30 Most Bloody UFC Fights (2022 Updated + Pictures)

It only makes sense that the best MMA fighters in the world produce the most brutal and bloody UFC fights.

Let’s take a look.

Bloody UFC Fights

Here’s the list of the most bloody UFC fights in order of event since the UFC’s inception in 1993, where all fights can be watched on UFC Fight Pass. If you want to find where the blood begins, use the descriptions and skip to that part of the fight.

1. Jonathan Goulet vs Jay Hieron (UFC FN:2 – October 3, 2005)

The bloodbath started with Goulet cutting Hieron in the center of the forehead with a knee, 30 seconds into the second round, with the referee stopping to check the cut 20 seconds later.

In the next 4 minutes, Hieron leaked blood continuously, while Goulet kept attacking the same spot aiming for a doctor stoppage victory.

Joe Rogan said, “that was the bloodiest round in MMA history, without a doubt”. With the commentators and both fighters in disbelief, the third round was underway.

Just one more minute and another Goulet knee, Hieron looked weak and unstable due to the loss of blood. The referee stopped the fight again and this time the doctor had seen enough.

2. Edwin DeWees vs Gideon Ray (TUF:4 – May 30, 2006)

In a bid to become UFC fighters, both went all out. In the second round after being taken down a second time, Gideon from his back sliced open Edwin with an elbow, causing a deep cut in Edwin’s hairline and blood to pour over him and into his eyes throughout the fight.

The blood is pouring so much that Edwin actually covers the cut with his right hand and throws short elbows with his left. Throughout the fight, Herb Dean stopped the action three times so Edwin’s cut could be cleaned.

Despite bleeding heavily, Edwin remained composed and went on to win the third round, maintaining top control and staying active with his attacks.

3. Jon Madsen vs Abe Wagner (TUF:10 – June 5, 2006)

Gunning to become a UFC fighter, Madsen took Wagner down in just 10 seconds of the first round. From here, Wagner seemed clueless and Madsen was able to posture up and pummel him against the cage with punches and elbows. 

At the end of the round, it looked as if Wagner had been stabbed without anyone seeing; it was a complete mess. Dana White even said, “wow, that’s the bloodiest Ultimate Fighter fight ever”, and their fellow fighters believed Wagner wouldn’t come out for the second round.

However, he did come out and fell for an extremely unsportsmanlike Madsen, who faked a touch of gloves and immediately went for and secured a takedown.

Steve Mazzagatti stood the fighters up three times in the second round looking for more action, but Madsen would continuously takedown Wagner who had zero takedown defense. There were 4 takedowns and 3 standups, all the while Madsen was leaking blood.

4. Joe Stevenson vs Yves Edwards (UFC 61 – July 8, 2006)

After some devastating ground-and-pound, the fight was stopped in the first round 3 and a half minutes in, so Edwards could have the cut on his left side scalp checked.

Edwards somehow made it to the end of the second round, where the canvas looked like it’d been painted red with a roller. The cut was deemed too deep and the fight was stopped via doctor stoppage, meaning Stevenson won by TKO in one of the most bloody UFC fights ever.

5. Rory Singer vs Josh Haynes (UFC FN:6.5 – October 10, 2006)

Singer started the party with a highlight reel head kick to Haynes’ nose, busting it open and causing blood to gush. Haynes was left breathing through his mouth for the rest of the fight.

Despite the blood and breathing difficulties, Haynes dropped Singer in the second round with a well-timed right hook to the temple.

With the continued blood loss, John McCarthy stopped the fight twice in the third round so the doctor could check Haynes’ cuts. Joe Rogan when commentating said “this is probably the bloodiest fight I’ve ever seen”, which it may have been in 2006.

Despite an extremely gutsy performance from Haynes, he lost via unanimous decision.

6. Sean Sherk vs Kenny Florian (UFC 64 – October 14, 2006)

Kenny spent the whole of the first round on his back and ended back there in 20 seconds of the second round. He threw three sharp short elbows from the bottom which opened Sean immediately.

Shortly after, Kenny complained blood was leaking into his eyes, so the referee stopped the fight so it could be cleaned. The fight continued, and the rounds were very similar throughout, with Sean taking down Florian and leaking blood everywhere from the top position.

The blood loss didn’t seem to affect Sherk, who was clearly much stronger than Florian and able to dominate on the ground to earn a unanimous decision and become the new undisputed lightweight champion.

7. Randy Couture vs Gabriel Gonzaga (UFC 74 – August 25, 2007)

Gonzaga’s nose was broken by a clash of heads from a Couture takedown two minutes into the first round.

In a war of attrition, Couture was very dominant in the clinch, tiring Gonzaga and landing many more strikes. Gonzaga’s nose leaked all over Couture’s back, who was happy to smother him against the cage.

Couture’s grappling-heavy strategy was extremely effective, and with another takedown in the third, Gonzaga was unable to defend against Couture’s ground-and-pound, resulting in a TKO victory.

8. Renato Sobral vs David Heath (UFC 74 – August 25, 2007)

This fight started at the weigh-ins, with both exchanging some trash-talking. After a pretty standard first-round fight on the ground, David Heath made an extremely questionable decision to go to the ground on his back with Sobral on top.

Sobral started to unleash nasty elbows and ground-and-pound, slicing open Heath just 45 seconds into the second. Sobral soon passed to half-guard and continued the onslaught, Heath doing just enough defensively to stop the referee from intervening.

Heath used the last of his energy to thrust Sobral off of him and get the fight back to the feet. Sobral didn’t allow this and quickly latched onto Heath’s neck with an anaconda choke, forcing Heath to tap just a meter away from the blood-stained canvas.

Controversially, Sobral held onto the choke for an extra 4 seconds after the tap, gritting his teeth and putting Heath to sleep, despite Steve Mazzagatti pushing him away. 

Even more surprising was his honesty, openly telling Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview about their bad blood being the reason he illegally held the choke. He was immediately released from the UFC and his win bonus was withheld.

9. BJ Penn vs Joe Stevenson (UFC 80 – January 19, 2008)

In a BJ Penn domination, he opened Joe Stevenson in the first round with an aggressive elbow which caused blood to leak from Joe’s forehead.

In the second round, Herb Dean stopped the fight so Joe could have his cut checked and his face cleaned. The fight continued, and within 10 seconds his face was full of blood once again.

BJ Penn soon dropped Joe with an uppercut, and continued with ground-and-pound, before submitting him by rear-naked choke at the end of the second round; it literally looked like he was being murdered.

10. Stefan Struve vs Denis Stojnic (UFC 99 – June 13, 2009)

Not only was this bloody warfare, but the height difference is hilarious to see. Stojnic is not short, at 5’11”, but Struve is a whole foot taller at 6’11”.

Struve was on his back with Stojnic in his guard for most of the first round and with 45 seconds left, Stojnic badly cut open Struve with a massive elbow to the forehead. Joe Rogan while commentating said, “oh man! He is bleeding like a stuffed pig!”.

The referee stopped the fight so the bleeding could be kept under control, and Struve made it to the second round.

In the second, Struve found himself on Stojnic’s back after scrambling, securing the body triangle, and continually looking for the rear-naked choke, all the while horrifically leaking all over Stojnic and the canvas.

What made this worse was how much blood Struve was losing and the amount of effort he was putting in, he was visibly weak and didn’t have the strength with his submission attacks. 

However, eventually, Stojnic gassed and Struve did get the rear-naked choke finish; an unbelievable comeback and a must-see fight for the gore and Joe Rogan’s comedic commentary.

11. Josh Koscheck vs Chris Lytle (UFC 86 – July 5, 2008)

After a bloodless first round, Josh took Chris down one minute into the second round. From half guard, he sank aggressive elbows into Chris for the next four minutes, which even led to blood on the lens of the close-up camera.

The third round was more of the same, and the canvas was left looking like Chris had taken an axe to the head.

It makes you wonder how some fighters stay in there and the fight isn’t stopped by doctor stoppage or their team throwing in the towel. Koscheck won the fight via unanimous decision and his blonde hair had turned completely red.

12. Jim Miller vs Mac Danzig (UFC 100 – July 11, 2009)

Halfway through the first round, Miller cut Danzig’s forehead with a beautiful hard left elbow from Danzig’s guard. Listening to his corner, Miller targeted the left side of Danzig to worsen the cut.

Following the bloodbath pattern, Miller pummeled a scrambling Danzig on the ground for the majority of the first and second rounds, and for half of the third round, until there was barely a clean spot across the whole canvas.

Another unanimous Jim Miller decision victory, it’s no surprise he has the record for most UFC wins, as he often leaves his opponents looking like a bucket of paint has been thrown over them.

13. Kenny Florian vs Clay Guida (UFC 107 – December 12, 2009)

Just one Florian elbow with 75 seconds left in round 1 was all it took to start the blood. Mario Yamasaki had the fight stopped so the ringside physician could check the cut in Guida’s hairline, with Guida hilariously belching at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, Guida’s stained hair and blood affected his vision in round 2, with Florian connecting a huge left jab and a right hook that dropped Guida and led to a rear-naked choke submission victory.

14. Cain Valesquez vs Antonio Bigfoot Silva (UFC 146 – May 27, 2012)

In their first fight at UFC 146, Cain was looking to restart a win streak after losing the title in his previous fight to Junior Dos Santos. He did so in a bloody fashion. 

In just five seconds in the first round, Cain took Bigfoot down, and from side control landed heavy short elbows which sliced open Bigfoot. Cain would continue ground-and-pound before the referee stopped the fight 2 minutes in to have the ringside physician check the cut on Bigfoot.

The fight continued, and with some further scrambling and relentless ground-and-pound, the referee ended the fight 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the first round. Bigfoot was left in a pool of blood on the canvas and both fighters earned a Fight of the Night bonus.

15. Georges St-Pierre vs Carlos Condit (UFC 154 – November 17, 2012)

Interim champion Carlos Condit squared off against undisputed champion Georges st-Pierre in a welterweight unification bout, in one of the best fights of 2012.

In a fight taking place on the ground, plenty of elbows and ground-and-pound were exchanged, causing cuts to both fighters.

Condit was cut late in round 1 above his right eye, while St-Pierre was cut in round 3 under his left eye and on the bridge of the nose after an amazing head kick connected flush and sent him to the ground; followed up by some vicious elbows.

It was a grueling and bloody five-round war, separated by Pierre’s superior grappling, who won the fight by unanimous decision.

16. Jim Miller vs Joe Lauzon (UFC 155 – December 30, 2012)

Just past 2 minutes into the first round, Miller opened Lauzon just above the eye thanks to 4 consecutively thrown nasty elbows and an uppercut. Blood immediately covered Lauzon’s face, as Miller attempted a standing arm triangle.

In the second round, Miller continued to ground-and-pound Lauzon, making the cut worse and worse.

Joe did cut Miller in the third round, but he barely bled. The crazy thing about this fight is how much blood was donated; it was all from one man. Jim Miller won by unanimous decision and the bloodbath won the 2012 Fight of the Year.

After the fight, Dana White sent Joe Lauzon the blood-stained canvas as a gift; it was all of his blood after all.

17. Donald Cerrone vs KJ Noons (UFC 160 – May 26, 2013)

Cerrone managed to cut Noons under his right eye early in the round with a heavy knee to the face after a scramble. Cerrone was able to takedown Noons in the second and third rounds, which is where the bloody damage was done. 

As well as his eye, Noon’s nose was also split and bloody, and Cerrone destroyed him from the top position, throwing elbows and ground-and-pound for 4 minutes straight in the third round; leading to a unanimous victory for Cerrone.

18. Jeremy Stephens vs Estevan Payan (UFC 160 – May 26, 2013)

Halfway through round 1, Estevan ended up on his back, where both fighters were throwing elbows. This usually ends worse for the guy on the bottom and in typical fashion, Estevan was on the receiving end of some nasty elbows which cut him between the eyebrows.

With two minutes left in round 2, Jeremy took Estevan’s back and had the triangle body lock, leading to Estevan leaking profusely until they were sitting in a puddle of blood.

With another dominant Stephans round and another liter of blood loss by Payan, Stephans emerged with the unanimous decision victory.

19. Mark Hunt vs Antonio Bigfoot Silva (UFC FN:33 – December 7, 2013)

In a five-round war, somehow there wasn’t any blood until the fourth round when Bigfoot was in full mount landing ground-and-pound and slicing elbows in the last minute.

Both fighters were completely gassed in the fifth and trading punches when Hunt sliced open Bigfoot with huge step-in elbows to the forehead. Both fighters ended in a bloody mess in one of the best UFC heavyweight encounters of all time.

20. Robbie Lawler vs Rory Macdonald (UFC 189 – July 12, 2015)

In a rematch and title fight between the two, Rory was looking to avenge his decision loss against Lawler at UFC 167.

Lawler busted up Macdonald 3 minutes into the second round with a beautiful one-two punch combination down the middle, causing him to bleed from the bridge of the nose and the mouth.

Lawler continued to piece up Macdonald in third, leaving him looking like a zombie and unable to breathe from his nose. However, Rory came back at the end of the third and caused a deep lip cut to Robbie early in the fourth; leaving them both looking like they’d been trying to kill each other.

An absolute stand-up war, finished by a Lawler KO a minute into the fifth, Macdonald couldn’t take anymore after two straight jabs to his nose.

21. Edson Barboza vs Tony Ferguson (TUF:22 Finale – December 12, 2015)

In typical Tony Ferguson fashion, he landed two creatively thrown step-in elbows, which sliced open Barboza in round 2. Barboza immediately returned the favor by connecting a huge counter right hook, to open a cut on tony.

Barboza soon ended up on top, which obviously meant viscously thrown elbows by Ferguson from the bottom, and a lot more bloodshed.

They would then trade back and forth in the second round until Ferguson caught Barboza in a d’arce choke, winning Ferguson the fight.

22. Darren Elkins vs Mirsad Bektic (UFC 209 – March 5, 2017)

One of the fights that make fans respect and love Elkins as a fighter and entertainer.

After an early Bektic takedown, he landed slicing elbows from side control, progressed to the crucifix position, and continued beating up Elkins; leaving him bloody and bruised and easily securing a 10-8 round.

The second round was more contested, but it was another round of Elkins bleeding and Bektic winning the round with control time and effective damage dealt. 

Looking likely to be a 30-27 Bektic victory, Elkins scrambled and knocked out Bektic against the cage with hard shots and a head kick despite being a bloody mess; an amazing comeback.

23. Joe Soto vs Rani Yahya (UFC FN:106 – March 12, 2017)

30 seconds into round 2, the fight was stopped by the referee after an accidental headbutt left Soto pouring blood from the cut in his hairline, and Yahya stunned and gassed for the rest of the fight.

At the end of round 2, both fighters lay for 5 seconds unable to move from exhaustion and the effects of the headbutt. Yahya was carried by his corner to his stool.

The third round was dominated on the ground from the top position by Joe Soto, but he barely had the energy to finish the fight himself, leaking blood over Yahya and winning by unanimous decision.

24. Claudia Gadelha vs Jessica Andrade (UFC FN:117 – September 23, 2017)

Claudia initially cut Andrade 2 minutes into the first round with several uppercuts, causing blood to drip from Andrade’s forehead all over Gadelha later in the round. Andrade cut open Gadelha near the eye towards the end of the first, with some elbows from a dominant side control position.

Jessica Andrade won the fight via unanimous decision, because of her superior grappling which led to ground-and-pound and more effective striking.

25. Dustin Poirier vs Anthony Pettis (UFC FN:120 – November 11, 2017)

The second round is where all the action occurred. Dustin easily took Pettis down and cut him with elbows, which led to Pettis being unable to see towards the end of the third round due to the blood pooling in his eyes; he was literally seeing red.

Pettis eventually lost in the third after tapping due to suffering a fractured rib.

26. Tony Ferguson vs Anthony Pettis (UFC 229 – October 6, 2018)

It’s a shame this ended via doctor stoppage at the end of round 2 after Pettis had broken his hand because it was an amazingly fun and bloody fight.

Early in the second, Pettis dropped Ferguson with a right hook, with Ferguson quickly returning to his feet and landing a spinning elbow that cut the onrushing Pettis above his right eye.

Ferguson later cut Pettis above his left eye, and for half of the second round Pettis was on top bleeding all over Ferguson; an amazing fight.

27. Gunnar Nelson vs Alex Oliveira (UFC 231 – December 9, 2018)

This would have been the most bloody fight if it didn’t end so soon, but it still makes the list despite taking place 20 seconds after the cut opened.

Oliveira was brutally slashed open by Nelson in mount and was spraying blood like a hose before tapping to a one-arm rear-naked choke by Nelson; it looked like a chainsaw had been used.

After the fight, Oliveira required 29 stitches for the cut on his forehead; no wonder why he tapped so fast.

28. Darren Elkins vs Nate Landwehr (UFC ESPN:8 – May 17, 2020)

A perfectly timed step-in elbow by Landwehr with 45 seconds left in round 2, sliced open Elkins near the hairline, causing Herb Dean to immediately stop the fight to check the cut.

Not only was this a bloody mess, but it’s hilarious to see Landwehr shouting Dana’s name for seemingly no reason in the first round like an absolute nutcase.

As it was a complete stand-up fight, the canvas wasn’t hugely stained, but Elkins was left looking like he’d been in a Saw movie.

Landwehr won the fight via unanimous decision.

29. Charles Rosa vs Damon Jackson (UFC FN:194 – October 10, 2021)

In the bloodiest UFC fight of 2021, Jackson had seemingly won the first two rounds, which prompted Rosa to throw an insane upward spinning elbow in the first 5 seconds of the third round, which connected and gave Jackson a deep cut above his right eye.

Both fighters by the end of the third round were completely covered head to toe in blood. Undeterred by this, Jackson won the fight by unanimous decision.

30. Arman Tsarukyan vs Joel Alvarez (UFC Vegas: 49 – February 27, 2022)

With 30 seconds left in the first round, Arman blasted Joel with powerful elbows which gave Joel a deep cut between the eyes, just above the nose. The amount of blood staining the canvas and himself in just 30 seconds is unbelievable.

The cutman did the best job they could, but the blood didn’t stop and Arman took Joel down within 10 seconds of the second round. For the next two minutes, Joel is defending blindly as blood continued to leak like an open tap. 

Chris Tognoni stopped the fight after Joel turtled up, giving Arman the TKO win in one of the most bloody UFC fights in recent memory.

To Conclude

These are the 30 most bloody UFC fights updated to include fights up to 2022. Most of the inclusions are early fights, as a lot of bloody fights now end with doctor stoppage because of their worry of deep cuts anywhere around the eyes and their huge concern over fighter safety.