Unexpected Relationships: UFC Fighters Who Became Friends to Enemies

Unexpected Relationships: UFC Fighters Who Became Friends to Enemies

While the UFC can become a place of fierce rivalries, it can also become an environment in which these fighters, due to similar trials and tribulations, become friends bound together by tight bonds. These friendships can sometimes go sour, creating some of the most personal and heated rivalries in the history of the sport. This article highlights the surprising enmity in the UFC, how those fighters went from friend to foe—their drama, betrayal, and never-to-be-forgotten showdowns.

1. Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans

One of the most famous examples of a close friendship that went sour and turned into a bitter rivalry in the UFC is the case of Jon Jones versus Rashad Evans. They used to be friends and even training partners in Greg Jackson’s MMA gym in Albuquerque. Evans was the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and seemed to be a mentor to young up-and-coming sensation Jon Jones.

Things took a turn for the worse when Jones was then offered a title fight against then ROC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in 2011, after Evans had to pull out of the bout due to injury. Jones accepted and won the championship, making him the youngest champion in UFC history. But there were issues as Jones was already prepared to defend his title against Evans—Evans had hoped that they could avoid fighting one another. Things reached a boiling point as both fighters took to engaging in a war of words through the media, with Evans feeling so betrayed by Jones and the gym. It all set up for a massive encounter at UFC 145 in 2012, and it was very personal, with both men fighting to prove who the better man was.

Jones, for his part, won overall by way of a unanimous decision and retained his title, further exalting his feats as one of the best to ever do it on the UFC canvas. The rivalry would cost both men dearly in the end; what had once been a close friendship turned into a bitter feud.

2. Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell

Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell were, at one time, great friends and training partners during the early days of the UFC. Both fighters just happened to be too big stars within the organization and were on a collision course for a shot at the light heavyweight title. Even friendly, the UFC was looking very hard to book a fight between them, as they knew it would appeal to a large audience.

Ortiz, the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion at that time, initially refused to fight Liddell because they were friends and had a great deal of respect for each other. However, Liddell wanted it badly and thought Ortiz was dodging him. The tension finally began to brew between them, which the UFC capitalized on by finally setting up the fight at UFC 47 in 2004.

promotion for the fight had Ortiz and Liddell exchanging verbal jabs and accusations. When the two finally stepped into the octagon, Liddell knocked out Ortiz in the second round to claim victory and definitively put their friendship in his rearview mirror.
The rivalry did not end there. The two world collide once more at UFC 66 in 2006, with Liddell once again knocking out Ortiz. The equally famous rivalry the two had developed was part of a big way UFC history, and in part of the early days of its existence. After their battles within the octagon, their relationship was never the same, even though efforts throughout the years would be made to mend things.

3. Colby Covington vs Jorge Masvidal

One of the more recent examples would have to be the one between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. The two fighters used to be really good friends and roommates who trained together at ATT in Florida. They both spoke very highly of each other, cornered for each other in many fights, and Masvidal even labeled Covington as a “brother.”

Their friendship began to take a hit as Covington transformed himself into a loudmouth, firebrand, trash-talking Covington amidst overly controversial comments that made him appear and upset many of his teammates, including Masvidal. He mentioned that that had been one of the last straws: not paying one of Masvidal’s coaches ‘a few small things here and there’ after potentially securing a championship fight, which finally resulted in the complete breakdown in their relationship.

The tension between Covington and Masvidal spilled over into the public, and the two men began to argue back and forth via the media as each accused the other of being unfaithful. The situation between the two fighters was a very anticipated grudge match, culminating in UFC 272 in 2022. Covington took the fight via unanimous decision, but the feeling between the former buddies remained unfinished.

In the Covington-Masvidal rivalry, everything is a perfect instance of how personal conflict combined with professional competition made those who might be considered friends—original friends—to be bitter enemies in the UFC.

4. TJ Dillashaw vs. Cody Gar

It’s one of the most bitter rivalries in UFC history—a rivalry that began with a close friendship and a shared journey to the top. TJ Dillashaw and the challenger, Cody Garbrandt, were part of the Team Alpha Male, a team that UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber founded. At that time, under the watch of Faber, a very strong bond was developed between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt, where Dillashaw mentored the young Garbrandt.

Although the friends had an excellent relationship, everything started to fall out when Dillashaw left the Team Alpha Male for Colorado to train together with Duane Ludwig. The switch was tantamount to turning his back against Faber and the rest of the team, including Garbrandt. Things got worse when the opponent defeated Renan Barao to hold the belt of the UFC Bantamweight Championship that Faber and his team had desired for long.

Garbrandt partially redeemed the team when he was crowned bantamweight champion after defeating Dominick Cruz. This winning feeling was enough to make him feel that he, too, had to defend his team’s reputation, so he would fight Dillashaw. The two met at UFC 217 in 2017. The buildup to their fight saw them spew each other with bile, one horrible insult after the next. After a packet of fierce competitiveness, Dillashaw was finally reigned in by knocking out Garbrandt within two rounds to reclaim the title.

It didn’t just stop there between the bad blood; they went on to fight in 2018 at UFC 227, where again TJ Dillashaw took out Garbrandt. It was a personal, heated rivalry that spanned the annals of history, with two former best friends pitted against one another on the mixed martial arts battlefield.

5. Ronda Rousey Vs Miesha Tate

Though the biggest and most well-known rivalry in the history of women’s MMA is between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, it did start with mutual respect among two mixed martial artists. Instantly tagged as the new face of WMMA, Rousey, a former Olympian judoka, captured the MMA world by storm. Tate, an accomplished fighter at that time, actually brought Rousey into the sport and acknowledged her talent upon arrival.

Tensions rose between Rousey’s confidence and trash talking, which began to rub Tate the wrong way as time wore on in their friendly embrace. Consequently, things came to a head once Rousey challenged Tate for the Bantamweight Championship of Strikeforce in 2012. The lead-up to the fight was full of animosity, and Rousey made it painfully clear that she held absolutely no regard for Tate, both as a fighter and as a person.

In the initial match, Rousey tapped Tate during the very first round with her renowned armbar, which led her to winning the championship and making her a sensation. The pair faced each other again in their rematch UFC 168 in 2013 this time the scenario was for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. The grudge between the two was intense, and this time Rousey defeated Tate for the second time. In the third round, she applied an armbar.

It turned into one of the most bitter and personal feuds in women’s MMA, although the relationship started from an almost friendly rivalry. Anatomy of the bad blood run between Rousey and Tate continued even after that time, as the two did make their tries to patch things up over the years, this one really of the biggest rivalries in women’s MMA.

6. Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie

This fight served as a reminder to how notable rivals would often start out to be friends at the beginning of their martial arts careers, only to end up as enemies thereon. Examples of classic rivalries in the UFC are Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie. Back in the starting days of the UFC, Shamrock and Gracie were two big stars in the promotion: Shamrock represented catch wrestling, while Gracie represented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Viewers might break a smile to see or think that there was mutual respect for each other’s skills and for each other’s backgrounds, but indeed tension must have sprung from the competitive natures of both men.

Their first battle at UFC 1 back in 1993 is when Gracie made Shamrock submit in mere 57 seconds with a rear-naked choke. Ever since then, Shamrock promised his heart and soul that he would be the one to defeat Gracie. The time arrived in 1995 at UFC 5, with one of the most highly anticipated fights in UFC history.

But the fight ended when, after 36 minutes of pound-and-ground, neither fighter could secure a victory. But the Shamrock-Gracie rivalry didn’t stop there, and that competitive tension Indian-wrestling turned into personal, deep-seated animosity.

They finally met for the third and last time in 2016 at Bellator 149—over two decades since their first fight. Gracie won the fight by TKO, but the Shamrock-Gracie rivalry pales in comparison to one of the greatest in the history of MMA, dueling out mutual respect into mere competition and rivalry.

7. Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones: two of the most gifted fighters in the nearly 25 years history of Ultimate Fighting, known as UFC but indeed their rivalry among the ugliest and personal as well. The two were originally mutuals to each other, with Cormier respecting Jones’ ability—or more importantly, himself—to the utmost and what he might become. But fate has a mysterious way of ensuring that their parting of ways resulted in a date with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. The tension between Cormier and Jones boiled over in 2014 during a press conference for their fight at UFC 178. During the face-off, the two had a very physical confrontation, which set the tone for their rivalry. That fight was moved to UFC 182, where Jones won a unanimous decision to retain his title.

Things got even worse when the bad blood between them just became too personal, with both Cormier and Jones constantly insulting and debasing each other through the media. The two fighters fought against each other for the second time at UFC 214 in 2017, with Jones winning by way of knockout, but the result was later changed to a no-contest after Jones tested positive for a banned substance. In the history of the UFC, this is one of the most highly publicized rivalries based on high-octane personal animosity.

Both the fighters have maintained the sportsman spirit by acknowledging the effectiveness of the other party; however, on a personal level, their feud has reached almost the verge of being irreconcilable, and both of them are still considered two of the most intensive rivals of the arena.

Conclusion
Welcome to an MMA world in which the very thin line between best friends and worst enemies may blur instantaneously, just like in the case of the UFC. These fighters began as friends but built or earned mutual respect for one another before things went sour. Those rivalries have produced some of the most memorable, dramatic moments in UFC history and the thin line that holds up between friend and enemy in combat sports. As the UFC continues to grow, the list of friends and adversaries increases, adding to a plethora of stories that enrich the sport. For the fighters engaged, it’s a journey from friend to foe and an on-the-whetstone test of the kind of pulls and trifles brought from competing at the very top level of the sport.