On this day in 2014, a UFC title challenger shook up the sport by dethroning a seemingly unbeatable champion.
The road to UFC 173 on May 24 saw the promotion’s plans suffer several setbacks with multiple planned headliners falling through.
Chris Weidman was set to defend his middleweight title against Vitor Belfort but both that matchup, and a replacement bout with Lyoto Machida stepping in for Belfort, didn’t happen.
With Weidman vs Machida being moved to UFC 175, bantamweight champion Renan Barao was lined up to face Raphael Assuncao but the challenger declined the bout due to an injury.
Instead, a promising contender named TJ Dillashaw would receive the opportunity of a lifetime and he seized it with both hands.
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TJ Dillashaw stuns the MMA world by dominating and stopping Renan Barao at UFC 173
Heading into UFC 173, Joe Rogan described bantamweight champion Renan Barao as “the elite of the elite” with the Brazilian being firmly in the conversation to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
Having lost his pro debut back in 2005, Barao had gone unbeaten ever since, beating the likes of Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland and Michael McDonald to amass a record of 32-1-1.
TJ Dillashaw showed clear potential after coming up short in the finale of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’, winning four in a row before a split decision loss to Raphael Assuncao knocked him back.
After a bounce back decision win over Mike Easton, the 8-2 Dillashaw was set to challenge for the title as a huge underdog.
In one of the most stunning results in UFC history, the challenger went on to dominate the champion in a way that nobody could have predicted.
He avenged his coach’s (Faber) recent loss to Barao by dropping him early, dictating the action and putting the cherry on top of his performance with a finish in the fifth round to cap off a truly staggering main event.
Renan Barao’s form never recovered from this devastating loss at UFC 173
After proving himself to be one of the best fighters in the world, Renan Barao’s huge upset loss to TJ Dillashaw at UFC 173 would end his reign of dominance.
Throughout the rest of his career in the UFC, the former champion would only ever win two more fights after losing the belt, meaning that his overall record in the Octagon is a staggering 9-8.
| Event | Opponent | Result |
| UFC Fight Night 58 | Mitch Gagnon | Submission win – Arm Triangle |
| UFC on FOX 16 | TJ Dillashaw | Knockout loss – Punches |
| UFC Fight Night 88 | Jeremy Stephens | Unanimous decision loss |
| UFC Fight Night 95 | Phillipe Nover | Unanimous decision loss |
| UFC 214 | Aljamain Sterling | Unanimous decision loss |
| UFC on FOX 28 | Brian Kelleher | Unanimous decision loss |
| UFC Fight Night 137 | Andre Ewell | Split decision loss |
| UFC on ESPN 1 | Luke Sanders | Knockout loss – Punches |
| UFC on ESPN+ 22 | Douglas Silva de Andrade | Unanimous decision loss |
As for Dillashaw, he went on to lose the title to Dominick Cruz after stopping Barao in their rematch the following year.