5. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia
The UFC booked Silva to defend his middleweight title against Demian Maia at UFC 112 in 2010, hoping to make a big impression in their first-ever visit to Abu Dhabi. But Silva had other plans. Despite having a huge striking advantage, he opted to toy with Maia, who was desperately trying but failing to get the fight to the ground.
“Where’s your Jiu-Jitsu now, playboy?” Silva taunted Maia as he began showboating, mimicking different fighting stances, dancing around on the outside and at one point even standing still while angrily motioning at his wary opponent to attack.
This bizarre behavior continued for the full five rounds. ‘The Spider’ would win by unanimous decision and had humiliated Maia, leaving him 0/13 on takedown attempts and landing a grand total of 11 strikes in 25 minutes. Yet the champion had also damaged his own reputation and suffered a backlash for his petulant behavior. That mainly came from Dana White, who called the fight “a disgrace.”
“If he ever fights like that again I will cut him,” White fumed. “I don’t care if he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
