The UFC has always enjoyed a discontinuous relationship with its fighters. They know that a bad run of form could see them unceremoniously released from the promotion at any time, but they also know that if they can string together a few impressive wins on the regional circuit, the door is open for a potential return.

Rarely are bridges burned entirely, which means every so often the opportunity presents itself for a fighter who may have been previously written off to prove us all wrong, with fighters who had been deemed surplus to requirements returning to go on lengthy winning streaks, headline events and even become UFC champions.

Here’s my list of the top five UFC returns in history:

#5: Andrei Arlovski

The former UFC heavyweight champion held a solid 10-4 record between 2000 and 2008 and was actually on a 3-fight winning streak when he decided to leave the promotion. Shortly after his move, however, Arlovski went on a high-profile 4-fight losing streak that included 3 emphatic knockout defeats.

He rebounded with a decent run of results on the regional scene until, 13 years after his UFC debut, and almost a decade after he won the UFC heavyweight title, a 35-year-old Andrei Arlovski re-signed with the UFC. This was a man whom many felt was ‘done’ in 2009, let alone 2014.

Arlovski went 4-0 in his first 4 fights back, including stoppage wins over Travis Browne (ranked 4th in the world at the time) and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, who was one of the men to defeat Arlovski in his 4-fight losing skid and was coming off an incredible performance against Mark Hunt in a Fight of the Year contender.

If you’d backed Arlovski to win each of these 4 fights, you could have turned $10 into $540.88.

#4: Vitor Belfort

Belfort actually had 3 spells in the UFC, going 5-1 between 1997 and 1998, leaving for PRIDE, then returning and going 2-3 with the UFC between 2002 and 2004. The end of Belfort’s second UFC stint was part of a run of 5 defeats in 7 fights for Belfort, including a decision loss to Dan Henderson that saw the Brazilian on the wrong end of a rarely seen 30-24 scorecard.

Belfort returned to the UFC in 2009 and won 7 of his next 10 fights, earning 3 UFC title shots (two at middleweight and one at light-heavyweight) and claiming 6 fight-night bonuses from 7 stoppages in those 7 wins. During this six-year spell, Vitor only lost to Anderson Silva, Jon Jones and Chris Weidman.

#3: Anthony Johnson

Having missed weight twice at 170 lbs., Johnson wisely decided to make the move up to middleweight- a decision that you’d expect would fix his weight-cutting issues. That did not prove to be the case, as Johnson weighed in at 197 lbs. for his first fight in the 185 lbs. division, then lost the fight via first-round submission. A frustrated Dana White announced Johnson’s release just 24 hours later. After one more failed attempt at making middleweight on the regional scene, Johnson found his home another weight-class up, at light-heavyweight. He even had a foray at heavyweight, weighing in at 230 lbs. for a unanimous decision win over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

A 6-0 record on the regional scene was enough for the UFC to re-sign ‘Rumble,’ who went 6-2 in his second spell with the promotional, scoring 5 TKO/KO victories and earning two shots at the UFC light-heavyweight title. Johnson’s only losses in his second UFC spell came in those championship contests, both against former UFC light-heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.