5 times former teammates headlined UFC shows against one another

#2. Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz – UFC 47 & UFC 66

Chuck Liddell’s rivalry with former teammate Tito Ortiz drew huge numbers for the UFC/

One of the feuds that helped to build the UFC into the juggernaut it is today is Chuck Liddell’s rivalry with Tito Ortiz. That produced two best-selling pay-per-view events, beginning when the two fighters trained together after arriving in the promotion in the late 1990s.

It was Ortiz who reached the top of the mountain first, winning the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by beating Wanderlei Silva in 2000. While ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ became the promotion’s new poster boy, Liddell began to cut a swathe through the division in his own right.

Suddenly, all the talk began to center around when ‘The Iceman’ would get his shot. That angered Ortiz, who claimed he’d made a ‘pact’ with his friend never to fight.

That, apparently, was news to Liddell, who seemed more than happy to fight Ortiz. Immediately, rumours began to swirl around that the reason for the differing stances of the two was that ‘The Iceman’ had always gotten the better of Ortiz in their sparring sessions.

Ironically, by the time the two friends-turned-rivals finally faced off for the first time, neither man held the title. Ortiz had lost it to Randy Couture seven months earlier.

Things quickly got worse for ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’. Liddell knocked him out in the second round of their meeting, apparently proving those stories about their sparring sessions correct.

Two and a half years later, the rivals met for a second time, this time with Liddell holding the title and Ortiz acting as challenger. The show ended up setting the UFC’s pay-per-view buyrate record – drawing a million buys. Once again, ‘The Iceman’ came out on top, winning again by TKO.

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

The rivalry between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans caused an acrimonious split in their training camp.

Tito Ortiz’s feud with Chuck Liddell became incredibly bitter, and led to two best-selling pay-per-view events. However, the most infamous example of two teammates facing off in a UFC headliner remains Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans.

In this instance, the promotion itself was somewhat to blame for the rivalry exploding. Essentially, in 2009, Evans – then the UFC light heavyweight champion – had brought Jones to his training camp, headed by Greg Jackson, with the idea being he’d make a great sparring partner.

However, as Jones began to climb his way to the top, Evans lost his title to Lyoto Machida, who in turn, lost it to Mauricio Rua. By early 2011, Evans had moved back into a position to challenge Rua and attempt to regain his crown. However, when he blew out his knee, the UFC decided to offer Jones the chance to step in and replace him.

‘Bones’ went on to destroy Rua, claiming the title in the process – and naturally, that put him on a collision course with Evans. The real twist, though, was to follow. When it became clear that the two were destined to fight, Jackson’s loyalties were naturally split. However, rather than side with his veteran fighter in Evans, he instead chose to train Jones for the fight, essentially forcing ‘Suga’ to leave the camp altogether.

After much controversy and a delayed build, the teammates-turned-rivals finally faced off in the main event of UFC 145. While Evans was the clear fan favourite, Jones was able to outfight him, claiming a unanimous decision win.

Despite such an acrimonious split, though, this story at least ended happily. In 2019 – seven years after their bout – it was revealed that Jones and Evans had firmly buried the hatchet, ending their bitter rivalry in a genuinely respectful way.