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The UFC is largely renowned for being home to athletes who genuinely respect one another’s ability, even if they don’t always show it before fights. However, at times, that hasn’t stopped some of them from bending the rules in the octagon.
Over the years we’ve seen a number of UFC fighters essentially cheat in order to gain an advantage over their opponents. However, only a handful have outright admitted to this. Some fighters were open enough to admit to their rule-breaking in the immediate aftermath of their fight. Meanwhile, others instead chose to wait a while to make their confession.
Here are five UFC fighters who openly admitted to cheating to gain an advantage over their opponents.
#5. Tim Elliott vs. Tagir Ulanbekov – UFC 272
When flyweight veteran Tim Elliott edged out hot prospect Tagir Ulanbekov via split decision at UFC 272, many fans were incensed. Not only did many believe that Ulanbekov had done enough to win the bout, but they were also horrified by the amount of fouls Elliott appeared to get away with.
The first round of the fight saw the veteran appear to hit Ulanbekov with two illegal knees to the head while he was on the ground. The second round was even more questionable, as Elliott appeared to grab the Dagestani’s gloves on multiple occasions to land punches.
Despite this, though, the former flyweight title challenger only came away with a warning from referee Chris Tognoni, something that left Ulanbekov’s coach Khabib Nurmagomedov furious. The Eagle’s anger probably only increased after the fight, when Elliott was happy to admit that he’d bent the rules in order to claim a win.
In an interview, Elliott was happy to confess to grabbing Ulanbekov’s gloves illegally, and claimed had he lost the bout, nobody would’ve cared. More surprisingly, he also stated that he didn’t believe in “warrior spirit” and was not a martial artist. He instead claimed, “I’m trying to make money at this job, and that’s what I did.”
On the one hand, it was impressive to hear a fighter speak so openly about a willingness to do what it took to claim his win bonus. But on the other hand, it was also disappointing to hear a veteran admit to cheating.
#4. Tito Ortiz vs. Rashad Evans – UFC 73
Tito Ortiz faced off against Rashad Evans in the summer of 2007. The question at the time was whether Evans, the young lion, could defeat his older counterpart, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,’ or whether Ortiz could roll back the years to win.
Neither of those answers turned out to be correct, as the fight went to the scorecards and was declared a unanimous draw. The bout could easily have gone in another direction were it not for a foul by Ortiz in the second round. The former light-heavyweight champion blatantly grabbed the fence to avoid a takedown from Evans, resulting in a point deduction.
Ortiz clearly took the round making it a 9-9 one due to the deduction. But had Evans completed the takedown, he could well have stolen the round and won the fight overall. Interestingly enough, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ did not even attempt to deny his foul when he was interviewed by Joe Rogan after the fight.
Instead, he simply quoted infamous pro-wrestler Eddie Guerrero and stated “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying.” Although, he did claim that his fence grab was instinctual more than anything else.
It was a remarkably candid statement from Ortiz, who could easily have claimed that he was robbed by the referee’s decision to deduct a point. Instead, while he didn’t come away with the win, it was hard not to respect his honesty.
#3. Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC 264
Not all instances of cheating in the UFC have resulted in a victory for the fighter committing the foul. That was the case for former lightweight champion Conor McGregor in his third clash with Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
The bout ended in horrendous fashion for ‘The Notorious,’ as he suffered a badly broken leg after eating a series of heavy low kicks from Poirier. But prior to the finish, he was struggling badly with both the striking and grappling of ‘The Diamond.’
It was clear that due to these struggles, McGregor was going to try anything to win. It came as no surprise when Poirier accused him of cheating in the aftermath of the bout. He claimed that the Irishman had held onto his gloves to pull him down into a series of upkicks late in the first round.
Interestingly, McGregor made no attempt to deny this infringement, which was not picked up by referee Herb Dean. He took to social media to discuss the fight months later. Reportedly, McGregor stated that Poirier didn’t like upkicks, only for a Twitter user then replied “when you grabbed onto his glove?”
‘The Notorious’ didn’t take long to reply, admitting that he grabbed the glove and claiming that he’s “truly nasty” in the octagon.
Whether this was the usual bluster from the Irishman, or whether he genuinely was being honest is anyone’s guess. But the fact that he essentially admitted to cheating is still remarkable to say the least.
#2. Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson – UFC 210
The other fighters on this list all cheated inside the octagon. However, former UFC heavyweight and light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier actually cheated before his bout with Anthony Johnson in 2017. Although, it took him a little longer to admit to it.
In the infamous scene, ‘DC’ was clearly struggling to make the 205lbs light-heavyweight limit for his title defense against ‘Rumble.’ Cormier returned to the scale moments later for a second try, this time stripping naked and standing behind a towel for good measure. Moments later, it was announced that he’d hit the 205lbs mark perfectly.
However, when footage of the weigh-in became available, fans immediately accused Cormier of cheating to make weight. According to his accusers, ‘DC’ had deliberately pushed down on the towel with his hands in order to trick the scale into believing he was lighter.
At the time, Cormier was quick to quieten those accusers. But once he’d retired and was entered into the UFC’s Hall of Fame earlier this year, he decided to come clean.
During his UFC Hall of Fame speech, ‘DC’ stated “I think I might’ve grabbed the towel in Buffalo.” He went onto claim that he was shocked that the New York Athletic Commission didn’t call him out. He subsequently sent an apology to Johnson, who he defeated via second-round submission.
Some fans were critical of Cormier’s admission, some even claiming that it was a black mark on his legacy. However, it was still fascinating to see him admit to cheating, even if his confession came five years too late.
#1. Michael Chandler vs. Dustin Poirier – UFC 281
The most recent fighter to admit to cheating in the octagon is Michael Chandler. ‘Iron Mike,’ who fought and lost to Dustin Poirier via third-round submission at the recent UFC 281 pay-per-view, was accused by his opponent of “fishhooking.” This is an illegal move that involves a fighter reaching into the mouth of their opponent and pulling at their cheeks or lips.
The footage appeared to confirm Poirier’s accusations were correct. However, the infraction was not noticed by referee Dan Miragliotta, unlike Chandler’s punches to the back of the head, which did elicit a warning from the veteran official.
After the fight was over, ‘The Diamond’ was quick to hit out at Chandler, labeling him a “dirty motherf*cker” for utilizing a move as frowned-upon as fishhooking.
When ‘Iron Mike’ was questioned about it, initially, he tried to claim that he’d fishhooked Poirier by accident, stating that “I don’t cheat.” However, he never denied using the move, instead claiming that while he’d put his fingers in Poirier’s mouth, he was actually trying to pull them out and not fishhook his foe.
A later interview saw him refuse to apologize, and go onto state that this kind of incident is “why we have referees in there.” Whether or not the move was intentional or not remains highly debatable.
Either way, while Chandler claimed that he’d never cheat intentionally, by addressing the controversy, he essentially admitted that he did break the rules of the octagon.
