Should he defeat his opponent Chris Wilson in their upcoming UFC 82 bout, Jon Fitch will become only the second fighter in the UFC history to achieve eight consecutive victories in the Octagon. But not without some controversy:
Royce Gracie holds the current record for most consecutive wins in the UFC. Gracie accomplished his eight victories over the course of the first three UFC tournaments. After defeating Kimo Leopoldo in the opening round of the UFC 3 tournament, Royce was not able to continue fighting. Instead of withdrawing from the tournament between bouts, Gracie entered the Octagon to face Harold Howard in the semi-final — only to have his corner throw in the towel as soon as the bout began.
MMA pundits disagree on whether to count “the fight that wasn’t” as a loss on Gracie’s record. Sherdog.com lists it as a loss; so does UFC.com. FCFighter.com shows this bout as a No Contest. UFC lore has it that Royce chose to enter the Octagon and throw in the towel instead of quitting between bouts so that he would receive the “show money” for the second fight. Had he skipped that fight completely, he would have extended his streak to eleven consecutive wins following his performance in the UFC 4 tournament – a record not likely to be disputed for a long time to come.
But wait, there’s more! It turns out there is another fighter who can make a claim to already have matched Royce Gracie’s record. Keep Reading