5 times UFC fighters cried in the octagon

#4. Belal Muhammad - UFC Vegas 21

At UFC Vegas 21, UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad competed in the biggest fight of his career to date. He took on top-five ranked Leon Edwards in a fight that would have likely propelled him straight to a number one contender fight should he have emerged victorious.

However, in round two, disaster struck. Edwards inadvertently poked Muhammad in the eye as he threw a body kick. The eye poke resulted in Muhammad instantly falling to the ground, writhing in agony. The fight was ruled a no contest.

Belal Muhammad's eye is messed up #UFCVegas21 pic.twitter.com/pNZSMdpU6J

— MMA mania (@mmamania) March 14, 2021

Even when he regained his feet, Muhammad was clearly extremely emotional. This was later revealed to not only be down to the injury and missed opportunity, but also because Muhammad's father's store had been looted earlier in the year and they had not been able to rebuild it. Muhammad was in part relying on a winning bonus to help rebuild his father's store and provide some financial stability.

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#3 Deiveson Figueiredo & Joseph Benavidez - UFC Fight Island 2

In a fight that very much served as a changing of the guard, Deiveson Figueiredo defeated Joseph Benavidez a second time to claim the vacant flyweight title. Figueiredo and Benavidez had previously fought that year, and whilst the Brazilian had been victorious, he had missed weight, making him ineligible to win the title.

As soon as he won it was instantly clear what it meant to Figueiredo, as well as the respect he had for Benavidez. An emotional 'Deus Da Guerra' immediately went and kneeled before Benavidez, who was still recovering.

An emotional @Daico_Deiveson knelt in front of Joseph Benavidez after their battle at #UFCFightIsland2 pic.twitter.com/VNEthD4IQp

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 19, 2020

The gravity of the loss seemed to hit Benavidez once he exited the UFC octagon, as the realization that he would never fight for a UFC title again hit him during the post-fight interviews.

"I'm not going out like that... I'm not gonna get another title shot and I don't want to go out on that."@JoeJitsu spoke about his future after #UFCFightIsland2 pic.twitter.com/wcl7H4Xhx5

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 19, 2020