10 Most Lopsided Decisions in MMA History

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Georges St-Pierre has been criticized uncontrollably for his lack of stoppages during his current reign as champion.

The Canadian welterweight has not finished an opponent since he fought B.J. Penn in January 2009. Should Penn have been allowed to answer the bell and survive a fifth round, St-Pierre's most recent stoppage win would have been all the way back in an April 2008 fight against Matt Serra.

Though St-Pierre hasn't been able to finish an opponent as of late, he's thoroughly dominated just about anyone who has challenged him. The 170-pound titleholder has put together some of the most lopsided beatings in UFC history, so the disrespect that has been aimed in his direction has been largely undeserved.

Few have found ways to bulldoze opponents the way St-Pierre has been able to. As St-Pierre prepares for his nearing return to the cage against Carlos Condit, let's take a look at some of the most lopsided decisions to ever take place inside the Octagon.

 

Decisions are ranked in order of widest margin of victory on a single judge's scorecard. In the event of ties, three-round fights were ranked about five-round fights. Ties between fights of equal length were broken by determining total margin of victory on all three judges' scorecards.

10. Nate Marquardt vs. Dean Lister

Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Scorecards: 30-27, 30-25, 30-25

 

In January 2007, Nate Marquardt and Dean Lister met in a fight with title shot implications, but it was not the first time the middleweights had competed against one another.

Lister had defeated Marquardt in the opening round of the 2003 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships, but with punches thrown into the equation, the second meeting between these two fighters would have a much different outcome.

Knowing he had to avoid letting Lister work from the top position, Marquardt stuffed all 11 of Lister's takedown attempts. Over the course of the three-round bout at UFC on Fight Night 8, Marquardt also scored four knockdowns and tempted fate with two successful takedowns of his own.

With his lopsided win over Lister, Marquardt earned a title shot against middleweight champion Anderson Silva. 

8T. T.J. Dillashaw vs. Walel Watson

Matt Ryerson-US PRESSWIRE

Scorecards: 30-25, 30-25, 30-26

 

In what may be the most impressive performance of his young career, T.J. Dillashaw laid a shellacking on Walel Watson in February.

The former The Ultimate Fighter participant only needed one takedown in each of the three rounds to keep Watson on his back for the majority of the 15-minute fight. There was a brief moment of competitiveness when Watson attempted a triangle choke late in the fight, but Dillashaw otherwise did what he pleased with his opponent at UFC on Fuel TV 1.

In the end, Dillashaw out-landed Watson by a ridiculous 154-19 margin in total strikes. It was an outing that has put Dillashaw on the map as one of the brightest prospects in the bantamweight division.  

8T. Jimy Hettes vs. Nam Phan

Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Scorecards: 30-25, 30-25, 30-26

 

Coming off of a win over Alex Caceres in his UFC debut, many had high hopes for young featherweight Jimy Hettes. However, few could have predicted Hettes would follow that up with an absolute crushing of a veteran like Nam Phan.

At UFC 141, Hettes took away Phan's technical boxing by scoring 11 takedowns over three rounds. The entertaining grappler used his positioning on top of Phan to blast away with a constant barrage of punches.

Hettes landed 103 strikes in the first frame alone, and he went on to hit Phan with 221 strikes over the course of 15 minutes. Phan showed some serious toughness to go the distance, but he could only counter with 25 landed strikes of his own.

7. Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves

Scott Peterson/MMAWeekly.com

Scorecards: 50-45, 50-44, 50-45

 

Dominating an opponent over the course of three rounds is impressive enough, but Georges St-Pierre has found a way to repeatedly embarrass opponents in 25-minute contests. At UFC 100, Thiago Alves dealt with the frustration of being completely shut down against the welterweight champion.

St-Pierre essentially took Alves to the ground at will, successfully completing 10 of 12 takedown attempts against the Brazilian contender. The Canadian champion also scored a knockdown and landed 148 punches en route to the clear decision victory, which resulted in a fourth consecutive title defense.

6. Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz

Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

Scorecards: 50-44, 50-44, 50-45

 

Tito Ortiz was in the midst of the most dominant light heavyweight title run in UFC history heading into his UFC 44 fight with interim champion Randy Couture. Still, Couture beat Ortiz like he was a mere up-and-comer once the two stepped into the cage, ending Ortiz's impressive championship reign at 1,260 days.

Despite Ortiz's solid wrestling ability, Couture took "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" down eight times in five rounds. At 40 years old, Couture battered Ortiz on the ground, landing 194 strikes. Ortiz responded with only 34 landed strikes.

In a rare display of showboating, Couture even spanked Ortiz like a child after stacking the champion against the fence.

5. Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes

Ken Pishna/MMAWeekly.com

Scorecards: 30-26, 30-27, 30-24

 

Honestly, it is a tad surprising how wide the scoring margin was between Nate Quarry and Kalib Starnes in this decision. There's no doubt Quarry deserved to win, but so little action happened due to Starnes' backpedaling that it wouldn't have been surprising to see a closer outcome.

Wanting to stand and bang, Quarry didn't even attempt to take the fight to the ground, so Starnes' unwillingness to strike led to a mostly uneventful fight.

Quarry did land 84 total strikes, while Starnes landed a mere 12 strikes, but the former middleweight title contender became so frustrated with his opponent's timidity that he began mocking Starnes by running in place as the fight came to an end.

4. Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy

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Scorecards: 50-43, 50-44, 50-45

 

Heading into UFC 111, Georges St-Pierre had already established himself as one of the best wrestlers in the sport despite having no background in wrestling prior to his MMA career. So many doubted whether Dan Hardy, a fighter mostly known for his striking, could force St-Pierre into a stand-up fight.

He couldn't.

St-Pierre grounded Hardy on 11 of 11 takedown attempts. Once on the canvas, the welterweight champion did everything but finish Hardy.

The Canadian out-landed the British challenger by a 174-42 margin in total strikes. Hardy also had his guard passed 26 times and fended off six submission attempts. Somehow, St-Pierre couldn't force a stoppage, but the prolonged beating he delivered resulted in one of the most lopsided decisions to ever occur inside the Octagon.

3. Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch

Ken Pishna/MMAWeekly.com

Scorecards: 50-44, 50-43, 50-44

 

Jon Fitch has long been considered one of the best wrestlers in the UFC, but he was made to look like a beginner on the ground in a title fight against Georges St-Pierre.

In his long career with the world's premier MMA organization, Fitch has only been taken down more than twice in a fight by one opponent. St-Pierre grounded Fitch seven times on nine attempts.

St-Pierre also stifled six Fitch takedown attempts en route to a dominant win that marked his first successful title defense as an undisputed champion.

The ease in which St-Pierre defeated Fitch sent a message to the welterweight division that he was prepared to stay atop the weight class for a very long time, and stay he has for the four years that have since passed.

2. Forrest Petz vs. Sammy Morgan

Scott Peterson/MMAWeekly.com

Scorecards: 30-26, 30-23, 30-27

 

We often talk about UFC newcomers underperforming due to Octagon jitters. However, in August 2006, Forrest Petz introduced himself to UFC fans with one of the most dominant performances in the organization's history.

At UFC Fight Night 6, Petz was able to drop Sammy Morgan five times in a three-round bout.

Dominant as he was in the striking department, Petz was equally superior in the grappling realm. Morgan was unsuccessful on seven takedown attempts and was unable to defend all six of Petz's efforts to take the fight to the ground.  

1. Rich Franklin vs. David Loiseau

MMAWeekly.com

Scorecards: 50-42, 50-42, 50-43

 

In his second title defense as UFC middleweight champion, Rich Franklin laid a beating on David Loiseau. A beating so bad it has been deemed worthy of being called the most lopsided decision in UFC history.

Franklin out-landed Loiseau in total strikes by a monstrous 211-26 margin. One of the many punches Franklin landed left him with a broken hand and a second meeting with Loiseau at the Las Vegas Valley Hospital Medical Center. 

Following the fight, Loiseau was never able to win another UFC fight, while Franklin continues to compete inside the Octagon and has gone down as one of the best middleweights in MMA history.

 

Statistics via FightMetric.com.