While completing our MMA Awards post for 2025, I started to wonder what the biggest upsets of all-time were.  We have four different upset awards, each using different rules and/or rating systems.

In this post, we will consider all pro fights with only one exception — the winner must have a pro loss prior to the fight date.  I will however, post some notable fights that would’ve otherwise qualified.

To determine the order, we will use ratings from the Elo and Glicko systems, total the pre-fight ratings for each fighter, then order by the difference.

Prepare to read about some fighters you’ve probably never heard of…

Upsets

#5 – (1497pts) [3-4-0] Shana Dobson  W(TKO)  [9-1-0] Mariya Agapova
UFC on ESPN 15 (September 22, 2020)

I’m a little surprised that a UFC fight made the cut, especially in the women’s list.  As far as the outcome, ESPN referred to it as a “historic upset”.  From what I recall, Agapova came into the UFC with a ton of hype and a pretty nice 9-1 record.  Dobson, at around +850, derailed the hype train.

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Our awards are very similar to those given by other outlets, but for more specifics, see the MMA Awards page.

Men’s Fighter of the Year

This year was a strange one for the category. Merab Dvalishvili fought four times, and was in the lead for essentially the entire year before ending it with a loss against Petr Yan. His only competition for the award was Islam Makhachev, who wrote his name in the history books by becoming a “champ-champ”, but was only half as active as Merab.  I’ve said many times that I’d rather more draws be awarded than watch judges score fights for the wrong guys.  And for that very reason, Merab and Islam will share the award for 2025.

Winner [tie] – Merab Dvalishvili, Islam Makhachev

3rd Place – Joshua Van

Honorable Mention – Petr Yan

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