UFC 258's main event isn't just a showdown between two of the greatest 170lbs fighters in the world. No, Saturday's title fight will see two fighters from the very same gym clash inside the octagon.
Such a situation doesn't happen often, but when it does, boy does it live up to the hype. Throughout the years, we've seen a number of relationships crumble, friendships shatter and gyms torn apart as men who once trained together faced off inside the cage. Here are five of the most intense, bitter and fiery times that teammates turned foe and waged war inside the UFC octagon.
Andrei Alovski vs Alistair Overeem
Back in 2016, tensions ran high at the Jackson Wink MMA academy when Alistair Overeem announced his intentions to fight teammate Andrei Arlovski inside the octagon.
The relationship between the two had been uneasy following Arlovski's public outburst aimed at Overeem a couple of years earlier, with the former UFC heavyweight champion claiming Alistair 'injures everyone he trains with'.
Despite the two hurtling towards a collision course, they both opted to train for the fight at Jackson Wink, with the gym's two main coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn choosing to corner Andrei for the bout.
Despite Jackson and Winklejohn backing Arlovski, it was Overeem who had the last laugh, finishing his teammate in the second round following a crane kick.
Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort
Team Nogueira was rocked when two of Brazil's biggest UFC stars, Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort clashed. The two had been training partners at the Team Nogueira camp following Belfort's arrival, but their relationship broke down when Vitor announced his plans to take the middleweight title from Silva, despite the gym sharing an unwritten code that none of their guys would ever fight each other.
Vitor would go on to call Anderson two faced, which resulted in the champ showing up to the weigh-ins in a creepy looking white mask. The two even shared one of the most intense staredowns in UFC history.
The fight seemingly had the entire country of Brazil talking, with opinions split on the two. The fight would live up to expectations as well, with Silva brutally knocking Vitor out in the very first round with one nasty looking front kick to the face.
Jon Jones vs Rashad Evans
Another clash within the Jackson Wink MMA academy, Rashad Evans had previously expressed concerns on Jon Jones joining the gym, with both men seemingly destined for the light heavyweight title. Greg Jackson convinced Evans the two would never have to fight and the two became close friends and even each other's main training partner.
The two weren't on the same page for long though, with Jones publicly admitting he'd fight Evans if UFC president Dana White told him to. Rashad viewed this as a betrayal and the pair's one tight knit friendship quickly deteriorated.
This would lead to Evans calling Jones out in the middle of the octagon after the younger man beat Shogun Rua for the title. The feud resulted in Evans leaving Jackson Wink and the two engaging in a verbal confrontation in a Las Vegas nightclub that welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre reportedly had to break up.
While injuries would delay the bout on several occasions, the two eventually clashed at UFC 145 and it was Jones who had the last laugh, beating his former teammate by unanimous decision.
TJ Dillashaw vs Cody Garbrandt
Team Alpha Male had long been regarded one of the most tight-knit camps in the entire sport of mma before this rivalry bubbled over.
It all started with T.J. Dillashaw, the newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion, deciding the leave the group and join the camp's formed head coach Duane Ludwig in Denver. The move fractured Dillashaw's relationship with numerous members of TAM, including former mentor Urijah Faber and young prospect Cody Garbrandt.
Garbrandt viewed Dillashaw's departure as a betrayal and the animosity between the two would continue to rise until they eventually met inside the octagon.
Many expected Garbrandt to earn redemption for Team Alpha Male as he defended his title against Dillashaw, but it wasn't to be and T.J. TKO'd Cody not once, but twice on his way to cementing his place at the top of the bantamweight division.
Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz
What became one of the most memorable and heated rivalries in UFC history, started off as a brotherhood, as Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz went from close friends and training partners to bitter enemies.
Both managed by Dana White before he would go on to become UFC president, Tito and Chuck both made a huge impact inside the octagon and things seemed great between the two until the UFC tried to book Liddell as the next challenger for Ortiz's light heavyweight title.
From there Ortiz claimed the two had made a pact to never fight each other, something Chuck denied immediately and the two would engage in a verbal war for several years until they eventually fought in 2004, shortly after Tito lost the title to Randy Couture.
What friendship they once had was long past repair at this point and Chuck would come out on top, knocking Ortiz out cold. The two went on to fight once more in the octagon, with the Iceman coming out on top once again, before they completed their trilogy in 2018, 14 years after their first fight, when Ortiz finally got a win himself.
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