10 Most Heated Rivalries In UFC History

1. Tito Ortiz Vs. Ken Shamrock

Considering his nickname of The Huntington Beach Bad Boy, it should come as no real surprise to see Tito Ortiz featuring more than once on this list.

During the UFC boom of the early 2000s, Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock were both absolutely pivotal in bringing new eyes to the sport of MMA. And a career highlight for both men - in terms of exposure and spotlight - was their legendary rivalry against each other.

The real launching point for this rivalry came at UFC 18 and UFC 19 as Ortiz got wins over Shamrock's Lion's Den teammates Jerry Bohlander and Guy Mezger respectively. Not content with simply getting the W, Tito would wear T-shirts disrespecting Lion's Den and thought nothing of giving two middle fingers to the group.

Shamrock completely lost his sh*t about this and the two were instantly on a collision course. Said collision would occur at UFC 40 in 2002, with Ortiz getting the win on that night in what many fans and critics credit as being the moment that UFC really pierced the mainstream.

The pair would meet again a further two times, and Ortiz got Round 1 TKO wins in both contests.

Ken Shamrock may not have been successful against Tito Ortiz during their battles, but the pair's utter hatred for each other was a ginormous success for the UFC - not least in how that first fight brought in a record-setting gate of over $1.5 million for the company.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.