MMA is a dangerous sport, and UFC stars are known for the incredible punishment they can take in the octagon and keep fighting.
Injuries are part and parcel of the game, with all fighters suffering some kind of injury woes during their time in fighting.
Some are more common than others and affect fighters from up and down the card, with stars like Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo suffering some of the worst ones throughout their career.
Here are the most common injuries in the UFC and the fighters who have suffered from them.
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1. Hand and wrist injuries
One of the most common injuries that UFC fighters suffer is hand and wrist injuries, which can occur even before they take to the octagon.
Due to the speed, power, and sheer amount of punches thrown in training to get ready for their big fights, wear-and-tear can occur on the hands and wrists of even the most durable fighters.
Strains are commonplace, but even breaks are fairly regular in the pre-fight camp, not to mention in the fights when some of the biggest hitters go all in to get the win.
Conor McGregor famously suffered numerous injuries in sparring, which included having his partner’s tooth embedded in his hand, while “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone has broken his hand a dozen times over his UFC tenure.
2. Nose injuries
As well as hands, noses are another body part that is very susceptible to injury due to the nature of MMA.
With punches completely legal, huge shots to the face are almost guaranteed to break a nose throughout a match, leaving fighters bloodied and battered in the octagon, with their nose pointing the wrong way to the rest of their face.
This usually involves the fracture of the nasal bone in the upper part of the nose, although fighters can also damage the lower two-thirds, which is mostly cartilage. While not technically “broken”, it is still referred to as such.
One of the worst nose breaks in UFC history was Mike Perry’s facial destruction at UFC Fight Night 156, where Vicente Luque’s flying knee shattered and displaced his nose.
The injury caused him to lose a significant amount of blood, and he was taken to the hospital for further investigation, although Perry impressively finished the fight despite the gruesome injury.
3. Cauliflower ear
The next common injury is almost a badge of honor for many sportspeople, including UFC fighters.
This is one of the most common injuries in fighting sports, as it is so easy to suffer and difficult to recover from outside of having surgery.
Repeated friction or blunt trauma suffered during grappling or when being struck in training, or in a fight, can cause blood to pool between the skin and the cartilage in the ear, which hardens and swells to give the ear that infamous “Cauliflower” shape.
Once the hematoma hardens, it is impossible to heal from the outside of surgery, making it apparent who has suffered from the injury.
Cauliflower ear is so common due to the amount of physical training and sparring fighters do in the build-up to the fight, with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Randy Couture wearing them as badges of honor.
4. Concussions and head injuries
It seems bizarre that there was no official concussion protocol in the UFC until 2021, despite how devastating head injuries can be in various sports, especially fighting.
A jolt to the head caused by a huge punch or a big takedown can rattle the fighter’s brain and potentially cause a concussion.
The force can cause the brain to move rapidly within the skull, which can, over time, cause injury to the brain, including balance issues, cognitive impairment, and even CTE.
The early years of the UFC saw very little protection for fighters and some of the biggest hitters of all time, which had led legends like Chuck Liddell to show the effects of these common injuries all these years later.
Concussions and brain injuries are one of the worst things that can happen to a fighter, especially on a regular basis, which is why the introduction of a concussion protocol has been so important.
5. Leg and foot injuries
Numerous fighters have suffered broken legs and feet doing some very common and seemingly innocuous moves inside the UFC octagon.
So many times, a fighter has gone for a simple calf kick before falling to the mat, his foot no longer pointing the way it should as his bone simply cracked under the power of the kick.
Anderson Silva infamously snapped his tibia and fibula after Chris Weidman checked his kick at UFC 168, in one of the most gruesome and surprising injuries ever seen.
McGregor even broke his leg just taking a step back in his third fight with Dustin Poirier, in what was a disappointing ending to their trilogy.
Unlike most of the common UFC injuries, leg injuries seem to come completely out of nowhere and are not caused by an opponent, but fate itself.
6. Shoulder injuries
The constant pressure on the shoulder joint means that issues with the shoulder are some of the most frequent in the UFC.
The mobility of the joint gives fighters a huge range of motion, but the tradeoff is that it becomes very susceptible to injury, especially from overuse due to constant training in the build-up to a fight.
Sprains, dislocations, and separations are common injuries for fighters to suffer, either before or during their fights, and can come at any time after significant wear and tear.
TJ Dillashaw famously suffered multiple dislocations during his fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280, although he somehow managed to keep popping it back in the socket to continue the fight.
He couldn’t lift his arm above his head following the injury and forced him to retire from the octagon after that title fight.