Rousimar Palhares Vs. Jake Shields (& 9 More Of The Dirtiest Fights In MMA History)

MMA is a sport that has a lot of rules, even some pointless and obscure ones just thrown in for good measure. However, there are a lot of fighters that really like to bend the rules in their bouts. Some, such as Jon Jones in the UFC, have made a name for themselves for doing exactly that.

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With that being said, some fighters are much worse than others. While Jon Jones may bend the rules with eye pokes, fighters such as Rousimar Palhares do more than bend the rules, they completely destroy them. Let's take a look at some bouts that feature fighters fighting as dirty as possible.

10 Paulo Costa vs. Uriah Hall

Paulo Costa's coming-out party at UFC 226 was against the noted veteran Uriah Hall. While Costa was expected to decimate his older-foe, Hall actually gave Costa all that he had for two tough rounds. Hall was having a lot of success behind his jab, and Costa couldn't breakthrough.

Costa's response was an interesting and unorthodox one. Costa decided to go full Andrew Golata, and landed a combination to Hall's groin, twice. After breaking down Hall with repeated groin strikes, Costa got the second-round TKO finish.

9 Mickey Gall vs. Diego Sanchez

The biggest bout of Mickey Gall's career came in 2019 against UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez. During the bout Gall came out firing, trying to knock out the legend. However, he soon gassed and got TKO'd in the second round.

Nothing dirty happened during the fight that the fans saw, however, post-fight Gall's reputation took a massive hit. Sanchez blasted Gall on social media for biting him during the contest, showing off a massive bite mark on his torso in the aftermath.

8 Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

UFC 229's main event is the biggest MMA fight of all time, by every metric. However, what was lost in all the madness of the post-fight drama, was the dirtiness that was exhibited on the side of Conor McGregor during the bout.

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McGregor did everything he could to get an edge in the tough matchup. He grabbed Nurmagomedov's shorts to prevent a takedown in round one, illegally kneed Nurmagomedov on the ground in round two, and grabbed his glove to end round three. The last foul led to Nurmagomedov complaining to the referee on the way back to his corner. Incredibly, McGregor wasn't deducted any points for his foul.

7 Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic 3

The trilogy fight between Daniel Cormier vs. Stipe Miocic 3 is a rare fight with dirtiness on both sides. The trilogy had been marred by eye pokes on both sides in the previous encounters, however, nothing was as bad as the third fight as far as fouls go.

Both men eye poked each other on multiple occasions in the final fight between these two legends. The worst poke came in the third round as Miocic poked Cormier so badly he was blind in one eye for the rest of the bout. He wound up losing the bout via unanimous decision.

6 Jon Jones vs. Rampage Jackson

Jon Jones' first title defense against Rampage Jackson was a dominant one. However, it was arguably the dirtiest win of his career, and that's saying a lot considering 'Bones' history as a fighter.

Jones poked Jackson in the eyes on multiple occasions, at one point in the third round Jones just walked towards Jackson with his fingers extended and motioned that he would poke him in the eyes if he walked forward, prompting Jackson to have words with the referee. Jones also utilized the controversial oblique kick to hyperextend Jackson's knee. While not illegal, the technique is considered one of the most controversial strikes in MMA.

5 Yoel Romero vs. Tim Kennedy

Yoel Romero's win against Tim Kennedy was a dirty one. The battle at UFC 178 was a back and forth battle up until the end of the second round when everything came to a head.

Romero was rocked in the final moments of round two when Kenndy landed a big combination. Romero then got lots of extra time on the stool when there was too much vasoline was applied, and allowed Romero to get more time to recover. He then promptly came out and knocked out Kennedy.

There was lots of anger at the moment, but then it came out that the vasoline was applied by a ringside UFC doctor, and the blame wasn't on Romero. It was also seen that the combination that rocked Romero, came as a result of Kennedy holding his glove during the onslaught. What a turn of events.

4 Gerard Gordeau vs. Royce Gracie

The finals of UFC 1 have been romanticized over time. The Karate expert Gordeau had previously earned two brutal knockout victories to meet the jiu-jitsu ace in the finals of the inaugural UFC event, and man was it something.

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Gordeau tried his best to stay at distance and land kicks but quickly found himself in Royce Gracie's grip. Gordeau then bit Gracie while in the clinch to avoid the takedown, but was missed by the referee. Gracie soon got Gordeau down and in a rear-naked-choke, and despite Gordeau tapping, he didn't let go. He sunk the choke in deeper and held it very long to cap off the dirty fight, and had words with Gordeau afterwards.

3 Mike Kyle vs. Wes Sims

Mike Kyle and Wes Sims are both known for their dirty antics inside the cage, with both men having noted issues obeying the rules during their stints fighting. So with that known, it's no surprise that there were some issues when they fought at UFC 47.

The fight was relatively one-sided, as Kyle knocked out Sims in the first round. There was no controversy until Sims got up and protested the stoppage, showing a huge bite mark on his chest and contesting the result. Kyle blew Sims off, calling him dirty and excusing his own actions. Surprisingly, nothing happened as a result of the foul and Sims was actually the one released from the UFC following the bout.

2 Gerard Gordeau vs. Yuki Nakai

Gerard Gordeau's fight following the Gracie debacle was somehow even worse than his prior bout. He faced off with the Japanese fighter Yuki Nakai, and the result was horrendous.

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Despite Nakai winning the bout, he was eye gouged multiple times throughout. Nakai actually was blind in one of his eyes as a result, however, he concealed the injury so as to not bring any negativity to MMA, as the sport was in its controversial stage.

1 Rousimar Palhares vs. Jake Shields

The aforementioned Rousimar Palhares is one of the most controversial fighters in MMA history. Despite being one of the greatest welterweights on the planet, he got released from the UFC because he couldn't get out of his own way and stop breaking the rules, and failing drug tests.

However, once he got to the World Series of Fighting, he found a home and quickly became champion. After defeating Jon Fitch, he was matched up with fellow grappler Jake Shields and dominated him. However, the bout ended in controversy, as is normal for Palhares.

Palhares eye poked Shields multiple times in the fight and then held his fight-ending submission extremely long to end the bout. Shields punched Palhares as a result of the fight-ending late kimura and was then released from WSOF.