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To make it in the UFC, one needs to have ruthless aggression. Fighting without fear requires a certain level of inner-fire that most people simply do not possess. With months of prepping both body and mind, many fighters come into the octagon with tunnel-vision focus and bad intentions.
Of course, there are other times when things are simply taken too far in the build-up to a fight. In turn, the aggression displayed in the ring is far more than a psychological commitment to the craft. A personal anger has taken root and, most of the time, it can only be quashed by a dominant win over the offender.
For the many times a furious fighter has come undone, there are those whose anger drove them to new peaks in performance.
Here are five UFC fighters who channeled their rage successfully in the octagon:
#5. Ronda Rousey at UFC 190
Heading into UFC 190, ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey was nothing short of furious. The then-UFC women’s bantamweight champ had been on the receiving end of Bethe Correia’s brand of trash talk. Almost everyone watching at the time condemned Correia for her comments.
At just eight years old, Rousey lost her father after he tragically decided to take his own life. Looking to get under the champ’s skin, Correia buried Rousey in interviews, questioning her work ethic, commitment and psychological strength ahead of their bout.
During one such rant, Correia even signed off with:
“She is not mentally healthy, she needs to take care of herself. She is winning, so everybody is around her cheering her up, but when she realizes she is not everything that she believes she is, I don't know what might happen. I hope she does not kill herself later on.”
Correia found herself on the receiving end of a knockout punch 34 seconds into round one. It’s safe to say her psychological warfare had the polar opposite of its desired effect.
#4. Stipe Miocic at UFC 220
At UFC 220, Stipe Miocic cemented his name as the greatest UFC heavyweight champion of all time. By beating Francis Ngannou, the firefighter set a new record for consecutive heavyweight title defenses at three.
Far from being overjoyed as one might expect, it was clear Miocic was in a foul mood before, during and after the fight. Heading into the battle, Ngannou had received heavy promotion as the next big thing in heavyweight fighting. Miocic, meanwhile, received almost nothing in comparison despite being the champ. This was the final straw for the pride of Cleveland.
His UFC 203 defense earned him less money than it did his unsuccessful challenger, Alistair Overeem. The lack of recognition heading into UFC 220 was the cherry on top of years of frustration with Dana White and the promotion as a whole.
Fed up, Miocic proved why the UFC had it all wrong when he expertly dismantled ‘The Predator’ over five rounds. The chip on Miocic’s shoulder was all the motivation he needed to get the job done against the UFC’s scariest knockout artist. Still miffed with UFC president Dana White, Miocic had his coach put the belt around his waist post-fight instead.
#3. Anderson Silva at UFC 148
Chael Sonnen's interminable spoofing of Anderson Silva heading into their UFC 148 rematch struck a chord with ‘The Spider’. As Sonnen made a mockery of every aspect of Silva’s life and career, the Brazilian remained quiet. That was, at least, until a media call just one month before the show.
In regards to Sonnen’s antics and their upcoming fight, Silva said:
“Chael Sonnen's going to get his ass kicked like he's never gotten his ass kicked before. What I'm going to do inside the Octagon is something that's going to change the image of the sport. This is going to be violent and I am sorry. I'm going to make sure that every one of his teeth are broken, that his arms are broken and his legs are broken. He's not going to be able to walk out of the Octagon by himself. I can guarantee that. He will need a plastic surgeon afterwards. And I know that he's listening, so the game's over. No more s*** talking. It's on now."
The normally cool and collected Silva’s comments came as quite a shock at the time. It was clear that Sonnen had pushed the then-UFC middleweight champion too far.
Despite being struck by Sonnen a whopping 289 times during their UFC 117 fight, Silva dominated the rematch from start to finish. In a blazing display of skill and confidence, ‘The Spider’ crushed ‘The American Gangster’ via TKO less than two minutes into round two.
#2. Dan Henderson at UFC 100
Of the many classic moments from UFC 100, this one might just take the cake. As TUF 29 has been showing us lately, reality TV is a quick way to guarantee beef between fighters. For Dan Henderson, there have been few occurrences in his career more infuriating than coaching opposite Michael Bisping.
For the first time in TUF history, the UFC moved ahead with a nation vs nation theme. Henderson’s team represented the US while Bisping’s team represented the UK. Ultimately, Bisping’s crew dominated the proceedings, much to the former Olympic wrestler’s chagrin.
The two coaches bickered throughout the season’s duration. ‘The Count’ trash-talked Henderson as the show wore on, constantly displaying his knack for witty zingers at his rival’s expense. Clearly beyond infuriated by the time UFC 100 rolled in, ‘Hendo’ obliterated Bisping with an iconic knockout punch in round two. The knockout remains a highlight-reel favorite to this day.
Despite more than 10 years and a rematch to boot, the bad blood remains between these two. In fact, it seems both are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to take shots at one another.
#1. Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229
This one almost goes without saying. UFC 229 was an immensely dark day for Conor McGregor and his very vocal fanbase. From the bizarre New York bus assault incident to McGregor’s relentless trash talk, the build up to UFC 229 was just plain wild.
For the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov, having his career, family, religion, heritage and just about everything else under the sun insulted was too much. Quite understandable really. Despite remaining relatively low key and reserved in the face of an increasingly maddened McGregor, ‘The Eagle’ was boiling over.
After four rounds of dissecting the UFC’s biggest ever star, Khabib extracted the tap from ‘The Notorious’ with a brutal neck crank. Far from done, the incensed Nurmagomedov went to war with McGregor’s team in the aftermath, leading to a riotous post-fight brawl.
It became clear that Nurmagomedov had been bottling his rage for months. At UFC 229, he poured all of his anger into his performance in the octagon. In the process, he put on a fighting clinic bell-to-bell and further cemented his status as the greatest lightweight fighter in UFC history.
