5 of the weirdest moments in UFC history

The UFC might sell itself as a pretty serious sport, full of bad blood, heated rivalries and fighters doing their best to get to a level where they can win a UFC world title, but despite this, there have been plenty of weird and comedic moments over the years.

Now, I’m not talking about intentionally comical moments like the time Tom Lawlor walked to the Octagon to Who Let The Dogs Out? with fellow fighter Seth Petruzelli on a lead – I’m talking more about unintentional moments that were hilarious, often for all the wrong reasons. I’m talking seriously weird comedic incidents.

Here are 5 of the most hilariously weird moments in UFC history.

#1 Rousimar Palhares celebrates a bit too early

Rousimar Palhares celebrated his win against Dan Miller a little too early

Brazilian leglock master Rousimar ‘Toquinho’ Palhares caused plenty of strange moments during his 5-year run in the UFC, including sobbing on his way to the Octagon for his fight with Jeremy Horn, and two instances that saw him refuse to release heel hooks on his opponents – the second of which earned him his release from the company.

Undoubtedly his strangest moment came at UFC 134, though – the UFC’s first time returning to his home country of Brazil in over a decade. Faced with fellow grappler Jim Miller, Palhares surprised everyone by showcasing his striking skills, and late in the first round, he nailed Miller with a head kick that folded the American up.

A few punches later, and Palhares figured he’d sealed the deal – and promptly leapt onto the Octagon fence in celebration. Except referee Herb Dean hadn’t stopped the fight at all. Cue mayhem as Miller staggered to his feet while Dean had to persuade Palhares to come down from the fence to continue the fight.

Seconds later – in an equally crazy moment – the still-wobbly Miller dropped Palhares with a combination of his own, but the Brazilian recovered quickly and slammed him to the ground, before outworking him over the next two rounds to win a clear unanimous decision.

At the end of the fight though, the only moment people were talking about was the weird incident that saw ‘Toquinho’ attempt to call his own stoppage.

Sure, a similar incident happened a few years later when Anderson Silva prematurely celebrated when he knocked Michael Bisping down, but at least that moment occurred as a round ended. Here, lord only knows what Palhares was thinking.

#2 Diego Sanchez: Vampire Hunter

One of the most popular fighters in UFC history, part of the reason that Diego Sanchez has always drawn in so many fans is his total eccentricity. Whether we’re talking about his early UFC outings that saw him enter to a Mariachi band, to his Tony Robbins-inspired “yes!” chants, or his random association with attempting to use stevia to “purify” water, Diego’s always had a certain amount of craziness around him.

The ultimate example of this craziness, though, had to be prior to his 2012 fight with Jake Ellenberger. Sure, Diego’s walk-outs were always a bit crazy, but this fight saw his eccentricity hit another level entirely. As a piece of music inspired by Psalms 150 began to play, Diego came walking out holding a massive, oversized crucifix up in front of him, while ranting about lord only knows what.

Okay, so Diego had never made his belief in God and the Christian faith a secret, as he could be seen praying before his very early fights as far back as 2005. But quite why he would choose to show this by holding a giant crucifix – looking more like a vampire hunter than an MMA fighter – is anyone’s guess. Perhaps he somehow believed Ellenberger was a descendent of Count Dracula?

At any rate, the eccentric entrance, unfortunately, didn’t help him, as, despite a late rally that turned the fight into an instant classic, he lost a unanimous decision to ‘The Juggernaut’. The loss thankfully didn’t change Diego’s wacky personality – although he hasn’t brought out the giant crucifix for any of his subsequent fights.

#3 Dennis Hallman’s speedo

Dennis Hallman shocked everyone with his cage attire at UFC 133

Prior to 2011’s UFC 133, veteran Dennis Hallman had never shown any signs of being anything but a pretty serious fighter inside the Octagon. An expert grappler, Hallman was best known for two wins over legendary Welterweight champion Matt Hughes, and by 2011 he was on his fifth UFC stint, where he’d put together a 2-1 record in the Octagon.

Booked against a fellow veteran of the regional circuit – relative UFC newcomer Brian Ebersole – Hallman’s fight at UFC 133 wasn’t expected to cause many headlines after the event. That was until he entered the cage, though. In a moment that baffled the fans and UFC officials alike, Hallman disrobed to reveal a tiny blue speedo as his fight attire.

The horrified crowd then had to watch as Hallman dominated the early going in the fight, taking Ebersole’s back – which caused his testicles to fall out of the speedo for a brief period. Thankfully for everyone watching, Ebersole quickly escaped the position and went on to finish Hallman with a series of elbows late in the round.

Although Hallman later explained the incident by admitting he wore the speedo after losing a bet, UFC President Dana White was so horrified that not only did he call for more regulation when it came to fight attire – a wish that eventually led to the current Reebok deal – but he also awarded Ebersole a special post-fight bonus for “getting those horrifying shorts off TV so quickly”.

Thankfully, no other fighter has worn such inappropriate attire in the years that followed this incident – and nobody else’s testicles have been exposed on a UFC pay-per-view either.

#4 Derrick Lewis removes his shorts

Remember on the last slide when I mentioned that nobody else’s testicles had been exposed on a UFC pay-per-view since Dennis Hallman’s in 2011? Well, we may have come closer than anyone knew at UFC 229 when Derrick Lewis decided to strip down following his miraculous comeback win over Alexander Volkov.

Lewis – always an entertaining figure, particularly in his post-fight interviews – had come back from two rounds in the hole to land a big right hand and knock Volkov out with just seconds remaining in the fight, but everyone watching was baffled when ‘The Black Beast’ decided to remove his fight shorts, leaving him in just a pair of boxer shorts – thankfully not anything too skimpy.

It was Lewis’s explanation that made the moment so bizarre and hilarious, though. When asked by Joe Rogan to tell the crowd why he’d taken his shorts off, Lewis came back with a simple answer. Apparently, his b***s were hot. I guess no further explanation was needed.

Lewis could easily have made this list for a couple of his other post-fight interviews – after beating Travis Browne he claimed he wasn’t hurt by a body kick, he just “needed to sh*t”, and after his win over Marcin Tybura, he promised to “go deep” with his wife later that night. But it’s the UFC 229 incident that stands out – and it’s helped Lewis to become a cult hero to the UFC fanbase, too.

#5 Tim Sylvia’s little accident

Tim Sylvia had an unfortunate accident in his shorts in 2006

UFC Fight Night 3 in early 2006 saw a main event between former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and PRIDE veteran and feared striker Assuerio Silva. A member of the famed Chute Boxe academy, nobody could deny that Silva was an intimidating opponent for anyone – but nobody expected Sylvia to show any fear.

Well, it turned out that ‘The Maine-iac’ wasn’t at all afraid of Silva, as he firmly outworked him over three rounds to take a unanimous decision. Unfortunately for Sylvia though, if you’d checked his shorts after the fight, you’d be forgiven for assuming that he was absolutely terrified of his opponent.

Why? Sylvia had literally sh*t himself during the fight.

Later on, the former champion admitted that he’d been very sick leading into the fight, and had problems holding his innards – to the point that when Silva attempted to jump into guard in the second round and pulled Sylvia’s shorts down slightly, a brown stain could clearly be seen on his underwear.

It was a horrifying and weird moment – as well as a highly embarrassing one for Sylvia, who went on to recapture the Heavyweight title a couple of months later. Unfortunately though for some fans at least, the incident that saw Sylvia loosen his bowels during a fight was more memorable than anything else he did during his UFC career.