MMA is a sport that is one-half entertainment and one-half actual competition. As a result, fans have seen many fights over the years that are a bit strange as promoters try to navigate the field of finding a competitive fight that also captures the attention of the public.
However, they don't always find that balance well and fans get some incredibly bizarre fights as a result. Combate America's 2019 PPV event with former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz taking on former WWE champion Alberto Del Rio is near the top of the billing when discussing this topic. However, Combate America is not alone in making weird fights.
10 Charles Bennett vs. Minoru Kimura
When RIZIN signed one of the top kickboxers on the planet in Minoru Kimura, they likely had the expectation of making him one of the top stars of their company. Matchmaking is hard for a man making his MMA debut, but they decided to go with a fan favorite in Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett.
It's a bit of a strange fight considering Kimura was a hyped prospect, and Bennett was a veteran of over 60 fights but hadn't been relevant in over a decade. Against all odds, Bennett somehow won the bout via a seven-second knockout.
9 Jorge Masvidal vs. Raphael Assuncao
Jorge Masvidal is one of the most well-known fighters on the planet, while Raphael Assuncao is considered one of the best bantamweights on the planet. Despite these men spending the majority of their careers 35 pounds apart, they actually fought under the Full Throttle promotion in Georgia in 2005.
The two men met in the middle at 155lbs, and Masvidal naturally looked much bigger than Assuncao. Wildly, Assuncao dominated the bout and won via a wide unanimous decision.
8 Jose Canseco vs. Hong-Man Choi
It's borderline insane that this fight was even sanctioned. Canseco has said that he's a black belt in Karate, but there's very little proof that this is actually the case. That's a fair thing to question considering that when Canseco actually fought he looked like he had zero qualifications.
In all fairness to Canseco, he didn't have an easy opponent. His debut was against 7'2' kickboxer Hong-Man Choi in the Japan-based Dream promotion. Canseco lost the matchup via TKO in a bit over a minute.
7 James Toney vs. Randy Couture
It's not that weird nowadays, but it was insane back in 2010 when former boxing champion James Toney decided that he wanted to step in the Octagon. It's incredibly rare to see boxers step into the cage, and it's even rarer that they fight one of the best fighters on the planet in their first bout.
But that's exactly what happened at UFC 118, as the two Hall of Famers from different sports squared off. Randy Couture dominated the freak show fight and won in the first round via submission.
6 Royce Gracie vs. Matt Hughes
It's still strange that these two squared off. Two icons from two different eras, Royce Gracie squared off with Matt Hughes in a catchweight bout at UFC 60. The bout was promoted as the first real superfight in UFC history, and the two men had to meet at 175lbs because they were in two different weight classes.
Unfortunately for Gracie, he came out on the wrong end of the first superfight. He got dominated and shown the game had passed him by, as Hughes won via first-round TKO.
5 Gabi Garcia vs. Yumiko Hotta
Okay, Japan has always been the wild west for MMA. However, this one seems wild even for them. Gabi Garcia is well-known as arguably the only heavyweight in women's MMA, as she routinely weighs in at over 215lbs for her bouts. She's had issues finding opponents as a result, but for some reason, a 50-year-old Yumiko Hotta stepped up for RIZIN in 2016.
Watching the size difference and skill difference between the two felt criminal. Garcia predictably won via first-round slaughter.
4 CM Punk vs. Mike Jackson
Both of CM Punk's bouts could be considered bizarre, but his first against Mickey Gall wasn't that strange. Gall was a hot prospect at the time, and the UFC has taken gambles on stars such as Punk before. What's strange is that they asked him back after he lost.
Even weirder, they matched him up with a fellow 0-1 fighter on a UFC PPV. Punk lost to Mike Jackson, but the fun carried into the post-fight, as Jackson tested positive for marijuana and the bout was turned into a no-contest.
3 Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture
Man, Randy Couture has some weird names on his resume. When Couture was during his final title reign, there weren't many title challengers left around for 'The Natural', and so the UFC decided to throw a 2-1 wrestler-turned football player-turned MMA fighter Brock Lesnar at him.
Despite the insane amount of experience, Lesnar was able to pull off the win by knocking out Couture in the second round to become UFC champion in his fourth bout.
2 Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki
Widely considered to be the first-ever MMA fight, then WBC heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali faced off against pro-wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976. The rules for the bout were seemingly anything goes, but over the years this has been questioned. Regardless, it was a match between a current boxing champion and a wrestler that birthed MMA.
Sadly, the fight was terrible. Inoki was seemingly terrified of staying on the feet for long, so Ali didn't have many chances to do much. Ali only landed six punches the entire fight, while Inoki landed 106 kicks from his back and scored one takedown. Inoki was deducted a few points, and the terrible fight was ruled a draw.
1 Tito Ortiz vs. Alberto Del Rio
It's forgotten that Alberto Del Rio previously had an MMA career before getting into pro wrestling. Del Rio was previously an amateur wrestler who moved into MMA and had a record of 9-5 with his most notable moment being knocked out by Mirko Cro Cop in 2003. Despite Del Rio not having fought in nine years, he decided to fight for Combate Americas.
The promotion decided to match him up with former UFC champion Tito Ortiz. Both men carried around their former titles for the promotion, as it was billed as "UFC vs. WWE". Predictably Ortiz won via first-round submission.
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