11 Most Brutal Acts Of Revenge In MMA History

Because revenge is a dish best served as a punch to the face.

by Andrew Pollard
Lesnar Mir UFC 100
UFC

One of the things that makes the world of Mixed Martial Arts such a fantastic place to be, is the fact that any particular grudge or beef that you have towards somebody can be settled by stepping into the octagon and letting that anger and frustration run wild.

Somebody disrespects you? Punch them in the face. Somebody says something uncalled for about your family? Kick them upside the head. Somebody just outright won't shut up? Make them tap out or pass out.

Of course, the dangled carrot of revenge isn't just great for a fighter, mind, for it can also make for a hugely interesting prospect for the watching MMA fan base.

In fact, the possibility of seeing somebody finally get some semblance of revenge on a rival has often driven ticket numbers and buy-rates for MMA companies - particularly as the UFC hit a boom period in the early 2000s that the company is arguably still riding the coat-tails of to this very day.

11. The Iceman Overcomes The Natural

In so many cases, what makes revenge so satisfactory in the world of MMA is that a fighter can often spend years waiting for the opportunity of revenge to rear its head. For Chuck Liddell, it took two years before he was able to get revenge over rival Randy Couture.

Couture had schooled Liddell at UFC 43 with a TKO victory, and The Iceman had to wait until UFC 52 for his shot at revenge. What followed next was Liddell showing why he’s regarded as one of the greatest knockout artists in the history of MMA, as he delivered the first clean knockout of Couture’s career and became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

That UFC 52 show is seen as a pivotal moment in the history of the UFC due to the fact that it was the first ever UFC PPV to bring in more than 300,000 buys – and a large reason for that number was the fact that fight fans wanted to see if Chuck Liddell could avenge his previous loss to The Natural.

Jumping forward ten months, Liddell would successful defend the title against Couture at UFC 57 thanks to another KO victory before eventually losing the championship to Quinton Jackson at UFC 71.

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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.