Somehow, over the years, yoinking hats off the heads of fighters as they walk into the cage has become “a thing.” The same walk through the crowd that Dana White says is essential to creating a proper fight environment also gives would-be hat thieves the perfect opportunity to snatch the headgear off their favorite (?) UFC fighters.

I add the question mark because who expresses their love for an athlete by basically mugging them right before they’re about to compete? They’re lucky no one has gotten punched in the face thus far. These are fighters we’re talking about, after all. But until karmic justice is meted out, let’s all giggle over yet another one of mixed martial arts’ strange intricacies.

UFC 101 – August 2009

Kenny Florian

Many consider UFC 100 to be the start of the latest era of mixed martial arts. It certainly marked the beginning of the hat-stealing era. Here’s Kenny Florian getting the dubious honor of being the first victim of hat theft at UFC 101.

UFC 105 – November 2009

Mike Swick

One of the first great cap capers, Mike Swick actually offered a reward to anyone who could “identify the man who stole my hat on live TV in the UK.”

Randy Couture

But Swick got off easy. Randy Couture was fighting later in the night when the Manchester crowd was rowdy, drunk, and extremely handsy. They got his hat, his towel, and about 10 noogies in as he walked the gauntlet to the cage.

UFC 115 – June 2010

Ben Rothwell

Look closely, and you’ll notice that it’s the same two guys stealing hats during UFC 115 in Vancouver. Meanwhile, the ushers just seem annoyed that they gotta walk through all these outstretched arms. It’s almost as if they’re supposed to be stopping this kind of thing from happening or something…

Paulo Thiago

Good on usher guy for actually noticing the theft of Paulo Thiago’s hat this time. Not like he ended up doing anything about it afterwards because…

Martin Kampmann (failed)

… he didn’t bother to have these guys thrown out for laying their hands on a fighter, and he didn’t bother to offer any extra defense against this attempt on Martin Kampmann’s cap. “Goddamn savages,” he’s muttering.

UFC 134 – August 2011

Anderson Silva

Say what you will about those idiots in Vancouver, but at least they didn’t practically punch their victims in the head while removing them of their headgear. The Spider suffers a particularly aggressive hat mugging here in Rio de Janeiro.

Minotauro Nogueira

Now that’s a proper quick snatch of a hat right there. Big Nog is stoic to the end, but look closely into his eyes, and I swear that you can see the kind of sadness typically reserved for a kicked dog.

UFC 153 – October 2012

Wagner Prado

Wagner may not have won his fight this night, but at least he won his battle against the hat snatchers. Snatchers gonna have to snatch faster than that to get one over on him. Now dance, Wagner Prado! Dance!

UFC Fight Night 36 – February 2014

Lyoto Machida

Someone from Jaraguá do Sul, Brazil tried to snatch the Dragon’s hat away, but Lyoto wasn’t having any of it. He affixed his steely gaze on the perpetrators and froze them in their tracks long enough for one of his corners to grab it back. Impressive.

BONUS: UFC 129 – April 2011

Randy Couture

Lest we claim MMA fans never gave back. Here’s Randy Couture in Toronto getting his hat hatted in some sort of genius reverse theft. The generosity of Canadians never fails to impress.

(This post was inspired by the fine folks at /r/mma)