Over a five-year stretch between May 2012 and May 2017, Junior Dos Santos fought eight times, alternating wins and losses.
When the run began, he was the UFC heavyweight champion, having won the title by knocking out Cain Velasquez in 64 seconds in the very first UFC bout to be televised on the FOX network. After successfully defending the title once, he dropped the belt to Velasquez, setting the “win one, lose one” pattern in motion.
Despite having spent the whole of his UFC career in the thick of the title chase, the “four up, four down” stretch left many observers pondering if the Brazilian standout’s best days were behind him, as the victories were harder to come by and the losses got progressively worse, culminating in a first-round stoppage loss to then-champion Stipe Miocic at UFC 211.