, then bested Jorge Patino on 1/8/99 and current Nova Uniao head coach, Andre Pederneiras on 7/16/99 for a respectable 273-day run.
Tito Ortiz
Of course Tito Oritz would show up here. He defended the light heavyweight belt against Yuki Kondo on 12/16/00, Evan Tanner on 2/23/01, Elvis Sinosic on 6/29/01 and Vladimir Matyushenko on 9/28/01, giving him runs of 195 and 217 days, respectively.
Matt Hughes
Miletich Fighting Systems sees another fighter make the cut with long-time welterweight champ Matt Hughes. Hughes won the title against Carlos Newton on 11/2/01, beat Hayato Sakurai on 3/22/02, won again over Newton on 7/13/02, Gil Castillo on 11/22/02 and Sean Sherk on 4/25/03. That gives Hughes an impressive trio of 253, 245 and 286-day runs. If you add in his fight against Frank Trigg on 11/21/03 and his title loss to BJ Penn on 1/31/04, that’s another 281-day run.
Andrei Arlovski
The Pitbull is a special case, as the heavyweight title is cursed to never have more than two successful defenses. Arlovski won the interim belt on 2/5/05 against Tim Sylvia, defended it on 6/4/05 against Justin Eilers, which later was upgraded to the regular title. Andrei defended the belt against Paul Buentello on 10/7/05, clocking in at 244 days. He then lost the belt on 4/15/06 and then failed to reclaim it on 7/8/06, both against Tim Sylvia, giving him another three-title fight run in just 274 days.
Chuck Liddell
The Iceman pops up on this list twice. His first stretch goes from 4/16/05, when he beat Randy Couture for the light heavyweight belt, then defended against Jeremy Horn on 8/20/05 and Randy Couture on 2/4/06, coming in just under the wire at 294 days. Then, going from 8/26/06 against Renato Sobral, Tito Ortiz on 12/30/06 and Chuck’s title loss to Rampage Jackson on 5/26/07 comes in at 273 days.
Rich Franklin
Rich Franklin nearly had two cases here, but one set of three fights was 301 days, and if I’m not a stickler for rules, there’s no point in dissecting a semi-throwaway line. Anyway, “Ace” won the middleweight belt from Evan Tanner on 6/4/05, then had defenses against Nate Quarry on 11/19/05 and David Loiseau on 3/4/06, putting him at 273 days.
Tim Sylvia
Before he was a laughingstock who couldn’t even come in under 300 pounds, Tim Sylvia managed to have two instances of title fights under 300 days. Starting with his title win over Arlovski on 4/15/06, a defense against Arlovski on 7/8/06, another one against Jeff Monson on 11/18/06, and his title loss to Randy Couture on 3/3/07, giving him runs of 217 and 238 days.
Anderson Silva
It’s kind of weird to think that such a long-reigning champ only ever had one example of a Rousey, as I’ve now decided to call this title fight phenomenon. Silva did have seven-straight instances of three fights taking place in under 300 days, but due to Travis Lutter being fat and Silva deciding to fight light heavyweights for funsies, those don’t factor into his title bouts. The true Ronda starts on 7/7/07 against Nate Marquardt, continues on Silva’s second fight with Rich Franklin on 10/20/07 and ends with his win over Dan Henderson on 3/1/08, for a 266-day span.
Georges St-Pierre
Long-time welterweight champ GSP has two Rondas to his credit, both early in his second reign with the belt. Starting with him winning the interim title over Matt Hughes on 12/29/07, then unifying the belt in his rematch with Matt Serra on 4/19/08, then his defenses against Jon Fitch on 8/9/08 and BJ Penn on 1/31/09, leaving him with a 224 and 287-day Ronda.
BJ Penn
Speaking of The Prodigy, BJ Penn nabbed his accomplishment in the middle of his lightweight run. Starting with his defense versus Kenny Florian on 8/8/09, to Diego Sanchez on 12/12/09, and then his two losses to Frankie Edgar, on 4/10/10 and 8/28/10, puts Penn at 245 and 259 days.
Frankie Edgar
Oh hey, look at that, six degrees of separation! Frankie Two-Times nabbed his Ronda starting on 4/10/10 when he beat BJ for the belt, then locked it up with a defense against Penn on 8/28/10 and a draw with Gray Maynard on 1/1/11, notching 266 days.
Dominick Cruz
Wait, what? Mr. Glass managed to string together three title fights in under nine years, let alone nine months? Cruz “won” the inaugural title on 12/16/10 by defending his WEC belt against Scott Jorgensen, then by facing Urijah Faber on 7/2/11 and Demetrious Johnson on 10/1/11, putting him at 289 days, just in time before his body fell apart for the first time.
Jon Jones
The longest reigning light heavyweight champ racked up three-straight Rondas, starting with his win over Shogun Rua on 3/19/11. Add in defenses against Rampage Jackson on 9/24/11, Lyoto Machida on 12/10/11, Rashad Evans on 4/21/12 and Vitor Belfort on 9/22/12, notching runs of 266, 210, and 287 days, respectively.
Jose Aldo
Maybe the complaints about Aldo always pulling out of fights isn’t without warrant, as he only managed to snag a Ronda once. His first defense against Mark Hominick came on 4/30/11, Kenny Florian lost on 10/8/11 and Chad Mendes fell on 1/14/12, locking Aldo in at 259 days for those three defenses.
Benson Henderson
Chalk it up to a string of controversial decision wins, but every three-fight chunk of Bendo’s fell under the purview of a Ronda. Beginning on 2/26/12 with his win over Frankie Edgar, then the rematch on 8/11/12, a lopsided win over Nate Diaz on 12/8/12, another close fight with Gilbert Melendez on 4/20/13, and then his loss to Anthony Pettis on 8/31/13 gave Henderson runs of 286, 252 and 266 days.
Cain Velasquez
Much like Dom Cruz, it’s kind of hard to believe that Cain stayed healthy enough to get three fights in under a year, but he managed to pull it off. Beating Junior Dos Santos on 12/29/12, then defending against Bigfoot Silva on 5/25/13 and JDS on 10/19/13 put him in at 294 days, just barely rating a Ronda.
Renan Barao
Starting with his interim title defense against Eddie Wineland on 9/21/13, Barao then beat Urijah Faber on 2/1/14 and then lost the belt to TJ Dillashaw on 5/24/14, giving him a 245-day Ronda.
Demetrious Johnson
Starting with his KO win over Joseph Benavidez on 12/14/13, the Mightiest of Mice then beat Ali Bagautinov on 6/14/14 and Chris Cariaso on 9/27/14, clocking in at 287 days.
Ronda Rousey
You might be thinking that this is the very end of the list, and this starts with Rousey versus Cat Zingano. Well, you’re wrong on both counts. The Rowdy One got her first Rousey a few years ago, starting with the second Miesha Tate fight on 12/28/13, then Sara McMann on 2/24/14 and Alexis Davis on 7/5/14, nabbing a 189-day Ronda. Then, Ronda got her second, starting against Cat Zingano on 2/28/15, Bethe Correia on 8/1/15 and then the loss to Holly Holm on 11/15/15, notching a 260-day span.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
The woman known affectionately as Joanna Champion is the latest to join the Ronda Club, starting with her title win over Carla Esparza on 3/14/15, a defense against Jessica Penne on 6/20/15, and then a win over Valerie Letourneau on 11/15/15, getting a 246-day run.
Final Analysis
What, if anything, did we learn from this investigation? Well, obviously Ronda isn’t the only person to deal with the pressure of three title fights in nine months. If she would have said she’s the only fighter to do crazy press tours and film several blockbuster Hollywood movies and have three fights in nine months, yeah, she’s pretty much the only person to be in that boat. But, not only have plenty of fighters put in that kind of schedule, including one on the same card that Ronda lost her belt, but Rousey did it earlier in her title reign, and with a much shorter schedule between fights.