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Despite its inherently dangerous nature, the UFC is actually a safer place than some people might think. To date, there has never been a death inside the octagon.
Over the years, though, there have been a handful of finishes in the UFC that have been so violent, it appeared that the fighter on the losing end had been outright killed.
Of course, that wasn’t the case, and all of the following fighters about to be discussed remain, thankfully, alive and well. Still, at the time, the finishes they suffered in the octagon were very scary.
Here are five UFC fighters who looked like they’d died inside the octagon.
#5. Josh Neer vs. Drew Fickett – UFC Fight Night 1
The UFC’s first Fight Night event in the summer of 2005 was one of the promotion’s first ever events to air on free television in the US. Naturally, Dana White and company were hoping it would go without a hitch.
Thankfully for them, the event’s opening bout – a welterweight tilt between Drew Fickett and Josh Neer – didn’t actually air on television. It featured a finish that was so scary that, to the untrained eye, it looked like ‘The Master’ had basically strangled Neer to death.
The fight didn’t last long at all, as Fickett quickly took ‘The Dentist’ down. When Neer scrambled, he ended up giving his back to his opponent.
‘The Master’ hopped on, slapped both hooks in, and then secured a rear naked choke that more closely resembled a pro-wrestling style sleeper hold. Neer attempted to pull Fickett’s arms off, but was too late. Seconds later, he collapsed to his back.
Referee Steve Mazzagatti somehow missed the fact that ‘The Dentist’ was out cold, leaving Fickett to signal this to him. When ‘The Master’ finally released the hold, an unconscious Neer resembled a corpse, arms pointing up in the air in a stiff manner.
Thankfully, ‘The Dentist’ came around relatively quickly and went onto a successful career in the octagon. At the time, though, this was a genuinely terrifying finish that saw Neer seemingly have the life choked out of him.
#4. Nate Quarry vs. Rich Franklin – UFC 56
When TUF 1 veteran Nate Quarry was handed a shot at UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin in late 2005, he saw it as the culmination of a career that dated back years. Unfortunately, despite ‘The Rock’ holding a 2-0 record in the octagon, most observers that hes felt he was overmatched against ‘Ace’.
Those observers were proven right in what turned out to be one of the most brutal finishes in the history of the promotion. Quarry was left a broken mess, more closely resembling a shooting victim than someone who’d suffered a knockout loss.
The fight didn’t even last three minutes, as Franklin stunned the challenger with a combination early on. This put him down and practically out – only for referee John McCarthy to let the bout continue.
That turned out to be to Quarry’s detriment, as moments later, ‘Ace’ landed a left hand that smashed his nose in and sent him crashing to the ground, with Quarry instantly unconscious from the strike.
‘The Rock’ was left flat on his back, arms extended in the air, with one of his legs trembling in a convulsive fashion, essentially like a corpse in the last throes of life.
Quarry did come around relatively quickly, but the knockout was still a scary one. ‘The Rock’ did not return to the octagon for nearly two years afterwards.
#3. David Heath vs. Renato Sobral – UFC 62
For the most part, scary finishes in the UFC due to submissions tend to be few and far between, largely because a tapout can signal the end of a fight before things go too far. However, that wasn’t the case in the 2007 bout between David Heath and Renato Sobral.
Reportedly, ‘Babalu’ had been offended by Heath’s actions during the weigh-ins. So the Brazilian veteran decided to take out his frustrations on his opponent in the nastiest way possible when they stepped into the octagon.
After taking him down and beating him bloody with a series of punches and slashing elbows in the first round, he secured an anaconda choke in the second. After tightening the choke up, Heath quickly turned purple and tapped out – but Sobral was having none of it.
Instead of releasing the choke, he simply clamped down on the hold even tighter. This forced Heath unconscious, and when the referee finally pulled the Brazilian off, Heath’s head basically bounced off the ground as if he’d been strangled.
It took him a lengthy time to come around, during which an incensed crowd booed an unrepentant ‘Babalu’ out of the arena. Later, Sobral was cut from the promotion for his actions, as he’d purposely produced one of the most frightening finishes in UFC history, leaving his opponent looking like a murder victim.
#2. Tra Telligman vs. Tim Sylvia – UFC 54
In the summer of 2005, longtime veteran Tra Telligman stepped back into the UFC for the first time in over two years to take on former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. It was always going to be a tall order for him to win.
However, ‘Trauma’ probably didn’t envision that he’d come out on the wrong end of a knockout. One that was so violent that internet rumors persisted for years afterwards that the UFC somehow “covered up” his death inside the octagon.
The fight went badly for him from the off, as he struggled with the massive reach of the 6’8” Sylvia. 'The Mane-iac' towered over him and was able to keep him at the end of his punches.
As the first round ticked away, Sylvia pulled off something entirely unexpected. After backing Telligman up with a right hand, he followed with a brutal left head kick that sent ‘Trauma’ crashing to the ground, forcing referee Mario Yamasaki to quickly yank out his mouthpiece.
After the cameras cut away to show Sylvia celebrating, they focused back on Telligman for a second – and the veteran hadn’t moved. A number of concerned-looking officials crowded around his unconscious body.
Given that the shot was the last time Telligman was seen in the promotion, it was hardly surprising to see an internet rumor of his death spring up shortly afterwards. Purely due to the brutality of the knockout, of course.
That wasn’t the case, though, as thankfully, ‘Trauma’ remains alive and well at the age of 57. Following this knockout, he never fought in MMA again.
#1. Alistair Overeem vs. Francis Ngannou – UFC 218
It’s probably fair to suggest that in the near-three-decade history of the UFC, no fighter has hit quite so hard as reigning heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. ‘The Predator’ has a ridiculous list of brutal knockouts to his name, including finishes of former champions like Stipe Miocic, Andrei Arlovski, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.
In 2017, though, he produced a knockout so savage that fans were legitimately concerned for the health of his opponent, veteran striker Alistair Overeem.
Sure, ‘The Demolition Man’ was never known for a granite chin, but Ngannou hit him so hard that for a moment, it didn’t look like he’d ever get up.
The fight didn’t last long, as despite Overeem possessing a massive experience advantage over Ngannou, he couldn’t really find a way to corral the native of Cameroon. After a brief clinch was broken, ‘The Predator’ then caught the Dutchman with a massive left uppercut that snapped his head back and sent him crashing down.
The shot resembled an uppercut from the original Mortal Kombat video games, and practically took Overeem off his feet. He was unconscious before he hit the ground – but ‘The Predator’ was still able to land a second shot to the jaw before referee Dan Miragliotta could step in.
Post-fight saw a truly scary scene as Overeem didn’t seem to be moving at all. Thankfully, he did come around eventually – much to the relief of everyone watching.
Five years later, this remains Ngannou’s signature knockout, and remains one of the greatest examples of a finish so brutal that the victim looked like they’d been killed.
