5 UFC fighters with the most unusual training methods

UFC fighters, past and present, are known for undergoing the most grueling training camps in the world of MMA. They subject themselves to nearly insurmountable challenges in order to overcome the stiff tests they'll encounter inside the octagon when facing an equally well-trained foe.

However, some UFC fighters take their training methods too far. They engage in gym wars that result in unnecessary injuries that either carry over into a bout or prevent the matchup from taking place altogether.

The American Kickboxing Academy and Nova União are infamous for the brutal lengths of their training camps, causing their fighters to be more injury-prone than others. Yet, there are fighters who are even stranger than those who willingly throw themselves into the line of fire during their own training camps.

Some mixed martial artists adopt truly unorthodox training methods and principles that seem to leave many observers scratching their heads. So, in honor of these mixed martial artists, this list looks at 5 UFC fighters, past and present, with some of the most unusual training methods and practices.

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#5. Emil Meek

Former UFC welterweight Emil Meek has always been a peculiar character. A native of Norway with a Viking-inspired appearance, the man known as 'Valhalla' was not a successful fighter in the promotion. He went 1-3 before being released to ply his trade elsewhere.

However, before doing so, Meek was scheduled to face UFC legend Diego Sanchez. For whatever reason, the bout never came to fruition and both men decided to salvage the situation by training together.

Unfortunately for Meek, training with Diego Sanchez also meant training with controversial coach Joshua Fabia. The latter, according to Meek himself, would chase both him and Sanchez in a locked cage with a sharp blade in an ill-advised attempt to heighten their awareness.

The idea was that their bodies would learn to avoid being touched. While 'Valhalla' claimed to have initially been a believer in Fabia's training methods, he eventually came to his senses.

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#4. Conor McGregor

While the former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion is currently better known for his peacock suits and abundant personal wealth, there was a point in time when Conor McGregor was a dedicated martial artist.

At the time, his focus on progressing as a fighter manifested in an obsession with movement. This occurred during the peak of his featherweight run.

During that period, the Irishman expressed a deep interest in studying animal movements, often mentioning the posture of gorillas. This interest in movement culminated in McGregor hiring the controversial fitness expert Ido Portal. It led to Nate Diaz's now infamous description of McGregor's training as "playing touch-butt in the park."

These training methods involved balancing exercises, jumping over logs, and other practices. Additionally, during the buildup to the Irishman's historic boxing match against Floyd Mayweather Jr., he would often shake his arms in a noodle-like fashion to loosen them up. This briefly turned McGregor's practices into internet memes.

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#3. Sean O'Malley

Rising bantamweight star Sean O'Malley is an admirer of Conor McGregor in more ways than just his attempt at emulating the Irishman's popularity using trash talk. O'Malley is similarly obsessed with bizarre training routines like the McGregor of old. A series of videos that offer glimpses of O'Malley's training can be found across the internet.

In some of them, 'Sugar' is practicing his punching form in a light sparring session while hopping on one leg as he smokes his drug of choice: marijuana. Furthermore, O'Malley also created his own training circuit, consisting of tackling mannequins, throwing tennis balls to sharpen his reactions, and throwing strikes at multiple punching bags at once.

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#2. Tony Ferguson

There is perhaps no active UFC fighter with training methods more bizarre than Tony Ferguson. The former UFC interim lightweight champion is known for being an odd character inside and outside the octagon, willing to engage in daring actions like following up a spinning elbow with another spinning elbow. When it comes to his training, however, things grow even stranger.

For example, 'El Cucy' has tried to improve his balance by standing on a medicine ball while swinging a sledgehammer around himself. He was also notorious for attempting to condition his shin after major leg surgery by kicking steel lamp posts.

As an extension of his shin conditioning methods, Ferguson also conditions his forearms and elbows in a similar manner, striking metal posts with the aforementioned body parts.

For his knees, 'El Cucuy' uses tires, ramming his knee into them to toughen the joint. Yet, the extent of Ferguson's strange training methods goes beyond even that, as the former UFC interim lightweight champion has been seen practicing pullovers with a barbell while balancing on his own head.

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#1. Diego Sanchez

MMA pioneer Diego Sanchez is no longer an active fighter for the promotion. But before MMA fans knew of Tony Ferguson, Diego Sanchez was the sport's most bizarre character.

His penchant for the unorthodox, however, worsened upon his adoption of Joshua Fabia as his head coach. The training the pair underwent left the entire MMA world in shock, confusion, and concern.

Sanchez would hang upside down while meditating before Fabia used his head as a punching bag, striking him with punches, kicks, slaps, and even a stick. As extreme as that was, Sanchez was also blindfolded in his subsequent workout while Fabia chased him around the ring with a belt.

Fabia's rationale was that he was conditioning his pupil's body to understand impact to prevent him from suffering knockouts.

In order to do so, the controversial coach claimed to hit the UFC legend up to 20 times a day. On a final note, in Fabia's bid to teach Sanchez's body to react correctly to a scenario in which it could not be touched, he chased both Sanchez and Emil Meek around a cage with a knife.