5 Fights in Which Sportsmanship Turned to Farce

We all love to see good sportsmanship in MMA. If nothing else, it helps dispel the still-prevalent notion that mixed martial artists are little more than boorish barroom brawlers.

A glove touch here and a kind word there help civilise a sport that is otherwise ripe for misinterpretation by moralizing demagogues.

But just occasionally fighters can go overboard in the name of sportsmanship. After the eighth high five and fifth bro-hug, the in-cage action begins to look a lot less like a fight and more like a budding bromance.

The following list mourns those fights that didn’t quite strike the right balance between respect and violence.

UFC Fight Night 26: Uriah Hall vs. John Howard

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We tend to be more receptive to fighters expressing mutual admiration when they engage in a compelling contest. We are considerably less forgiving when the fighters participate in a lovefest in the midst of a glorified sparring session.

Unfortunately, that is precisely what occurred when Uriah Hall and John Howard squared off in 2013. Bizarrely, both men spent much of the fight admiring each other’s work, despite the majority of the contest being an uninspiring clinch-fest up against the cage.

Indeed, the bout contained more hugs and high fives than the beach volleyball scene in Top Gun. Add a little Kenny Loggins to the mix and you could be forgiven for thinking it was a deleted scene from the DVD.

When the bout was over, Hall and Howard gleefully embraced as though they had just survived a tour of ‘Nam together. Everyone in attendance looked both perplexed and bored in equal measures.

Prison City Fight League: Mike Pantangco vs. Jeremy Rasner

When amateur fighters Mike Pantangco and Jeremy Rasner faced off in the Prison City Fight League (no comment) earlier this year, something unusual—possibly even unique—occurred.

Having dominated the fight, Pantangco got down on his knees toward the end of the opening round and tapped out to save his opponent from further punishment.

Whether this was an example of sportsmanship gone too far is up for debate. There’s no doubt Rasner was being thoroughly outclassed, but I have seen far worse beatings in my time.

Call me cynical, but I initially suspected the tap was a publicity stunt more than anything else. Then again, it’s difficult to argue with the explanation Pantangco provided to AXSTV after the fight:

"

I just feel that there’s no point fighting him because he didn’t train [for] me and I didn’t train for him, and I just feel like we’re amateur fighters… We don’t get money, we don’t get paid, and I know that the only [way] I’m going to finish the fight is [for] him to go to the hospital or get hurt. I just feel terrible so I’m just going to give him the win.

"

I can’t find fault in his reasoning. Amateur MMA shouldn’t exist in its current form. “Amateur” in this context simply means “unregulated.”

I’m inclined to take Pantangco at his word, but it's surely a debate worth having.

UFC Fight Night 22: Charles Oliveira vs. Efrain Escudero

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Like the first entry on the list, Charles Oliveira vs. Efrain Escudero was a case of excessive respect in the midst of a very ordinary fight.

The pair were arguably a little too smiley throughout the contest, but things really started to get silly in the third round.

The final round kicked off with a hug in the centre of the cage. The fight hadn’t earned such a show of mutual admiration, but we’ll give them a pass on that one.

Shortly after the hug, Oliveira cracked his foe square in the plumbs with an errant inside leg kick. Escudero hopped around in pain for a minute or so, then jogged to the centre of the cage and hugged his opponent.

“Why?” I hear you ask. Indeed.

The pair proceeded to clinch against the cage, at which point Escudero landed a picture-perfect knee to Oliveira’s family jewels.

The referee called a halt to the action while the Brazilian walked around the cage and checked to make sure everything was still in working order. Oliveira then jogged to the centre of the cage and hugged the former Ultimate Fighter winner.

Now, I don’t know how many of you have endured a boot to the nuts, but the recipient’s first instinct usually isn’t to embrace the culprit. Unless you’re a masochist, or a Tibetan Buddhist, retribution is on the immediate agenda.

Perhaps Oliveira was more ticked off than he had led us to believe, though. About 20 seconds after the final hug, he secured a standing rear-naked choke for the win.

This fight is also notable for Mike Goldberg repeatedly calling the Brazilian “Charles Aloe Vera” for the first few minutes of the fight. Seriously.

UFC 115: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Pat Barry

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Even before Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Pat Barry faced off at UFC 115, there were some troubling signs for the latter.

Barry had spent much of the buildup to the fight gushing about the Croatian’s career, joking at one point that he would be happy just to get his opponent’s autograph.

Barry actually made a terrific start to the contest, scoring two knockdowns in the first round. Unfortunately, he failed to follow up on either knockdown.

He clearly had no intention of engaging Cro Cop in a grappling match, but his reluctance to try and capitalise with strikes was bizarre. Rather than take advantage, Barry gazed at his felled foe, seemingly amazed that he was having so much success.

From there, things only got worse for Barry. The pair became increasingly chummy inside the cage, laughing, hugging and smiling at each other.

On the surface, the fight began to look like a friendly sparring session. However, Cro Cop used the outpouring of goodwill to excellent effect. While Barry was busy laughing and smiling, the Pride veteran was lulling him into a false sense of security.

Cro Cop was happy to laugh and smile in return, of course, but he didn’t for one moment forget why he was there. As Barry’s output plummeted, the Croatian upped his work rate. He started to land some hard kicks and punches and mixed up his striking with effective grappling.

By the time Cro Cop had sunk in a rear-naked choke—with no hooks—in the third round, Barry must have been wondering how the fight managed to slip away from him.

On a more positive note, the pair remain good friends to this day.

Bellator 112: Daniel Straus vs. Pat Curran

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No one likes a sore loser. We can’t help but admire those who accept a loss with class. But when Pat Curran choked out Daniel Straus at Bellator 112, we saw class taken to the extreme.

Straus didn’t just take the loss well. He looked positively elated with the outcome.

Having succumbed to a rear-naked choke toward the end of the final round, the defeated former champion leapt to his feet and, sporting the largest, most sincere grin you’re ever likely to see, rushed over to congratulate Curran. He lifted the new champion into the air in joint celebration.

It looked like the end of Karate Kid, in which the defeated antagonist, sans skeleton costume, hands the trophy to the protagonist and, through a veil of tears, exclaims, “You’re all right, Larusso!”

Straus followed his conqueror around the cage for the next several minutes, taking every opportunity to hug him. Had this show of extreme sportsmanship gone on any longer, security may have been forced to step in.

Members of Curran’s immediate family looked less pleased about the result than Straus did.

James MacDonald is a freelance writer and featured columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow James on Twitter.