MMA as a sport has always found itself in something of an uphill battle when it comes to shedding its image as a rough and barbaric form of competition, and while the mainstream world has been slowly coming around to the real beauty that exists inside that cage. Not all of its athletes play their part in making this. So with that in mind, we’re going to take a look at 10 fighters who have made a habit of bending and breaking the rules, often with catastrophic consequences. There are the top 10 dirtiest fighters.
1. Jon Jones
He may be one of the greatest fighters to ever live, but the UFC’s longtime light heavyweight king is also known for one majorly, an annoying trait to his fighting style, suspensions, failed drug tests, and legal issues aside, it’s the eye pokes of Jon jones That land him on our list with a gargantuan 84-inch reach that allows him to gauge distance like no other jones’s habit of landing. An outstretched finger into his opponent’s eye has been a recurring theme during his long career. Does he do it intentionally, it’s hard to say, but as a result of his unique body, type facing off against Jon jones forces you to play into his game a game that few fighters, if any, are capable of replicating in the training room? Even if these eye pokes are accidental a lot of fans take issue with the fact that he seems to get away with it every time sure the fights get paused, but during his reign as the 205-pound champion, there was always the feeling that the officiating referees Could have done more to keep this habit under control?
2. Nate Marquardt
To a lot of newer fans the former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nate Marquardt is something of a forgotten talent once as feared as any 170-pound man on the planet. Marquardt’s peak years were highlighted by a stunning TKO victory over Tyron Woodley in an ill-fated attempt at dethroning Anderson silva at middleweights. However, while he had his highs, a lot of his lows came in the form of some pretty ugly split-second decisions inside that octagon. One of the most notable instances came during his UFC London clash with talus latest it’s a rarity to see a point deducted for an illegal shot during an MMA contest, and yet Marquardt managed to do it twice in one match-up. Even with that, aside, a pair of sucker punch moments involving other opponents and his refusal to acknowledge any wrongdoing has left him, understandably branded as a dirty fighter.
3. Brian Caraway
Whether you’re a mixed, martial artist or a player on the grappling circuit, If there’s one cardinal rule that you should follow, it does not fish hook, your opponent. So what exactly is a fishhook? It’s an unquestionably dirty tactic and one that was employed by UFC bantamweight Brian Caraway, during his showdown against Eric Perez back in 2014. Using the technique to restrict his adversary’s movement, carraway, unfortunately, went on to win the bout by way of a second-round rear, naked choke, and while carraway did manage to obtain victory on that night, he certainly didn’t do his reputation any favors in the long run.
4. Joel Romero
Joel Romero, is, without a doubt one of the most exciting fighters of his era. Aside from his forgettable showdown with the UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, the soldier of God, can always be counted on to produce the fireworks. However, during his initial rise, his matchup against the veteran Tim Kennedy produced one of the most infamous moments in MMA history, now simply known as stool gate, the corner of Romero gifted him another 30 seconds of recovery time at the end of round two when they applied Too much vaseline for him to legally continue with Romero left sitting on the stool. The corner was forced to correct their quote-unquote mistake. To make matters worse. The now rejuvenated Romero was able to turn the fight’s tie completely in his favor by TKO and Kennedy in the opening exchanges of the final round, an intelligent bending of the rules or a dirty tactic. You can decide for yourself.
5. Wes Sims
You want to talk about making a splash at the top flight. Well, Wes Sims didn’t exactly achieve his goals within the UFC going 0 and 3 in the promotion before getting the boot shortly after, and while we could look at his aggressive personality during his time in the ultimate fighter house as a reason for him seeming to be A bit of a ****, he managed to completely outdo himself upon reaching the big time taking on the legendary frank mir. Sims skipped on the pre-fight glove touch to charge directly at the Brazilian jiu-Jitsu black belt mirror being a mirror quickly, shot a takedown to bring the fight to the mat after he was able to ****** up a dangerous-looking arm bar sims to his credit, did well to escape a job. Well done right. Well, unfortunately, his next move was to repeatedly stomp on the head of his opponent, leading to one of the ugliest disqualification defeats. You are ever likely to see. Surprisingly a rematch was booked shortly, after which, thankfully, was won by Frank Mir by way of a second-round TKO.
6. Paul Daley
Paul Daley is known for two things: his stunning utilization of the left hook and, of course, his post-fight sucker punch of josh Koscheck at UFC 113 after losing in unimpressive fashion to the powerful wrestler Daley, completely lost the run of himself following Kostcheck over to his corner before unloading, a short punch on him now to be fair, Koscheck had himself cheated quite blatantly in the first round, as you would expect, Daley was quickly cut from the UFC. Never to return. Dana White was nothing short of furious directly after the fight and Daley, though, apologetic received his marching orders immediately while he found success under both the Strikeforce and Bellator banners, his name was forever tarnished within MMA circles and this memorable outburst immortalized in the annals of MMA history.
7. Mike Kyle
Remember Wes Sims from earlier in the article well Mike Kyle was the man who brought Sims’s run in the UFC to a resounding halt. Knocking him out in the first round sounds great right. Well, unfortunately, kyle had actually bitten sims during one of the earlier exchanges, and while mike kyle would protest these claims he was soon cut from the promotion, but if you thought that kyle had learned his lesson, think again, after being cut from the UFC, he once again found himself in trouble after landing, a brutal soccer kick on Brian Olson, during a brief run, leading to his suspension from the sport and yet another promotional cut. Some of these guys just cannot help themselves in the heat of the moment, and Mike Kyle is very much within that.
8. Josh Koscheck
Josh Koscheck played the villain role within the sport of MMA, like a few others before him, widely despised by the fans and his fellow fighters Koscheck very much enjoyed leaning into his role, and while several dubious eye pokes were found littered throughout his career. It was his showdown against the aforementioned Paul Daley that served up his most unsportsmanlike moment. The fight was halted in the first round after what appeared to be an illegal knee from Daley to the head of Koscheck. However, despite the victim’s pained response, the replays would quickly show that Koscheck faked the whole thing the knee didn’t land, and Daley was docked to point. Of course, we all know what would happen next, but all in all, despite sucker punching him moments later, Daley certainly had every right to feel hard done by.
9. Gilbert Yvel
Gilbert Yvel is as bad as they come with three disqualification losses on his record. This bonafide cheater has been seemingly found guilty of every crime in the book from eye-gouging to fish. Hooking Yvel has managed to leave his reputation in tatters after a career spent seriously risking the health of his opponents, and while his actions within these fights were indeed terrible, no moment came close to the time he refused to re-enter a clinch position following a mid-fight pause Against ADA Bachmann, despite the referee’s insistence, Yvel, would not be convinced to make matters worse. This poking and prodding from the referee caused the Dutchman to change his focus, knocking the official out cold with a hard punch. The fight was, of course, called a DQ there and then, and Yvel is the proud owner of one of the only disqualifications due to the ref the sport has ever seen.
10. Rousimar Palhares
To be completely honest, we could have made an entire article about the numerous instances of Rousimar Palhares breaking the rules in a completely blatant fashion, though certainly known for his formidable leg, locking game, its Paul, harris’s, constant habit of holding on to submissions for an extra few seconds that lands him At the top pick on this list seriously, he does it all the time on many different high profile occasions. Moments that would have served as huge victories for this fighter have been completely ruined by his insistence on ignoring the referee’s intervention to stop the fight whether it’s joint submissions or chokes, Palhares has repeatedly risked the health of his opponents by maintaining a tight grip and to make matters worse. He has shown very little in the way of remorse or growth. Despite the reputation, he carries a bad dude through and through.