10 Worst Fights In The History Of MMA

Mixed martial arts is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. UFC is the leading MMA organization in the world and has been in existence since 1993. They have been putting on some brilliant fight cards over the years. MMA fights have earned the fighters a lot of revenue and popularity.

However, at times these fights were disappointing. Most of these matchups weren’t stylistically bad, but because of some factors (mostly inactivity), they turned into a snoozefest. In fact, some fights bored fans to the point where they began trolling the promotion. Today, we look at 10 of the worst fights in the history of MMA.

10. Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites

Thales Leites vs. Anderson Silva is one of the few fights that Silva fans want to forget about. The former P4P king squared up against Thales and basically stared into his soul while circling around him for 25 minutes. It was filled up with Silva’s occasional side kicks, and Thales’ weird guard pulls.

Silva was getting more and more frustrated with his opponent’s reluctance to engage, and after 25 minutes of practically nothing, Silva was declared the winner of the bout.

9. Tyrone Woodley vs. Demian Maia

In July 2017, Tyrone Woodley took on Demian Maia in the co-main event for UFC 214. Maia went in for takedown after takedown, but all his attempts were thwarted by the welterweight champion.

Woodley was all business in his attempt to defend his title, and as such, did not take any unnecessary risks. This, however, did not sit well with the fans and they booed the champion after his victory. The fight also saw very few significant strikes from the two decorated fighters and caused much uproar among the fans present.

8. Frank Mir vs Mirko “Cro Cop”

Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop are two of the most accomplished fighters of our era. Cro Cop’s left high kick is a thing of beauty, but during the last leg of his career, he appeared to be more cautious and slow. Even though he had the same power, he seemed a little too reluctant to engage. Mir’s striking improved at the end of his career, but both of them ended up staring at each other at the main event of UFC 119.

They were extremely cautious and spent most of their time trying to find an opening, Mir landed a fortunate knee that ended the night for his opponent and saved fans from another 2 rounds of boredom.

7. Clay Guida vs. Gray Maynard

Unlike his nature, Clay Guida wanted to implement a perfect game plan to secure the win against Gray Maynard. He followed in the footsteps of Carlos Condit, who used the ‘stick and move’ strategy. It would have been a great strategy, but Guida couldn’t stick to the plan and was just moving all around the octagon.

He was moving around, and eventually, that pissed off his opponent to such an extent, that he flipped the bird, and even used foul language inside the octagon. It was undoubtedly the most boring fight these two have been a part of.

6. Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson 2

While these two are the names you wouldn’t expect to see on the list, their 2nd matchup disappointed fans to an unbelievable extent. The first fight between them ended up as a draw, and in the second meeting, both of them played it a little too safe. Tyron Woodley was not engaging, waiting for that lucky shot, and Stephen Thompson maintained his distance trying to score points from outside.

This resulted in very little activity, and fans booed them throughout. At the end of the last round, Woodley knocked down Thompson and that gave him an edge on the judges’ scorecards.

5. Dan Severn vs Ken Shamrock 2

After their monumental first encounter, Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock battled it out for the second time at UFC 9. Since Shamrock got the submission win the first time around, Severn was playing it a little too safe. MMA was deemed illegal in many states during that time, and just before the event, judges announced that headbutts and closed-fist strikes were banned.

This majorly affected the fight, Severn and Shamrock were afraid to engage properly because of this, and this turned out to be one of the most boring fights in the history of the organization.

4. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia

Anderson Silva was one of the biggest superstars when he faced the Brazilian submission expert, Demian Maya. This fight took place back in 2010, and the company was trying to get into the Saudi market with its first-ever event in Saudi Arabia. They wanted their best man for the job, but Silva decided to showboat for most of the fight, and Maia lost all his morale after all of his takedowns got stuffed.

Fans showed their frustration by booing the entire time, and after 25 minutes of basically nothing, Silva won the fight but apologized for his embarrassing performance. Even Dana White apologized to everyone for letting them down in a major way.

3. Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero

The middleweight title contest between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero was advertised as one of the most exciting middleweight contests we’ve seen in the history of the company. Adesanya asked for the most horrifying guy in the division, that was Yoel Romero, and the Cuban was ready to realize his dream of becoming an undisputed UFC champion.

The build up was amazing, but as soon as the fight started, Romero just stood there with his hands up high, that was the story for most of the fight. As such, the two maintained their distance, and Izzy took over with leg kicks that damaged his opponent’s foot. The referee literally had to step in ask them to engage more and give the judges something to score from.

2. Francis Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis

Fans expected a lot more from the co-main event of UFC 226 on July 8, 2018. Well, it was the fight between two of the scariest knockout artists to ever step inside the octagon, but unfortunately, the fight disappointed fans on so many levels. Francis Ngannou looked scared since the beginning of the match. He switched his stance and evaded his rival. Everyone thought he would try to finish Lewis, but that didn’t happen.

Both fighters were booed heavily after the match. Joe Rogan even stated that this was the worst match he had ever seen. Derrick Lewis threw more strikes and won the match via unanimous decision.

1. Rose Namajunas vs. Carla Esparza 2

Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza squared up against each other at UFC 274. Everyone knew Rose had the advantage on the feet, and Carla had the upper hand in the grappling department. While fans were excited to see who would implement her gameplan upon the other, they were majorly let down by how the fight played out.

Both of them were reluctant to engage, and they set the record for the least number of significant strikes landed in a 5-round affair. Rose landed only 38 significant strikes, while Carla closed it at 30. A few takedowns during the end of the fight swayed the decision in Esparza’s favor, but fans called it the worst fight in the history of the company.

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