One Glaring Weakness Each UFC Champion Needs to Correct

To become a UFC champion, you either need to be a complete fighter who can dominate a fight in all areas or a specialist that is so good in one aspect of MMA that he can completely dictate that the fight takes place on his terms.

While the latter type of champion is fun to watch, it’s the former that is able to create a legacy and enter the best of all-time discussion.

The majority of the current champions are great all-around fighters who have a wide variety of weapons at their disposal that they are able to use in any given fight.

But despite the fact that the current crop of champions is as well-rounded as any in UFC history, perfection isn’t a quality any athlete possesses, and every member of the UFC’s elite group still has a few holes in their game.

Dominick Cruz: Finishing Ability

The UFC bantamweight champion has taken out the very best in his division with relative ease.

Brian Bowles, Joseph Benavidez and Urijah Faber have all fallen victim to Dominick Cruz’s incredible kickboxing skills, along with some super effective wrestling that is able to let him control where the fight goes.

But despite his dominance at 135 lbs. the last few years, fans have identified Cruz as a point fighter that either cannot finish or chooses not to.

Only two of Cruz’s bouts under the Zuffa banner have concluded before the judges were forced to make a decision. The latest was the bout in which Cruz won the WEC bantamweight title, where he defeated Brian Bowles due to Bowles breaking his hand and stopping the fight.

The other bout is Cruz’s WEC 26 loss to Urijah Faber.

Cruz seems to be a complete fighter in terms of technical skills, but until he starts finishing his opponent, he won’t get the credit he deserves as a world-class fighter. 

Jose Aldo: Cardio

There isn’t much to complain about after watching Jose Aldo fight, but if there is one small hole in his game, it’s his cardio.

Aldo struggled to keep pace with Mark Hominick in their bout at UFC 129, a fight that is said to have been a terrible weight cut for the champ.

The first two rounds were solid for Aldo, as he outworked the kickboxer on the feet, but the longer the fight wore on, the slower Aldo seemed to move.

The fifth round was a real eye opener for fans, as they saw Aldo get dominated on the ground by a broken-down Hominick and showed the world that he was beatable.

Aldo seems to have rectified his mistakes, as he was able to go a full five rounds with little difficulty in a bout with Kenny Florian last fall, but it will take a few more examples before Aldo is completely let off the hook.

Benson Henderson: Striking

On the heels of an impressive set of UFC wins that includes Frankie Edgar, Clay Guida and Jim Miller, Benson Henderson has earned his place as the top fighter at 155 lbs.

Henderson has dominated the competition since losing his WEC title to Anthony Pettis at WEC 53, and his fast rise through the lightweight division has been something to behold.

However, all of Henderson’s UFC opponents have been grappling-based fighters, and while Edgar was content to stand and trade punches, the majority of his UFC bouts have taken place primarily on the mat.

It’s not that Henderson’s striking is bad, but if he happens to run into a high-level striker that can defend the takedown, he could be in trouble.

Carlos Condit: Takedown Defense

The first of two UFC welterweight champions, Carlos Condit won his interim title after defeating Nick Diaz at UFC 143 earlier this year.

Using a stick-and-move game plan that kept Diaz on the outside and made the 209 faithful furious, Condit was able to pull off the upset and earn a title unification fight with Georges St-Pierre later this year.

The problem with that fight is Condit’s questionable takedown defense.

St-Pierre has been called the best wrestler in MMA, and Condit has been taken down quite often in his UFC career.

Usually, Condit’s active guard and ability to get back to his feet make his suspect takedown defense a non-issue, but against a freak athlete like St-Pierre, it will be essential for Condit to make sure that he stays off of his back.

Georges St-Pierre: Finishing Ability

It’s been over a year since we’ve last seen Georges St-Pierre fight inside the Octagon, and it may be another six months before he is able to compete again.

Following back-to-back cancelled bouts with Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz, St-Pierre has been recovering from a torn ACL he suffered late last year, and once GSP is able to come back, the pressure will be on the welterweight champion to start finishing fights.

GSP hasn’t finished an opponent since his UFC 94 win over BJ Penn, where Penn’s corner threw in the towel after four rounds, and after dominating his last four opponents, it has become clear that St-Pierre is going to have to start stopping his opponents if he wants to surpass Anderson Silva as the best fighter in the sport.

Anderson Silva: Takedown Defense

After defeating Chris Leben in his UFC debut back in 2006, Anderson Silva didn’t show any sign of weakness for four years.

Silva dominated top wrestlers like Dan Henderson and Travis Lutter prior to fighting Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, and most expected Silva to have little trouble stopping the takedowns of Sonnen.

Instead, we were treated to one of the best fights in UFC history, with Sonnen dominating the action for almost the entire fight before getting caught by a triangle choke in the final minutes.

Since that bout, Silva has taken out Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, but neither of those two can hold a candle to the takedown abilities of Sonnen, and Silva will be thrown into deep waters again when the two rematch at UFC 148.

Jon Jones: Striking

It seems almost comical to try and find a weakness in Jon Jones after seeing him demolish four former UFC champions in a row, but there is always something that can be improved.

For Jones, it’s his striking game, which has been good but not great in his last few bouts.

Jones uses his reach and footwork to make sure he is never in a dangerous spot when he’s exchanging blows, but it also acts as a crutch that he happily leans on.

This isn’t to say that Jones is a boring fighter or that he plays it safe, but he still has some room for improvement in the technical aspect of his striking.

There’s still a lot to be seen from Jones, and we’ve never really seen him have to fight off of his back, but as of right now, he seems like a complete fighter.

Junior Dos Santos: Cardio

For awhile, it was tough to find a weakness in Junior Dos Santos because he was knocking everyone out before he got a good look at him.

Back-to-back decision wins over Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin showed that Dos Santos was as good as advertised, but he ended up running low on gas late into both bouts.

It’s a pretty common problem for fighters in the heavyweight division to have suspect cardio, but since the majority of heavyweight fights end in a stoppage, it doesn’t get brought up as a possible weakness very often.

We’ve never seen Dos Santos on his back for a prolonged period of time, and he’s defended pretty much every takedown thrown his way, so cardio is the one weakness that we know he needs to address.