The main event injury curse and 4 other urban legends/superstitions in the UFC

#2. The Paul Felder curse

During his active years, retired lightweight contender Paul Felder was one of the toughest fighters on the roster. Despite retiring early, 'The Irish Dragon' was never finished throughout his 23-fight run in the UFC. Every loss he suffered was competitive, with all but one coming by way of split-decision.

A curious feature, however, of Felder's MMA career is that almost every fighter who has defeated him immediately loses their next bout. Felder's six losses came against Edson Barboza, Ross Pearson, Francisco Trinaldo, Mike Perry, Dan Hooker and Rafael dos Anjos.

The Paul Felder curse seems to have applied to every single one of his foes with the exception of Rafael dos Anjos, who enjoyed a two-year break from MMA after his victory before making a successful return against Renato Moicano. Every other foe Felder has faced, however, cannot say the same.

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#1. The UFC main event injury curse

In recent weeks, the UFC has experienced a bizarre stretch of injuries that have affected the promotion's main event bouts. Last Saturday, UFC Fight Night 208 was headlined by Tom Aspinall and Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight bout that would have likely been a title eliminator.

For Curtis Blaydes, it was a chance to extend his win streak to three victories as he hoped to earn a trilogy bout against reigning heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, who remains the only man to defeat Blaydes twice. Tom Aspinall, meanwhile, was headlining his second fight card in London.

A rising contender with blistering speed and all of his victories coming by way of either knockout or submission, Aspinall was riding an eight-fight win streak heading into the main event. Just 15 seconds into the bout, however, he collapsed after landing a low kick. His technique was perfect, nor did Blaydes check the kick to wound Aspinall's shin.

Instead, the Brit simply collapsed, clutching his knee in agony after suffering a freak injury that remains undisclosed. Prior to the UFC London event, the UFC on ABC 3 fight card suffered a similar situation as Brian Ortega dislocated his shoulder four minutes into his main event bout with Yair Rodriguez in what fans have since dubbed the main event curse.