There have been many legends in MMA who have succeeded in every promotion, apart from the top organisation.
From time to time, we have seen fighters earn multiple opportunities for a UFC title.
Some have been close to finishing a battle for the belt, while others have just been there at the wrong time.
However, some fighters have surprisingly never won a title in the UFC, despite coming close on numerous occasions.
Here are three UFC icons who somehow never became a champion in their respective weight division.
For clarification, these are fighters who haven’t yet won an interim championship.
Dan Henderson
With 47 professional fights in his MMA career, you would think ‘Hendo’ was a UFC champion at some point.
Sadly, that was not the case as he fought for a UFC title three times and was never victorious.
From PRIDE to the UFC
Henderson faced off against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, who was the current Light Heavyweight champion, at the O2 Arena in London.
Both men showcased their skills on the ground and feet, making it look like a perfect matchup.
Hendo attempted three submissions during the battle, while Jackson landed a knockdown in round four.
The scorecards read Jackson as the winner by unanimous decision, remaining the King of the 205-pound division.
Same chance, different weight class
The PRIDE Middleweight Champion then took on the UFC 185-pound king, Anderson Silva, in his next fight.
Henderson was only a small underdog against ‘The Spider’ as the Brazilian was on a path of destruction.
The two champions met inside the Octagon at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus for UFC 82.
This particular bout would unify the PRIDE and UFC Middleweight titles, making it even more interesting to watch.
The Downey-born fighter was stopped in the second round as Silva submitted him with a Rear-Naked Choke.
A second meeting years in the making
Eight years later, after some crazy and iconic knockouts in the UFC and Strikeforce, Hendo claimed his last title shot.
The American was set to face Michael Bisping at UFC 204 in enemy territory of Manchester, England, at the AO Arena.
Both fighters previously met each other at UFC 100, where Henderson earned a vicious second-round KO win.
The battle would go the distance, with the 46-year-old coming close to finishing the fight twice with two showstopping knockdowns.
In what was the Fight of the Night, Bisping retained his title as he did enough to win by unanimous decision.
After his loss, Henderson retired from MMA, considered nothing less than a legend of the sport.
Urijah Faber
The UFC has had nine Bantamweight Champions in its history.
Surprisingly, Faber is not one of them, despite fighting for a UFC title four times in his 16-year MMA career.
Rematch from WEC
The Isla Vista-born mixed martial artist’s first championship fight was at UFC 132 against Dominick Cruz.
This would be Cruz’s first defence after winning the inaugural title at WEC 53 against Scott Jorgensen.
The fight took place at the MGM Arena and went the full five rounds with ‘The Dominator’ winning by unanimous decision.
There was a lot of respect after the title bout, but it wouldn’t be the last of this particular matchup.
Interim opportunity
Faber’s next opportunity for a UFC belt would take place in Calgary, Canada at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
‘The Californian Kid’ was in the headliner at UFC 149 for the interim 135-pound title against Renan Barao.
The battle for UFC gold went the distance again, with both men keeping the fight on the feet for almost 25 minutes.
It was clear that Barao had done enough to win, becoming the Interim Bantamweight Champion by a dominant unanimous decision.
Another rematch for undisputed gold
Nineteen months after their first bout, the rematch took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Due to an injury, Cruz vacated his title, making Barao the King of the Bantamweights.
This meant Faber got his second chance for the undisputed championship, as well as revenge at UFC 169.
The fight lasted one round as Barao knocked down Faber before plenty of hammer fists from the Brazilian stopped the contest by TKO.
Despite suffering a punishing loss, the California fighter’s student at Team Alpha Male, TJ Dillashaw, avenged his loss by knocking out Barao at UFC 173.
A vital trilogy title fight
Two years on from his title-knockout loss, Faber had one last chance to become a champion in the UFC.
A trilogy fight was set up at UFC 199 with him challenging Cruz for the 135-pound belt.
Fans would heavily anticipate it, as the UFC ensured they could create the best possible build-up for the two fighters.
The event took place in Faber’s home state of California, as it would be the biggest fight of his MMA career.
However, it was not meant to be, as Cruz ended the night victorious with a dominant decision win, retaining the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
Alexander Gustafsson
If there is one fighter who was truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, it most certainly is Gustafsson.
‘The Mauler’ fought three times for a UFC title, and it happened to be against two of the greatest to ever do it in MMA.
A super close battle against the GOAT
The first title fight came at UFC 165 in Toronto as he went face-to-face with Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.
Jones was blazing through the division, earning multiple title defences against the likes of Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort.
In what has been regarded as one of the best fights in MMA history, Jones did just enough to win by unanimous decision.
However, Gustafsson gained a lot more respect from fans as he came so close to defeating the champion, knowing another title shot would come soon.
Another five-round championship war
Two years later, the Swedish mixed martial artist got his second opportunity for a championship in Houston, Texas.
Gustafsson faced Daniel Cormier for the 205-pound title in the main event of UFC 192, inside the Toyota Center.
The title contest was extremely close, with both men mainly challenging each other on the feet, which included a knockdown from the Arboga-born fighter in round three.
The battle went to the judges’ scorecards as Cormier edged a split decision win over Gustafsson in what would be another thrilling fight in the Light Heavyweight division.
A controversial rematch
After redeeming his title loss with a two-fight win streak, the Swede claimed one last chance to become the 205-pound champion.
It would be in an exciting rematch with Jones at UFC 232 for the vacant Light Heavyweight Championship.
The bout was originally supposed to take place in Las Vegas, but drug testing issues, relating to Jones, forced the event to move to Inglewood.
Miserably, Gustafsson was knocked out by ‘Bones’ in the third round after a wild ground and pound.
To this day, ‘The Mauler’ is regarded as the most unlucky UFC fighter who could have become champion if Jones and Cormier had not been present at the time.