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Winning a fight in the UFC, even if it’s in a preliminary bout, can be a huge deal for an MMA fighter. Naturally, the bigger the win, the bigger the celebration might be.
Over the years we’ve seen a number of truly wild celebrations from fighters inside the UFC. Often, these celebrations have been as memorable as the fights themselves.
On occasion, in fact, some of the wilder celebrations in octagon history have led to major controversy and have also set up some crazy fights in their own right.
With that in mind, here are five of the wildest post-fight celebrations in UFC history.
#5. Tito Ortiz vs. Guy Mezger – UFC 19
During his reign as light-heavyweight champion from 2000 to 2003, Tito Ortiz was widely known for a trademark celebration that would see him miming digging a grave to put his beaten opponents into.
Whether this was fun or disrespectful depends on your leanings on such theatrics in MMA, but the wildest celebration from ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ didn’t involve any grave digging at all. In fact, it led to one of the biggest feuds in the sport’s history.
At UFC 19, way back in 1999, Ortiz was faced with Guy Mezger in a rematch of an earlier fight that’d seen Mezger choke Ortiz out with a guillotine. This time around, though, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was better prepared and dominated his more experienced foe en route to a first-round TKO stoppage.
It was a hugely impressive showing from Ortiz, but it didn’t take long for him to live up to his bad-boy reputation when the fight was over.
After pulling on a t-shirt with a highly offensive slogan that stated "Gay Mezger is my b*tch," Ortiz then flipped off his opponent’s corner, which included UFC legend Ken Shamrock.
Shamrock, understandably, was furious with the show of disrespect and angrily confronted Ortiz, which led to the two men having to be separated.
The feud would eventually lead to a mega-fight between the two stars. While it came over three years after Ortiz’s wild celebration, it still drew a record buyrate for the promotion at the time, ultimately saving it from going under entirely.
#4. Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera – UFC 127
When Michael Bisping was matched with journeyman Jorge Rivera in the co-headline bout at UFC 127, it felt like a bit of throwaway matchmaking that would allow ‘The Count’ to pick up a routine victory.
Few fans could’ve imagined that Rivera, of all people, would get under Bisping’s skin more than any other opponent. However, ‘El Conquistador’ decided to release a series of music videos onto YouTube, taunting ‘The Count’ and taking shots at his family, while labeling him a “d*ck.”
Bisping was livid coming into the fight and after screaming obscenities at Rivera during the weigh-ins, took his frustrations out on him once the bout began. After hurting him with a clearly illegal knee, ‘The Count’ unloaded on his opponent en route to a second-round stoppage.
However, the UK native clearly wasn’t done there. Still angry with Rivera and his teammates for the videos, he walked over to his foe’s corner, spat on them and then yelled at ‘El Conquistador’ to “go home, loser!”
The celebration was as disrespectful as it was wild. While it clearly gave Bisping some sense of satisfaction, it also earned him a reputation as one of the promotion’s biggest villains, something he never really shook off outside of his home country.
#3. B.J. Penn vs. Caol Uno – UFC 34
Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn was always widely known as somewhat of a wild, eccentric fighter who was as unpredictable as he was skilled in the octagon. At one stage, his trademark celebration would see him lick the blood of his opponents off his gloves.
However, for as crazy – and somewhat disgusting – as that celebration was, Penn’s wildest post-fight moment came back in his early days, after his knockout of Caol Uno in late 2001.
At that time, ‘The Prodigy’ had just two professional fights to his name. While he’d breezed past the highly-rated Din Thomas in his second visit to the octagon, Uno, a former title challenger with tons of experience, was expected to test him more than ever before.
So when the Hawaiian avoided a flying kick and then unloaded with a combination, knocking Uno completely unconscious in just 11 seconds, it was hard not to be blown away.
Rather than celebrate inside the octagon, though, Penn decided to go down another route entirely. He exited through the fence and sprinted up the rampway to the backstage area, leaving everyone stunned.
Even veteran commentator Mike Goldberg appeared lost for words for a moment, before uttering the immortal line “B.J. Penn has left the building!” He did so as if the Hawaiian was the UFC’s answer to Elvis Presley.
‘The Prodigy’ eventually returned to the octagon for an interview, but by that stage, he’d written himself firmly into the history books. His wild celebration remains well-remembered more than two decades on.
#2. Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes – UFC 142
When Jose Aldo stepped into the octagon at UFC 142 to face Chad Mendes, he was understandably excited. After all, the reigning featherweight kingpin had not fought in his home country of Brazil since 2007, five years earlier.
At that stage, of course, Aldo was little more than a prospect. Coming into his fight with Mendes, on the other hand, he was not only seen as the best featherweight in the world and one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters, but he was also one of Brazil’s biggest superstars.
Mendes was expected to be Aldo’s toughest test to date. In reality, despite all of his skills, ‘Money’ never stood a chance against the fired-up Brazilian, who was competing in front of his home crowd for the first time in a while.
As the first round ticked towards its end, Aldo caught the challenger with a vicious knee that sent him crashing to the ground and quickly finished him off with some added strikes.
It was time to celebrate and in a wild scene, rather than stay in the octagon with his team, Aldo leapt over the fence and sprinted directly into the crowd, who mobbed him, leaving the UFC’s security team completely unsure of what to do.
Eventually, Aldo, who was seen holding a flag with the badge of his favorite soccer team, Flamengo, was brought back into the octagon. By that point, he’d turned himself into a bigger superstar in Brazil than ever before.
#1. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 229
While it’s possible to suggest that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s antics after his win over Conor McGregor at UFC 229 shouldn’t really count as a “celebration” per say, there’s no disputing the fact that the scenes that followed the bout were some of the wildest in MMA history.
Simply put, nothing like this had ever been seen in the history of the UFC. To tell the truth, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see anything close to it ever again.
The fight had arguably more hype on it than any fight in the promotion’s history in the first place. McGregor, the biggest star in the sport, and Nurmagomedov had been at one another’s throats on social media for years.
To add to that, the unsavory incident that saw ‘The Notorious’ attack a bus carrying Khabib and his team to an earlier event only added fuel to the fire. So, when the two finally met with the lightweight title on the line, fireworks were guaranteed.
Khabib went onto dominate the Irishman en route to a fourth-round submission win, but when the fight was over, the Dagestani was clearly still fired up. So rather than celebrate, he leapt over the cage and into the crowd to attack McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose, and while security attempted to pull ‘The Eagle’ back, McGregor got into a brawl with two of the Dagestani’s cornermen, with punches openly being exchanged.
Eventually, cooler heads prevailed, but the scene had become so chaotic that Khabib was unable to be presented with the lightweight title belt.
The incident landed both Khabib and McGregor, as well as some of their teammates, suspensions from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. While the UFC were quick to condemn the debacle, it was hard not to be entertained by the wild scenes.
