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The UFC has grown massively in the last decade, moving from Spike TV to Fox and now to the ESPN network, and along the way, the promotion has sold millions of pay-per-views thanks to superstar headliners like Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Georges St-Pierre.
Unfortunately for Dana White and company, the decade between 2010 and 2019 has also seen its fair share of controversial moments. And while some of them have taken place behind the scenes – such as the controversial lawsuit aimed at the promotion by disgruntled former fighters, and the myriad failed drug tests by numerous fighters – some have happened on the biggest stage.
Here are five of the most controversial moments to take place in the UFC in the last decade (2010-2019).
#5 Colby Covington insults Brazil
It seems hard to believe it now, but Colby Covington – recognised these days as perhaps the UFC’s most outspoken fighter – was once a prospect who was flying largely under the radar due to a lack of a marketable personality. By late 2017, ‘Chaos’ was 7-1 in the UFC and had beaten a legitimate contender in Dong Hyun Kim, but due to his wrestling-heavy style and lack of character, he was still the Welterweight division’s forgotten man.
That all changed when Covington stepped into Sao Paulo, Brazil to fight Brazilian legend Demian Maia. ‘Chaos’ produced arguably a career-best performance to beat the veteran, but what really put him on the map – and transformed him into one of the UFC’s most notable fighters – was his post-fight tirade.
Covington labelled Brazil a “dump” before stating that the fans in Sao Paulo were all “filthy animals” – causing them to shower the Octagon with boos before attempting to pelt him with trash as he headed backstage. The former standout wrestler refused any attempts to make him apologise, too – instead apologising to “filthy animals” for comparing them to the people of Sao Paulo!
Eventually the UFC had to place security at Covington’s hotel to protect him from the angry locals, and the promotion then had to change their plans for a Covington/Rafael Dos Anjos fight in 2018, moving it away from the Rio de Janeiro-based UFC 224 due to safety concerns.
Since then Covington has embraced his outspoken persona, going on tirades constantly and even throwing in some Donald Trump-inspired rhetoric. But it all started with that seriously controversial rant in Brazil – one that made him the most hated man in Sao Paulo.
#4 The UFC 178 press conference brawl
The first meeting between UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his bitter rival Daniel Cormier didn’t even end up taking place at September 2014’s UFC 178 following an injury to Jones, but while the eventual fight at UFC 182 was a highly anticipated one, it might’ve been even more heated had it taken place as originally scheduled.
That’s because the UFC fans had been treated to an incredibly controversial moment during a press conference for UFC 178, as a staredown between the two Light-Heavyweight rivals turned ugly – and broke out into an outright brawl. Sure, we’d seen plenty of heated staredowns before, with the odd shove or clash of heads, but until this press conference, none of them had turned completely violent.
In this instance though, Cormier took exception to Jones leaning his forehead a little too far forward, and shoved the champion. ‘Bones’, evidently taking the rivalry extremely seriously, decided to throw a flurry of punches at ‘DC’, sending him stumbling backwards before the two men careened off the side of the stage. In the midst of the chaos, UFC exec Dave Sholler was sent tumbling off the back of the stage and into a backdrop.
The ugly scenes didn’t end there, as even when the fighters were finally parted, Cormier launched his shoe towards Jones, missing his intended target and instead hitting a reporter. The incident remains the only time that a pre-fight press conference has gotten physical – and despite the lack of ramifications for the two men, it certainly remains one of the UFC’s most controversial moments.
#3 Paul Daley’s sucker punch
UFC President Dana White has been known to throw his fighters under the bus, but for the most part – if he thinks they can benefit his promotion – he’s always willing to bury the hatchet, even with the likes of Tito Ortiz, who he feuded bitterly with for years. Back in 2010 though, one fighter was jettisoned by the UFC, and in this case, White has stuck to his word and never brought him back.
The fighter in question? British striker Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley, who was on the verge of capturing a Welterweight title shot when he fought Josh Koscheck in the semi-main event of UFC 113. The winner of the fight was pegged to face champion Georges St-Pierre, but in this match of striker vs. grappler, it was Koscheck – the grappler – who came out on top, as he used his stellar wrestling to grind Daley out for a clear-cut decision.
Daley didn’t like Koscheck’s style, and he almost certainly didn’t like his opponent’s post-fight trash talk. And so ‘Semtex’ decided to take matters into his own hands, and as Koscheck celebrated, the Brit rushed him from behind and hit him with a shameful sucker punch. Referee Dan Miragliotta quickly restrained him before more strikes could be thrown, but despite Koscheck not really being hurt, the damage – to Daley’s UFC career at least – was done.
Nobody had ever attacked an opponent after the final buzzer before Daley; MMA had always been a sport built on respect between martial artists and professional athletes, and this went entirely against that credo. It came as no surprise then that Daley was instantly released and has never returned – and the moment remains controversial to this day.
#2 The UFC 229 post-fight brawl
The feud between Lightweight superstars Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov had already boiled over by the time the duo met for Nurmagomedov’s UFC Lightweight title in October 2018 – more on that later – but nobody could’ve expected the controversy that occurred once their fight was over.
The fight ended in the fourth round, as ‘The Eagle’ secured a neck crank on the Irishman and forced him to submit, but evidently making McGregor tap out wasn’t enough for the Dagestani – who had taken all kinds of insults from ‘The Notorious One’ during the build to the fight. And so a snarling Khabib scaled the Octagon fence – and promptly leapt into the crowd to attack McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis.
Chaos then ensued as while security attempted to separate Nurmagomedov and Danis, McGregor was involved in an angry scuffle with two of the Dagestani’s cornermen, UFC fighters Abubakar Nurmagomedov and Zubaira Tukhugov, with punches being exchanged between all parties. The brawl was eventually calmed, but the situation had become so bad that UFC President Dana White refused to present Nurmagomedov with his title belt.
In the end, all of the involved parties were suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for lengthy periods for their part in the controversial incident, and the UFC was left red-faced following its own equivalent of StrikeForce’s notorious ‘Nashville Brawl’ back in 2010.
#1 Conor McGregor’s bus attack
Six months before the wild brawl at UFC 229, the feud between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov reached a crescendo with what was truly the most controversial – and one of the most shameful – moments of the decade for the UFC. Nurmagomedov was all set to fight Max Holloway – who was eventually replaced by Al Iaquinta – for the vacant UFC Lightweight title at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York.
Prior to the event though, ‘The Eagle’ and some of his teammates decided to confront Artem Lobov – a training partner of McGregor’s who was also booked on the card – about some comments he’d made regarding a potential Khabib/McGregor fight. At worst it was slightly threatening, and to say the reaction from ‘The Notorious One’ and his team was too severe would be an understatement.
McGregor and a number of teammates immediately flew out to Brooklyn, and following a press conference, they showed up at the Barclays Arena and launched a shocking attack on a bus that was carrying Nurmagomedov, two of his teammates – and numerous other UFC fighters who were scheduled on the card.
The incident was so stunning that Al Iaquinta, who was on the bus, compared it to a terrorist attack. The assault came to a head when McGregor launched a metal dolly at the bus, smashing one of its windows. Eventually the Irishman and his crew made an exit, and would eventually turn themselves into the New York Police Department.
The ramifications of the incident were huge; Lobov was immediately removed from the card for his part in the incident, while both Michael Chiesa and Ray Borg were also pulled out of their respective fights due to injuries sustained in the attack related to the broken window.
As for McGregor, he was charged with three counts of assault and one count of criminal mischief – eventually pleading a no contest before being sentenced to five days of community service. No feud in the UFC prior to this one had ever led to an outright criminal act like this one – and that’s why this incident was easily the most controversial of the decade.
