8 Craziest Fighters From The Early UFCs

Competing in a fistfight, barechested inside a chainlink fence in front a crowd of raucous onlookers isn't how most people would choose to spend an average Saturday night. Willingly stepping into an arena to compete with another skilled athlete with an ever-present possibility that you could be knocked out in front of your friends and family isn't something that most people are capable of doing.

And that's what makes fighters both so special, and so different to most of the general populace. They are willing to risk agonising defeat, all in the pursuit of glory under the bright lights.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, fighters have something inside them that sets them apart from most of us.

But now try to imagine the kind of person who is willing to do all that, under a much less protective ruleset and with significantly lower stakes. The kind of person who genuinely loves to fight so much that if successful, may have to compete multiple times in one night.

Though the early days of the UFC didn't have the worldwide audiences and potential for superstardom seen today, these guys still got in the cage and had no problem throwing down.

Just stepping in the cage for the bout scheduled for his MMA debut would've made Keith Hackney worthy of a place on this list, but having gone on to win it made him a shoo-in.

This is because, instead of facing someone similar in size to himself, the American karateka fought the 600lb, 6ft 7 Emmanuel Yarborough in the first round of the UFC 3 tournament.

Despite being more than 400lbs lighter than his opponent, Hackney had no reservations in dictating the action immediately hitting Yarborough with a palm strike that dropped the gargantuan fighter. Yarborough would eventually return to his feet but Hackney would again drop his him, before forcing the referee to stop the fight.

In his semi-final bout, Hackney would establish himself in MMA meme history in his bout with Joe Son. After Son locked on a guillotine choke, the grappling novice Hackney didn't waste his time trying to escape the submission with technique and instead repeatedly (legally I might add) blasted Son with punches to the groin to force his escape. Hackney would then somehow manage to submit his opponent simply by squeezing his neck with one hand.

Though Hackney would later lose to Royce Gracie, his two wins at UFC 3 were more than enough for him to (d*ck) punch his way on to this list.