Issue 188
November -0001
No sooner had these eight fighters got their hands on the coveted title, then they were forced to vacate it without a solitary defense.
BJ Penn
BJ Penn captured the UFC welterweight title in his first fight at 170lbs, but contract disputes saw him leave the company and be stripped of the title without a single defense.
Conor McGregor
The notorious one wasn't able to defend either his featherweight or lightweight titles due to distractions from Nate Diaz and a superfight with Floyd Mayweather.
Georges St-PIerre
He returned to capture the UFC middleweight title in 2017, but GSP relinquished it after 34 days due to illness and not wanting to hold up the division.
Bas Rutten
After winning the UFC heavyweight title, Bas Rutten had originally planned to drop down in weight class but was forced to retire due to injury and never defended his title.
Frank Mir
A motorcyle accident left Frank Mir unable to defend his UFC heavyweight title. After being given over a year to recover, Mir eventually relinquished the belt.
Germaine de Randamie
After winning the UFC’s inaugural women’s featherweight title, Germaine de Randamie was stripped due to her refusal to defend the belt against Cris Cyborg.
Randy Couture
The Natural won his first UFC heavyweight title against Maurice Smith. But due to contract disputes Couture left the company and vacated the title without a defense.
Josh Barnett
Barnett won the UFC heavyweight strap in the last fight of his contract. This gave him great leverage going into negotiations, until he failed a drug test and was stripped.
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