UFC Fighters Talk Toughest Wars

When you think UFC, you don’t think fear. These fighters walk into an energy-filled Octagon, fueled by Monster, feeling fearless and ready to fight. So, what do UFC fighters consider their top war? Their most intense, their scariest, their most intimidating fight? They talked and we listened, and their answers won’t disappoint. Check out Monster Fighter’s Top Wars below:

Kamaru Usman

My toughest fight I would say is Colby Covington. The biggest strength that I have over everybody, him and I were evenly matched in. With that being said, it was like, ‘Okay, where's the where's the leg up here? I'm really going to have to fight tooth and nail just to find the little space that I am better than this opponent.’ Colby brings a lot to a fight. Whether it's verbally or mentally, there's a lot of stuff that comes with fighting him. He tested me, he pushed me, to where I just discovered a new self, a new level that I could push myself to.

Sean O Malley

My toughest war easily, hands down, by far, was my last fight with Petr Yan in Abu Dhabi. Well, if someone's reading this, they probably have seen that fight, they would understand why. Petr is of the scariest dudes in the division and is super well rounded. He’s a former world champion and it was just a very, very close fight.

Michael Chandler

That's got to be Justin Gaethje. He and I had a Fight of The Year 2021 at Madison Square Garden. I knew on fight night that I was going to have to go to a deeper and darker place than I've ever had to. So, when the Octagon door closed, we went at it. It was just a knockdown, drag out, war. It was violent and it was exactly what I expected from Justin Gaethje.

Maycee Barber

Honestly, I would have to say my last fight with Andrea Lee because it wasn’t the toughest war, it was the most fun. It was a fun one for me because I knew I was winning that fight. It was back and forth and I got to bleed a little bit. You can see it in between the second and the third round where I was sitting on the ground, and I looked at her and I was like, ‘are you having fun yet? Are you having a good time yet? Because I freaking am.’ It was so much fun.

Justin Gaethje

My toughest war I would say is between two people: the Dustin Poirier fight, that one was brutal, and my two fights against Luis Palomino. Palomino is the bare-knuckle fighting champion now and he's just a crazy son of a bitch. He fought me, I finished it with late kicks, and then he comes out immediately wants to fight me again. I had to fight him again, it was another crazy fight, I knocked him out, and then immediately after he wanted to fight me again. This guy is freaking insane.

Jessica Rose Clark

I don’t know that I’ve had a toughest war in the respect to where they kind of fucked me up. But my hardest win was the last time I fought Joselyne Edwards. I really had to wrestle her because she hits so hard. I’ve had 25 fights in my career and that was the first fight I was worried I might get knocked out. She hit me right at the start of the first round and I was like ‘oh fuck, I don’t want to feel that again’. I wrestled her a bunch and just wouldn’t let her get back up. There was no way I was going to get hit by this woman again. She was massive.

Gilbert Burns

It was against Khamzat Chimaev. We had a fight a bit more than a year ago, it was a crazy fight, it was a war at UFC 273. We had a lot of back and forth and there was a crazy amount of hype for this fight. He was the favorite and I was the underdog. He started very strong by knocking me down the first round, but I was able to knock him down the second round. It was a crazy come back. We both didn't quit and kept pushing through those three rounds of war.

Valentina Shevchenko

The more years I'm in this sport and the more I'm fighting, I realize the toughest war is with yourself. Every time, even in a fight, you’re facing your opponent, but the toughest war you’re doing is yourself because you’re pushing yourself to move forward. No matter what, I don’t give up.