Full List of UFC Draws [COMPLETE RECORD]

From the first bell until the last, a mixed martial arts leaves it all in the cage in the hopes of hearing his name announced as the winner at the end of the fight. However, there are some rare occasions where neither fighter gets the nod. Instead, the judges hand the most disappointing verdict for fight fans and the organization alike: a draw.

Although the sport’s legislator tried their best to prevent such outcome, some circumstances eventually lead to stalemates, even in MMA’s most popular organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

So what are the types of draws that can ensue in MMA? How many draws have occurred in UFC’s history? What happens afterwards? And what about title fights?

We’ll answer it all in the study below.

Can You Draw in UFC?

Yes, there’s always a slim, yet existing possibility that a UFC fight ends in a draw, even if some of the rules of the sport are specifically installed to prevent this undesirable outcome.

For instance, MMA judges must are always encouraged to pick a winner at the end of each round, even when the action is razor-tight. Moreover, all UFC fights are consisted from an odd number of rounds (five in championship bouts and main events, and three for the rest). So with the vast majority of rounds ending 10-9 in favor of one fighter or the other, the math ensures a eventual winner.

However, the issue occurs when one or more rounds end in 10-8. As we mentioned above, the winner of the round usually earns a 10-9 score on the judge’s scorecard. However, the rules state that a dominant round can be scored as 10-8 (or even 10-7 on scare occasions).

So let’s suppose that fighter ‘X’ dominated the first round, earning a 10-8 score, but his opponent ‘Y’ surged back by winning the second and third rounds with a 10-9 note. The final score on the judge’s scorecard would be 28-28.

Another reason which could prompt draws is point deduction, when a fighter commits offenses deemed punishable by the referee.

Types of UFC Draw (H2)

There are three types of draws in UFC and mixed martial arts in general. While we explained above how one judge could end up scoring a bout as a tie, we must remember that every fight is called by three judges, so the final draw verdict could be unanimous, split or by majority.

Unanimous Draw

A unanimous draw occurs when all three judges agree that the fight ended in a draw. This is a rare outcome, since judges are often encouraged to pick a winner, but certainly not as scarce as a double knockout.

Majority Draw

A majority draw ensues when two of the three judges call it a draw while the third gives the nod to one fighter over the other. But as the notion of democracy has it, two judges are enough to decide the final verdict.

Split Draw

A split draw occurs when one judge scores the bout in favor of the first fighter, another judge gives the nod to the second fighter, while the third calls it draw. With three different scoreboards, a stalemate becomes inevitable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrxamKa5mpk

How Many Draws in UFC History?

By the end of March 2023, We’ve seen 50 UFC fights end in a draw, excluding time limit draws which used to occur during the organization’s old days, before the introduction of the modern scoring-system.

The first ever draw took place at UFC 41 (February 2003) in a fight between B.J. Penn and Caol Uno for the vacant lightweight title.

Full List of UFC Draws

Here it the full list of UFC draws which have occurred following the introduction of the modern scoring-system:

Fighter #1	Fighter #2	Event	Date	Division	Draw Type
B.J Penn	Caol Uno	UFC 41	February 28, 2003	Lightweight	Split
Vernon White	Ian Freeman	UFC 43	June 6, 2003	Heavyweight	Split
Rashad Evans	Tito Ortiz	UFC 73	July 7, 2007	Light Heavyweight	Unanimous
Caol Uno	Fabricio Camoes	UFC 106	November 21, 2009	Lightweight	Majority
Thiago Tavares	Nik Lentz	UFC Fight Night 20	January 11, 2010	Lightweight	Majority
Travis Browne	Cheick Kongo	UFC 120	October 16, 2010	Heavyweight	Unanimous
Rafael Natal	Jesse Bongfeldt	UFC 124	December 11, 2010	Middleweight	Majority
Frankie Edgar	Gray Maynard	UFC 125	January 1, 2011	Lightweight	Split
Jon Fitch	B.J. Penn	UFC 127	February 27, 2011	Welterweight	Majority
Ian McCall	Demetrious Johnson	UFC on FX 2	March 3, 2012	Flyweight	Majority
Felipe Arantes	Milton Vieira	UFC 147	June 23, 2012	Featherweight	Split
Antonio Silva	Mark Hunt	UFC Fight Night 33	December 7, 2013	Heavyweight	Majority
Norman Parke	Leandro Santos	UFC Fight Night 38	March 23, 2014	Lightweight	Majority
Teruto Ishihara	Mizuto Hirota	UFC Fight Night 75	September 27, 2015	Featherweight	Split
Darren Till	Nicolas Dalby	UFC Fight Night 76	October 24, 2015	Welterweight	Majority
Damon Jackson	Levon Makashvili	UFC on Fox 18	January 30, 2016	Featherweight	Majority
Sergio Moraes	Luan Chagas	UFC 198	May 14, 2016	Welterweight	Split
Kevin Casey	Elvis Mutapcic	UFC 199	June 4, 2016	Middleweight	Split
Michael Graves	Bojan Velickovic	UFC 201	July 30, 2016	Welterweight	Majority
Christian Colombo	Jarjis Danho	UFC Fight Night 93	September 3, 2016	Heavyweight	Majority
Albert Morales	Alejandro Perez	UFC Fight Night 94	September 17, 2016	Bantamweight	Majority
Tyron Woodley	Stephen Thompson	UFC 205	November 12, 2016	Welterweight	Majority
Marion Reneau	Bethe Correia	UFC Fight Night 106	March 11, 2007	Bantamweight	Majority
Beneil Daruish	Evan Dunham	UFC 216	October 7, 2017	Lightweight	Majority
Lando Vannata	Bobby Green	UFC 216	October 7, 2017	Lightweight	Split
DeAnna Bennet	Melinda Fabian	TUF 26 Finale	December 1, 2017	Flyweight	Majority
Marvin Vettori	Omari Akhmedov	UFC 219	December 30, 2017	Middleweight	Majority
Marina Rodriguez	Randa Markos	UFC Fight Night 137	September 22, 2018	Strawweight	Majority
Matt Frevola	Lando Vannata	UFC 230	November 3, 2018	Lightweight	Majority
Zubaira Tukhugov	Lerone Murphy	UFC 242	September 7, 2019	Featherweight	Split
Brandon Moreno	Askar Askarov	UFC Fight Night 159	September 21, 2019	Flyweight	Split
Shogun Rua	Paul Craig	UFC Fight Night 164	November 16, 2019	Light Heavyweight	Split
Cody Stamann	Song Yadong	UFC on ESPN 7	December 7, 2019	Bantamweight	Majority
Marina Rodriguez	Cynthia Calvillo	UFC on ESPN 7	December 7, 2019	Strawweight	Majority
Enrique Barzola	Rani Yahya	UFC Fight Night 170	March 14, 2020	Bantamweight	Majority
Chris Gutierrez	Cody Durden	UFC Fight Night 173	August 1, 2020	Bantamweight	Unanimous
Charles Jourdain	Joshua Culibao	UFC on ESPN 16	October 4, 2020	Featherweight	Split
Sam Alvey	Da Un Jung	UFC 254	October 24, 2020	Light Heavyweight	Split
Deiveson Figueiredo	Brendon Moreno	UFC 256	December 12, 2020	Flyweight	Majority
Mayra Bueno Silva	Montana De La Rosa	UFC Fight Night 186	February 27, 2021	Flyweight	Majority
Ion Cutelaba	Dustin Jacoby	UFC on ESPN 23	May 1, 2021	Light Heavyweight	Split
Kai Kamaka III	Danny Chavez	UFC on ESPN 28	July 31, 2021	Featherweight	Majority
Gustavo Lopez	Alateng Heili	UFC Fight Night 192	September 18, 2021	Bantamweight	Unanimous
Grant Dawson	Ricky Glenn	UFC Fight Night 196	October 23, 2021	Bantamweight	Majority
Da’Mon Blackshear	Youssef Zalal	UFC on ESPN 41	August 13, 2022	Bantamweight	Majority
Sean Woodson	Luis Saldana	UFC 278	August 20, 2022	Featherweight	Split
Jan Blachowicz	Magomed Ankalaev	UFC 282	December 10, 2022	Light Heavyweight	Split
Choi Doo-ho	Kyle Nelson	UFC Fight Night 218	February 5, 2023	Featherweight	Majority
Jimmy Crute	Alonzo Menifield	UFC 284	February 12, 2023	Light Heavyweight	Majority
Jai Herbert	Ludovit Klein	UFC 286	March 18, 2023	Lightweight	Majority

UFC Title Fight Draws

Throughout the company’s history, five UFC title fights ended in a draw, either leaving the title vacant, or allowing the champion to maintain his belt, albeit in an unconvincing fashion.

Fighter #1	Fighter #2	Event	Date	Division	Draw Type
B.J. Penn	Caol Uno	UFC 41	February 28, 2003	Lightweight	Split
Frankie Edgar	Gray Maynard	UFC 125	January 1, 2011	Lightweight	Split
Tyron Woodley	Stephen Thompson	UFC 205	November 12, 2016	Welterweight	Majority
Deiveson Figueiredo	Brendon Moreno	UFC 256	December 12, 2020	Flyweight	Majority
Jan Blachowicz	Magomed Ankalaev	UFC 282	December 10, 2022	Light heavyweight	Split

B.J. Penn vs Caol Uno – February 28th, 2003 – UFC 41 – Split Draw

While the lightweight division is deemed to be one of the most fascinating weight classes in the UFC nowadays, it had actually endured a rough beginning during the organization’s earlier years.

In 2003, a thrilling tournament was supposed to culminate in the crowning of a new champion. But while B.J. Penn had done enough to beat Caol Uno in many people’s eyes in the final, only one judge scored the bout in favor of the Hawaiian legend, while another gave the nod to his Japanese opponent, and the third handed the awkward score of 48-48.

This unsatisfying result put the whole division on ice, and a replay never materialized. Instead, Penn had to wait until 2007 to make his glorious return to the weight class and ultimately winning his second UFC belt in 2008. This was long before Penn went endured a late-career losing skid.

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard – January 1st, 2011 – UFC 125 – Spilt Draw

Although Frankie Edgar entered the octagon in UFC 125 as the reigning defending UFC lightweight champion, it was ironically this draw which cemented his status as a legendary fighter.

‘The Answer’ somehow survived one of the nastiest onslaughts in Round 1, with one judge famously handing the incredibly rare score of 10-7 in favor of Gray Maynard.

Yet, a bruised Edgar made a stunning return in the following rounds, as if the beatdown he suffered in the first was a mere distant memory. The defending champion almost finished his challenger, but Maynard displayed his toughness as well, leaving the judges with a particularly difficult call to make.

Eventually, the two fighters had a memorable rematch later that year (it was their third fight overall), where Edgar survived another brutal Round 1, only to win by TKO in Round 4.

Tyron Woodley vs Stephen Thompson – November 12th, 2006 – UFC 205 – Majority Draw

In what was a fascinating stylistic matchup for the welterweight belt, Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson were embroiled in a five-round back-and-forth affair at Madison Square Garden. ‘The Chosen One’ almost finished the fight by submission and arguably won the fourth round in a 10-8 result, but his challenger had apparently prevailed in the other three rounds.

Hence, two judges called it a draw, while the third gave Woodley the nod, so a rematch was inevitable. Sadly, the second bout failed to recapture the magic of its predecessor, with the defending champion earning a majority decision win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cszS9Btbfwc

Deiveson Figuieredo vs Brendon Moreno – December 12th, 2020 – UFC 256 – Majority Draw

Between December 2020 and January 2023, Deiveson Figueiredo and Brendon Moreno had been entangled in a seemingly never-ending rivalry. The two flyweight stars became the first two fighters to share the UFC octagon on four occasions, and it’s all thanks to their maiden thrilling encounter.

The Brazilian entered the fight as the heavy favorite to retain the belt, and seemed to be in command for the first three rounds. However, a point deduction from the referee and a late resurgence from the Mexican contender resulted in a majority draw, with only one judge scoring the fight in favor of Figueiredo.

Afterwards, Moreno won the rematch, while Figueiredo retaliated in the trilogy, only for the ‘Assassin Baby’ to win the fourth fight due to a doctor stoppage, leaving an opening for a potential fifth fight.

Jan Blachowicz vs Magomed Ankalaev – December 10th, 2022, Spilt Draw

Any fight that ends in a draw usually leaves both fighters unsatisfied, and this light heavyweight title bout serves as a prime example.

On most occasions, the UFC would almost immediately schedule – or at the very least, promise – a rematch when a title fight ends in draw. But when Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev ended their bout in a stalemate that left the title vacated, the company simply decided to hand the belt for whoever wins the already-scheduled bout Glover Texeira and Jamahal Hill, much to the dismay of both Blachowicz and Ankalaev.

As for the fight itself, it wasn’t the most entertaining of affairs, but while the two fighters usually claim the win following a tight bout, surprisingly, Blachowicz acknowledged Ankalaev as the moral winner. But while the two contenders were in complete agreement in this regard, the judges were less so, with each of them handing a different verdict.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWNGLcgi2hw

What Happens If There is a Draw in UFC?

When a UFC bout ends in a draw, the organization usually books a rematch between the two fighters, especially when a title in on the line.

However, this is only a customary practice and not a written rule. Therefore, the UFC can simply decide to drop the rematch idea in favor of more interesting scenarios, especially if the fight itself wasn’t a memorable one.