While it’s okay to ‘lie, cheat and steal’ (R.I.P. Eddie Guerrero) in professional wrestling in order to give an upthrust to the entertainment quotient, it often destroys the spirit of the sport when replicated in mixed martial arts.
Yet, there have been major instances where fighters have sought unlawful means to win fights. Fighters, in order to gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, have often resorted to illicit ways which are manipulative and overall disruptive to the integrity of the sport.
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Here are 5 instances where MMA fighters broke the rules and cheated their way to victory
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#5 Brock Lesnar v/s Mark Hunt
Brock Lesnar might have fought ‘choreographed’ fights for the most part, including the employment of ‘unlawful’ means like chair shots and lower blows, but seeing ‘The Beast’ use the dirtiest trick in the bag to win a ‘real’ fight just tarnishes his reputation as a UFC fighter, inviting criticism spawning out of unanimous fervour.
That’s right, his high-profile return match with Mark ‘The Super Samoan’ at UFC 200 saw him picking up an easy victory. Hunt, despite his strength, was no match for Brock’s quick-fire punches which resulted in him picking up a seemingly easy victory.
Also read: 5 Most Hated Fighters In MMA History
However, not many know that Lesnar’s comeback gig was actually fueled by the anti-estrogen agent hydroxy-clomiphene for which he was tested positive, merely four days prior to the competition. Much to the dismay of Mark Hunt’s fans, the verdict wasn’t overturned, leaving behind a fuming angry Samoan!
The reason cited for not reversing the decision was met with hilarity… ‘the test that Brock Lesnar failed was an out-of-competition test’ having no bearing, whatsoever on the official result!
Later, the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Brock for one year, prompting the result of the match between him and Hunt to be changed to ‘no result’.
#4 Georges St-Pierre v/s BJ Penn
This one is from the vault. The main event of UFC 94 was a highly anticipated one when the Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre faced off against the Lightweight Champion B.J. Penn. The matchup was set to the welterweight limits of 77.1 kg.
This was the first time in the history of the UFC to feature two title holders go head-to-head, quite like a “Winner Take All” title opportunity (WWE fans would know!). For those who remember this iconic main-event, should also remember the controversy engulfing it.
St-Pierre almost annihilated BJ Penn during their welterweight title square-off, to an extent that BJ Penn couldn’t answer the bell for the 5th round, but his victory was shrouded in dissension, alleged by Penn and the press.
During the fight between the two welterweights, one of Georges St-Pierre’s cornermen had vaseline on his hands while he massaged his back in-between rounds. This was illegal because the vaseline applied to GSP’s back made him less susceptible to grapples and holds.
Considering the dominance exhibited by GSP, it was doubtful that a small amount of vaseline would actually turn the course of events, but it was still a breach of conduct.
#3 Yoel Romero v/s Jacare Souza
Touted as the Cuban Brock Lesnar, Yoel Romero did something which inspired Brock to do the same 6 UFC events later! The 39-year-old headhunter flunked an out-of-competition drug test shortly after picking up a victory over Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza in a 3-round split decision.
Romero was a strong contender for the middleweight title shot before he failed the drug test. The sample was collected in the days following the match-up hence it was not an in-competition test. Romero and his camp unanimously put the blame on a contaminated supplement which he had administered into his body.
While everyone assumed that Romero would face a likely suspension of 2 years, he was able to produce the supplement that spawned the failed drug test. The USADA investigators were later able to determine the cause of the failed test to be the tainted supplement, which saw Romero’s suspension being cut down to six months!
What infuriated most fans across the world was the fact that Romero’s victory over Jacare wasn’t over-turned! And this wasn’t the first time that Romero had ‘cheated’ his way through things...
#2 Yoel Romero v/s Tim Kennedy
Ultimate Fighting Championship 178 saw Tim Kennedy lose for the very first time at the hands of Yoel Romero, which was surprising because Tim looked poised to finish him off in the second round itself.
The reason why Romero picked up the third-round TKO win can be blamed at the ‘extra minutes’ that he had on the stool. The middleweight fight in question is often mocked as the ‘Stool-Gate’ and has played a pivotal role in both of these fighters’ lives!
Just around the 2nd round of the fight, Tim Kennedy was mightily dominating Romero and from the looks of it, it seemed as if the Yoel wouldn’t go the extra mile. Luckily for Romero, he was saved by the bell and the fight entered the third and final round.
However, what transpired during the break was what created all the hullabaloo! Romero’s corner decided to have some more sitting time for Romero, so they didn’t take the stool out of the cage with them even when the break was over.
This resulted in Romero sitting for an ‘extended period of time’ to ‘recover’ from the beatings he had endured. Tim Kennedy protested against the favouritism that Romero had just received at the behest of the authorities.
As a twist of fate would have it, Romero knocked Kennedy out in the third round to pick up the victory, making me wonder if Alex Ferguson and his ‘Fergie time’ had anything to do with the outcome of the event.
#1 Royce Gracie v/s Sakuraba
I know most of your jaws would drop at the mention of Royce Gracie embroiled in a ‘cheat win’, but 16 years ago, the pioneer of the modern-era of mixed martial arts found himself in an uneasy tussle.
It was in the year 2000 when Royce Gracie was handed a loss by Japanese MMA fighter Sakuraba at the Pride Grand Prix event. Gracie couldn’t answer the bell for round 7 and post his loss, he demanded a rematch.
7 years later, a rematch was scheduled at K-1 Dynamite and this time there was no stopping Gracie, who won the fight after a 3-round bout. A post-match drug test, however, revealed that Gracie’s body showed abnormally high levels of testosterone (almost 25x of what a normal male’s levels usually show).
Despite the drug test, the decision wasn’t reversed in Sakuraba’s favour because the regulatory bodies weren’t particularly strict with doping back in the day.
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