The comeback is arguably the most exciting part of sports. In the UFC

, when a fighter is getting beaten up, and it’s clear they will either get finished or lose a decision, seeing that same fighter pull off a submission or knockout to steal the win is undoubtedly electric to watch.

Let’s go through the ten largest comeback victories in UFC history, ranked by the size of the striking deficit a fighter faced before securing a finish.

10

Brian Ortega Vs. Renato Moicano

Ortega Wins By Submission R3 2:59

At the hyped-up UFC 214 event in 2017, the prelims showcased an incredible fight between two up-and-coming featherweights. After Renato Moicano dominated and beat up Ortega for 2.5 rounds, the momentum shifted briefly and caused Moicano to shoot a lazy takedown.

Ortega was able to lock up his signature guillotine choke, and Moicano tapped in seconds. The striking deficit that Ortega faced was -44 significant strikes.

9

Glover Teixeira Vs. Ion Cutelaba

Teixeira Wins By Submission R2 3:37

At a UFC Fight Night event in 2019, the main card featured a light heavyweight showdown between a veteran and a young rising contender. The future champion, Teixeira, started slowly and was beaten up by the powerful Cutelaba. After being hurt multiple times in the first round, Teixeira was able to close the distance and mix in his grappling.

After taking Cutelaba’s back in the middle of the second round, Teixeira did what he does best and took his back to lock in a rear-naked choke after flattening out the young prospect on the canvas. Teixeira successfully played gatekeeper to the rankings, and this win sparked his incredible run to the UFC light heavyweight title in his forties.

8

Phil Rowe Vs. Niko Price

Rowe Wins By KO/TKO R3 3:26

On a UFC Fight Night card in 2022, Phil Rowe and Niko Price battled and put on a show for the fans in Orlando. After Price hurt Rowe multiple times with punches and elbows, the fight turned into an absolute brawl. With both men seemingly exhausted at the start of the third round, it was a test of who had more left in the tank to end the fight.

Rowe was able to outwork the tired Price and landed some key punches to spark the finishing sequence. After hurting Price with multiple right hands, Rowe finished the fight with knees up the middle and a couple shots up against the fence before Marc Goddard stepped in to stop it.

7

Ed Herman Vs. Mike Rodriguez

Herman Wins By Submission R3 2:41

This result is one of the more unfortunate ones on the list because Mike Rodriguez was cheated out of a big win. After hurting Herman multiple times with knees to the body, Herman dropped, and the referee called time due to an illegal low blow. It turns out that was the wrong call, and it should have been a TKO win for Rodriguez.

After being dominated for the entire fight, while Rodriguez was in the dominant top position on the ground, Herman came out of nowhere by locking up a nasty kimura submission in the third round. Dana White had some choice words about the referee and also paid Rodriguez his “win” money that night.

6

Claudio Puelles Vs. Felipe Silva

Puelles Wins By Submission R3 2:23

Puelles showed a glimpse of what was to come in his UFC career during this fight, but he was able to make up for it and buy himself some time in the company with an incredible heel hook submission win to come back after two brutal rounds.

Silva, the UFC veteran, was showing the 22-year-old Puelles how it was done in the octagon through the first two rounds. He hurt Puelles multiple times to the head and body, causing Puelles to stay on his back to catch his breath and recover. After looking defeated in the corner after round 2, Puelles pulled off a massive comeback submission win out of nowhere due to Silva not being careful while beating him up on the ground.

5

Stipe Miocic Vs. Daniel Cormier

Miocic Wins By KO/TKO R4 4:09

In arguably the biggest fight in UFC heavyweight history, Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier met in a rematch for the heavyweight title at UFC 241 in 2019. Cormier was looking as good as he did in the first fight, getting the better of Miocic in almost every exchange on the feet.

After being seemingly outclassed by the champion, Miocic hurt Cormier with a body shot late in round 4 and then landed multiple follow-up punches to win by KO and win back his heavyweight belt. This set up a legendary trilogy fight that ultimately ended Cormier’s career and put both of these guys on top as the best UFC heavyweights of all time.

4

Anderson Silva Vs. Chael Sonnen

Silva Wins By Submission R5 3:10

This is probably the most famous comeback victory in UFC history. The cocky and brash Chael Sonnen talked the talk, and walked the walk for 4.5 rounds against the legendary Anderson Silva. En route to what would have been his first world championship, Sonnen hurt Silva on the feet early and then went on to accumulate almost 20 minutes of control time on the ground.

While bullying Silva on the ground for over 4 rounds, Sonnen was slowly getting too confident in the guard of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Silva seemed to be calmly manipulating the body of Sonnen minute after minute until he was able to lock up a nasty triangle armbar from his back in the 5th round.

3

Kennedy Nzechukwu Vs. Carlos Ulberg

Nzechukwu Wins By KO/TKO R2 3:19

On the prelims of a big UFC 259 event, Israel Adesanya’s teammate,

Carlos Ulberg
, made his UFC debut. Ulberg was a hyped-up kickboxing prospect who made a switch to MMA. They matched him with a raw, but dangerous, Nzechukwu and the fight was playing out as most thought it would.

Ulberg dominated on the outside for 7 minutes, landing heavy shots to the body and head, picking apart the less-skilled Nzechukwu. But after getting a little too confident and not being defensively responsible, Ulberg was caught up against the fence and finished with a KO. This was a stunning victory for the +200 underdog fighter.

2

Iuri Alcantara Vs. Luke Sanders

Alcantara Wins By Submission R2 3:13

In the best comeback win most UFC fans never saw, #15-ranked bantamweight Iuri Alcantara was beaten down by the impressive Luke Sanders. After taking multiple shots on the ground and the referee almost stopping the fight multiple times, Alcantara rolled to his back and secured Sanders’ leg. The leg lock submission came out of nowhere and stunned just about everybody in the arena that night.

1

Derrick Lewis Vs. Alexander Volkov

Lewis Wins By KO R3 4:49

To round out this list, the

UFC KO King Derrick Lewis
beating the great Alexander Volkov in the final seconds is easily the best comeback in UFC history. Two contenders in the UFC heavyweight division were facing off on the biggest card in UFC history in front of millions of people watching.

Volkov dominated the fight from the start, outclassing Lewis on the feet and mixing in all aspects of mixed martial arts. In the final seconds of what looked to be an easy win for Volkov, a seemingly given-up Lewis landed a Hail Mary of a punch to knock out the 6’7″ Russian heavyweight.

On this big of a stage, Lewis became a superstar after this viral finish and performance on the mic afterward.