All fight fans love to tout the respect-filled, honourable, almost Samurai-esque nature of the sport of mixed martial arts but, sometimes, you just want to see two lads who hate each other go at it.
In a sport that’s still so young, you’d be surprised at the amount of match-ups that have descended into genuine hatred in the build-up to the fights.
We’ve got everything from face-offs boiling over into shoving matches to scraps on the set of The Ultimate Fighter, with a sprinkling of some of the best trash-talk in the industry.
Here’s our top ten of the most intense MMA rivalries of all time.
10. Frank Mir v Brock Lesnar
This could cause some controversy as some hardcore MMA fans still question the legitimacy of Brock Lesnar’s stint as UFC heavyweight champion but I’m not one of them.
If we’re talking in literal terms, this is the biggest rivalry in MMA history with a combined weight of over 500lbs between the two behemoths.
Former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar was given a rough welcome to the UFC in 2008 when Jiu Jitsu specialist Frank Mir submitted him via kneebar in the first round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXrLnOr5Vck
Most of the UFC faithful dismissed the giant Lesnar as a mere novelty act but he rebounded with wins over Heath Herring and Randy Couture which earned him the heavyweight belt.
That set up the rematch as number-one contender Mir who was very vocal in the build-up about his belief that he would beat Brock Lesnar 99% of the time.
But the second meeting must have been in that 1% as Lesnar knocked out the former champion with ground and pound in the second round to silence the haters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hn49OusA7U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPDQP1xX96A
9. Georges St-Pierre v Matt Hughes
These two fighters will go down as two of the nicest fighters ever to grace the UFC octagon but in 2004, when both men were vying for the title of world’s greatest welterweight, they had few nice things to say about each other.
Hughes was the first of two losses on Georges St-Pierre’s record after he submitted the rising Canadian talent via armbar with one second remaining in the first round.
GSP admitted that Hughes was one of his MMA heroes and he struggled to look Hughes in the eyes ahead of their first fight.
The defeat lit a fire under “Rush” who was itching to get back into title contention however possible and, for the only time in his career, he turned into the bad guy. He confronted Hughes in the Octagon after the American had just beaten B.J. Penn with the infamous outburst “I am not impressed by your performance”.
The rematch was set for UFC 65 and “Rush” avenged the loss with a TKO victory to secure the UFC welterweight title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chQLnKBn52c
One for GSP, one for Matt – that meant a trilogy was in order.
The third bout took place in 2007 and nobody knew what to expect as GSP was just rebounding from a shock loss to Matt Serra.
But GSP came through the adversity and claimed the rubber match with the same technique by which Hughes had beaten him three years previous, the armbar.
This is one of the few rivalries on this list that was based around mutual respect and a burning desire to be number one, rather than any real hatred.
8. Matt Hughes v Matt Serra
While the healthy rivalry between Hughes and GSP may not have had its foundations in hatred, the same cannot be said for Hughes’ feud with Matt Serra.
These two fighters were polar opposites of one another. Hughes was an all-American wrestler from a farming background who was a proud advocate of the power of prayer while Serra was a brash New Yorker whose favourite words alternated between “dick” and “pasta”. Both great fighters though.
I had to double-check that these fighters had only fought the one time such was the intensity of their conflict.
Quite a lot of their resentment was stirred up in The Ultimate Fighter as Hughes appeared as a guest coach on Season 4, the series that Serra went on to win. When Hughes arrived on set, his behaviour annoyed a handful of the fighters, one of whom was Serra.
But it wasn’t until Season 6 that their feud truly intensified as Serra, who was welterweight champion at the time, and Hughes coached opposite one another.
Serra’s curse-laden speeches irritated Hughes while the New Yorker continued to mock his Illinois counterpart, saying he looks like a chipmunk.
After their months of trash-talk subsided, the pair finally fought at UFC 98 with Matt Hughes earning the unanimous decision victory.
The pair embraced after their clash and appeared as though they had eliminated any disdain that they had had for one another but it will certainly go down as one of the most memorable feuds in UFC history.
7. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson v Wanderlei Silva
Hard to tell how much of this rivalry was based on true resentment and how much of it was pumped up by promotions looking to hype their most aggressive fighters.
Both of these men would fight their shadow if it followed them too closely so it’s no surprise that, when pitted together, explosive striking battles ensued.
The American and Brazilian first met at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 when both were at the height of their popularity. Wanderlei won the Grand Prix after a series of knees forced the referee to call the fight.
The atmosphere surrounding the first fight was so electric that it took just eleven months for PRIDE officials to set up a rematch.
The second fight has gone down in MMA mythology and, again, Silva came out on top with a knee landing flush on Jackson’s jaw, sending “Rampage” unconscious through the ring ropes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGueujlx4JY
Silva would have been confident of getting past “Rampage” any day of the week after his pair of knockout victories but, when they next met under the UFC banner, things turned out differently.
The rivalry was just as heated in the build-up to the third bout, with “The Axe Murderer” shoving Jackson at the weigh-ins ahead of UFC 92.
But Silva’s career progress was slowing while Jackson was still at the top of the UFC’s light heavyweight division and the skill discrepancy between the fighters became clear when “Rampage” landed a short left hook on the chin of Silva which put the Brazilian to sleep.
While Wanderlei may go down as having the 2-1 advantage in their fights, many consider “Rampage” the true victor, having gotten the final say in matters.
6. Chuck Liddell v Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz was always going to crop up on this list more than once because he pretty much pissed off every opponent against whom he was matched and Chuck Liddell’s feud with “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” is the stuff of legend.
As two of the most recognisable faces in the history of the UFC’s light heavyweight division, their rivalry was always going to be exploited by the organisation.
Liddell became the first man to knock out Ortiz when they fought for the first time at UFC 47 in 2004.
After Ortiz put together successive wins over Vitor Belfort and Patrick Cote, Liddell took to the octagon to put Ortiz in his place, insisting that “you won’t step in the ring with me again!”.
The pair did meet again, though, at UFC 66 in one of the most highly-anticipated rematches of all time. Again Chuck Liddell got the finish and cemented himself as the 205lb kingpin.
MMA fans couldn’t believe their luck when both fighters were pitted against each other as coaches on the reality series, The Ultimate Fighter, with a third fight between the light heavyweight legends scheduled for after the tournament.
When discussing the show, Liddell claimed that he had plans to “kill” Ortiz after he revealed private information about Liddell’s issues with alcohol.
Their rivalry boiled over into the competition when Chuck and Tito almost came to blows over a controversial stoppage.
Ortiz withdrew from the fight towards the end of filming with a recurrence of a neck injury and was replaced by Rich Franklin who ended up retiring “The Iceman” meaning there’s no chance that we’ll get to see the culmination of a trilogy.
For the top five, click here.
