8 Best Bromances In MMA History

In a sport where fighters can count only on their skills and toughness to find success, it's not hard to see why MMA can sometimes be characterised as individualistic, particularly in the pursuit of championship gold.

One only needs to look at the relationship between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans to see just how hard it can be to maintain a friendship in a sport where selfishness is a necessity to achieve success at the elite level. Evans had been something of a mentor to Jones, and one of his main training partners at Jacksons MMA in Albuquerque. But that all changed when Evans was forced to pull out of his fight with Shogun Rua due to an injury and Jones stepped in to take his place, evaporating the goodwill and leaving the pair on a collision course that wasn't resolved until they fought at UFC 145, where Jones won a unanimous decision.

However, despite all this, and to mark Valentine's Day we have decided to focus on some of the enduring friendships that have been forged out of the extreme pressure involved in training to be a professional fighter, with some having evolved into full-blown bromances.

Everyone loves an odd couple right? I mean, it's basically the foundation that the buddy-cop genre of movies has been built on, spawning several classics as a result.

Picture this: on one side you have Chael Sonnen, a man never afraid to speak his mind on just about any topic, and one of the trash-talking icons of the sport as a whole. Then on the other, you have Yushin Okami, who, while similar to Sonnen in how he employs his offensive grappling, couldn't be further from the 'American Gangster' when it comes to making outspoken statements.

And yet, it works...

Following their hard-fought battle at UFC 104 where Chael was awarded a unanimous decision victory, the pair began training together in Sonnen's neck of the woods. Yushin even stayed at Sonnen's mother's house while visiting Oregon, which led to one of the funniest stories in MMA history. When Okami arrived to stay the night at Claudia Sonnen's house the unsuspecting mother was panicked by the alarm sounding and went to grab her gun. Claudia then attempted to communicate with what she perceived as a threat:

"I said, 'I have a gun.' I don't know if that's the smartest thing to say... I again said, 'I have a gun,' and I closed [my door] and it does that kind of [sound of a door closing], and I don't know if at that point he heard that or if he just thought tell her who it is. So then he goes, 'Yushin, Yushin Okami, thank you.' It was like thank God I'm not going to die tonight you know? So I put the gun down, went out and hugged him and I don't know if Yushin even knew."

Despite the near-death experience, Sonnen and Okami's friendship has since gone from strength to strength with the Japanese wrestler serving as part of Chael's coaching staff during The Ultimate Fighter Brazil.