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This past weekend, the UFC crowned a new heavyweight champion in Jon Jones, and Dana White was quick to suggest that former titleholder Francis Ngannou would never be back. Right now, it looks unlikely that Francis Ngannou will return to the UFC, but stranger things have happened before, and other fighters who left under a black cloud have returned later.
Some of these fighters left under such bad circumstances that it seemed impossible for them to come back, but in the world of MMA, star power and money often talk louder than a grudge. Here are five fighters who left the UFC under a black cloud, only to return to the fold later.
#5. Nate Marquardt – former UFC middleweight contender
Back in 2011, the use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) was still a grey area in the world of the UFC. This meant that while some fighters were openly allowed to use it, others fell foul of the rules around it and ended up in hot water.
One such fighter was former middleweight title challenger Nate Marquardt. ‘Nate the Great’ had quietly begun taking TRT prior to his bout with Rick Story that June, hoping to reignite his flagging career as a welterweight.
However, he not only failed to disclose his use of the treatment, but he also failed to get his testosterone back down to an acceptable level prior to the fight, forcing the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission to nix it. Dana White was furious over the late cancelation of the bout, which had been pegged to headline a Fight Night event, and cut Marquardt from his contract instantly.
More importantly, White stated that ‘Nate the Great’ would never fight for the promotion again after his transgression. Remarkably, though, this wasn’t the case.
Marquardt signed with StrikeForce, where he stopped Tyron Woodley to claim their welterweight title.
When the UFC then bought the promotion out, they decided to merge the rosters together, and despite White’s earlier promise, ’Nate the Great' was back.
#4. Todd Duffee – former UFC heavyweight contender
When Todd Duffee exploded onto the UFC scene in 2009 by stopping Tim Hague in just seven seconds – setting a record in the heavyweight division in the process – it felt like a star was born.
With his muscular physique, Duffee looked like a cartoon character, and the win over Hague was his sixth in a row.
Fans immediately began to salivate over the thought of him facing the top heavyweights in the world, and Dana White and company seemed taken with him, too. An upset loss to Mike Russow in his second octagon bout didn’t really temper expectations around Duffee, who had been dominating up until he was caught with what essentially felt like a lucky strike. However, after withdrawing from his next bout with a knee injury, Duffee suddenly found himself cut from the promotion.
According to White, the heavyweight prospect had an attitude problem and made it seem like he didn’t want to be in the UFC. Exactly what triggered White to come to this conclusion remains debatable. Either way, though, Duffee was out of the promotion, and given the black cloud he left under, it seemed doubtful that he’d be back.
However, that turned out not to be the case. Despite only fighting twice in the two years that followed his release – winning one and losing the other – Duffee was re-signed in late 2012. Nothing about the acrimonious nature of his departure was really mentioned, and after two wins, he even headlined a Fight Night event in 2015. Sure, he never hit the heights many people thought he would, but this was largely down to injuries and not the strange black cloud he initially left under.
#3. BJ Penn – former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion
Few fighters left the UFC under as black a cloud as BJ Penn when he departed the promotion in 2004. Arguably, the way that ‘The Prodigy’ left entirely changed the way that Dana White did business with fighters afterward. Essentially, after narrowly failing to capture gold in the lightweight division, Penn moved up to 170 lbs to challenge longtime champion Matt Hughes for his title. Few fans gave the Hawaiian a chance, but he proved them wrong by submitting Hughes to become the new titleholder.
There was one problem, though. The bout with Hughes had been the final one on Penn’s contract with the UFC, and ‘The Prodigy’ decided not to ink a new one. Instead, he was offered far more money from Japanese promotion K-1, and he decided to jump ship, angering White beyond belief.
According to Penn himself, a furious White phoned him, stating that he was “scorched earth” and that he’d never fight in the octagon again. ‘The Prodigy’ claimed that he even threatened to erase his fights from any future DVD releases, practically removing him from the promotion’s history.
At that stage, the likelihood of Penn ever returning seemed slim, and the promotion was quick to install the so-called “champion’s clause,” ensuring that a titleholder could not leave while still in place – although the clause has since been removed from contracts.
Incredibly, though, just under two years after his departure, Penn was back. The nature of how he and White buried their hatchet was never really touched upon, but it was as if nothing had ever really happened. ‘The Prodigy’ went on to win the lightweight title, became a huge star in the process, and in 2015, found himself inducted into the Hall of Fame – something that seemed impossible when he initially left under a cloud.
#2. Randy Couture – former UFC heavyweight and light-heavyweight champion
Most of the time, when a fighter leaves the UFC under a black cloud, it’s largely down to the promotion. Usually, a fighter draws the ire of Dana White and is cut from their contract. That wasn’t the case at all with Randy Couture, who departed the promotion for a lengthy period in late 2007 despite holding the heavyweight title at the time.
Prior to that, ‘The Natural’ always seemed to be a consummate company man. Recognized as a UFC poster-boy when he retired in 2006, he was instantly entered into the promotion’s Hall of Fame. However, a year after hanging up the gloves, he returned at the age of 43 and stunned everyone by defeating Tim Sylvia for heavyweight gold.
Things went wrong, though, when White and company failed to ink a deal with PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko, then widely considered the world’s top heavyweight.
Couture, who had set his heart on a bout with the Russian, decided enough was enough. Apparently upset with his treatment by the promotion – as well as the fact that he was supposedly paid less than Chuck Liddell – he decided to “resign” and attempt to set up a fight with Fedor elsewhere.
Unsurprisingly, that didn’t sit well with White, and the two men went back and forth with barbs in the media while also heading directly into multiple lawsuits against one another. It seemed highly doubtful that ‘The Natural’ would ever return to the fold, and he was even barred from cornering his teammates at one point.
Incredibly, though, that changed in late 2008. Just over a year after his “resignation,” Couture agreed to return, complete with a new contract. Essentially, it felt like he simply realized that it wasn’t worth embroiling himself in years of legal hell when he could make more money coming back to fight Brock Lesnar.
In the end, ‘The Natural’ remained with the promotion for another three years before retiring for the second time – after which he jumped ship to Bellator MMA, burning his bridges with White once again.
#1. Tito Ortiz – former UFC light-heavyweight champion
Despite once being considered the UFC’s poster boy, it’s probably fair to say that no fighter left the promotion under a black cloud as many times as Tito Ortiz did.
Remarkably though, despite embarking on a very personal feud with Dana White, cooler heads always prevailed. No matter how many times ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ threatened to join another promotion, he would always return to the fold eventually.
Ortiz’s first departure came in 2005 when his contract ended following a win over Vitor Belfort. Although the promotion itself remained relatively tight-lipped about his future, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was quick to suggest he deserved a bigger pay cheque, and a move to the new WFA promotion, as well as the launch of his own organization was mooted.
However, later that year, Ortiz signed a new deal with the UFC and was quickly positioned as one of their biggest stars once again, reigniting his feud with Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock and starting a famed rivalry with Forrest Griffin. By 2008, though, things had once again become strained. Ortiz and White – once good friends – had begun to clash, particularly when ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ reneged on a deal to box the promoter in the ring.
The coming month of May saw Ortiz suffer a defeat to Lyoto Machida after previously wearing a t-shirt to taunt White, and with that, it appeared that he’d never return to the octagon. Once again, the former light-heavyweight champion became a highly touted free agent.
Despite being linked to rival promotions like Affliction and Elite XC, though, just over a year later, fans were stunned when Ortiz returned to his old stomping ground again. This time, it was stated that Ortiz had finally buried the hatchet with White, with the president outright stating that ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ would retire in the UFC. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, as he hung up his gloves in 2012 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame shortly after.
Ortiz did make a brief return to Bellator MMA a few years later, but remains cordial with White to this day, something that remains surprising given the black clouds he once departed under.
