5 MMA fights that might have been fixed

Fixing of events is something that has plagued the sports industry for aeons now, and there is very little that can actually be done to weed out the corruption. Right from the infamous Calciopoli scandal which rocked Italian football to the numerous match-fixing claims to hit cricket, boxing and even tennis, great competitors and teams have been disgraced by the revelations of their actions.

Fighting sports have always borne the brunt of fixing issues due to the incredible amounts of money at stake – both in the ring and more importantly, at the betting houses. Like they say, it’s easy to bet when you already know the outcome.

While boxing might be the sport most affected by fixed fights, MMA is no different, with umpteen allegations of fights being fixed from the time of conception to as recently as last month.

With that in mind, we take a look at 5 fights that might well have been fixed:

#5 Bob Sapp vs. Everyone

In a time where the MMA community prides itself on legitimacy, Bob Sapp is single-handedly attempting to destroy it.

Sapp was originally quite a legit fighter and made a decent name for himself as a tough big man. Standing at 6’5” and weighing 300 pounds, it’s easy to see that Sapp had the physical gift needed to succeed in MMA and started off quite brightly.

Those days are long gone, though, as Sapp has lost his last 13 fights, and they’re all the same. Every. Single. Time. Sapp attempts a weak takedown, takes a punch, goes down, and then taps out to strikes.

When questioned on this, he says that he “will not go into the ring and receive large amounts of damage for small paychecks.” The saddest part about this is that the man shows no remorse for this actions and still receives fights to this day.

#4 Mark Coleman vs. Nobuhiko Takada

The infamous Hell Hook

Mark Coleman is a pretty big deal. He is called “The Godfather of Ground and Pound” for coining the term “ground and pound” and being the first wrestler to dominate using that style. He was even inducted into the Hall of Fame at UFC 82. This is why it’s an absolute shock to see Coleman on this list for his fight against Nobuhiko Takada at Pride FC 5 in 1999.

As we have already established, Coleman is one hell of an accomplished wrestler and when he took Takada down during their clash, for some reason he refused to pass the Japanese fighter’s guard despite ample opportunity to do so, choosing instead to punch him in the thigh.

The final course in this fixed meal is when Coleman “got caught” in a Heel Hook by Takada and then proceeded to dramatically wave his hands like this was the WWE and Ric Flair had him in the figure-four before finally tapping out. Here’s the fight:

#3 Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn II

Ahh yes, the most infamous fight from the early years of the UFC. This was the fight where Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock were forced to fight without throwing a single punch at each other. Yes, you read that right.

Some historical context here: In the early days of the UFC, MMA was seen as little more than a street fight and there was interest in keeping the sport from gaining legality and regulation. This was indeed the agenda of Senator John McCain who nearly stopped this fight from happening.

In order to make MMA appear more civilised, then UFC-owner Bob Meyrowitz told referee “Big” John McCarthy to make punching illegal during the bout.

And these two men, later on, faced each other inside a WWE ring. Go figure.

#2 Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock

Surprised "Big”John McCarthy didn't pick up on the weirdness in this fight

Kimbo Slice, may he rest in peace, was a guy who really made it all about living your dreams, as he went from unknown streetfighter to an actual MMA fighter who entered the Octagon. Ken Shamrock is a bonafide MMA legend, who was known as one of the toughest men on the planet for his run in both MMA and pro-wrestling.

That’s what it makes it so surprising to see this fight on the list.

In one of the weirdest fights of all time, the two men spent the first minute of Round 1 just talking. Then they proceeded to take each other down with consummate ease – to the point where it looked like Kimbo was just falling over really – and yet, they weren’t really doing any damage to each other.

It’s one of the strangest fights of all-time and Joe Rogan even called this bout at Bellator 138, “Fake as fu**”.

#1 Chael Sonnen vs. Tito Ortiz

The latest fixed fight to muddy the reputation of MMA

This one happened just last month. Bellator 170's main event pitted the original trash talker, Chael Sonnen, against the retiring Tito Ortiz. It was meant to be a big deal. The two spent the entire build up the fight embroiled in a vicious war of words, with Sonnen even taking shots at Ortiz's ex-girlfriend.

Everything was primed to make this an epic send off for Ortiz. Then the fight happened.

A 2-1 underdog, Ortiz managed to come back from an early Sonnen choke attempt – where it really looked like he tapped twice – to pick up the win with a choke of his own. What makes this even stranger is that Sonnen kind of rolls into Ortiz's choke.

While there have been many people who have leapt to the defence of Ortiz and Sonnen, including UFC president, Dana White, it's still difficult to believe this wasn't a fix.

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Edited by Staff Editor