Walking to the Octagon is an exciting experience for all UFC fighters and generally they are very focused on the task at end. Something that has become unusually common is that a fan will actually steal a hat off a fighter’s head as they walk to the cage:
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This video is the very best of the hat thieves who sometimes succeed, but also sometimes fail with funny results. Brazilian Wagner Prado actually once fought back after his hat was stolen and got it back:
Wagner Prado lost to Phil Davis by submission at UFC 153 Saturday night, but he achieved a first in the organization. During the walkout, he became the first fighter to recover a hat.
The last time the UFC was in Brazil, hat rusting was in full effect.
Even Anderson Silva was not sacred.
Legendary fighter Minotauro was likewise relieved of his lid.
Active counter measures by UFC 134 security thwarted an attempt on Edson Barboza.
However, at UFC 153, Wagner Prado didn’t need a menacing security guard to take care of business.
The most famous hat thieving occured at UFC 155, when one goateed man actually was able to steal two hats and made it onto ESPN’s ‘Not Top 10’:
Cheaters never win. But thieves can prosper – and apparently gain some international exposure in the process.
After shocking many MMA fans with his brazen thiefdom during a pay-per-view broadcast this past weekend, UFC 115’s mystery hat-stealer earned a spot on this week’s ESPN-SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 list.
At UFC 115, the same fan swiped hats off both Ben Rothwell and Paulo Thiago – and nearly swiped another off Martin Kampmann – during their walkouts to the cage.
The goateed grabber was one of more than 17,000 fans who attended GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
