5 UFC fighters who headed into hostile territory and won big
This weekend sees Tai Tuivasa head into hostile territory to face Ciryl Gane, who will be fighting in front of his home crowd in the UFC’s first visit to Paris, France.
For the first time ever - #UFCParis fight week starts NOW! 🇫🇷 https://t.co/a0JPdWDFAV
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous UFC fighters head into hostile territory to face not just a dangerous opponent, but a very partisan crowd, too – something that makes matters difficult.
Incredibly, though, a number of these fighters have not only won in front of a hostile crowd, but they’ve also won impressively, creating history in the process.
Here are five UFC fighters who headed into hostile territory and won big.
#5. Jorge Masvidal vs. Darren Till – UFC Fight Night 147, London, England
It’s probably fair to say that Jorge Masvidal ruffled more than one set of feathers when he headed to London in early 2019 to take on UK favorite Darren Till. Not only did he pull off a huge win, but he also angered the fans further by provoking another British fighter afterwards.
The fight itself was an exciting one, but going in, it seemed highly likely that Till would pull off the victory. Sure, ‘The Gorilla’ was coming off his losing effort against then-welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, but before that, he’d beaten the likes of Stephen Thompson and Donald Cerrone.
Masvidal, meanwhile, had not fought since his loss to Thompson in late 2017, and hadn’t made a name for himself as an elite-level fighter at that point.
Early on, it looked like Till would indeed live up to the hype. After garnering a massive crowd reaction, he decked ‘Gamebred’ with his first punch of the fight, and seemed well on his way to a win.
However, Masvidal recovered, and as the fight went on, he began to find his range, sniping at Till with more success. Midway through the second round, that success turned into victory, as ‘Gamebred’ caught the British fighter with a right hand and a brutal left hook that knocked him silly.
Jorge Masvidal brutally knocked out Darren Till in the second round tonight with a huge left hand! 🥊
Masvidal then landed a 3 piece combo on Leon Edwards midway through his post-fight interview! Madness! 😳
thesportbible.com/ufc/news-darre…
The crowd were naturally both stunned and horrified at their hero being downed in such violent fashion. Although they did quickly give Masvidal credit, ‘Gamebred’ quickly became a villain again when he confronted and attacked Leon Edwards backstage – ensuring that he’d probably never be cheered in the UK again.
#4. Stipe Miocic vs. Fabricio Werdum – UFC 198, Curitiba, Brazil
Over the years, the UFC has put on a number of shows in Brazil, usually headlining with a local favorite against a fighter hailing from another country. The Brazilian crowds are almost always raucous, and they’ve also turned two things into their trademark.
The first is their famous chant of “Uh Vai Morrer” aimed at the visiting fighters and loosely translating into “you’re gonna die." The second is the fact that when one of their favorites falls in defeat, they go utterly silent.
Unfortunately for then-heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, all of the chanting in the world couldn’t help him when he took on Stipe Miocic in front of a partisan crowd at UFC 198.
The event was the first time that the promotion had visited Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada, a huge soccer stadium. With more than 45,000 fans in attendance, Werdum seemed buzzing to embrace the spotlight.
However, the excitement he was clearly feeling ended up making him fight in a more reckless way than he usually would. The stone-cold Miocic was happy to capitalize. When ‘Vai Cavalo’ charged forward with his hands down, the challenger quickly countered with a huge right hand – and knocked him silly, sending him face down to the mat.
"I'm the world champ! I'm the world champ!" 😤
Absolute scenes when Stipe Miocic knocked out Werdum to become UFC champion 😂 https://t.co/7ziRyMNm8M
The crowd instantly went silent, allowing the cameras to pick up Miocic yelling “I’m the world champ!” at his cornermen, who seemed scarcely able to believe how easy the fight had been for him. Not only had Miocic won gold in the octagon, he’d done it in very hostile territory.
#3. Dennis Siver vs. George Sotiropoulos – UFC 127, Sydney, Australia
While the UFC has visited Australia on multiple occasions in the last decade or so, it’s been rare to see a big Aussie star fall in front of their home fans, with the likes of Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker pulling off big victories there.
Unfortunately, one Australian fighter who did slip to defeat was veteran George Sotiropoulos, who essentially missed out on a lightweight title shot because of it.
The fighter who overcame a hostile Aussie crowd to pull off the win at UFC 127 was a largely unheralded one – Germany’s Dennis Siver. At the time, despite Siver being on a two-fight win streak, very few fans were giving him a chance of winning.
That was largely because Sotiropoulos was on an even better streak, winning seven in a row in the octagon and defeating top fighters like Joe Stevenson and Joe Lauzon.
Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos - George has an answer for everyone of Joe's moves. George wins by decision
Were it not for then-lightweight champion Frankie Edgar’s draw with Gray Maynard in early 2011, the Australian likely would’ve been granted the next title shot rather than having to fight Siver.
Despite the crowd in Sydney giving Sotiropoulos the biggest reaction of the night, he looked more nervous than he’d done in his previous bouts. This was perhaps due to the fact that a title shot seemed within his grasp.
It didn’t take Siver long to capitalize. The German outstruck the home favorite in the first round, eventually dropping him twice with a pair of left hands.
Sotiropoulos did recover, but it seemed like he was never truly with it for the remainder of the fight. He ended up losing a clear-cut unanimous decision, ruining his title hopes entirely and taking the wind out of the crowd’s sails.
Remarkably, Sotiropoulos never won another fight in the octagon. Despite winning in hostile territory, Siver quickly slipped from contention in his own right just months later thanks to a loss to Donald Cerrone.
#2. Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick – UFC 129, Toronto, Canada
During his tenure as UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo was one of the promotion’s go-to stars when it came to headlining events in Brazil. Numerous fighters headed into hostile territory to attempt to dethrone him, and all of them came up short.
However, it’s easy to forget that Aldo’s first title defense came in hostile territory, against hometown favourite Mark Hominick at UFC 129 in Toronto, Canada.
The event was built largely around Georges St-Pierre, who fought Jake Shields in the headline bout. However, the crowd were almost more into ‘The Machine’ on the night, particularly when he walked out to P Diddy’s Coming Home track complete with a Canadian flag behind him.
Aldo, in contrast, was largely booed by the fans, despite being a firm fan favorite in his WEC days prior to moving to the UFC.
Unfortunately for Hominick, the Brazilian had plenty of experience in fighting in front of a hostile crowd. 2010 saw him destroy Urijah Faber in front of his home fans, and Hominick ended up suffering a similar fate.
‘The Machine’ took a brutal beating across the first four rounds, suffering more than one knockdown. More worryingly, he ended up with a freakish swelling on his forehead that made him look like an alien.
Mark Hominick developed a hematoma during his fight with Jose Aldo at UFC 129, nine years ago today.
It remains one of the most memorable images in the sport. https://t.co/ENGDGbeYr9
Undeterred, though – and still being roared on by the fans – Hominick made a dramatic fifth-round comeback, taking a tired Aldo down and hammering him with punches and elbows until the fight ended.
It was too little, too late, though, and Aldo ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision, largely winning the initially hostile crowd over in the process.
Hominick’s spirited final round, though, meant that the bout garnered comparisons to the fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in the first Rocky movie. It remains one of the more underrated title bouts in octagon history.
#1. Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin – UFC 77, Cincinnati, Ohio
In the years when each UFC pay-per-view featured a catchy subtitle, 2007’s UFC 77 featured zero subtlety when the promotion entitled it ‘Hostile Territory’.
The subtitle was a clear reference to the fact that middleweight champion Anderson Silva was heading into the hometown of former champion Rich Franklin – Cincinnati, Ohio – and would have to face not only a dangerous opponent, but a partisan crowd too.
For many fans, it felt like the promotion was stacking the deck against ‘The Spider’ in the hope that Franklin – one of their poster-boys – would regain his title. After all, few observers had expected Silva to dethrone ‘Ace’ in the way that he had in late 2006, outclassing him and crushing him in the first round.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take Silva long to show that he could perform at his best in hostile territory. While Franklin looked more confident than he’d done in the first fight, he simply couldn’t really get a handle on ‘The Spider’, and the first round ended with him suffering a violent knockdown.
The second round didn’t get any better, as Silva recognized that ‘Ace’ was still hurt. Silva bombarded him with a nasty combination that put him down and out after just over a minute.
Oct20.2007
Anderson Silva makes the 2nd defense of his UFC Middleweight title,
when he finishes Rich Franklin in their rematch at UFC 77 https://t.co/m7986Rxvxj
To be fair to the Cincinnati crowd, after initially being hostile to Silva, they were quick to credit the Brazilian after the fight – probably because they recognized the greatness they’d witnessed and wanted to acknowledge it.
As fans would quickly find out, ‘The Spider’ was good enough to win in front of any crowd, hostile or not.