5 times that former sparring partners faced off for UFC gold

Despite various teams of fighters dominating the UFC over the years, MMA is almost entirely an individual sport, with fighters clearly putting their own interests at the front of the queue.

Over the years, it’s unsurprising that we’ve seen a number of UFC title fights take place between former sparring partners. These fights have often produced legendary rivalries.

With another major UFC title clash between a pair of former sparring partners set to go down later this month at UFC 270, it’s safe to say that there will be plenty more of these kinds of fights to come.

So with that considered, here are five times former sparring partners faced off for UFC gold.

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#5. Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane – UFC 270

Can Francis Ngannou turn back the challenge of former sparring partner Ciryl Gane at UFC 270?

UFC 270 is set to add another chapter to the story of former sparring partners facing off for UFC gold, as Francis Ngannou will put his UFC heavyweight title on the line against interim champion Ciryl Gane.

Not only does the fight sound like a potential all-time great UFC title bout, as Ngannou and Gane have a combined record in the octagon of 18-2, but the fact that the two big men have trained together makes it an even more intriguing clash.

Often, fights between two former sparring partners pit former friends against one another. However, according to Gane, he was never close with ‘The Predator’.

From what has been suggested, that’s because by the time ‘Bon Gamin’ began to really focus on his MMA career, Ngannou had already moved to Las Vegas. However, at that point, the current UFC champion was still a part of Paris’ MMA Factory team under coach Fernand Lopez.

Following his loss to Stipe Miocic in 2018, though, ‘The Predator’ cut his ties with Lopez and the team in a pretty bitter fashion. He moved to the U.S. full time and joined the Xtreme Couture gym.

Since then, Gane has more than established himself as the top heavyweight at MMA Factory. He set up his fight with Ngannou by defeating Derrick Lewis for the interim UFC heavyweight title last year.

With just a few weeks to go before this major clash, things have already gotten personal. Ngannou recently hit out at Gane and his team for releasing sparring footage that seemingly showed ‘Bon Gamin’ getting the better of the champion.

Whether that ends up being the case at UFC 270, only time will tell, but this fight definitely promises to be a big one.

#4. Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell – UFC 66

Once close friends, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell's rivalry turned nasty when the UFC light-heavyweight title was involved

Perhaps the greatest example of a friendship between sparring partners going badly wrong remains the infamous UFC rivalry between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.

Their feud arguably defined the UFC in the mid-2000’s. UFC 66, which saw them battle for the UFC light heavyweight title, held the promotion’s pay-per-view buyrate record for three years.

The two fighters initially began training together when Ortiz held the light heavyweight title. Coincidentally, at the time they were also managed by future UFC president Dana White.

For a long time, ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ claimed his friendship with Liddell was so strong that the duo had formed a pact to never face off inside the octagon. However, when ‘The Iceman’ began to cut a path of destruction through the division, it was clear he deserved a title shot.

Ortiz refused to go through with it, though, and ended up losing both his friendship with Liddell and his title in a clash with Randy Couture, who beat ‘The Iceman’ in his stead. With the friendship dead and buried, the two men finally faced off at UFC 47, with Liddell winning via second-round TKO. That victory put ‘The Iceman’ on a route to the top of the UFC. He eventually defeated Couture for the title at UFC 52.

At that stage, he and Ortiz had become hated rivals. When the two former sparring partners faced off with the title on the line at UFC 66, it felt like one of the biggest fights in UFC history.

Liddell came out on top again, this time stopping Ortiz in the third round. Despite showing respect to one another after the fight, it took more than a decade, as well as a third fight with Ortiz winning, for the former friends to finally bury the hatchet.

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#3: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cody Garbrandt – UFC 217

Once friends and sparring partners, T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt fell out big time when Dillashaw departed their team in 2014

When then-WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber formed Team Alpha Male in 2004, the idea was to bring together some of the best lighter-weight fighters on the planet to train with one another.

However, ‘The California Kid’ probably didn’t realize that over a decade later, he would also help to kickstart one of the biggest feuds in UFC history between former teammates T.J. Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

In this instance, the rivalry began due to the influence of former UFC fighter Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, who acted as Team Alpha Male’s coach from 2012 to 2014. Both Dillashaw and Garbrandt trained with the team under Ludwig, but it was Dillashaw who found UFC success first.

After entering the promotion via the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter, he climbed to the top of the bantamweight division. He did what his mentor Faber was unable to do by unseating UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao at UFC 173.

However, after largely crediting Ludwig’s coaching for the win, Dillashaw chose to follow ‘Bang’ when he abandoned Team Alpha Male to form his own training camp in Colorado. Naturally, that didn’t sit right with the champion’s teammates, most notably Garbrandt.

‘No Love’ immediately began to snipe at Dillashaw in the media, accusing him of being a bad sparring partner who would look to injure his teammates. He also claimed that Dillashaw was a known user of PED’s. So when Garbrandt defeated Dominick Cruz, who had beaten Dillashaw, to win the UFC bantamweight title, it was clear that the two men were on a collision course.

After a lengthy build-up to their fight, including a bad-tempered stint as rival coaches on TUF, the former friends faced off at UFC 217. In a wild fight that saw multiple knockdowns, Dillashaw reclaimed his title via TKO, before ending the feud for good with a second win in their rematch.

#2. Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns – UFC 258

Training partners Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns remained respectful going into their UFC title fight in 2021

Not all UFC title battles between former sparring partners are filled with bad blood. The clash between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and top contender Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 stands as an example of that.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was a teammate of ‘Durinho’ for years in the Blackzilians and Sanford MMA teams. Prior to their clash last year, Burns even claimed to have sparred well over 200 rounds with Usman.

However, after beating the likes of Gunnar Nelson, Demian Maia and former champion Tyron Woodley, it was clear that the Brazilian had his eyes on the UFC welterweight title. That inevitably meant a showdown with his training partner.

Neither man chose to talk any trash in the build-up to the fight, with both Usman and Burns stating their admiration and respect for the other. However, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ did intimate that ‘Durinho’ knew he couldn’t win the fight.

While the two stars didn’t snipe at one another in the media, they held nothing back in the octagon. Burns took the fight to Usman early on, dropping him in the first round. In the end, Usman’s powerful striking proved to be the difference, winning him the fight via TKO.

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#1: Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans – UFC 145

Rashad Evans brought Jon Jones to his training camp, only to see 'Bones' take his place after winning the UFC light-heavyweight title

While the rivalry between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell was arguably the more seismic one in terms of the effect it had on the UFC’s fortunes, it’s probably fair to suggest that the clash between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans featured even more bad blood.

That was because Evans, who had been training with coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn since the very beginning of his MMA career, was the one who invited a young Jones into their Albuquerque-based camp when ‘Bones’ began his UFC career, feeling he’d make a great sparring partner.

Unfortunately for ‘Suga’, though, that decision turned out to be a terrible one. Not only did Jones supplant him in terms of success in the octagon, but essentially, he also forced him out of his own team.

The relationship between the two fighters initially appeared to be paying off for both. Evans captured the UFC light heavyweight title in late 2008 and Jones swiftly rose towards the top of the division.

However, things went sour in 2011 when Evans, who had lost his title to Lyoto Machida in 2009, was forced out of a planned clash with then-champion ‘Shogun’ Rua due to a knee injury. Jones was offered the title shot instead and capitalized fully, defeating Shogun via TKO to claim the gold at the age of just 23.

With Evans still positioned as the top contender to the title, it was clear that something had to give. Incredibly, despite Evans being with them for far longer, coaches Jackson and Winkeljohn decided to stick with Jones. With that in mind, ‘Suga’ left the camp to form his own team in Florida.

The two men eventually faced off for Jones’ title at UFC 145 in 2012. Despite his best efforts, Evans simply couldn’t handle his former protégé and was defeated by unanimous decision. While Jones won, though, the feud unfortunately turned him into a polarizing figure with the fans, a reputation he’s never truly shaken off.

While the two did bury the hatchet in 2014, Evans has gone on record to state that while he’s now on speaking terms with ‘Bones’, they will never be as close as they once were.