5 Most controversial UFC moments of the decade (2010-2019)

#4 The UFC 178 press conference brawl

The press conference for the fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier turned nasty

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.