Statwell

Immediate UFC title rematches: the record, case by case

When the same two fighters met in back-to-back undisputed UFC title fights, the winner of the first won again 16 times in 25. Champions who had lost the belt regained it in the immediate rematch 7 times in 20. Too few cases to call a tendency: every case is listed.

16 of 25Immediate title rematches won by the winner of the first title fight

16 of 25 · UFC history since UFC 2 (1994)

Dethroned champions who regained the belt in the immediate rematch: 35.0% (7 of 20)

Wilson 95% (small sample: a case record, not a rule): 44.5% to 79.8%

Every case (25)

  1. 2 Nov 2001Randy Couture vs Pedro RizzoRandy Couture won · Same winner
  2. 21 Aug 2004Vitor Belfort vs Randy CoutureRandy Couture won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  3. 8 Jul 2006Tim Sylvia vs Andrei ArlovskiTim Sylvia won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  4. 19 Apr 2008Matt Serra vs Georges St-PierreGeorges St-Pierre won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  5. 8 May 2010Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio RuaMauricio Rua won · Result reversed
  6. 28 Aug 2010BJ Penn vs Frankie EdgarFrankie Edgar won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  7. 11 Aug 2012Frankie Edgar vs Benson HendersonBenson Henderson won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  8. 28 Dec 2013Anderson Silva vs Chris WeidmanChris Weidman won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  9. 6 Dec 2014Johny Hendricks vs Robbie LawlerRobbie Lawler won · Result reversed
  10. 2 Dec 2017Jose Aldo vs Max HollowayMax Holloway won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  11. 7 Apr 2018Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Rose NamajunasRose Namajunas won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  12. 4 Aug 2018Cody Garbrandt vs TJ DillashawTJ Dillashaw won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  13. 11 Jul 2020Max Holloway vs Alexander VolkanovskiAlexander Volkanovski won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  14. 15 Aug 2020Daniel Cormier vs Stipe MiocicStipe Miocic won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  15. 6 Nov 2021Zhang Weili vs Rose NamajunasRose Namajunas won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  16. 22 Jan 2022Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon MorenoDeiveson Figueiredo won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  17. 9 Apr 2022Petr Yan vs Aljamain SterlingAljamain Sterling won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  18. 30 Jul 2022Amanda Nunes vs Julianna PenaAmanda Nunes won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  19. 21 Jan 2023Brandon Moreno vs Deiveson FigueiredoBrandon Moreno won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  20. 18 Mar 2023Kamaru Usman vs Leon EdwardsLeon Edwards won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt
  21. 8 Apr 2023Israel Adesanya vs Alex PereiraIsrael Adesanya won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  22. 21 Oct 2023Islam Makhachev vs Alexander VolkanovskiIslam Makhachev won · Same winner
  23. 4 Oct 2025Alex Pereira vs Magomed AnkalaevAlex Pereira won · Dethroned champion regained the belt
  24. 31 Jan 2026Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego LopesAlexander Volkanovski won · Same winner
  25. 24 Oct 2026Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr YanPetr Yan won · Dethroned champion did not regain the belt

How this was measured

Consecutive undisputed title fights in a division contested by the same two fighters (UFC Stats ids), both with a winner. The champion of the first fight comes from the reconstructed title lineage.

Included

  • Consecutive undisputed UFC title fights in a division between the same two fighters
  • A winner in both

Left out

  • Either title fight a draw or no contest
  • Interim title fights

Caveats

  • A case record, not a tendency: 16 of 25 is compatible with a coin flip (p = 0.23), and the cases are listed in full.
  • Immediate means consecutive: a rematch with another undisputed title fight in the division in between is not counted.
  • Champion identity comes from a lineage rebuilt from title-fight results with four documented overrides.

How it was checked

  • Not statistically significant: p = 0.23 against a coin flip, q = 0.3 after the Benjamini–Hochberg correction across all 59 tested research hypotheses (threshold 0.05). Shown as a count of cases only.
  • Research catalog entry `immediate_title_rematch_repeat` (descriptive).

Sources and updates

Data as of 24 Oct 2026. Recalculated after UFC events and reviewed by an editor before any change is shown. A historical description, not a prediction for any fight.

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