Top 5 Upsets of 2014

2014 was full of huge upsets and I’m here to list my top five and break them down.  The one major upset that stands out to me and just about every MMA fan, is the domination T.J. Dillashaw laid onto Renan Barao in the main event of UFC 173.  There were several upsets that were very unexpected, some with high stakes, and these fights prove that you should NEVER trust the odds.

5. Rick Story (+265) def. Gunnar Nelson (-335)

Nelson had a ton of hype behind him as the #1 prospect in the UFC welterweight division.  Story is a veteran of the sport and is one of the three men to own a win over former 170lb titleholder Johny Hendricks but he was on his way out of the Octagon, closer to retirement every fight.  He was coming off a win but also suffered a loss to Kelvin Gastelum earlier this year at UFC 177.  Nelson was undefeated and everyone believed in him very much.  Story went in and solidly beat Nelson, I wouldn’t say absolutely dominate but it was a clear win despite resulting in a split-decision.

4. Will Brooks (+800) def. Michael Chandler (-1000) 1

This matchup was supposed to be Eddie Alvarez vs. Chandler III for the lightweight title, but Alvarez was forced to pull out and Brooks filled in on short notice to fight for the interim belt.  As you can see by the odds above, there’s no other way to put it except by saying Chandler was supposed to win this fight.  Bellator MMA even wanted the former champ to win so they could setup the anticipated trilogy fight.  Nevertheless in a close and entertaining fight, Brooks, who is now the undisputed lightweight champion, pulled off the spectacular upset, winning in a split-decision.

3. Johnny Eduardo (+320) def. Eddie Wineland (-425)

Wineland at the time was a top five bantamweight and this was expected to be a relatively easy fight for him.  It was somewhat insulting for this fight to open up the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 40 earlier this year, but if you look at Eduardo before the fight, he was supposed to lose this fight, simply.  He hadn’t fought since 2012, wasn’t ranked at the time, and is 35 years old.  Nevertheless, this is the sport of MMA we’re talking about and anything can happen.  Eduardo walked into the Octagon and knocked Wineland out in the very first round, surprising the world.

2. Raphael dos Anjos (+270) def. Benson Henderson (-385)

The stakes in this fight were relatively high, as Henderson was well on his way to another fight against champion Anthony Pettis, while dos Anjos had a perfect opportunity to steal that and begin his own road to gold.  Very few people were picking the Brazilian to win and expected the former lightweight titleholder to have a somewhat easy night, and didn’t expect dos Anjos to cause him problems.  Dos Anjos was coming off a stoppage win over Jason High, but prior to that he was dominated by Khabib Nurmagomedov.  Well, it was pretty stunning what happened — dos Anjos knocked Henderson out in the very first round, shocking just about every MMA fan watching.

1. T.J. Dillashaw (+710) def. Renan Barao (-910)

Dillashaw dominated Barao for four and a half rounds in the main event of UFC 173 as a huge underdog and then went on to top off a picture perfect performance with a TKO finish.  Formerly one of the top pound-for-pound fighters on Earth, the Brazillian was expected to dominate the fight as always and defend his title once again.  No one really gave the Team Alpha Male product a chance, at all.  He went in to the cage and used his movement to absolutely dominate the fight, and he stole the championship belt from the former dominant champion.

Honourable mentions: Ben Rothwell def. Alistair Overeem, Alex Cacares def. Sergio Pettis, Bobby Green def. Josh Thomson, Thiago Santos def. Ronny Markes, Chris Kelades def. Patrick Holohan

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