After years of sharing the same gym and becoming “brothers”, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal’s relationship has shifted to become the most heated rivalry in the UFC. At UFC 272 in Las Vegas, 29 years into the company’s illustrious history in MMA, they’ll finally lock horns and settle their feud inside the octagon.
We’ve seen bad blood between fighters before, but this one feels different. Here are four of the most intense feuds we’ve seen based on pure dislike for one another.
Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar
When you say things like “I want him to taste his own blood going down his throat”, you’re setting the tone for the fight pretty clearly. Frank Mir told Brock Lesnar he “will feel pain” every time he stepped near him in the lead up to their first bout.
At UFC 81, Mir vs. Lesnar was one of the most anticipated fights of the decade as Mir was trying to move one step closer to reclaiming the title. Meanwhile Lesnar was making his UFC debut following years of worldwide fame as a WWE superstar fighting the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker on pay-per-view.
The former champion no doubt was insulted by Lesnar’s presence in the UFC as, despite his pedigree as an amateur wrestling champion, Mir clearly saw a wannabe MMA star who was nothing but an actor plucked from a WWE script.
The trash talk was nasty, and with Mir winning the first encounter, things turned personal with Lesnar chalking his defeat up to “luck”. They would meet at UFC 100 with the WWE legend holding the belt following Mir’s time off. Only this time it was Lesnar’s time to shine as he won with a brutal array of ground strikes on a defenseless Mir.
Lesnar received a course of boos around the arena when he screamed in the face of a completely stunned Mir, before pushing away the security that tried to take him away. The two continue to trade barbs in the media today, as the score sits at 1-1.
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor
Years before Khabib Nurmagomedov became one of the greatest lightweights of all time, Conor McGregor claimed the mantle of the best 155 lb fighter in the world. He had just schooled Eddie Alvarez in arguably one of the Irishman’s most impressive title wins of his career.
The hatred between Khabib and McGregor began when the wrestler went gunning for Conor’s belt while he fought Floyd Mayweather. But with Tony Ferguson out of their fight, it forced Khabib to fight Al Iaquinta. He won, but despite wrapping up the lightweight belt, all attention immediately shifted to fighting McGregor as he trashed the bus Khabib was on in an attempt to fight him just days from the title fight in New York.
The buildup grew personal from there as Khabib barely said a word and took it all on the chin in what was a brutal onslaught of verbal abuse from “The Notorious” one. Come fight day, “let’s talk now” were the words from Khabib before going after McGregor’s team following Herb Dean calling off the fight after a brutal choke in round four.
Bedlam erupted cageside, as both teams fought each other in what is probably one of the crazier scenes the UFC ever witnessed.
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier
Two fights into the Jon Jones-Daniel Cormier saga, and the love for “DC” has gone up in North America, just as Jones has no doubt lost a great deal of respect of late. Much of that says a lot about this rivalry, as the loveable Cormier was once seen as the bad guy here with the fan favorite Jones stealing almost every cheer from the crowd.
These two would wind up in a skirmish at a press conference in 2014 in a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie. The media narrative quickly shifted from their in ring bout to their personal dislike for one another as a result.
Jones won the first bout via unanimous decision, before the two met in 2017 where Jones brutally put Cormier away with a head kick followed up by ruthless ground strikes. However several run-ins with USADA over the years have tainted the legacy of Jones, leading many to wonder how “clean” he was when he fought DC.
Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz
Regarded as one of the biggest feuds in MMA history, this rivalry spanned seven years as Tito Ortiz decided to take on the whole Lion’s Den MMA gym spearheaded by Ken Shamrock.
Back in 1999 when the blood feud began, Shamrock was north of 240 lbs and a whole weight class above Ortiz. But nearly four years after the UFC 19 confrontation where Ortiz wore that infamous shirt which almost caused Shamrock to jump the cage after beating Guy Mezger, the two met at UFC 40.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” would beat Shamrock for the light heavyweight belt in what was at the time the biggest UFC event to date. Two more fights would come after this and Ortiz made them both look easy, while the third season of The Ultimate Fighter with the two as head coaches remains one of the more memorable seasons to date.
Bruce Buffer dubbed their first UFC 40 fight as MMA’s Ali v Frazier “Fight of the Century”, and because of the sheer magnitude of all three fights, it remains one of the most notable feuds in UFC history.
-Grant McQuillan
Twitter: @Grant_McQuillan