10 Most Impressive First Title Defenses Ever

[@MMAforBreakfast]

Du Plessis being the first person to submit Adesanya in his first defense deserves a mention💯

[@xavierb9061]

Wasnt i pressive was losing

[@juzrhyme712]

Not really he was arguably losing until that point, you guys are obsessed with black fights losing

[@desyncer]

@@xavierb9061 I always love this. DDP looks like he is losing every fight he has ever been in because of his style of just leaping into danger but has a record of 22-2.

[@OLDMANNATHAN]

@@xavierb9061 so was Ilia? look what he did. Scorecards only matter if you let them. Both finished fantastic guys in ways they'd never been done.

[@xavierb9061]

@desyncer he was losing lol dont overthink

[@pascalllump400]

Was desperately looking for a video to watch then this appears, thanks big man

[@pete_smack]

Big man? Lmfao

[@JesusisKing12345-u]

Praise The Lord. Repent and believe in Jesus Christ who is Lord. Jesus Christ is the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Him. John 4:16

[@440-fishermandrock8]

U ppl are so delusional ​@@JesusisKing12345-u

[@codyaubin7237]

Felt like Charles V Dustin should’ve made this list , especially with Dustin coming off the back to back fights with Conor

[@top-G-eezer]

Getting beat up and nearly stopped then cheating to win shouldn't be on any list. Love Charles as much as anyone but that win was complete B.S. he robbed Dustin of a deserved undisputed title win.

[@tannermcguire7713]

First one I thought of

[@walid9893]

He got dropped multiple times tho

[@ellyelly6114]

@@walid9893makes it more impressive the rally from round 1

[@top-G-eezer]

u mean the fight he cheated to win

[@JimmySaint43]

You know, i really wanted too join in on the hate for Topuria, but after the Volk and Holloway fights im finding it harder and harder to deny how great he is. Do i like his personality? Not really. But can the mf scrap? There really is no denying that.

[@roguerebel82]

Feel the same 💯

[@I_AM_BAYTOR]

He's managed to stop from being lumped in with RainbowHead.

[@barrettdowell3985]

I appreciate that phantom hammerfist there, good restraint to know it was over

[@adzm1987]

Leon vs usman, after how dominant usman was and him being pfp. The way the first fight went, nobody thought leon would defend it.

[@Reemo8800]

Why does no one seem to remember that the head kick was the rematch. His first defense was their trilogy. It makes me more mad then it should, but how does no one seem to know or remember

[@madgavin7568]

@@Reemo8800 Its easy to forget there was a trilogy when their first fight was so long ago (plus it was uneventful).

[@Loopylocokiller]

I did lol. Usman was only winning cause of EPO. He was the only man on the card not gassed from altitude. I knew once they confirmed the next fight would be at sea level Leon would win with less difficulty.

[@dsan17]

​@@Loopylocokiller Maybe yes, maybe no. But he also trained at Denver, which has a significantly higher elevation than Salt Lake City.

[@Dracon7601]

​@@Loopylocokiller Plus Leon was absolutely losing until the head kick like he objectively struggled.

[@colbymclemore7642]

Ilia really put himself in a position where I can’t deny how good he is. Props to him. Why’d my boys have to die though? 😢

[@YToasty]

mma gods give and take

[@Gabi24492]

This IS a cruel sport where the new get their spot by beating the old. I know how you feel, felt the same when Fedor started losing

[@llawliet3733]

Time beats everyone and the New Generation crosstrains earlier and earlier

[@princev286]

This is a great topic. I think I suggested a list of title defenses that legitamized title reigns but this is a good one too. If you can get the reign off to a hot start then you're certainly setting yourself up for a positive upward trajectory as champion (for the most part).

[@Starvin_Marvin138]

I have an idea for a video, best potential title fights that we barely missed out on due to timing of events. I'm talking Khabib vs Olives, Jon Jones vs Jan, Henry Cejudo vs Figgy, TJ Dillashaw vs Petr Yan or Marlon Moraes...

[@SalvyMic]

We never got to see GSP fight Lawler. Granted that there was a massive Jonny Hendricks shaped obstacle in the path of that fight, but imagine if GSP stuck around, ran it back with Hendricks and earned a good win over him. Lawler is next up, a pair of young prospects who took very different paths to the top and finally cross paths at the highest level, the ultimate final boss for a long, arduous path to redemption. And then Rory MacDonald would have been next.

[@red_panda_boots]

Jan would have lost within 3 rounds 😂

[@dsan17]

@@red_panda_boots With the way Jones was fighting back then I'm not really sure. But a better one would've been a Jones Glover rematch.

[@red_panda_boots]

@dsan17 there's nothing jan could do anywhere to beat Jones

[@JT44-87]

If you guys can continue to make videos like this until the day I die I would really appreciate it. Everyone here is awesome.

[@devil1994]

Honorable mentions- Charles vs Dustin (2 wins over Conor) Islam vs Volk (#2 vs #1 PFP) Tom vs Blaydes 2 (proved that 1st was a fluke injury) Alex vs Hill ( Jiri and hill were most recent champions back to back)

[@tannermcguire7713]

Charles should have been included

[@Nomorepartiezz-th4so]

And a win over Dan Hooker

[@ImextremelyAsian-c9g]

"Jiri and hill" were both coming off year layoffs from terrible injuries

[@mxbblife_mu]

Hell yeah Jake Shields vs Dan Henderson was Amazing.... I thought Jake Shields had no chance of getting Henderson down Let alone dominating the Rest of the fight on the Ground... The Olympic Wrestler looked like a JV pipsqueak against Shields

[@thesmithersy]

Lesnar automatically sprung to mind. I am glad he was on the list.

[@grangesaves33]

"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I pulled that some-bitch out and beat him over the head with it" Brock Lesnar 2009

[@N.I.R.A.T.I.A.S.]

1:42 Pettis pulling that last punch is what I like to see. Not inflicting further damage unnecessarily. Good stuff.

[@n3rdstuffz]

Glad to see serg got a spot on the list, he is genuinely such a nice guy, used to play Fortnite with him

[@rogerstevens6811]

Ilia to the moon! This man is the truth.

[@CornerStoreDrums]

MMA On Point the most FLAWLESS channel around! Feast your eyes & fantastic, MMA On Point is BACK!! 💯💯💯

[@kyledabearsfan]

Holloway may be my favorite fighter ever, even with that, Topuria earned that win. It definitely is impressive af to take out either Volk or Max but both? Back to back? Thats absurd. UFC got their new star.

[@Knxgj]

Alex vs hill should’ve been on the list

[@ImextremelyAsian-c9g]

Beating Hill coming off injury who barely even trained isn't impressive.

[@Knxgj]

@ he ko’d him first round and not to mention he’s a former champ

[@ImextremelyAsian-c9g]

@@Knxgj His "former champ" label holds little weight, Hill didn't even deserve a title shot to begin with, beat a 43 year old Glover to get the belt and had 0 defenses.

[@grangesaves33]

Alex at light heavyweight comes to mind

[@starcusmcr3964]

nah, hill aint that impressive

[@grangesaves33]

@@starcusmcr3964 It's the way he beat Hill

[@Joshpower57]

​@@starcusmcr3964first rd ko of hill was impressive and hill is a good fighter. Everyone downplays him now because he lost to Alex, but he was tearing up 205 before Alex KO'd him

[@CYMotorsport]

Didn’t know ppl called Henry’s defense impressive knowing what we know now. Huh. But I anticipated Charles on here. Fair enough though by then I suppose we knew what Charles was and expected a lot already

[@grangesaves33]

I am still shocked that Ilia beat Max

[@num1Jaysta]

Finished! It’s crazy.

[@stephenr80]

We are not.

[@IDraw99]

shocked that he beat max or shocked that he KOd max? I'm the latter max chin is mythical

[@kjwelk931]

Im more shocked he KOd max.

[@grangesaves33]

@@IDraw99 latter

[@johndeignan2668]

Holloway’s rematch vs Aldo was huge.

[@juanfromcase0s]

1 minute ago is wild

[@Alwaysmoving1]

Wow, i never new Jake Shields had such a legacy. Never liked his style but he deserved credit for a legacy like that god damn

[@patb00y]

Amanda beating Ronda is more impressive than Ilia beating Max Holloway? 🤨 ok

[@alexisafox]

Idk about flawless, Sergio pettis was getting WORKED by horiuchi before that spinning backfist

[@poormansgunz8032]

Jan is underrated

[@ynotefil]

MMA Right On Point 💯

[@hbash1295]

Lawler vs Macdonald must be there imo

[@grangesaves33]

greatest fight of all time

[@kkb892]

Idk about Jan v. Izzy. That was Jan’s only defense against someone smaller, but given the career of Izzy, I can see it.

[@MohamedAli-lk3ul]

Awesome

[@TheJonOrtiz]

Thank you for highlighting how crazy it is for Brock to do what he did 👍

[@wh906]

Imagine if Bisping beat GSP. That would of been number 1

[@justinkeizer2386]

Topuria has to be higher on here. Max is a greater fighter than any other contender on this list

[@charlessmith7816]

Jon Jones choked out Rampage in his first LHW title defense. Nobody had Jones winning at all. He was literally called a sacrificial lamb for Rampage to get the belt back

[@shaneg4388]

Huh? Jon was a -500 favorite lol

[@charlessmith7816]

@shaneg4388 bro I'm not gonna tell you that you're wrong cause honestly I don't know nor even remotely remember the betting odds, however I do remember the commentary before that fight. Many had Jon getting KO'd

[@madgavin7568]

@@charlessmith7816 Jones was a big favourite going into that fight for a reason. The people you speak of simply thought Rampage was a live underdog, which turned out to be wrong.

[@drunkenmmamaster419]

Literally nobody called Jones a sacrificial lamb for Rampage wtf you talking about?😂

[@charlessmith7816]

@@drunkenmmamaster419 they did but okay 👍🏾👌🏾

[@mikeg103]

Toughest road to a title fight, best to never win a world title, best takedown artists of all time. Best KO via slam

[@leelyons86]

Jones vs Rampage not being on here is criminal.

[@oierodriozola4464]

Henderson vs Cowboy 2 comes to mind, I have to rewatch the first one, and watch the second one, still getting a sub in the first round after the first fight were as far i remember, Cerrone was winning the sub attempts. Also DC vs Gustafson should be counted

[@SlugfestWizard]

How is Dricus vs Izzy not on this list

[@austintgod9621]

Topuria inspired video,i see.

[@Joshpower57]

This list.... Is missing some fighters. Jon Jones vs Rampage Jackson..... I'm extremely surprised that was missed. Chris Weidman defeats Anderson Silva in the rematch. DDP vs Izzy... Olivera vs Dustin... I'm glad Jan vs Izzy was included, but Rampage vs dan, wasn't needed. That wasn't as significant as the other fights listed. Also the cejudo TJ fight was important, but it's kind of a major black eye for that time. It killed the 135 division when it happened because then a power vacuum was created and Henry went right into it. He then defended once and an even bigger power vacuum was created in 2 divisions. It's not a good thing and I don't think it should be as significant as you guys think.

[@osheapeihopa2677]

Sean vs Chito 2 not on here is criminal

[@metou3072]

Max was piecing illia up until the tko

[@joesandoval3741]

Pettis was getting worked and caught him

[@mixturebeatz]

I’m surprised to not see either of Roses first defenses against Joanna or Weili.

[@Dude-tv6cj]

Little Pettis was juicing’ boy!

[@kyletyson3340]

RIP Max Randall

[@floknows28]

disagree with Brocks position. Mir won 1 title fight and was 4-2 after his injury. Shamrock is even worse. at the time Bas was 7-3 and hadnt won a title. he stepped up after list seems a little random. Ilia gets credit for beating Max, but Volk doesnt, Max himself had Aldo as first defense. I miss Leon and DDP and maybe Frankie Edgar who proved everybody wrong in the BJ rematch

[@riannlim991]

Volk vs Holloway 3 was pretty impressive to me

[@SelfBuiltWealth]

stop saying ilia's first defense was flawless, many thought max won the first 3 rounds including me. he was bloody af

[@taeyangkang5176]

I really didn’t want to click on this yet

[@geeksworkshop]

Topuria was losing until he wasn't. That was far from flawless.

[@johnwilson6566]

You forgot about Izzy’s first défense

[@fearlessjoebanzai]

Missed O'Malley and DDP - that isn't recency bias either.

[@the_auditor1017]

Ray borg

[@amx1820]

Khabib vs Conor was no.1 for me. Just imagine the UFC and Khabib without Conor...

[@Brown87]

I can still remember people predicting that Conor would beat Khabib 🤣

[@boskobuha6321]

I wanna see tj dillashaw tested against alex pereira👊💪🫵

[@Loggjamm]

No way in hell this Jon Jones fight actually happens, right? Just no way...

[@AllforoneforAll]

ummm…salsa is for burritos and hot sauce is for wings tf

[@ethanross3157]

Max was wining till he wasnt.

[@bbelsito]

That thumbnail is unnecessarily cruel to Max

[@jesusblanco7657]

No we know it’s Sean O’Malley defense against chito should be number 1

[@tacline2]

Honestly hard to argue Nunes/Rousey isn't #1. Nunes went on to accomplish more than anyone in women's MMA so far, arguably next to Cyborg but with a cleaner record and a dominant KO win over Cyborg herself. Shevchenko is my pick for #2 of all time in accomplishments, maybe not for fan favorite or PPV numbers but wins and overall dominance of the 125 division.

[@usedfuzzbox]

Not to take away from a great KO, but, I wouldn't call it flawless, Max was winning until that point.....just saying......

[@JimmySaint43]

Yeah, and then he lost at that point, just saying 🙄 doesn't matter if you win for 24:59 seconds, if you get dropped, you didn't win jack.

[@lennart0742]

It was 2-0 for ilia on the scorecards going into the third round

[@23373]

What can you expect from the fans that swear max won the first volk fight lmao, clueless

[@philleotardo1500]

@@23373it’s the 2nd Volk fight people claim Max won bro get it right

[@cricketcavalry1824]

Where is "Hold on, let me cook" defense?

[@jejbsh2191]

My first defense against taco bell failed miserably

[@kalebnolan8343]

You forgot about mcgregor’s first def…. Oh wait

[@R4RB]

Flawless? Ilia was arguably losing the fight then caught Max. If anything, Max was starting to build momentum. All the credit to Ilia of course, but it definitely was not flawless.

[@23373]

Arguably in your imaginary scenarios lol he was up 2-0 on the scorecards

[@steelo1364]

Ilia Abtoro

[@bruce4751]

Topturo

[@starcusmcr3964]

jones and ddp could be on this list.

[@Notpoop906]

Khabib beating Conor was expected and not impressive... Conor was washed and Khabib was literally his worst nightmare matchup. No one was picking Conor to win that fight except the casuals who ONLY watch Conor.

[@harsh111yt]

Conor wasn't washed tf you talking about?

[@TehAwareness]

Let’s goooooo

[@HanginWitLucid]

Illia and Islam is the fight to make now

[@luliu4572]

Alex Periera vs Jahamal Hill

[@bretthumphrey6821]

Topuria is a new champion he has to do alot more to impress me volkanovski got 5 defences of his belt 2 isn't alot jon jones has 14 championships gsp had 9 at ww and was mm champion 2 is a small number

[@josiahmartinez5179]

I'm not going to watch this video, not yet. I haven't healed from that last max fight.

[@OtreblaIIIable]

Connie's not on this list because... he never defended a title, never.

[@iceoholic]

Frankie Edgar V BJ Penn?

[@stevenwalker7835]

I don’t think you can put Cejudo vs Dillashaw should be here because in hindsight it’s clear that TJ was crazy depleted that he couldn’t take a clean shot big name to have on your record but with all info not a very impressive one good video tho

[@BrainDeadMMA]

Who tf is George Hutchinson

[@Cody-C300]

Boss Rootin 😂

[@WingwingHello]

Blachowicz would sell his soul for a title fight in the apex again 😂

[@seancathari]

Omalley vs chito coulda been here

[@benmcreynolds8581]

Yeah I think that was one of the best performances we've ever seen in a title defense and Sean did it against someone who EVERYONE thought had a win over him..

[@sonnym5489]

Featherweight goat is Aldo

[@JustinPuyear]

“McGregor had never lost either of his titles” Bro he’s never defended either of his titles you glaze master 😂

[@zeze-oo2rh]

Where’s Luke Rockhold

[@travisbailey8281]

Yo change the thumbnail what’s up with yall?

[@timc7312]

You left out McGregor//

[@george.vasilev.reyner1916]

Love that the women are getting their flowers on this list! I know "WMMA bad lol" is a fun narrative, but there are some epic women's fights among the great fights in history.

[@kevino2435]

No more max Randall??

[@natetripp3932]

Can you guys pls do I video on the top fakest beefs in MMA history. Ones that were so obvious just to sell the fight

[@mitroxbtw3588]

who tf is yan bovich it's jan blachowicz

[@MajeedMuhammad-d3e]

cant lie i have loved mma on point for years now, but that max thumbnail, you're getting a dislike

[@timephire]

In response to the video's opening statement; Why not? People seem to have no respect for Matt Serra nor Julianna Pena's title wins. Calling it a fluke and I never see too many come to their defense. (Counterpoint Sidenote I guess; Aljo has title defenses and no one seems to respect him either so what do I know...)

[@tylermoore587]

No Charley olives

[@onefiveten]

ahh joe with hair

[@rcp790]

It wasn't that impressive. He was piecing him up he just got that lucky shot 😅

[@optimusbrown1]

Ai on #6 really isn’t cool.