At UFC 46, back in January 2004, a 40-year-old Randy Couture lost his UFC light-heavyweight title to a 25-year-old Vitor Belfort after the cageside doctor advised the fight be stopped just 49 seconds into the bout. A grazing shot from Belfort- the first punch landed in the fight- had opened up a nasty cut on Couture’s eyelid, giving the Brazilian the TKO win.

Due to the unfulfilling nature of that result, an immediate rematch was booked 8 months later. At UFC 49, in August 2004, Couture reclaimed his title via TKO after a dominant three rounds forced a doctor’s stoppage.

No defeated UFC champion successfully reclaimed their belt in an immediate rematch for 17 and a half years, until Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 270 in 2022.

Title-losing bout	Immediate rematch
Vitor Belfort def. Randy Couture (c) via TKO	Randy Couture def. Vitor Belfort (c) via TKO
Tim Sylvia def. Andrei Arlovski (c) via TKO	Tim Sylvia (c) def. Andrei Arlovski via DEC
Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn (c) via DEC	Frankie Edgar (c) def. B.J. Penn via DEC
Benson Henderson def. Frankie Edgar (c) via DEC	Benson Henderson (c) def. Frankie Edgar via DEC
Chris Weidman def. Anderson Silva (c) via KO	Chris Weidman (c) def. Anderson Silva via TKO
Max Holloway def. José Aldo (c) via TKO	Max Holloway (c) def. José Aldo via TKO
Rose Namajunas def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (c) via TKO	Rose Namajunas (c) def. Joanna Jędrzejczyk via DEC
T.J. Dillashaw def. Cody Garbrandt (c) via KO	T.J. Dillashaw (c) def. Cody Garbrandt via TKO
Alexander Volkanovski def. Max Holloway (c) via DEC	Alexander Volkanovski (c) def. Max Holloway via DEC
Stipe Miocic def. Daniel Cormier (c) via TKO	Stipe Miocic (c) def. Daniel Cormier via DEC
Rose Namajunas def. Zhang Weili (c) via KO	Rose Namajunas (c) def. Zhang Weili via DEC
Brandon Moreno def. Deiveson Figueiredo (c) via SUB	Deiveson Figueiredo def. Brandon Moreno (c) via DEC

Defeated UFC champions are now 2-10 when given immediate rematches* to reclaim their belt.

* Where the rematch was the very next fight for both the defeated reigning champion and the fighter they lost their title to.