Russian MMA media outlet "Na Sporte" compiled a ranking of the 10 worst UFC title fights in history, based on input from 10 journalists including Oleg Volodin, Grigoriy Stangrit, and others. The author's personal pick for third-worst was Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero from 2020, a fight he described as exceptionally boring with only 48-40 total strikes landed and 0-1 head strikes in the first round. The bout featured Romero standing in the octagon center while Adesanya cautiously landed low kicks, with zero takedown attempts over 25 minutes. The article notes that despite both fighters being an elite striker and Olympic wrestling medalist respectively, they became trapped in mutual caution and produced one of the most tedious title fights. The full ranking includes fights like Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia and other historically criticized championship bouts.
Russian MMA media outlet Na Sporte published a ranking of the ten worst UFC title fights in history, drawing on the opinions of ten journalists including Oleg Volodin and Grigoriy Stangrit.
The list spans several historically criticized championship bouts, among them Anderson Silva versus Demian Maia, but the author singled out Israel Adesanya versus Yoel Romero from 2020 as his personal third-worst. The reasoning was blunt: the two fighters combined for just 48 significant strikes over 25 minutes, with only zero to one head strikes landed in the opening round. Romero spent much of the contest standing in the center of the octagon while Adesanya circled and threw low kicks, and neither man attempted a single takedown across all five rounds.
The irony, as the author noted, is that both men arrived with elite credentials that made the stalemate all the more deflating. Adesanya, now 36 and ranked eighth at middleweight, is a Nigerian-born striker out of City Kickboxing who carries a 24-6 record and lands 4.03 significant strikes per minute. Romero, the Cuban Olympic wrestling medalist, brought a physical threat that Adesanya's camp clearly respected — perhaps too much. The result was a mutual paralysis neither fighter could escape.
Why it matters
- The ranking highlights how contrasting elite skill sets can produce inaction rather than action when caution overrides aggression
- The Adesanya-Romero bout remains a reference point in discussions about championship fights that fail to deliver on paper-level promise
- Including the fight alongside Anderson Silva versus Demian Maia places it in a specific category of title fights criticized not for lack of talent but for lack of engagement
