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Another year in UFC history is almost over and while 2018 has had some tremendous moments – the 25 year anniversary show in November; Daniel Cormier unifying the Heavyweight and Light-Heavyweight titles in July; the biggest fight in company history between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor in October – it’s also had a lot of controversial ones, too.
The UFC and controversy have always gone hand-in-hand at times, but 2018 has seen some particularly noteworthy moments, largely because of the brash style of UFC President Dana White and the involvement of some larger-than-life characters like McGregor and Brock Lesnar.
Here are the 5 most controversial UFC moments of 2018.
#5 UFC signs Greg Hardy
Since its inception in 2017, Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series has become the best path to make it into the UFC.
Up-and-comers like Sean O’Malley, Maycee Barber and Karl Roberson have all come through the show and are now climbing the ranks in the UFC proper.
But the biggest name to come from DWTNCS has also become one of the most controversial fighters in UFC history – without even officially stepping into the Octagon yet.
In April, it was announced that former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy would be making his professional MMA debut on the show after going 3-0 as an amateur.
A former NFL player entering MMA was nothing new – the likes of Brendan Schaub and Matt Mitrione came from similar backgrounds – but Hardy was a far more controversial figure.
The 6’4”, 265lber had been arrested and charged with a serious domestic assault in 2014 and was eventually found guilty, being sentenced to 18 months probation.
However, Hardy appealed the conviction and when the alleged victim failed to appear in court to testify, the charges were dropped despite plenty of evidence against him.
Despite the UFC having a clear ‘Fighter Conduct Policy’ regarding out-of-cage behaviour that could bring disrepute onto the promotion or fighter, the fact that Hardy was never technically convicted meant that he was a-okay in Dana White’s book.
And after two wins on DWTNCS and a further win on the smaller circuit, he’s now been pegged to make his full Octagon debut in January 2019.
Given the show that he’s set to debut on – the UFC’s first show on ESPN – also features a victim of domestic violence in Rachael Ostovich, we can expect this controversy to continue into 2019 – despite Dana White’s protests to the contrary.
#4 Brock Lesnar returns and challenges Daniel Cormier
One of the biggest pay-per-view draws in UFC history, former UFC Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar initially retired from MMA following a loss to Alistair Overeem back in December 2011.
From there he returned to WWE – the place where he initially became a superstar in the early 2000’s – and it seemed like his time inside the UFC Octagon was over for good.
It came as a huge shock when the UFC announced a return for Lesnar in 2016, just in time for UFC 200, and at first, it looked like ‘The Beast Incarnate’ would have a successful comeback. He defeated Mark Hunt by unanimous decision but subsequently tested positive for a banned substance – the estrogen blocker ostarine.
Due to this, Lesnar was suspended for a year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, fined $250,000, and the result of the Hunt fight was changed to a No Contest.
In early 2017, it was reported that Lesnar would be retiring from MMA for good, and from there he quickly returned to WWE.
That’s why it was such a surprise when Lesnar showed up unexpectedly at UFC 226 – where Stipe Miocic faced Daniel Cormier for the UFC Heavyweight title – and burst into the Octagon post-fight to challenge a victorious Cormier for a title fight at some point in 2019. The move lit up the MMA world but was also hugely controversial.
To allow Lesnar to receive a title shot following years of inactivity – while active fighters had been climbing the ladder – seemed more than a little unfair, but when you threw in the fact that he was coming off a PED suspension – at a time when the UFC was trying to clean the sport up using USADA testing – the whole thing came off pretty badly.
We currently don’t have any confirmation of the Cormier/Lesnar fight, but from all reports, it still appears to be likely for 2019. Expect the controversy around this issue to continue.
#3 UFC trades Demetrious Johnson for Ben Askren; considers cutting the Flyweight division
Before 2018, former Bellator and ONE FC Welterweight champion Ben Askren was usually considered one of the best fighters to never set foot inside the UFC.
‘Funky Ben’ officially retired from MMA in 2017 with a record of 18-0, but remained officially under contract with ONE, meaning any move to the UFC was probably unlikely. Or was it?
In October, rumours suddenly flew in from left field that Askren was on his way to the UFC – and in an unprecedented “trade”, former UFC Flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson was heading in the opposite direction.
In early November, the rumour turned out to be true, and contracts were finalised. Askren will make his UFC debut in 2019, while Johnson seems all set to do the same in ONE.
So why was this controversial? The UFC rarely works with competing promotions, and while plenty of fighters cross from the UFC to Bellator and vice versa, a “trade” in this sense had never been done before – and immediately brought into question whether MMA promoters have too much power over their fighters. But that wasn’t all.
Shortly after the news, another rumour began to float around that with Johnson now outside the promotion, the UFC would be cutting the Flyweight division from their ranks – either forcing the 125lbers to move up to 135lbs or releasing them from their contracts completely.
And while this one hasn’t been confirmed yet – Dana White is remaining tight-lipped – a number of top Flyweights have already been released.
Whether or not the Flyweight division is about to be killed remains a question mark right now but it feels likely, and if that’s the case, it’ll cause some huge controversy as how can the world’s biggest MMA promotion simply choose not to feature a weight class?
We shall see, but for now, the Askren/Johnson trade definitely goes down as one of the most intriguing – and controversial – moments of 2018.
#2 Conor McGregor’s bus attack at UFC 223
UFC 223 was already turning into a strange show before the events of April 5th. The event was supposed to see a new UFC Lightweight champion crowned – Conor McGregor had finally been stripped of the title and Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were supposed to face off to decide the new titleholder.
But Ferguson got injured and so in a strange move, current Featherweight champ Max Holloway was pegged as his replacement against Khabib.
That was just the beginning, though. McGregor’s training partner Artem Lobov was supposed to face Alex Caceres on the undercard of the show, but on April 3rd, he was confronted and threatened by Khabib after making some questionable remarks about how the Russian would favour against McGregor in an interview.
McGregor was furious about the confrontation, and incredibly, he chose to do something about it. Along with some more of his friends, ‘The Notorious One’ flew straight to Brooklyn, and on April 5th, they entered the Barclays Center to confront Nurmagomedov.
Khabib – who had been doing promotional work with the other fighters on the card – was on a bus, and so McGregor and his crew decided to launch an astonishing attack on the vehicle, culminating when the Irishman threw a metal dolly at a window, shattering it.
The attack caused injuries to Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg, forcing their fights on UFC 223 to be cancelled, while Lobov’s fight was cancelled too due to his part in the mayhem.
McGregor was eventually arrested by the NYPD, charged with assault and criminal mischief, and ended up pleading No Contest to a charge of disorderly conduct, resulting in a sentence of community service.
Nothing quite like it had ever happened in MMA before – it was simply one of the wildest incidents in the sport’s history. Perhaps most controversial, though?
The fact that the UFC – after condemning McGregor at the time of the incident – used the footage of the attack to promote the Irishman’s eventual fight with Nurmagomedov – who fought late replacement Al Iaquinta when Holloway was forced out and ended up winning the title.
#1 The UFC 229 brawl
If McGregor’s attack on the bus was controversial, nobody could’ve predicted that it would only be the precursor to an incident even wilder later in 2018.
When the UFC announced that the Irishman would be challenging Khabib Nurmagomedov for the Lightweight title he’d never officially lost at October’s UFC 229, it was billed as the biggest fight in promotional history.
For McGregor, this was simply another chance to cement his legacy – both as the biggest draw in MMA history and also as an all-time great fighter.
For Nurmagomedov, however, it was a lot more than that. McGregor – used to trash-talking the likes of Nate Diaz and Floyd Mayweather – clearly didn’t realise that his Russian opponent was taking his verbal barbs far more seriously than any other previous opponent had done.
Usually, when a fight inside the Octagon ends, so does the rivalry between the two participating fighters. Even bitter feuds like Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva had been settled once the fight was over.
But that wasn’t the case at UFC 229. Nurmagomedov came out on top – submitting McGregor in the fourth round with a neck crank – but he wasn’t done there.
Spotting McGregor’s trash-talking training partner Dillon Danis at cageside, Khabib began to yell at him, and then suddenly clambered up the Octagon fence, and leapt over it into the crowd to attack him.
All hell broke loose as UFC officials tried desperately to restrain Nurmagomedov, but while this was going on, another brawl broke out inside the Octagon as McGregor attacked Khabib’s cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov and was then assaulted in turn by Khabib training partner – and UFC fighter – Zubaira Tukhugov.
Cooler heads finally prevailed – largely once Daniel Cormier entered the cage to calm Khabib down and McGregor had headed backstage – but we’re still feeling the repercussions of this insane event now, as the Nevada State Athletic Commission still haven’t decided on a punishment for the two men – anything up to a 12-month suspension has been mooted.
This wasn’t just the most controversial incident of 2018 – it might well go down as the most controversial incident in UFC history – and its aftershocks will undoubtedly continue for a while yet.
