Freak show match ups have been a part of the sport since the early days and have even been held as late as this year. It was all about the shock factor which is what the early UFC management was going for. They certainly did a good job when they often picked much larger opponents to face smaller more skilled opponents. Several of the matches on this list are examples of freak shows as well as many that didn't make it on the list. Even in the Zuffa era, Dana White couldn't resist capitalizing on the occasional freak show match up in the cases of putting Kimbo Slice through The Ultimate Fighter and pitting James Toney against Randy Couture. While the UFC moved to more serious match ups in the Zuffa era, other promotions such as Pride FC, Elite XC, Dream, KSW and even current promotion One FC couldn't resist taking advantage of the shock factor of a good old freak show. It was through these promotions that we saw match ups like Kimbo Slice vs James Thompson, Bob Sapp vs Gegard Mousasi, Mariusz Pudzianzowski vs Eric "Butterbean" Esch, and Fedor Emelianenko vs Zuluzinho just to name a few. Even veteran Royce Gracie couldn't help but compete in a freak show match against former sumo yokozuna Akebono Taro (Chad Rowan). Needless to say these matches are harder to put together considering openweight matches aren't allowed under the Unified Rules.
Matthew Salzer fell in love with Mixed Martial Arts when he watched Pride Fighting Championships on Japanese TV. He is a lifelong wrestler having earned a Bachelor of Science at Missouri Baptist University. Matthew is the Senior Editor at MMA Freak and has written for Funky Monkey MMA, H4 Entertainment, and MMA Fiends.
