Creating this thread to catalogue when great (or very good) fighters clearly cheated in big fights. Please don’t include PEDs – that would derail the thread.
I’ll note that, to me, cheating should be intentional to be considered cheating. (So an unintentional groin strike wouldn’t count).
Many of the people below are some of my favorite fighters of all-time. But even the great ones cheat sometimes.
Definite
-GSP greased versus BJ.
-Anderson repeatedly fouled Chael in the second round of the second fight to prevent the TD, most notably ripping on his shorts.
-Koscheck faking the knee to a grounded opponent.
-DC leaning on a towel to make weight.
Possible
-I lean towards believing that Jon Jones uses eye gouges to manage range.
-DC probably purposely poked Stipe in the eye in their first fight.
-Did Usman fake the nut shot? Are there good arguments that he didn’t? (EDIT: I just rewatched and I find it very plausible that the shin hit the cup. If Usman really got hit in the liver, he wouldn’t have been able to react that way).
I don’t think it was cheating
-Fedor grabbing the ropes v. Lindland.
All we know is his coach greased him up a bit between rounds.
There is no evidence that GSP himself cheated or was on board with any cheating. It’s different than those others where the fighter was in full control of the cheating action.
Yeah, I know that you’re being clear. But, my OP left the criteria a bit ambiguous. GSP himself might not have cheated (which is what the subject line implies), but he is also responsible for Nurse’s conduct. You’re both right.
Not a big fight but a main event albeit none the less but Gunner Nelson vs Ponzinibbio, Nelson got poked against the cage a load of times, I remember seeing the slow mo of them all and that’s one dirty fighter
I have a vague memory of being really upset about this. Similarly, the most flagrant cheater I’ve seen in the modern (ie post Gordeau) era was Kongo, who intentionally kneed people in the balls all the time.
