The worst haircuts in the UFC

The UFC has been around for decades and during this time, it has featured some pretty interesting characters. Whilst most of these characters speak for themselves, some let their appearances speak on behalf of them. Specifically, some use haircuts to show their personality.

Also, whilst not everyone is blessed with flowing locks like Brian Ortega and others, some are genetically handed a bad deal with a poor hairline. Regardless of whether their hairstyles are purposeful or not – we have compiled a list of the worst haircuts in UFC history.

Paddy Pimblett

Love it or hate it, Paddy Pimblett’s hairstyle is truly something to behold. To British fans, he is often compared to the TV character Jay Cartwright from The Inbetweeners comedy series. On the show, Cartwright was known for his blonde ‘curtains’ hairstyle that has since been adopted by Pimblett.

In fairness to Pimblett, the bizarre look has been part of his identity which has helped him gain millions of global fans. Nonetheless, others would argue that it looks like a schoolboy from the 1970s. If ever there was a haircut to sum up the personality of an MMA fighter, then Pimblett’s style would be top of the list.

John Dodson

Unlike others on this list, John Dodson was more of a victim of circumstance compared to actively seeking out a bad hairstyle. Here, he was naturally cursed with a deep, receding hairstyle. Most of the time, Dodson would hide this with a buzzcut which would play down his hairline.

However, at one point during his MMA career, Dodson grew his hair out. This made his receding hairline look even more prominent than ever – with some fans even making comparisons with the horror movie clown Pennywise from It. In fairness, Dodson never asked for his hair but even still, you can try working with what you’ve got.

Sean O’Malley

Returning to those purposely owning bizarre hair cuts – we’ll now move on to Sean Suga O’Malley. It turns out that O’Malley is the first ever UFC fighter to rock rainbow-colored hair. Yes, this sounds as trashy as it looks. Here, O’Malley died his hair a mixture of colors and then grew his hair out.

Like Pimblett, O’Malley’s hair is now a part of his identity. When fighting, he either wears his hair down or with corn rows. Of course, there is a case that his hair actually looks unique and different. Nonetheless, this is probably a minority opinion that is not shared by most people.

Vitor Belfort

Thankfully, Vitor Belfort is best known for his skills in the cage rather than due to his bad hairstyle. Having said this, he’s not completely getting away with it either! At one point in his career, Belfort rocked a rat’s tail hairstyle.

For those wondering, the rat’s tail is a term used to describe when someone makes a small tail-like knot out of their hair. This typically sits at the back of the head and looks like a literal rat’s tail, hence the name. Luckily for Belfort’s sake, he didn’t wear this hairstyle for too long and returned to his generic, normal look.

Tamdan McCrory

With a nickname called The Barn Cat, Tamdan McCrory was never going to be an ordinary fighter. Like John Dodson, he didn’t choose to have bad hair but could have certainly done something to try and make it look better. For years, McCrory had a receding hairline which obviously wasn’t his fault.

For a while, it looked like your average, run-of-the-mill balding hairstyle which isn’t the best look but isn’t awful either. However, towards the end of his hairs lifespan, it eventually went patchy and just wasn’t a good look. Why McCrory didn’t just shave it all off is unknown to everyone but it would have saved him from being the butt of a lot of jokes.

Jiri Prochazka

Sadly, Vitor Belfort wasn’t the only person to rock a rat’s tail. Years later, another champion in Jiri Prochazka would also sport the rat’s tail. This would turn out to be a good luck charm for Prochazka who would go on to wear the UFC belt after creating his bizarre hairstyle.

Apparently, Prochazka opted for the rat’s tail as it looked like a Muay Thai headband. As Prochazka is known for being a great lover of Muay Thai – this haircut was a homage to his favorite martial art. Whilst this may sound extreme, it helped create one of the worst hairstyles in UFC history. Thankfully, Prochazka is also best known for his skills as opposed to his look.

Roy Nelson

Fan favorite Roy Nelson was always known as a character and although it looked awful, he rocked his mullet with elite confidence. In fairness, when your nickname is Big Country, you probably can pull off a mullet better than most other people. As the saying goes, business in the front, party in the back. This was the case for Nelson’s hairstyle and it worked well alongside his personality.

It should be noted that Roy Nelson has never been the best-looking MMA fighter to begin with and is also known for having a pretty fat belly. With this said, it almost seemed like fate that he’d complete the look with a full-grown mullet.