Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

Confused about a ‘no contest’ decision in UFC? What you need to know

What does 'no contest' mean in UFC? A simple explanation

Jen Allen
By
Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler facing off at a press event for UFC 262.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A no-contest decision in UFC can seem fairly confusing if you don’t know how things can play out. It basically means that neither of the fighters can be declared the winner, which may sound initially unfair. Like many rules in sports, it makes sense but only once you know the basics. We thought we’d help you out by providing some insight into what it means and how it affects the outcome. While a UFC bout can end via submission, technical knockout, knockout, forfeit, judges’ decision, and disqualification, no contest can also happen once in a while.

Effectively, no contest tends to happen due to reasons which are outside of at least one of the fighter’s control, to an extent. This can include an accidental illegal strike that results in an injury such as a mistaken eye poke which can force a competitor to withdraw from the fight. If that happens, neither fighter wins and the bout ends. However, if it is found that the illegal strike was intentional then the bout ends with a forfeit and a loss against the person who inflicted the injury.

Recommended Videos

Related Content

No contest can also be due to a fighter sustaining an injury in the middle of the fight due to an accidental foul. This decision is up to the referee who must decide on the severity of the injury at the time. The referee also plays a role in the case of double knockouts, ring issues, and third-party interventions in the bout, and can also be forced to rule the fight as a no contest in all these cases.

Related

Other no contests may occur when the winner of a previously held bout is found to test positive in a drug test which is discovered after a bout ends.

Recommended Reading

In very rare cases, a no contest can also be declared if the sports commission finds that match-fixing has occurred but generally, such allegations have been considered false and haven’t affected a match’s result.

What famous no contests have there been?

One of the most memorable was between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz in 2015. While Silva won the fight by unanimous decision, the result was overturned to no contest when it was found that he tested positive for two drugs, while Diaz tested positive for marijuana.

Another famous no contest occurred due to drugs in the case of the Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier rematch in 2017 with Jones testing positive for drugs and stripped of the UFC light heavyweight championship.

Other no-contests also include a fight between Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier which ended when Alvarez landed illegal knee blows to Poirier’s head when he was down. A rematch a year later led to Poirier beating Alvarez via TKO.

Editors' Recommendations

Jen Allen
Jen Allen
Freelance Writer
Jen Allen is a technology and lifestyle writer with over 10 years of experience.
Weed is now legal in Thailand: Here’s what you need to know
Is weed legal in Thailand? Yes! Here's what you need to know
Marijuana leaf held up to the sky.

Over the course of the past several decades, many have traveled to the sunny, laid-back climes of Thailand and thought all this place is missing is weed—myself included. For the sake of accuracy, weed always has been available there, but it has notoriously been accompanied by stiff penalties for those caught selling or enjoying it. And Thai prison is an infamously terrible place to end up. Marijuana laws around the world have been loosening up recently, however, leaving many to wonder—would Thailand legalize weed?

Then in 2022, a change finally came. I didn’t realize it until I was walking down the street in Chiang Mai and passed a shop that had the weed version of the Bat Signal: a glowing neon pot leaf. I stopped short. Wait—Is weed legal in Thailand?, I wondered aloud. And happily, yes, it is. To that end, here’s what you need to know.

Read more
3 things you probably don’t know about being a pro surfer, according to one
What's it like to be a pro surfer? Conner Coffin explains all
Conner Coffin with a surf board and beer in hand.

There are some roles many of us will never play. Pro surfer is certainly one of them, as there are only an estimated 1,500-2,000 worldwide. It's an elite profession of daredevil folks that involves travel all over the planet at the drop of a hat. You go where the waves go.

Conner Coffin grew up surfing in his native Santa Barbara, but he was fortunate enough to travel the world with his family at a young age. He caught his first wave at age four in Hawaii, thanks to a persistent dad. As he bounced around the globe, he brought his board with him, chasing waves and fine-tuning his skills.

Read more
This is what you need to know about top-secret UFC fighter contracts
With no union representation, the UFC retains lucrative rights
Isaac Moreno punches Henry Liu in the face during their mixed martial arts bout at the Strike Fight event at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Dec. 8, 2012.

Since shooting past boxing in popularity in the early 2000s, the UFC has built a minted empire. A May 12 earnings call revealed that the Endeavor Group’s revenue from March 31, 2021, to April 1, 2022, passed $1 billion. This makes investors, entertainment groups, UFC president and promoter Dana White, and top-billing fighters very rich. For mixed martial art professionals, this comes at the cost of lower-level fighters and binding contracts.

Have you ever wondered what a UFC fighter's contract looks like? When an MMA competitor signs a contract to fight three to four annual fights, they give away representational rights. Instead of a union serving as an exclusive representative to collectively bargain with the UFC for wages, hours, and working conditions, each professional is on his or her own, operating essentially as an independent contractor. Under these agreements, fighters are obligated by the terms of contracts, no matter how onerous. And they have no recourse should they be summarily released.

Read more