How random is this? UFC 26 opponents run into each other 20 years after sharing octagon

David Dodd and Tyrone Roberts hadn’t seen each other in 20 years.

In fact, the last time they came face to face was inside the octagon – at UFC 26. On that night, June 9, 2000, Roberts defeated Dodd by unanimous decision. The fight was conducted at “middleweight” – 199 pounds at the time.

Fast forward to June 16, 2020, in something that can only be described as a chance encounter, the two fighters bumped into each other in Marshalltown, Iowa (h/t Twitter user Bruce Huckfeldt). It was the first time they had seen each other since their showdown – almost exactly 20 years to the date.

It’s a classic right-place, right-time scenario – but what are the odds? Very low, I’d say. Just think about it.

Thanks to UFC president Dana White’s words, there’s currently a mainstream discussion on whether or not professional fighting is a career. Whatever fighting can be considered now, it was even less of a career back then.

This isn’t two UFC 150 veterans running into each other at a local event. These are two guys who have returned to normal lives – and have lived normal lives for a while. In two decades, not once did they crossed paths.

To give an example of how normal their lives had become, upon seeing a picture of the two fighters, one commenter event wrote on Dodd’s Facebook page, “I didn’t know you were in the UFC. That’s awesome!”

Dodd is the only person on planet earth Roberts could call his “UFC opponent.” Conversely, Dodd had one other UFC fight at UFC 21, one year prior.

Out of all the people in this world, they bumped into one another.

To make it even crazier, Dodd revealed in the comments of Roberts’ Facebook post that he currently resides in Medellin, Colombia. He didn’t give a reason for him being in Iowa. But hey, he was there – and it makes for a cool story.

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