What are the weirdest ways an MMA fight has ended?

Cage floor collapsed

Not every MMA fight ends with a clean knockout or submission. Fighters have literally fallen out of the ring or cage 42 times, lost by exhaustion 109 times, and been stopped for biting (36) or eye gouging (29). In a handful of freak one-offs a bout has been waved off because the cage floor collapsed, a fighter's heart stopped, or an ear was torn by the ropes.

Based on 749 bouts with an unusual or non-standard recorded finish.

As of 21 July 2026 · methodology

1 Cage floor collapsed Andre Ricardo dos Santos Goncalves vs Charles Marques Gomes · EF - Ecofight 13 · 2011 1 2 Ear torn by the ropes Masaya Takita vs Shigeyuki Uchiyama · Pancrase - Passion Tour 5 · 2010 1 3 Fight stopped by lightning Dwight Joseph vs William Joplin · DCS 44 - Ballyard Brawl Night 1 · 2018 1 4 Heart stopped mid-fight Charlie Ontiveros vs Clovis Hancock · LFA 26 - Odoms vs. Hughes · 2017 1 5 Flying scissor heel hook Aleksandar Stojicic vs Bashir Giryanov · ExitAsia - Freiburger Champions Fight Night 2018 · 2018 5 6 Vomiting in the cage Luther Randell vs Alfie Gallagher · ACC - Apex Combat Championship · 2026 7 7 Corner threw in the towel Ciro Morra vs Luca Maisto · Danger - Danger 3 · 2018 11 8 Dislocated joint Simon Eberlein vs Eugen Pris · SC - Fight Against Addiction · 2012 13 9 Refusal to continue Rene Ruiz vs Ramon Valdez · KOTC - Future Legends 39 · 2017 13 10 Cage or ring malfunction Deividas Zamba vs Robert Masters · Brave CF 99 - Brave Combat Federation 99 · 2025 16 11 Grabbing the cage or fence Yuki Ueda vs Eun Sung Kim · Gladiator - Gladiator 034 in Osaka · 2026 26 12 Eye gouging Enriko Koterba vs Adrian Grzelak · Real Fight Arena 26 - RFA 26 · 2025 29 13 Von Flue choke Declan Wolfinden vs Hayden Buckman · Coastal Combat 8 - 100% MMA Action on the Sunshine Coast · 2020 30 14 Biting Patrick Rocha vs Wellington Oliveira · PC - Patrulha Combat · 2025 36 15 Fell out of the ring or cage Alexander Mateo vs Eldar Aminov · OSF - Championship 6 · 2025 42 16 Broken bone (nose, jaw, arm, leg…) Kai Asakura vs Yuta Sasaki · Rizin FF - Rizin 19: Lightweight Grand Prix 1st Round · 2019 69 17 Peruvian necktie Paddy Pimblett vs Benoit St. Denis · UFC 329 - McGregor vs. Holloway 2 · 2026 72 18 Gogoplata Victor Hugo vs Adilet Nurmatov · Black Combat - BnD Black Cup: Eurasia vs. Korea Omega · 2026 84 19 Twister Gamid Khizriev vs Biaggio Ali Walsh · Professional Fighters League - PFL Austin: Eblen vs. Kasanganay 2 · 2026 90 20 Calf slicer Callum Evans vs Josh Twigg · Cage Rage MMA Promotions - Cage Rage 006 · 2026 93 21 Exhaustion or fatigue Felipe Rafael dos Santos vs Jomar Marcal · Almeida Bros MMA - Desafio Almeida Bros 4 · 2017 109

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