UFC Infamy

Five examples of misbehaviour within the Octagon.

1) Balls To The Lot Of You!
Although it’s now fairly tightly regulated, in the early days of the UFC, fighters could pretty much do anything they wanted in the ring. Hence the extraordinary sight at UFC 4 of kempo exponent Keith Hackney defeating Korea’s Joe Son – aka Random Task from the first Austin Powers movie – by striking him repeatedly in the bollocks. Should you find yourself feeling sorry for Son, please refrain from doing so – convicted for murder and torture in 2011, his life sentence was later extended after he killed his cell’mate’.

2) The Killing Choke
Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral courted controversy the way Casanova courted the female population of Europe. As for his career nadir, look no further than UFC 74 where he defeated David Heath with an anaconda choke. Being a dickhead of the highest order, Babalu refused to release the hold after his opponent tapped out. Indeed, he didn’t free Heath until after he’d passed out from hypoxia, a potentially lethal condition. Babalu claimed that he was trying to teach Heath respect. UFC President Dana White in turn taught Sobral a lesson by firing him.