5 fighters who inadvertently torpedoed their own UFC careers

To make it to the top of the UFC, a fighter doesn't just need skills inside the octagon. They need to have other star qualities too, but sometimes, even that isn't enough.

At times, we've seen examples of talented and popular fighters who managed to inadvertently torpedo their own UFC career, usually with one mistake.

Sometimes these mistakes came inside the octagon, but more often than not, they took place outside of competition entirely.

With that in mind, here are five fighters who inadvertently torpedoed their own UFC careers.

#5 Miguel Torres - former UFC bantamweight contender

When the UFC absorbed the roster of the WEC in early 2011, one of the fighters fans were most excited to see in the octagon was Miguel Torres.

Torres had held the WEC's bantamweight title from 2008 to 2010 and was widely considered a pound-for-pound great. He'd lost his title to Brian Bowles, but before heading to the octagon, had bounced back with a win over Charlie Valencia.

Torres made good on his octagon debut by brushing aside veteran Antonio Banuelos, and then lost a contentious split decision to future flyweight king Demetrious Johnson.

Had that decision gone the other way, Torres could well have fought for the UFC bantamweight title. Unfortunately, things went very wrong for him.

The former WEC champ beat Nick Pace in November 2011, but weeks later, was abruptly released from his contract.

The reasoning? A very ill-advised Twitter post cracking a tasteless joke about r*pe.

Torres apologized for the infraction and was brought back by Dana White a few weeks later, but after a knockout loss to Michael McDonald in 2012, found himself released again.

It initially appeared that Torres' loss had led to his release, but later, it emerged that another ill-advised Twitter joke was to blame.

It's doubtful that Torres would've claimed gold in the octagon as he had in the WEC, but he could definitely have gone onto a strong career with the promotion.

As a bantamweight pioneer, he could even have found himself inducted into the Hall of Fame. Essentially, it's safe to say that he torpedoed his own career entirely with his ill-advised Twitter posts.

#4 Todd Duffee - former UFC heavyweight contender

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In the eyes of many fans, Todd Duffee remains one of the biggest missed opportunities in UFC history.

The holder of the fastest knockout in the history of the heavyweight division, Duffee burst onto the scene in 2009 with that seven-second knockout of Tim Hague. Based on that, he looked destined for stardom.

The general consensus, though, is that injuries wrecked the big man's career, and there's definitely an argument for that. After all, he was forced out of a ridiculous number of fights over the years for health issues.

However, there's also an argument that Duffee sabotaged his own career with his actions back in 2010, prior to his list of injury problems.

At the time, the heavyweight prospect was coming off a shock loss to Mike Russow, but still appeared to have a hugely bright future. That was until he was suddenly cut from his contract by Dana White in the latter part of the year.

According to White, Duffee had an attitude problem, and "didn't like being in the UFC."

Various rumors swirled around as to what Duffee had done wrong, with the general, albeit unproven consensus being that he'd complained about his pay behind the scenes.

Either way, he'd arguably torpedoed his own career with the promotion, and spent the next two years on the outside looking in, when he could've been building himself as a genuine star.

Duffee did return in 2012, but by that point, the injuries had kicked in, and he never did reach his massive potential.

#3 Josh Barnett - former UFC heavyweight champion

The spectre of performance enhancing drugs is one that has hung over the UFC essentially since day one. The list of fighters who have tested positive for them over the years is an exhaustive one.

However, perhaps the most infamous case of a fighter torpedoing their career with the promotion due to their PED use remains former heavyweight champ Josh Barnett.

'The Warmaster' put together a 4-1 record in the octagon coming into 2002, setting him up for a shot at then-heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

In the biggest fight of his career to that point, Barnett duly dispatched 'The Natural' to claim the title, and at the age of just 25, appeared to have the world at his feet.

Unfortunately, disaster struck when 'The Warmaster' tested positive for a cocktail of banned substances after the fight. Despite pleading his innocence, Barnett was suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and was also stripped of his title.

Worse was to come, though, when it emerged that he'd actually tested positive after his previous fight, too, but had only received a warning from the NSAC.

This revelation essentially made his cries of innocence seem questionable - and as a result, Dana White effectively banned him from the UFC.

Barnett did return, but not until 2013, over a decade after his title win and after his prime years had largely ended. Had he given a full confession, as other fighters had, he may have remained with the promotion. As it was, he effectively torpedoed his own career with them.

#2 Paul Daley - former UFC welterweight contender

Thus far, all of the fighters on this list saw their careers with the UFC crash due to their actions outside the octagon. The same cannot be said for former welterweight contender Paul Daley.

A confident, trash-talking striker from England, 'Semtex' moved to the promotion from Affliction MMA in late 2009, and instantly made a mark. He stopped respected contender Martin Kampmann in his octagon debut, and then followed that with a vicious knockout of Dustin Hazelett.

With massive hype behind him, Daley was then matched with Josh Koscheck in what was considered a title eliminator. With both men being renowned for their trash talk and attitude, the fight quickly became a grudge match, too.

Unfortunately for 'Semtex', his explosive kickboxing proved to be no match for Koscheck's wrestling. The former TUF 1 contestant essentially outgrappled Daley for three straight rounds, and at the end of the third, he couldn't resist whispering some trash talk to his English foe.

That was enough for Daley to explode, and as the final buzzer ended and the fighters stood, 'Semtex' cracked Koscheck with a right hand sucker punch before being restrained by the referee.

Everyone was aghast at his behavior, and it came as no surprise when Dana White not only released him from his contract, but also banned him from the UFC for life.

Unlike many other fighters, in this case, White has stuck to his word, and 'Semtex' has never returned to the octagon. The British striker remains a prime example of a fighter who absolutely torpedoed his own career with the promotion.

#1 Nate Marquardt - former UFC middleweight contender

While he never claimed gold in the promotion and was even labelled a "choker" by Dana White at one stage, Nate Marquardt was undoubtedly one of the UFC's top stars of the late 2000's.

Unfortunately, 'Nate the Great' torpedoed his career with the promotion right before he embarked on what would've been a fascinating new chapter for him at 170 pounds, and things were never quite the same again.

By 2011, Marquardt had been a staple of the middleweight division for years, but had fallen out of the title picture due to a couple of key losses. Therefore, he decided to make the move to welterweight, hoping to line himself up for a title run there instead.

Matched with surging prospect Rick Story in his first fight in his new weight class, had Marquardt won, a shot at the gold would probably have been within his grasp.

However, just one day before the bout - which was set to headline a big Fight Night event on the Versus network - 'Nate the Great' was unexpectedly forced out.

The official story was that Marquardt had not been medically cleared by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission.

This announcement set off all kinds of rumors, but things took a turn when Dana White abruptly announced that the former middleweight title challenger had also been cut from his contract.

Unable to give the exact reason for the issue, White implored Marquardt to "man up" and tell the world why he'd failed his medicals, while also stating that he'd never fight in the UFC again.

As it turned out, 'Nate the Great' was one of the first fighters to fall foul of MMA's testosterone replacement therapy scandal. Essentially, Marquardt had received the treatment in the build-up to the bout, only for his testosterone levels to spike far too highly to be cleared to fight.

TRT would eventually be banned by the sport a couple of years later, but while other fighters continued to receive the treatment, Marquardt's career with the promotion was done.

He did return two years later, but by that point, he wasn't quite the same fighter. Had he not torpedoed his career, though, he could well have moved into welterweight title contention - making him a major "what if" question in UFC history.