5 Greatest Comebacks in UFC History Ranked

UFC has given us some of the most jaw-dropping finishes in recent years. From heavyweights on the verge of being knocked out to a champion down four rounds, there are plenty of comebacks to blow your mind. However, these are the 5 greatest comebacks in UFC history that shocked everybody throughout the world: 

1. Cheick Kongo

On June 26, 2011, Cheick Kongo headlined a UFC Live card against Pat Barry and spent the first two and a half minutes being taken apart. Then, Barry dropped him with an overhand right, but Kongo got back up. Soon after, Barry dropped him again with the same punch, and by then Kongo was moving on legs that had stopped functioning. What kept him in it was a right hand thrown from nowhere that froze Barry where he stood. Kongo followed it with an uppercut, and the fight was finished at 2:39 of the first round.
"I just saw the opportunity to give him the uppercut," Kongo said afterward. "So it gives me the chance to finish this fight at this moment with one shot." The whole sequence, from the second knockdown to the stoppage, took about 10 seconds. Barry was winning that fight by every measure available right up until the second he was unconscious.

2. Matt Hughes

At UFC 52 on April 16, 2005, Frank Trigg landed a knee to Matt Hughes' groin and referee Mario Yamasaki shouted a warning from across the cage without stopping the action. Trigg went after him immediately, dropped him with punches, took his back, and locked in a rear-naked choke. Hughes was defending a welterweight title and was seconds from losing it, but the choke was never quite right. "It wasn't in," Trigg explained years later.

Matt Hughes ~ The Rise and DEVASTATING Fall of UFC's Greatest Champion pic.twitter.com/LX4EK47c5H

— Steve Clemans (@Steve09812) September 9, 2026

"My elbow was in the wrong position." Hughes worked his head free, got to his feet with Trigg still on him, lifted him off the mat, and ran him the full length of the Octagon before slamming him down. From there he took the top position, opened a cut on Trigg's face, and sank his own rear-naked choke. Trigg tapped at 4:05 of the first round. The fight has since been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Hughes lost that fight twice and won it once, and only the last one counted.

3. Derrick Lewis

Alexander Volkov spent 14 minutes beating Derrick Lewis up at UFC 229 in Las Vegas on October 6, 2018. He landed close to 100 more significant strikes, picked Lewis apart behind a jab, and left him visibly exhausted and losing every round on the scorecards. With under 20 seconds left in the third, Lewis threw back-to-back right hooks. The second one dropped Volkov. Lewis landed eight short punches on the ground, and Herb Dean stopped it at 4:49.

By a significant strike deficit, it is the largest comeback finish in UFC history, with Lewis 82 strikes behind when the referee waved it off. He then removed his shorts in the cage and gave an interview that is still quoted more often than the knockout. Asked by Joe Rogan why he had taken them off, Lewis said, "My balls was hot." On whether he wanted a title shot, he added: "I need to sit my black a** down and do some more cardio.

4. Anderson Silva

Chael Sonnen took Anderson Silva down in the first round at UFC 117 in Oakland on August 7, 2010, and maintained control for the majority of the next four rounds. He landed 320 strikes across the fight, a promotional record at the time. Silva was cut, swelling badly, and losing his middleweight title on every card. The fifth round started the same way, with Silva on his back and Sonnen working from the top. Then Silva threaded his legs into a triangle, adjusted it into an armbar, and Sonnen tapped at 3:10 with 1:50 left on the clock. Silva finished the night 60 significant strikes behind, which remains the greatest statistical comeback finish in a championship fight, and the bout has since been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Sonnen won 23 minutes of that fight. Silva only needed one.

5. Leon Edwards

On August 20, 2022, at UFC 278, Leon Edwards made a shocking comeback against Kamaru Usman. During the first round, Edwards looked promising, but then Usman took the second, third, and fourth rounds with intense moves and went into the final five minutes of the welterweight title fight well ahead. However, with just 56 seconds left on the clock, Edwards landed a powerful high kick behind Usman's lead hand and dropped him to the floor. As soon as Usman hit the ground, he was unconscious, and Edwards won the fight at 4:04 of the fifth round. To this day, it remains one of the greatest UFC comebacks of all time.