Most fighters in the UFC face a long hard road towards a deserved title shot. It normally envolves facing a tough murderer's row of contender's and proving your worth in the division. Anderson Silva started his UFC career vs Chris Leben, Mark Coleman had to prove his worth in tournaments, Randy Couture did the same, even prodigee's like BJ Penn had to prove they belonged before fighting for a title.

While I was thinking about Peter Rademacher, the only man to face the Heavyweight Champion (boxing) in his pro debut, I wondered how many UFC fighters got a title shot in their debut with the promotion. Rademacher who was a clean cut gold medalist actually knocked Floyd Patterson down (hey it happened 20 times in his career) only to eventually be knocked out. I wondered how many men got a chance like Rademacher and how they faired.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Maurice Smith - I may be wrong but I believe Maurice was the first man in UFC history to receive a title shot in his UFC debut. He was by no account a rookie though, he was Extreme Fighting's Heavyweight Champion (they actually had weight classes before the UFC) and Extreme Fighting and UFC agreed to pit their champions against each other to determine who was better. Smith actually had the earliest head kick knockout in modern NHB that I can remember, he did it in a huge upset against Marcus Silveira. Maurice Smith was 4-7 entering the fight while Coleman was 6-0.

Outcome : Maurice Smith pulled off the biggest upset in UFC history up to that time when he survived Mark Colemans ground and pound and basically pulled guard in the opening 30 seconds of the bout. In the UFC's version of the Rope-a-Dope Maurice survived Colemans onslaught, was effective with elbows from the bottom, and eventually got to his feet. When he did get to his feet Coleman was so gassed it was almost comical. Smith leg kicked Coleman for the remainder of the fight and just mmissed a high head kick before winning the decision.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Frank Shamrock - when Frank Shamrock came to the UFC in 1997 he had already competed in Pancrase, RIngs and SuperBrawl. At Ultimate Japan Frank was set to face the recent UFC tournament champion Kevin Jackson. Jackson was and is still the most decorated wrestler to ever compete in NHB/MMA. Without a doubt, gold medals and accolades don't lie. He also appeared to be a pretty damn good fighter, the only common opponent of Shamrock and Jackson was John Lober, who Shamrcok had lost to and Jackson had defeated. Still going into the fight Frank was 16-7-1 going into the bout while Jackson was 3-0.

Outcome: man it was impressive, bout starts, Jackson shoots a powerful double leg literally lifting Frank off the ground, but Frank had one of his arms, they land Frank extends the hips and cranks the arm and Jackson is tapping. 16 seconds is all it takes for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title lineage to start.

Igor Zinoviev - Igor was known as a very tough russian fighter that I honestly remember being 10-0 or 9-0 going into his title fight against Frank Shamrock but sherdog says he was 4-0-2 going into the bout. He had beaten Enson Inoue and John Lober and had a draw with Osami Shibuya which most though Zinoviev had won. Oh yeah, he knocked out Mario Sperry as well. Simply put, this guy was a tough customer who though maybe not as experienced, had already faced tough opposition.

Outcome: Bad as it gets. Shamrock had noticed Zinovievs stood straight up in close quarters and basically picked Zinoviev up and dropped him on his head. It was over in 22 seconds and Zinoviev became the first fighter to leave the octagon on a stretcher. He had a fractured C-5 clavicle and broken collarbone, he never fought again.

John Lober - another Frank Shamrock challenger, he was 3-5-2 coming into the fight, not very impressive, he had draws with Zinoviev, Minori Suzuki, Ryushi Yanagisawa, and Kiuma Kionuke, all tough fighters. He also had a draw with Osami Shibuya. BUT, and I mean but, the only reason this fight took place was because Lober had defeated Frank via split decision at SuperBrawl 3. In the fight he was effective with his striking and able to score takedowns. This made for a rematch that would take palce at the Ultimate Brazil.

Outcome: This time around it was Frank Shamrock who was landing the better strikes, Shamrock was also getting off first and virtually putting on a striking clinic landing 1-2's mixed with leg strikes and even landing straight right hands. Shamrock's feint's were the key's Lober could never time him. 7 minutes into the bout Lober was stopped wtih punches.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Gil Castillo - who? He was a 5-0 fighter fighter who normally weighed around 170 but at UFC 33 Castillo would face Dave Menne to determine the companies first Middleweight Champion. Honestly of the 2 going into the fight Castillo had the better wins vs tougher opposition. Castillo had defeated Joe Hurley (a tough Lions Den fighter) and Nate Marquardt and was undefeated going into the fight.

Outcome: In a pretty lacklusted fight Dave Menne did more and was able to score a non memorable unanimous decision to go down in UFC history. Castillo would fight Matt Hughes at UFC 40 and never appear in the company again.

WELTERWEIGHT

Jorge Patino - a tough Vale Tudo fighter with a 14-3 record, his two most famous matches were against Jose Pele-Landis although Patino lost both bouts he was tough and game in both of them. The UFC called him to face Pat Miletich for the Welterweight (Lightweight at the time) championship.

Outcome : The bout went the full 21 minutes but ultimately Miletich's wrestling and conditioning were the deciding factors. Patino was game against Miletich but suprisingly never fought in the UFC again, he recently fought in StrikeForce Houston and currently has a 23-13-1 record.

Andre Pederneiras - This guy is the closest thing to Peter Rudemacher that the UFC has ever had. He had won his first fight in Vale Tudo against the legendary Rumina Sato he won the fight impressively via soccer kicks but honestly was not worthy of the title shot against Pat Miletich.

Outcome: Miletich wins at UFC 21 via doctor stoppage in the second round. Pederneiras did in fact have some momentts from Miletich but could not stop the wrestling. Pederneires would have draws against Caol Uno and the famous Genki Sudo retiring in 200 with a record of 1-1-2.

John Alessio - is it becoming clear that the UFC had problems making their own contenders in the dark ages, I present another Pat Miletich challenger. Alessio was 7-3 going into his UFC debut against Miletich at UFC 26. He honestly had no impressive big victories and his toughest opponent was probably Enson Inoue's brother who he lost to. Can you see this one coming?

Outcome: Pat made this one look pretty easy scoring a armbar submission in the 2nd round. Alessio went on to fight in many mma organizations and even made his way back to the UFC.

Hayato Sakurai - Mach was 19-1-2 going into his big time match up against Matt Hughes making his first defense of his Welterweight title at UFC 36. Sakurai's only loss was to a much bigger Anderson Silva and he was considered possibly the best Welterweight in MMA. Of all the men on this list he was the most deserving of a title shot in his first UFC fight.

Outcome: In a forgotten classic P4P battle that saw some good exchanges and action, Matt Hughes eventually wore Sakurai down and scored an impressive 4th round stoppage. Sakurai would never fight in the UFC again sadly.

Frank Trigg- Thats right, 'Ol Twinke Toe's had never fought in the UFC before facing Matt Hughes in the epic battle at UFC 45. Trigg was 10-1 and had impressive victories over LaVerne Clark (the first boxer to wina fight in UFC), Fabio Iha and Dennis Hallman who had defeated Hughes twice. His lone loss was to Hayato Sakurai.

Outcome: Epicness, Trigg would tap in the first round to a standing rear naked choke. Trigg may have not fared very well but man it was an entertaining bout.

LIGHTWEIGHT

Caol Uno- It seems like everytime the UFC (whether under Meryowitz or Zuffa) tries to plan outa golden path, something goes terribly wrong. I can just see the bald guy from the Princess Brides saying, "It's inconceivable!" Well a young Dana White was hoping that aol Uno would come to the UFC and be the entertaining pound for pound fighter that could usher in the Lightweight division to UFC fans. Uno was 12-3-2 and had just defeated the Shooto champion Rumina Sato. He was considered the best 155 pound fighter in the world at the time.

Outcome: Unfortunately for Dana this Lil Evil guy had other plans, and he won a hard earned decision verse Uno. Jens Pulver had been a practical afterthought in the build up to this fight and the split decision victory was a big upset. Uno never would win the UFC Lightweight belt that seemed all but his in the lead up to UFC 30.



Wow of the 11 men to receive title shots in their first fights their combined record is 2-9 with only the Alliance (Frank Shamrock and Maurice Smith) winning the title in their UFC debut's.

And there you freaking have it. Every man in the UFC's history to receive a title shot in their first bout for the company. Hope you enjoyed.