5 enduring UFC myths - busted

#3 Tra Telligman died after suffering a knockout loss at UFC 54

Did Tra Telligman really die after his fight with Tim Sylvia? Well, no.

Modern-day MMA prides itself on being a highly safe sport, and indeed, while there have been a small handful of deaths that directly followed fights, none have taken place inside the UFC. However, an enduring myth would suggest that this isn’t the case.

This myth suggests that a fighter was killed during his fight at UFC 54 – which took place in Las Vegas in August 2005 – and that the UFC covered up the incident following the event. Thankfully though, despite this story spreading like wildfire around various MMA forums, it simply isn’t true.

The fight in question saw veteran Tra Telligman stepping in on late notice to fight former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. The contest saw Telligman struggling with the reach of the 6’8” Sylvia. And in the dying seconds of the first round, ‘The Maine-iac’ caught him with a head kick and sent him crashing to the ground.

Telligman was clearly unconscious, and naturally, the fight was stopped, with referee Herb Dean quickly removing his mouthpiece to prevent him from swallowing his tongue. And indeed, the UFC did cut away as the veteran was removed from the Octagon strapped to a spineboard.

However, cutting away from an unconscious fighter to show their victorious opponent is customary for any MMA promotion. While Telligman was never brought back to the UFC, the stories of his death were far-fetched.

In fact, while he did retire from competition following the bout, ‘Trauma’ continued to coach budding fighters. And by 2007, anyone believing the myth would simply have needed to check out Chuck Norris’ World Combat League – where Telligman coached the Texas Dragons – to see that they’d been hoodwinked.

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#4 The UFC paid TJ Grant to fake a concussion in order to insert Anthony Pettis into UFC 164’s main event

A concussion sidelined TJ Grant in 2013, but a myth would have you believe otherwise.

UFC 164 took place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August 2013, and in the event’s main event, Anthony Pettis submitted Benson Henderson to claim the UFC Lightweight title. However, had things gone to plan, Pettis wouldn’t have been involved in the fight in the first place.

That’s because ‘Showtime’ wasn’t actually the number one contender for the title at the time – Canadian TJ Grant was. Grant had won five fights in a row – including a KO of former top contender Gray Maynard – to earn his shot. And the UFC had even produced posters for the event advertising his fight with Henderson.

However, with weeks to go before the event, Grant was forced out of the fight due to an injury. Pettis stepped in, and the rest is history. But a classic myth suggests that the UFC, rather than an injury, were responsible for Grant’s removal.

According to the myth, the UFC preferred to book a rematch of Henderson’s classic WEC fight with Pettis than allow Grant to fight the champion. And so they paid off the Canadian to fake an injury and remove himself from the running.

Of course, that’s simply not true. In fact, Grant had suffered a severe concussion – and even spoke out to deny the conspiracy theory at the time via Twitter. And in fact, the UFC did attempt to book Grant into a title fight with Pettis in December 2013 – only for the Canadian to back out as he still hadn’t recovered.

Grant has since retired from MMA altogether, as he’s been unable to recover from the issue – surely putting this myth to bed for good.

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#5 The UFC cut Matt Lindland to protect Rich Franklin

The UFC's release of Matt Lindland in 2005 caused plenty of controversy.

Current UFC fans might not recognize the name Matt Lindland, but rewind to the early to mid-2000s, and ‘The Law’ was considered one of the top Middleweight contenders in the world. However, despite being considered the top contender to Rich Franklin’s UFC title at the time, Lindland was cut from the promotion in August 2005.

Why did this happen? One myth suggests that the UFC were worried that Lindland would unseat ‘Ace’ and take his title away. And with the promotion backing Franklin as one of their poster-boys, they simply felt it would be easier to get rid of Lindland altogether than risk the situation arising.

Incredibly, one of the biggest proponents of this myth was Lindland himself. He even went to the lengths of having a documentary produced about his fighting career – with the trailer outright accusing the UFC of releasing him due to “politics” and suggesting he could’ve been the champion otherwise.

However, regardless of how Lindland’s supporters felt, that wasn’t really the case. Sure, Lindland’s fighting style was sometimes considered dull, and so the UFC may not have gotten behind him all that heavily. But the truth is that when he was placed in a number o contender’s bout – in 2004 against David Terrell – he was knocked out.

As for his release? Well, it wasn’t anything to do with his fighting style. Instead, reports at the time confirmed that ‘The Law’ was, in fact, cut for wearing a t-shirt that displayed the logo of gambling website Sportsbook.com. This was considered both a conflict of interest and a potential breach of his contract – more than a valid reason for his release.

Would Lindland have beaten Franklin? Who knows. The likely answer is probably not, but it hasn’t stopped this crazy myth from persisting over the years.