Tito Ortiz and the Top Career Comebacks in UFC History

Breaking down the best career resurrections in UFC history

Last weekend, Tito Ortiz made like Lazarus, bringing himself back from the dead with a surprising submission win over Ryan Bader at UFC 132.

For the former light heavyweight champion, it was exactly the performance he needed to put himself back on the UFC map. After an extended run lacking wins but full of excuses, the victory gave Ortiz new life in the light heavyweight division.

But when it comes to the best career comebacks in UFC history, where does his win over Bader put “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy?” Is it the best of the bunch? A nice honorable mention to start things off?

I guess you’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

Honorable Mention #1: Georges St. Pierre

When you’re the guy everyone expects to dominate the welterweight division for the foreseeable future and a squat Long Island native walks in off a reality TV show, beats the brakes off you and takes your title, crawling into a cave and never coming out would be an understandable reaction.

Or you could be like St. Pierre and take the Daft Punk/Kanye West route and come back harder, better, faster, stronger. He’s the Six-Million Dollar Man of MMA, with Firas Zahabi playing the role of the scientist who said, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.”

Since the night Matt Serra earned the biggest upset in mixed martial arts history, St. Pierre has been a man possessed. He’s rattled off nine straight victories, claimed the interim welterweight title in a bout with Matt Hughes, and unified the belts by demolishing Serra in their rematch.

Six consecutive title defenses against the best in the world at 170 pounds have followed. It took a finger in the eye for someone to be able to win a round against the new and improved GSP.

Instead of retreating into anonymity, St. Pierre has stepped even further into the spotlight, becoming the sport’s biggest star.

Honorable Mention #2: Vladimir Matyushenko

Consider this more of a Lifetime Achievement award.

Matyushenko was around when no one else thought the UFC was cool. He filled in for an injured Vitor Belfort opposite Ortiz at UFC 33 and was released from the organization after losing a heavyweight contest to future champion Andrei Arlovski at UFC 44.

Over the next six years, Matyushenko posted a 9-1 record, winning the IFL lighter heavyweight title; his lone loss came to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on the second Affliction show, Day of Reckoning. He rebounded from that defeat with a win over UFC vet Jason Lambert, and earned a call back to the big leagues for UFC 103 in September 2009. “The Janitor” has gone 4-1 since then, losing only to the seemingly indestructible light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Did we mention he’s 40-years-old? When most of his contemporaries have packed up their things for good or moved on to the regional circuit, Matyushenko remains a consistent challenge on the biggest stage of them all.

Top Career Comebacks

5. Brock Lesnar

Following his victory over Frank Mir at UFC 100, Lesnar looked poised to run roughshod over the competition. He had become the ultimate bad guy with his post-fight antics, and was already the biggest draw in the sport.

Four months earlier, Shane Carwin had established himself as the next challenger to Lesnar’s title. Another juggernaut, Carwin had amassed a 12-0 record and never been past the first round. The bout was slated for UFC 106 in October 2009. Then Lesnar got sick.

His fight with Carwin was rescheduled for UFC 108 a few months later. Lesnar then came down with mononucleosis, and the rescheduled date was scrapped as well. Then came word that the UFC heavyweight champion was suffering from diverticulitis, an intestinal disorder that would require surgery to correct. People wondered if he’d be able to fight again.

When it was announced that Lesnar would return in the summer of 2010, Carwin made quick work of Mir in a bout for the interim heavyweight title, maintaining his place as the man to welcome the champ back to the cage.

Lesnar and Carwin finally met in the main event of UFC 116, a full year after Lesnar had last competed. Carwin put it on the champion in the opening round, dominating him to the point that some believed the fight should be stopped. After surviving the first round, Lesnar smiled at Carwin to start the second, then came out and submitted his exhausted opponent with an unexpected arm triangle choke.

While he’s subsequently lost the title to Cain Velasquez and been sidelined by another bout of diverticulitis, Lesnar’s return win at UFC 116 after a year of questions and turmoil remains pretty impressive.

4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

Heading into his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 76, Rua was 16-2 and considered the best light heavyweight in the world. That night, “The Original Ultimate Fighter” scored an upset win over “Shogun,” forcing him to tap in the final round to a rear-naked choke.

Rua would be out of action for the next 16 months, recovering from various injuries, including surgery on his knee. Though he won his return bout against Mark Coleman at UFC 93, it was a tepid affair where both men were exhausted by the time the end finally came in the third round.

Rua followed up his victory over Coleman with a knockout win over Chuck Liddell at UFC 97. Then came the unexpected.

Ten months after looking like he needed a ventilator against Coleman, Rua faced light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, and looked to have brought “The Machida Era” to a close just five months after it started. The former Pride standout appeared to get the better of the champion over five close rounds, but Machida was awarded the decision and retained his title.

An immediate rematch was put together, and Rua made sure to seal the deal this time. He blitzed Machida midway through the opening round, dropping the champion and claiming the title as his own.

Almost three years after the UFC first told their fans he was the top 205 pound fighter in the world, Rua fought his way into that position.

3. Tito Ortiz

What can you say about Ortiz’s surprise submission win over Bader last weekend at UFC 132? There are so many elements that make it even more unexpected when you really get into it.

The last time Ortiz had submitted anyone was December 2000 when he forced Yuki Kondo to tap to a neck crank. Read that last sentence again and you’ll understand why Saturday’s Submission of the Night was so out of the blue.

Then there are the facts everyone heard ad nauseum in the build-up to the bout itself: 0-4-1 in his last five fights, no wins since 2006, his last two victories coming over Ken Shamrock.

Even if your sentimental heart was pulling for Ortiz, few thought “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” was actually going to walk out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena with a place on the UFC roster. Not only did he remain employed and become the feel good story of the event, but Ortiz also earned himself a place in the pantheon of great career comebacks inside the cage.

2. Frank Mir

The former UFC heavyweight champion is already viewed as one of the top heavyweights in UFC history. Who knows how far up that list he would be if not for the motorcycle accident?

Three months after breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm to claim the heavyweight title, Mir was involved in a horrific accident. His leg was broken, his knee was shredded and his career was in jeopardy. After a lengthy recovery period, Mir returned to the cage, going 1-2 through his first three fights and looking nothing like the man who competed prior to the accident.

While he proclaimed his return following his win over Antoni Hardonk at UFC 74, it was Mir’s victory over the debuting Lesnar that really marked his return. He caught the hulking heavyweight with a kneebar, propelling himself into a coaching position on The Ultimate Fighter, and eventually defeated fellow coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the interim heavyweight title in December 2008.

Though he eventually lost a rematch with Lesnar, Mir remains one of the top heavyweights in the UFC and a perennial title contender.

1. Randy Couture

Who else would top this list?

On February 4, 2006, Couture announced his retirement from the sport after losing to long-time rival Chuck Liddell. A year later, not only did the 44-year-old Couture return, but he came back to face heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia… and demolished him.

Eight seconds into the bout, you knew you were watching something special. Couture’s first punch sent the mammoth heavyweight champion crashing to the canvas, en route to a unanimous decision win.

Though his final record doesn’t look all that impressive when you look at only the wins (19) and losses (11), Couture’s place in this sport and standing as one of the all-time greats transcends those numbers. It lives in upset of Liddell at UFC 43, his literal spanking of Ortiz three months later, and in this performance against Sylvia.