UFC Saudi Arabia marked the emergence of a new future title contender and the demise of a former champion. Nassourdine Imavov proved his mettle by knocking out Israel Adesanya in the latter’s first non-title main event in over six years. With three back-to-back losses, the MMA community might wonder if this is the end of the road for ‘The Last Stylebender’.

While we don’t know anything about what lies ahead in Israel Adesanya’s future, let’s take a look at a few legendary fighters who tarnished their legacies by extending their UFC run when fans were calling for them to retire.

1. Tony Ferguson

Tony Ferguson is one of the UFC lightweight division’s most prominent legends, who made his way into the UFC from The Ultimate Fighter. From the moment ‘El Cucuy’ made his Octagon debut, he made a great impact on the promotion and even went on an insane 12-fight winning streak, which is still one of the best records that any fighter has ever achieved.

Tony Ferguson was even touted to be the one who could defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov, but that fight never came to fruition. However, the former interim lightweight champion’s UFC career went through a downward spiral since the turn of this decade. From 2020 to 2024, Ferguson could not see himself edging past his opponents, and he ended up racking eight consecutive losses. Even when fans and Dana White were calling for his retirement, Ferguson surprisingly claimed that he was in his prime. But everything came to an end recently when he bid farewell to the UFC.

While Tony Ferguson has achieved more than most fighters could even dream of, the most recent memory of him that fans have is witnessing him losing again and again. Now, let’s take a look at the next legendary fighter on this list, who’s considered one of the greats of the game and competed mostly in the same division as Israel Adesanya.

2. Anderson Silva

When it comes to exceptional strikers in MMA history, there’s no one better than Anderson Silva, who lit up the UFC during his peak years. His sound technique and unmatched knockout power powered him through an undefeated run that lasted for over six years. Silva not only won the middleweight title but he went on to defend it a staggering 10 times. That kind of a run in the UFC was unheard of until ‘The Spider’ came along. But just like Tony Ferguson, his downfall also started after his undefeated run came to an end.

From 2013 to 2020, Anderson Silva would secure just a single victory, while losing seven of them. After falling victim to Uriah Hall at UFC Vegas 12, the Brazilian native decided to part ways with the promotion where he made his name and left the sport. When ‘The Spider’ stepped away from the sport, he was way past his prime and in his 40s. Even though Silva is considered one of the GOATs of MMA, he could not cap off his career with a win. Now, for our final entry, we have another lightweight legend.

3. B.J. Penn

Before Khabib Nurmagomedov and his protégé, Islam Makhachev, ran wild in the 155-pound division, fans were chanting B.J. Penn‘s name. The Hawaiian native, although he didn’t go on a run like the Dagestani duo, was a lightweight champion in Dana White’s promotion and defended his title three times. He stayed at the top until 2010 when everything started to fall apart for ‘The Prodigy’.

The last time B.J. Penn won a UFC fight was against Matt Hughes in 2010, and after that, he went on a 7-fight losing streak. He even hinted at retiring when he lost the rematch to Edgar, but later, he decided to continue competing. Unfortunately, this decision led Penn to lose in every way possible – via decision, submission, and even knockouts – as the calls for retirement were getting louder. But the final nail in the coffin was when ‘The Prodigy’ got into an altercation with a fan in the streets and was surprisingly knocked out. Following that incident, the UFC released the former lightweight champion, marking an unceremonious end to his illustrious career.

Back to Israel Adesanya, his last three losses were pretty shocking because he was dominated by all of his opponents. Now, it remains to be seen what the Nigerian-born star decides to do given that, at 35 years old, he’s not getting any younger.