5 craziest UFC conspiracy theories in recent memory

The UFC represents the peak of mixed martial arts. However, there is no shortage of conspiracies within the sport.

Fighters have been proponents of bizarre tales to explain losses. Nick Diaz once lobbied a damning accusation at welterweight great Georges St-Pierre after he claimed that the Canadian's team somehow drugged his water to impair his performance come fight night.

But it's not just other MMA fighters who parrot certain conspiracy theories revolving around the sport. Fans are guilty of promoting them as well. Several events have taken place in recent years that have led both camps to promote absurd conspiracy theories regarding the sport. This list covers five of them.

#5. Mark Hunt accuses the UFC of hiding Brock Lesnar's PED usage

There has never been a king of walk-off KOs quite like Mark Hunt. The power-punching Samoan was never the most successful fighter, but he managed to entertain fans and even once faced Brazilian-jiu jitsu ace Fabricio Werdum in an interim title bout.

At UFC 200, 'The Super Samoan' took on the challenge of facing the returning Brock Lesnar in the PPV co-main event. While fighters who have been outside the USADA testing pool are required to undergo six months of testing, 'The Beast' only underwent one month of testing after the UFC implemented an exemption for him.

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Lesnar was originally victorious against Hunt, but the win was overturned into a no-contest after USADA reported that he failed two drug tests: one out-of-competition drug test and one in-competition drug test.

Hunt alleges that the UFC knew about Lesnar's PED usage, chose not to inform him and allowed him to compete, knowing he had an unfair advantage. This served as the basis for Hunt's subsequent lawsuit against the promotion.

#4. Colby Covington accuses Ciryl Gane of taking a dive against Jon Jones

If there's one thing that Colby Covington does better than anyone, it's fanning the flames of controversy. Jon Jones' return to the octagon was a hot topic up until his clash with former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 285. While the bout was highly anticipated, 'Bones' won with almost comical ease.

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Within two minutes, he secured a takedown and forced 'Bon Gamin' to surrender to a guillotine-choke. In the eyes of many, the Frenchman looked completely out of his depth against the former 205'er. Colby Covington, however, has alleged that something else might be afoot.

In an interview with James Lynch, 'Chaos' claimed that the bout looked like a 'work', which is a pro-wrestling term to describe something as predetermined. He further speculated that one of Jon Jones' brothers might have paid Ciryl Gane to take a dive because, according to him, it's what it looked like.

#3. Fans speculate that Donald Cerrone took a dive against Conor McGregor

Back in early 2020, Conor McGregor had not set foot inside the octagon since his one-sided submission loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. Fans were eager to see him return to his throne as MMA's greatest star. Thus, the promotion scheduled him to face Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone at UFC 246.

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At the time, 'Cowboy' was on a two-fight losing streak wherein he suffered back-to-back TKOs against Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. Many fans regarded him as an afterthought against the Irishman. Rumors were even afoot that he was carefully selected by the UFC due to his allegiance to the promotion.

The rhetoric was that he was being primed to take a dive. Cerrone took offense to the claims, but after he lost via TKO in 40 seconds to 'The Notorious', those claims only intensified. Fans flooded his Instagram comment section and accused him of taking a dive. While Cerrone denied the claims, many upheld that rhetoric.

#2. Fans speculate that Anderson Silva took a dive against Chris Weidman at UFC 162

Several years ago, Anderson Silva was widely regarded as the best fighter in the world. He was unbeaten over a six-year stretch and helmed a 17-fight win streak, with 16 of his wins coming in the UFC. Both fans and fighters couldn't imagine anyone else being enthroned on the promotion's middleweight throne.

However, at UFC 162, his reign at 185 lbs came to a shocking end. Chris Weidman, an undefeated wrestler, imposed his jab on 'The Spider'. He forced him to retreat by doubling and tripling up his jab. By the time the second round started, he came to a realization: Silva often leaned away from straight punches.

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So in the second round, he doubled his straight right and forced Silva to lean so far back he couldn't lean away any farther without falling over. He then landed a left hook, which sent the Brazilian tumbling to the canvas. Several follow-up punches later and Weidman was crowned the new middleweight king.

Within minutes of his win, fans everywhere speculated that the fight was a fix, even prompting UFC president Dana White to label it the dumbest thing he's ever heard after a reporter brought it up at the post-fight press conference.

#1. Bryce Mitchell claims that UFC 284's main event was rigged by the judges

Former undefeated featherweight Bryce Mitchell is no stranger to conspiracy theories. From claiming that the United States government fakes mass shootings to facilitate anti-gun policies to claiming that Earth is flat, 'Thug Nasty' has a history of issuing outlandish statements.

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He recently offered his thoughts on Alexander Volkanovski's failed bid to capture Islam Makhachev's lightweight throne. While some fans believe that 'The Great' did enough to earn a nod from the judges, Mitchell has outright asserted that he knows that Volkanovski was the rightful victor.

The reason for the judges' decision? Money. He claims that due to Islam Makhachev's popularity in the Middle East, oil money was used to pay off the judges to facilitate a win for the Dagestani grappling phenom.