7 UFC fighters who are officially washed up

UFC 314 featured one of the most stacked fight cards in recent memory. The main event of the evening was between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes. Fans were worried that Volkanovski, who is a fan-favorite, was at risk of losing and would then officially reach washed status because he had lost three of his last four bouts. However, the greatest 145-pounder ever recaptured the Featherweight Championship that he previously lost to Ilia Topuria, a fighter who has since moved up to lightweight.

Another legendary fighter on the card with a huge fan base due to his always-entertaining style was Michael Chandler. However, Chandler suffered a less happy ending in the co-main event against Paddy Pimblett. Chandler fights with reckless abandon and has unmatched knockout power, which led to him becoming one of the greatest Bellator fighters ever and resulted in him winning his first three UFC matches.

He received a title shot at UFC 262, but he hasn’t performed like an elite fighter against stiffer competition. He lost that fight to Charles Oliveira, and he has since suffered defeats to Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier, as well as a second loss to Oliveira. Then, at UFC 314, he lost to Pimblett.

In fact, Chandler’s only victory since 2021 was against Tony Ferguson, a fellow UFC legend who was so washed up by the time he fought Chandler that he is now out of the promotion. While Chandler’s front-kick knockout win over Ferguson was legendary, it was one of eight straight losses for the fighter nicknamed El Cucuy.

Fans justified Chandler’s losing ways on the fact that he was fighting so many fellow legends, and they thought he could get a “fraud-check” victory over the somewhat unproven Pimblett.  However, Paddy the Baddy dominated Chandler. Iron Mike throws tons of punches, but he only landed 11 significant strikes to Pimblett’s 80, even though Pimblett is known for his ground game.

Chandler is now 38 years old, and not only is a title run that he has always predicted well out of the picture, but it is hard to see him ever capturing another victory unless he fights significantly down the rankings. He isn’t good enough to beat contenders, and he isn’t spry enough to be up-and-comers. As long as Chandler fights with the low IQ that he is known for, he will always be vulnerable to losing, regardless of who he is lined up across from.

Conor McGregor

Nobody has had a bigger impact on the UFC than Conor McGregor, which is why he has a bigger fan base – and more haters – than any other fighter in MMA history. He is by far the most-known athlete in the history of the sport, and he had a truly iconic run at the top. It is time for fans to accept that he is not only washed up but that he just may never fight again, though.

McGregor’s prime was nearly a decade ago. He captured featherweight gold in 2015 at UFC 189, and he became the first champ-champ ever at UFC 205 less than a year later. McGregor outgrew the sport and pursued other ventures, though, which took away from his prime. The Notorious One lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 before capturing his last win in 2020 at UFC 246 against Donald Cerrone.

Since then, McGregor has lost twice to Dustin Poirier, once via knockout and once because of a doctor’s stoppage at UFC 264. The last time we saw McGregor in the octagon was after that leg break, and that was on July 10, 2021. The years since then have been filled with promises of a return that never came to fruition, as well as unfortunate out-of-the-octagon allegations.

McGregor was supposed to fight Chandler – who he coached against in The Ultimate Fighter – in 2024, but he pulled out of the bout because of a toe injury (per Yahoo Sports), something that prime McGregor would have never done. For whatever reason, the UFC hasn’t been able to reschedule a fight for McGregor against Chandler or a different opponent, despite the fact that the entire fighting community would watch it. With each passing day, it seems more and more likely that politics, partying, boxing, or anything besides fighting in the octagon, will be what McGregor chooses to do over coming back to the UFC.

Israel Adesanya

Prior to his Fight Night event in Feb. against Nassourdine Imavov, Israel Adesanya had fought in 12 straight title bouts. That is tied for the sixth most in UFC history, only trailing Jon Jones, Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious Johnson, and Anderson Silva, the latter of which Adesanya actually beat.

Clearly, Adesanya is one of the greatest UFC fighters ever. He has eight title victories and a nine-fight winning streak to his name. Adesanya’s best days are long gone, though. The Last Stylebender has lost four of his last five fights, and he might need to put down the gloves soon.

The first of those four losses was against Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Adesanya avenged that loss at UFC 287, but Pereira still has the better end of the rivalry because of their fights in kickboxing, and Pereira’s star power has grown brighter than Adesanya’s ever was in the years since they first fought in the UFC.

Additionally, after getting revenge against Pereira, Adesanya has lost three straight fights. The first seemed like a fluke, as Sean Strickland’s victory was one of the craziest UFC upsets ever, but it may have been a sign that Adesanya was past his prime. Adesanya also lost to current Middleweight Champion Dricus du Plessis, and he most recently was knocked out by Imavov. It is unclear what is next for Adesanya, but it is safe to say he will probably never hold the gold again.

Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman won each of his first 15 UFC fights, and he put himself in the welterweight G.O.A.T conversation in the process. The Nigerian Nightmare successfully defended his belt five straight times, but bad knees have failed him in the twilight of his career.

Usman lost to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 in an unfortunate fashion, as Usman was dominating the fight, but Edwards caught him with a fifth-round knockout via leg kick that went down as one of the greatest knockouts and one of the best comebacks in UFC history. That was the first of what has become three straight losses.

Usman wasn’t able to get redemption against Edwards at UFC 286, and he most recently lost to Khamzat Chimaevt. Usman didn’t fight in 2024, and it is unclear when or if he will fight again. The welterweight division is stacked, and considering Usman’s knees are failing him, it will be tough for him to ever get back to the top.

Colby Covington

Colby Covington’s mouth keeps him relevant, but everybody knows that he is washed up. The UFC’s ultimate bad guy has been all bark and no bite for quite some time now. In fact, Covington has only won two fights since 2019. Those wins came against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, both of whom were at the end of their careers and in the middle of what would become four-fight losing streaks.

Covington’s losses during that time came against Usman on two occasions and Leon Edwards. All three of those fights were championship bouts where Covington didn’t raise his hand, illustrating that he isn’t built for the highest level of the UFC. Covington’s loss to Edwards was a notable dud, and while Covington claimed it was the result of injury, he still did next to nothing for 25 minutes in that match.

Even after the championship fights, Covington most recently lost to Joaquin Buckley on Dec. 14, 2024. There was a time when Covington could back up the talk, but those days are long gone.

Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo was a featherweight legend in WEC before there was even a 145-pound belt in the UFC. He was the UFC’s inaugural Featherweight Champion as far back as 2010, and he even held the belt in 2016. Despite that, Aldo is still going strong, but he is now a bantamweight, and he definitely is going as strong as he once was.

After his reign of terror was ended in 2016 by McGregor at UFC 194, and then for good by Max Holloway at UFC 212 and 218, Aldo has gone 6-5. He has lost to Volkanovski, Marlon Moraes, Petr Yan, Merab Dvalishvili, and Mario Bautista during that stretch, and his victories haven’t been against championship-level fighters.

Aldo should be applauded for having such a long and successful career, and fans are happy that he did come back from retirement, but Aldo is only a shell of his former self.

Henry Cejudo

Henry Cejudo is one of four simultaneous two-division champions in UFC history, and he was also an Olympic gold medalist, hence the nickname Triple C, which is short for Triple Champion. Cejudo retired with possession of the bantamweight title after his UFC 249 victory in 2020.

Many have speculated he did so in order to get leverage to get more money from the UFC. That has proven to be a bad decision. Cejudo didn’t return to the octagon until 2023, and he has lost all three of his fights since returning to the company. Those losses have been against Aljamain Sterling, Dvalishvili, and Song Yadong. Now, it might be time to make a retirement that is official and lasting.