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One of the UFC’s lesser-known rules regards timidity. In the Unified Rules of MMA, it’s actually illegal to refuse to engage your opponent inside the octagon.
Despite this rule, over the years we’ve seen a number of UFC fighters who found themselves accused of literally running away from their opponents during a fight.
Whether they were actually guilty of such an accusation, of course, is up for debate. On a number of occasions, sour grapes could’ve been blamed for the claim.
Here, then, are five UFC fighters who have been accused of literally running away from their opponents.
#5. Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero – UFC 248
The most recent example of a fighter who was accused of running away from their opponent involves reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
‘The Last Stylebender’ has been accused on numerous occasions of being a little too safety-first in his approach. But until recently, he was never outright criticized for running away from an opponent entirely.
That changed a few days ago, when Yoel Romero – who was defeated by Adesanya in their title bout back in early 2020 – slammed the Nigerian-New Zealander for his approach in the clash.
There’s no denying that the fight wasn’t exactly a great one as the two men combined for just 90 strikes in total across five rounds. While Adesanya came away with a decision win, he hardly covered himself in glory.
However, after ‘The Last Stylebender’ recently put most of the blame on Romero for the bad fight, ‘The Soldier of God’ hit back. He claimed that Adesanya ran away from him as soon as he “felt his power." He then went on to accuse the champion of being unwilling to exchange blows, labeling him as “pampered.”
Whether Adesanya will fire back at these accusations remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say that Romero still hasn’t let the defeat go, even well over two years down the line.
#4. Carlos Condit vs. Nick Diaz – UFC 143
When Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz met for the interim welterweight title at UFC 143 in early 2012, most fans expected a war for the ages. However, they didn’t quite get what they were hoping for.
Rather than brawling with Diaz as everyone figured he would, ‘The Natural Born Killer’ instead used a far more cerebral approach. As the Stockton-based fighter came forward, Condit simply stayed out of range and circled off, using leg kicks and strikes from the outside to largely pick him apart.
Despite Diaz’s best efforts at drawing him in, Condit refused to deviate from his gameplan. While the fight looked relatively close on first viewing, the judges saw it squarely for him. ‘The Natural Born Killer’ was awarded a unanimous decision, and claimed the title.
However, while the statistics backed up the idea that the judges were right – Condit outstruck Diaz in four of the five rounds – many fans and other fighters felt that his gameplan was less than stellar.
A number of them, in fact, were outright furious. Then-future bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey even stated that “if I wanted to see a man run for 25 minutes, I’d go to a track meet.”
Diaz, for his part, was equally angry. He even vowed to quit MMA altogether after claiming that Condit had ran from him the entire fight. He did of course return, but even a decade on, this fight remains controversial despite the evidence clearly suggesting that ‘The Natural Born Killer’ simply used a smart gameplan more than anything else.
#3. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz – UFC 202
When Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor engaged in their now-legendary rematch at UFC 202, it was hard to accuse either man of backing down. In an all-out war, the two popular fighters exchanged huge shots for five rounds until ‘The Notorious’ came away with a majority decision win.
However, despite McGregor knocking Diaz down on more than one occasion during the fight, it didn’t take long for the TUF 5 winner to fire shots at the Irishman and his gameplan – which unsurprisingly involved leg kicks.
In an interview after the clash, Diaz claimed that he wasn’t happy with McGregor’s evasiveness, stating that he felt that ‘The Notorious’ should have even had points deducted for his supposed refusal to engage.
McGregor, naturally, didn’t take long to respond. Quite fairly, he stated that he simply had to remain evasive to avoid Diaz’s big volume punches. He also claimed that he was never wobbled and asked the obvious question, “Who dropped who?”
Given that many fans expect the trilogy bout between these two superstars to happen at some point in the future, it’s highly likely that we haven’t heard the last of Diaz’s accusations in this matter.
#2. Kalib Starnes vs. Nate Quarry – UFC 83
While accusing a fighter of running away during a bout in the octagon is often a simple case of sour grapes, that wasn’t the case when it came to Canadian middleweight Kalib Starnes’ performance against Nate Quarry in 2008.
In that instance, Starnes’ running was so blatant that a blind man probably could’ve recognized that he wasn’t willing to engage with ‘The Rock’. It hardly came as a surprise, in fact, when Starnes found himself released from his UFC contract after the bout.
Years later, Quarry – who had mocked Starnes’ approach during the fight by doing the “running man” dance – explained his side of the story.
‘The Rock’ stated that he’d been calling Starnes out for a while due to the fact that the Canadian had beaten his teammate Chris Leben in controversial fashion, only for Starnes to apparently avoid the fight.
By the time they did meet up, Quarry was so angry that he “wanted to end Starnes’ UFC career.” However, no matter what he tried, he simply couldn’t get the Canadian to engage and Starnes’ approach angered everyone, from Dana White to the fans in attendance.
When the fight mercifully ended, though, there was a silver lining for ‘The Rock’. He was told immediately that Starnes wouldn’t be returning to the octagon – essentially meaning he fulfilled his goal, even if it didn’t happen in the way he probably hoped!
#1. Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard – UFC on FX 4
When the UFC matched lightweight contenders Clay Guida and Gray Maynard together in the headliner of their fourth show on FX in the summer of 2012, they expected a barnburner.
What they actually got was one of the worst main events in the promotion’s history. Guida, who was usually renowned for his wild aggression, seemed completely unwilling to engage with his foe. Instead, ‘The Carpenter’ ran and danced around Maynard throughout the fight, even receiving a warning for timidity from referee Dan Miragliotta.
Unsurprisingly, everyone was furious with Guida’s approach in the bout, including Dana White, who went on a verbal assault at the post-fight press conference.
Not only did White claim that the fight “sucked,” but he also compared ‘The Carpenter’ and his gameplan to Dancing with the Stars, stating that “you can’t win a fight by running around in circles.”
Remarkably, Guida himself was unrepentant, despite the approach arguably costing him the fight. He stated that he didn’t want to risk sitting in the pocket with ‘The Bully’, who he claimed “hit like a Mack truck." He described the fight as “five rounds of fun.”
That didn’t go down well with White, who later claimed that ‘The Carpenter’ had gone from being a “buzzsaw” to a “guy who runs.” Thankfully, though, Guida’s approach did revert back to the norm shortly after the clash and he remains part of the UFC’s roster to this day.
