Some fighters are considered future champions as soon as they join the UFC. Other title runs come out of left field.
Here, we rank the five most improbable climbs to the top in UFC history.
5. Miesha Tate
Division: Women's bantamweight
UFC bouts to win gold: 7
Reign: March 5, 2016 - July 9, 2016
Tate was always a top-ranked contender, but she was unlikely to ever go from No. 2 to No. 1. Tate was in her prime at the same time as Ronda Rousey, one of the sport's most dominant champions at the time. Tate lost the Strikeforce belt to Rousey in 2012 and fell short to Rousey again in an unsuccessful UFC title bid in 2013.
As long as "Rowdy" was around, Tate wasn't going to sniff UFC gold. Her second loss to Rousey also marked her third defeat in four fights. Tate's chances of winning a UFC belt were still slim, even if Rousey wasn't part of the equation.
It did, in fact, take Rousey losing the title for Tate to win it. After her loss to Rousey in 2013, Tate went on a sudden four-fight winning streak to become the division's No. 1 contender and earn a title shot. But her second title opportunity came against Holly Holm, who knocked out Rousey in shocking fashion in 2015 in one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.
Tate faced Holm in March 2016, and it was likely her last shot at a UFC championship. Fittingly, it took a wild come-from-behind submission in the final 90 seconds of the fight for "Cupcake" to finally reach the pinnacle of the sport. But she did it.
4. Charles Oliveira
Division: Lightweight
UFC bouts to win gold: 28
Reign: May 15, 2021 - present
Oliveira was once known as the guy who missed weight several times and lost the big fights. Nineteen bouts into his UFC career, he was barely a .500 fighter. His jiu-jitsu game was wildly impressive, and he clearly had potential. But it seemed like he would continue to struggle to put it all together and never go on a serious run.
Frankly, Oliveira didn't feel like a future champion at all.
Then he moved up to the lightweight division in 2017, and his career took a turn for the better. It took Oliveria a couple of fights to find his groove at the new weight, as he beat Will Brooks before suffering a stoppage loss to Paul Felder. But the Brazilian has won nine straight since then, looking like a completely different fighter in the process.
Oliveira emerged as a 155-pound contender with a submission win over Kevin Lee in March 2020, then joined the title conversation with a dominant victory over Tony Ferguson at the end of the year. With Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring from MMA, that win earned Oliveria a shot at the vacant lightweight title. He finished Michael Chandler at UFC 262 earlier in May to kick off one of the unlikeliest title reigns in the promotion's history.
3. Rafael dos Anjos
Division: Lightweight
UFC bouts to win gold: 18
Reign: March 14, 2015 - July 7, 2016
Dos Anjos' title run came out of nowhere.
He was 9-5 in the UFC in 2014 before he went on the winning streak that brought him the belt. It wasn't a bad record by any means, but it didn't scream "future champion." Going back to 2008, Dos Anjos lost to Jeremy Stephens and Tyson Griffin in his first two UFC fights. And at one point, the Brazilian was 3-3 in the promotion after being stopped by Clay Guida.
It was around the time Dos Anjos started consistently putting together wins that Nurmagomedov was on the rise. In fact, Nurmagomedov beat Dos Anjos in April 2014, which marked the latter's last loss before he became the champion. Nurmagomedov, who wouldn't become the lightweight champion until 2018, was sidelined for extended periods of time due to injuries. Had that not been the case, it's possible Dos Anjos never would've had a title opportunity.
Dos Anjos pushed himself into 155-pound contention when he upset former champion Benson Henderson with a first-round knockout in August 2014. He then beat Nate Diaz to earn a shot at lightweight champion Anthony Pettis the following year. Few believed the Brazilian could dethrone Pettis, but Dos Anjos logged an incredibly dominant performance and walked out of the Octagon with the 155-pound belt around his waist.
2. Michael Bisping
Division: Middleweight
UFC bouts to win gold: 26
Reign: June 4, 2016 - Nov. 4, 2017
Bisping is a no-brainer for this list, and he nearly takes the top spot after capturing the UFC middleweight championship late in his career.
"The Count" burst onto the UFC scene in 2006 after winning the third season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and quickly became a staple of the roster. Throughout his career, he had major fights against Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann, and Rashad Evans, among others. A brash Brit, Bisping was the most popular MMA fighter in the United Kingdom and one of the biggest heels in the sport.
From a competitive standpoint, though, Bisping struggled to break through as an elite contender. He had several chances to earn a title shot, but he lost many of his biggest fights. For most of his career, observers considered Bisping a gatekeeper - a tier below the best of the best.
That changed in 2016 near the end of his fighting career - which is what made Bisping's title run so unlikely. That February, Bisping earned the biggest triumph of his career against former champion Anderson Silva. Four months later, he stepped in for an injured Chris Weidman on two weeks' notice and accepted a title shot against Luke Rockhold.
Bisping was a massive underdog for the bout. Rockhold held a previous win over Bisping, was younger, and entered the fight after a full camp. But the veteran defied the odds, knocking out Rockhold in the first round to become one of the oldest champions in UFC history and accomplish what nobody thought he could.
1. Jan Blachowicz
Division: Light heavyweight
UFC bouts to win gold: 15
Reign: Sept. 26, 2020 - present
Title runs don't get any more improbable than Blachowicz's journey to the top of the UFC light heavyweight division.
Midway through 2017, Blachowicz was 2-4 in the promotion, and a loss to Patrick Cummins put him on the verge of being released. He wasn't a top-15 fighter, and some questioned whether he was UFC caliber at all.
But the native of Poland turned his career around in a big way and hasn't looked back. Since the loss to Cummins, Blachowicz has won nine fights and fallen short just once.
Victories over Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, and Corey Anderson in 2019 and 2020 - two of which were significant upsets - put Blachowicz on track for a vacant light heavyweight title fight against Dominick Reyes. Blachowicz was once again an underdog against Reyes, but he pulled off a stunning second-round finish at UFC 253 this past September to become the light heavyweight king at the ripe age of 37.
Honorable mentions: Robbie Lawler, Matt Serra