The Top 20 Feuds in UFC history

After 20 years, there have been plenty of matchups that have captured the imagination of the masses. Some were due to purely sporting reasons — like when titles have been contested by seemingly equal combatants — while others were more personal, due to things like broken friendships and words that crossed the line.

From the early days of Shamrock vs. Gracie to the current contention between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, these are the most memorable rivalries that have carried us through 20 years of Octagon action.

There was a time when the UFC’s heavyweight division was almost barren of any real talent. One of its darkest hours came in the mid-2000s, when PRIDE snatched up most of the big-name big men.

In the UFC, there were really only two names that mattered: Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia. And as a result, the two were frequent and combative rivals. Within a span of 17 months, the pair completed a trilogy that was long on venom.

The first fight between them happened at UFC 51. Sylvia had lost the UFC title but was thrust into an interim title match alongside Arlovski after champion Frank Mir suffered terrible injuries in a motorcycle crash. It was anticlimactic after Arlvoski won by submission in just 47 seconds.

Within a year, Sylvia had won three straight and found himself right back in the same position. Arlovski, who had finished six straight opponents, was considered a major favorite to dominate the rematch. Midway through the first round, it seemed that assumption was correct, after Arlovski floored the challenger with a straight right. But Sylvia withstood the barrage, recovered, and rose to knock Arlovski out just seconds later.

With each having won once, the tension was high heading into the trilogy fight held less than three months later. Perhaps it was too much, because both fighters pulled back from their usual aggressive styles and produced a dud, with Sylvia winning a decision.

What good would a best feuds list be without at least one Nick Diaz appearance?

With apologies to his Joe Riggs feud that culminated in a hospital fight, we must give deference to his 2013 matchup with Georges St-Pierre, a bout that was so long in coming that it featured multiple missed flights, a missed press conference, Diaz being booted from the opportunity, and then talking his way back into title contention while coming off a loss.

To Diaz, St-Pierre was boring, pampered and a cheater, on “plenty of steroids,” as he memorably stated.

As he has a way of doing, Diaz seemed to get under the skin of even St-Pierre, the usually unflappable champion, who, fed up with it all, declared Diaz “crazy,” and “not right in the head.”

Diaz made a million headlines before the fight, mostly for the things he said, but by fight week, he was surprisingly calm, while it was St-Pierre who was the one saying he wanted to hurt Diaz. For five rounds, he managed to control the wildman with top-game dominance and occasional ground and pound, en route to a unanimous decision that sent Diaz into a surprise retirement.

It all began with a few words that seemed innocent enough. Ronda Rousey, then a Strikeforce newcomer, proclaimed that she would soon take Miesha Tate’s title. To Rousey, it was simply a declaration of war on the division, but to Tate, it was a personal affront. The two would battle through the media for months until they finally met at a Strikeforce event in Columbus, Ohio.

The two came out like gangbusters and Tate managed to land a couple of right hands and briefly take Rousey down, but the former U.S. judo Olympian would soon after rally and toss Tate to the mat. The moments that followed were filled with drama, as Rousey worked to cinch an armbar, and Tate attempted to resist. Eventually, Rousey seemed to snap Tate’s arm, but still Tate would not tap. Finally, after an eternity, she surrendered, giving Rousey the win. With the fight settled, it seemed like the feud would take a break, but the uneasy peace was soon shattered when Tate burst on to the Ultimate Fighter set as a replacement coach, setting the scene for a December rematch.

Unlike some of the great UFC rivalries, this one didn’t mean anything in terms of divisional dominance. While Forrest Griffin captured a UFC light-heavyweight championship, Bonnar was never close. But what it lacked in stakes, it made up for in significance.

The two were finalists on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. At the time they fought, the UFC was struggling financially and despite strong ratings, had not been promised a second season on Spike.

Only three fights from the TUF Finale aired on television, and it was this one that stole the show. For three rounds, Griffin and Bonnar put on a display of blood and guts that captivated everyone watching. The winner had been guaranteed a UFC deal, Griffin’s aggressiveness combined with Bonnar’s seeming desperation to win the prize equaled magic.

The fight was exceedingly close, and after three rounds of a blistering pace, it was unclear who the winner would be. When Griffin got the nod, Bonnar fell to the ground in devastation. But in a memorable twist, UFC president Dana White announced that he’d offer both fighters deals, and two stars were born.

Less than two years later, the two were at similar spots in their careers after losses, so they met again. This time, it was clear that Griffin had distanced himself from his former castmate, and won a unanimous decision, but what they’d done in the past couldn’t be erased.

The feud that started it all is often misremembered as the final of UFC 1, though in actuality, it was the semi. The two met after Gracie defeated Art Jimmerson and Shamrock stopped Pat Smith in the quarters. At the time, Shamrock was a Pancrase standout although little was widely known about Gracie or the art he represented.

His brother Rorion, along with Art Davie, had co-founded the UFC, and it was Rorion Gracie’s idea to put Royce, who was the slightest member of the family at about 170 pounds, in to represent them. The thinking was that the visual of the wiry Royce finishing larger, muscle-bound men would be a great infomercial for the Brazilian jiu-jitsu the family was working to export to America.

When the two squared off, Shamrock took Gracie down, but unknowingly set his own trap in the process. Gracie quickly took his opponent’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke. Shamrock tapped, then briefly protested the stoppage before admitting he’d surrendered. The strange ending set the scene for a future meeting that was delayed multiple times until UFC 5 in a match billed as a Superfight. That match was given a 30-minute time limit, and after that expired without a winner, a decision was made to give them five more minutes. Then, another minute overtime followed. After 36 minutes of action, and with the pay-per-view broadcast window closing, the fight was declared a draw. Despite public calls for it, a third fight between them never materialized.

Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was a feud that spilled over from PRIDE. There, the two knockout artists had slugged it out twice, with Silva getting the better of Jackson each time, scoring a pair of KO’s.

When the two both moved over to the UFC, Jackson went on to win the title while Silva struggled to find consistency. When Jackson lost the belt, it seemed a perfect time to revive the epic feud. UFC 92 got the matchup as part of a stacked, year-end event, and well before the two faced off in Las Vegas, the spark was lit. Jackson promised revenge and Silva ensured him the third fight would end the same way as the first two.

As it turned out, it was Jackson who correctly foresaw the result. He caught Silva with a perfectly timed left hook, and followed up with some hellacious ground strikes to earn the KO. Even though he didn’t win the series, he earned the last word.

Over the early years of his career, Frank Trigg gained a reputation as a trash-talker, and with Matt Hughes as the welterweight champion, he became a natural target.

The two first met at UFC 45, the promotion’s 10th anniversary show, with most of the questions leading up to the match centering around who was the better wrestler. Trigg took Hughes down early, but Hughes recovered and won by rear naked choke inside of the first round. Afterward, Hughes lost and later recaptured his belt, and Trigg smashed two straight opponents, setting up a rematch.

Before it could ever happen, Trigg said he’d signed his contract and that Hughes hadn’t signed his, leading to speculation Hughes didn’t want the fight.

“Matt has come to the realization that I scare him on a lot of different levels,” he said then.

When the two finally met up, the fuse was already lit. For example, when ref Mario Yamasaki called them together for pre-fight instructions, the two went nose-to-nose, Trigg pretended to offer a kiss, and Hughes shoved him away.

What ensued is one of the most storied comebacks in UFC history. Within a minute, Hughes took a low blow, but it wasn’t seen by Yamasaki, who allowed the action to continue. Trigg pounced, striking on the downed Hughes and going for the kill. He trapped in a rear naked choke, but Hughes powered out, scooped Trigg up over his shoulder, ran across the ring, slammed him, and choked him out, ending the feud with an exclamation point.

B.J. Penn has seemingly always been a rambling man, but his journeys in weight first began with Matt Hughes in 2003. Up until then, Penn had fought all of his bouts as a lightweight, but jumped at the chance to move up to 170 to fight the long-reigning champ Hughes for the belt.

At that point, Hughes had won 13 straight fights, and was considered a heavy favorite to win against Penn, who had already failed twice in separate bids at winning the lightweight belt. But in a stunner, Penn hurt Hughes twice on the feet, eventually taking his back and choking him out in the first round.

Over two years later, Hughes was again back atop the division when his scheduled opponent Georges St-Pierre fell injured, and Penn was brought in to replace him.

The rematch looked like it would play out much the same was as the first bout. Penn seemed to be in control, controlling the striking and neutralizing, sometimes threatening Hughes on the ground. But as the third round began, it became clear that Penn was tiring fast. The steam was off his punches and his feet slowed. Hughes caught him with a punch, took him down and trapped Penn’s arm, eventually earning a TKO.

The rubber match wouldn’t come for four years. By then, the two warriors had earned each other’s respect, and the match was simply about determining which was better. Unfortunately, the match didn’t live up to the first two contests, as Penn knocked Hughes out in just 21 seconds. Hughes would fight only one more time before retiring.

As he grew into a mixed martial artist, Georges St-Pierre looked up to Matt Hughes, a model of consistency and success. But as St-Pierre rose through the ranks, it became clear that he was going to have to slay his idol in order to bypass him.

In 2004, after a blistering 7-0 start to his career, GSP was thrust into a title match with Hughes. It was too much, too fast for him. Overcome by nerves, St-Pierre struggled, and eventually succumbed to an armbar with one second left in the first round.

Two years later, St-Pierre was a more fully formed fighter, confident and dangerous after rolling through some of the division’s best. With Hughes still on top of the division, the time was right for rematch. This time, St-Pierre took control from the outset with his striking. Eventually, a high kick dropped Hughes, and GSP finished him with punches from the top.

At UFC 79 in 2007, Hughes got a chance to one-up him, but from early on, it became clear that the welterweight division was St-Pierre’s kingdom. He was dominant, handily winning the first, and eventually finishing Hughes in the second with an armbar. It would be the last time Hughes ever challenged for a belt.

If you ask some of the people who spent time around Jon Jones and Rashad Evans when both were members of Team Jackson, they’ll tell you that there was always a hint of rivalry there. That stands to reason, given the big brother, little brother type of relationship the two forged after Jones was invited into the camp.

Beneath the surface, things were always bubbling. After all, Evans had never really wanted Jones there, aware that he was on his way to becoming a divisional contender. But the situation fractured shortly before Jones won the title, ironically after stepping in to replace an injured Evans. Jones had been asked if he would be willing to fight Evans, and while he didn’t say yes, he didn’t flat-out reject the idea, either, saying it was the UFC’s call. That infuriated Evans, and for parts of the next year, the two were on a collision course, once even nearing a confrontation during a public event.

The two eventually met at UFC 145, and after months of contentiousness, the fighters were uncharacteristically cautious. For the first time in his title reign, Jones went the distance, although he easily outpointed his former friend to retain the belt.

After briefly leaving the UFC for other opportunities, BJ Penn returned in 2006, stepping right into a welterweight matchup that would determine the No. 1 contender. The fight would go on to become one of the most talked-about decisions in UFC history.

In the first, Penn badly bloodied St-Pierre face with an assortment of strikes, but St-Pierre rallied in the second and third with jabs and takedowns, earning a decision. Afterward, St-Pierre’s face was bruised and swollen, while Penn had little visible damage.

Soon afterward, St-Pierre would go on to win the belt while Penn would move on the lightweight division, but Penn could never quite get that loss out of his system. It haunted him, he said. And after one successful defense, he convinced the UFC to set up a superfight between him and St-Pierre, two reigning champs.

The two met at UFC 94, but not before Penn raised the stakes by saying he was going to “kill” St-Pierre. He never came close to hurting him.

St-Pierre, instead, authored one of his finest performances ever. He jabbed, he landed crosses and scored takedowns. It was utterly one-sided. After four rounds, St-Pierre had landed 310 strikes to Penn’s 63, and Penn’s corner would not allow him to come out and take an extended beating. They stopped the fight, allowing St-Pierre to keep his title and earn indisputable bragging rights.

The two former light-heavyweight champions were matched up as coaches on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, and despite no real previous history of trouble, fireworks quickly ensued.

Captaining teams of heavyweights, Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson had no problems stealing the spotlight, even from popular attraction Kimbo Slice, who starred on the show and helped deliver blockbuster ratings. The two coaches were nearly always at each other’s throats for reasons that were never quite clear, but the result was always a hypnotizing mix of intensity and out-of-left-field humor.

Because of the heavyweight cast and the star coaches, millions tuned in to the season, so by the time Jackson and Evans were ready to step into the cage at UFC 114, the anticipation had reached a crescendo.

Evans rocked the iron-chinned Jackson in the early moments, but Rampage worked his way back into the fight with his powerful boxing game. He gave Evans a run but full short in a unanimous decision. The event sold over 1 million pay-per-view buys.

Of all the feuds in UFC history, few ever actually included a fighter and his promoter. But that’s exactly what happened with Tito Ortiz and UFC president Dana White, who were once business partners but turned into bitter enemies.

In some ways, Ortiz played a pivotal role in White’s entry to mixed martial arts, as he along with Chuck Liddell were the first UFC fighters he started managing. Later, White took the role of UFC president, and parted ways with Ortiz, and it seemed like every time they would go through contract negotiations, they’d publicly be at each other’s throats.

In 2005, Ortiz seemed close to leaving the UFC, but ultimately returned when White brought him back into the fold. The contract also included a bizarre clause that guaranteed Ortiz a boxing match with White.

White took the training seriously, bringing in pro boxers to spar with, and the match was set for March 2007. The Nevada state athletic commission voted to allow the bout, renowned referee Jay Nady was assigned to officiate, and the gym in UFC headquarters had its Octagon removed in favor of a ring. But on the day of weigh-ins -- yes, there were weigh-ins -- Ortiz never showed up, saying he’d never received a bout agreement and that he wanted producer credit on the televised special that would follow.

That mess complicated their relationship further, and in 2008, Ortiz became a free agent and chose not to re-sign with the promotion, citing his problems with White as one of the main reasons for his decision. A little over a year later, the two announced that they’d made amends with each other, and shortly after that, White announced that he’d brought Ortiz back in the fold.

The on-again, off-again bromance was mostly peaceful until Ortiz finished his contract and retired in 2012, although a new chapter began a year later when Ortiz abruptly unretired and signed with Bellator.

Most people remember it as a two-match set, but in fact, the feud between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard was a trilogy that featured perhaps the most riveting back-and-forth action the UFC has ever seen in a series.

The first fight between them came at a 2008 Fight Night event, when Maynard rode his wrestling advantage to a unanimous decision win over his smaller opponent. By three years later though, Edgar had ascended the lightweight throne and Maynard was hot on his heels after eight straight wins.

The two were matched up at UFC 125, which was ironically subtitled “Resolution” because it took place on New Year’s Day. There would be none, however. Maynard floored Edgr early and was on the verge of finishing him, only to see Edgar recover and charge back, forcing a draw.

Nine months later, the two were paired off again to settle the score once and for all. The bout started off almost identically to the second, with Maynard dropping the champ early and going for the kill. Again, Edgar survived and rallied, but this time, he wouldn’t accept a draw. Instead, he turned the tables on Maynard in the fourth, punishing him with a right hook and finishing him with ground strikes in one of the UFC’s all-time great comebacks.

There is something special about a heavyweight feud, particularly one that legitimately includes the two best in the world. That’s exactly what we got with the recently concluded Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos trilogoy.

When the two first met at inaugural UFC on FOX show, it was a major event. Not only were the consensus two best heavyweights meeting, but they would do so on free television, as the kickoff to UFC’s network deal. After months of buildup, the result was somewhat anticlimactic, as Dos Santos knocked out Velasquez in just 64 seconds. Almost one year later, they met again. By then, rumors about injuries to both men in the first fight had been substantiated, raising the stakes. dos Santos’ side felt like Velasquez’s side was offering up excuses, though Cain himself said little on the subject.

The rematch was one-sided in the other direction, with Velasquez knocking down Dos Santos early and pounding on him for five full rounds in a one-sided decision. In Oct. 2013, the rubber match was set, less than two years after their first meeting. Again, Velasquez’s forward pressure and unmatched stamina was too much, as he bludgeoned Dos Santos for 4+ rounds before stopping him in the fifth and seizing total control of the division’s crown.

As the UFC began picking up steam in the early to mid-2000s, Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell were two of the company’s promotional cornerstones. The two first met in 2003. At the time, Couture had lost two straight heavyweight fights and decided to move down a division in hopes of reinvigorating his career. He was matched with Liddell in an interim light-heavyweight title match, which he won via third-round TKO.

The victory made Couture the UFC’s first-ever two-division champion, and set the stage for the rest of their feud. As The Ultimate Fighter launched, the duo were chosen as coaches, with the proviso that they would meet at the end of the series. The show they fought on, UFC 52, was a hit, and brought heat to their rematch, which was for Couture’s championship.

The UFC event that hosted the matchup was a hit, almost tripling the numbers of the UFC’s usual pay-per-view ceiling, and after Liddell knocked out Couture, a star was born. Liddell would go on to defend the belt four times, with one of those coming against Couture at UFC 57 less than a year later. Again, Liddell won by KO, ushering Couture into a short-lived retirement that would later set the stage for a memorable comeback.

Not every feud was actually competitive when it came to in-the-cage performance. Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock was a good example, a feud that was more important for its business implications than for its sporting results.

All told, Ortiz went 3-0 against Shamrock, defeating him at UFC 40, UFC 61 and a Fight Night event in 2006, with all three wins coming by way of stoppage. However, all of the fights helped bring attention and build a base for what was to come. UFC 40 was one of the first events under Zuffa management to become a pay-per-view hit, proving the MMA business could be a growth business. UFC 61 built on the same theme, earning a then-record 775,000 buys. But when the stoppage was protested by Shamrock, they did it again, this time on free TV. The broadcast drew nearly 6 million viewers, showing that MMA could draw major eyeballs.

After abruptly retiring from professional wrestling and a brief run at the NFL, Brock Lesnar decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts. It seemed a daring gamble, but after one pro fight, Lesnar convinced UFC president Dana White to sign him. Thrown right into the shark tank, Lesnar was matched up with former heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Flashing the potential that would later make him a world champion, Lesnar quickly took Mir down and seemed to be working towards a potential finish when he was flagged for an illegal blow.

When the action was restarted, Mir capitalized and trapped Lesnar with a kneebar, forcing the tapout.

Just over a year later, Lesnar was the champion when the two were matched up again to headline the blockbuster UFC 100 event. The two ramped up the verbal warfare, with Mir saying he was hoping for the first death in the cage (he was later fined for it) and Lesnar repeatedly calling him a quitter. When the two finally met, Lesnar was far better schooled in the ground game and trapped Mir against the cage before pounding him out. Unfortunately, Lesnar’s diverticulitis compromised him and put an early end to his fight career, robbing fans of the rubber match.

During the time that Tito Ortiz was the UFC light-heavyweight champion, Liddell was little more than a background player with an affiliation to the champ. As Liddell continued to win, however, the calls came for him to challenge Ortiz for the belt. Ortiz repeatedly resisted the matchup, citing their longtime friendship. As it turned out, however, Liddell didn’t quite feel the same way about their relationship, and said he was open to the bout.

Finally, at UFC 47, the two were paired off. By then, Ortiz had already lost the belt, but there was much to gain for the winner, who would move one step closer to challenging for the belt. The rumor had always been that Liddell had consistently handled Ortiz in the gym, and that’s exactly how the fight played out, with Liddell winning by second-round TKO.

Just over two years later, with Liddell in the midst of his long title reign, a rematch was signed for UFC 66. With two popular, well-known fighters on the marquee, the fight gained broad publicity in the sports world, and sold over 1 million pay-per-views, becoming the first UFC event to hit the milestone. The result, however, was nearly identical to the original, with Liddell earning a third-round TKO.

Once upon a time, Chael Sonnen was the quiet man who went about his career with minimal fanfare and little hope for capturing the UFC spotlight. The switch suddenly flipped for him when he re-entered the UFC around 2008, and he suddenly started discussing Anderson Silva. The MMA masses thought him crazy. Here was a guy who had never won a title of any kind, who seemed light years away from a title shot, and he was suddenly putting his name in the same sentence as the sport’s G.O.A.T.? It was madness. Or so it seemed. It turned out to be genius.

Slowly but surely, Sonnen paved his way towards Silva before the clash became inevitable. Sonnen’s trash talk sold the fight despite the fact that most felt he had little chance. What transpired was an all-time classic. Sonnen controlled the champ over the course of 4+ rounds, out-landing him by the preposterous total of 320-64, but in the fifth, Silva orchestrated one of the most dramatic moments in UFC history, sinking in a triangle choke to retain his belt.

Not to be discouraged, Sonnen won two straight, all the while targeting Silva, and earned himself a rematch which ramped up the pre-fight bluster even further. This time, “the Spider” won a more decisive outcome, smashing Sonnen in a second-round TKO.

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