Jarrell Miller lost his hairpiece midway through a fight. Getty
Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller is not the first fighter to leave a fight with a different haircut to whatever they arrived with.
Heavyweight Miller’s hairpiece was flapping on the top of his head after absorbing a punch from Kingsley Ibeh on Saturday.
Miller tore off his now-useless toupee, throwing it into the crowd where it hilariously came into the possession of Fabio Wardley, one of his rivals.
“You have to make fun of yourself,” the newly-bald Miller said after winning a split decision.
But other fighters have experienced mishaps with their hair in the past, too…
‘It took six hours, I wanted to rock it for a little bit’Paulie Malignaggi cut his braids midway through fighting Lovemore N’Dou Getty
Paulie Malignaggi emerged for his IBF welterweight championship defence against Lovemore N’Dou with a bizarre haircut which almost cost him dearly.
Malignaggi turned up with a remarkable braided look, his hair hanging loose and flickering around by his shoulders. For their first fight, he had sported a bleached mohawk.
Before the eighth round, the champion’s braids were taped up in a desperate attempt to salvage a fight which was threatening to get away.
But Malignaggi’s hair was still somehow finding its way over the front, and side, of his face in an utterly farcical way.
His trainer Buddy McGirt had seen enough after eight rounds. He produced scissors and chopped off the disastrous braids.
Malignaggi beat N’Dou by split decision but left with half a haircut.
“I didn’t want to cut it at first, because it took six hours to do that hair,” he later said. “I wanted to rock it for a little bit, man.
“Besides the braids, which could have cost me the fight, there’s never been a look where I’ve said: ‘That was too ridiculous.'”
‘I’m a cut-man, not a barber’
Undefeated Austin DeAnda came out for a middleweight fight last year sporting an eye-catching haircut — shaved on both sides, with flowing braids reminiscent of Malignaggi’s through the top and back. He did not leave with the same haircut.
DeAnda’s vision was impaired by his locks flowing uncontrollably after three rounds of trading punches with DeAundre Pettus.
Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran, the legendary cut-man who was in DeAnda’s corner, was overheard between rounds saying “I am a cut-man, not a barber,” according to the commentary.
Sure enough, a handful of DeAnda’s braids were grabbed and lopped off by a pair of scissors.
Now with an even stranger haircut, DeAnda won a unanimous decision.
Haircut from dad to make weightShawn Porter once had to cut his hair to make weight. Getty
Shawn Porter relied upon a pair of scissors to make weight for a world title fight.
Porter initially weighed 148.8 pounds before his WBC welterweight title fight against Yordenis Ugas, then later 147.2 pounds – still above the 147 pounds limit.
He stripped nude in an ever increasing desperation to make weight.
Finally, his father and trainer Kenny Porter produced scissors and chopped off some locks of his son’s braided hair.
It worked. Porter weighed 146.8 pounds.
He would have lost his world title at the weigh-in if he had failed to make weight.
“This was not a step back, this was not me underestimating Ugas,” Porter said. “It was nothing except me not taking care of business the way it needed to be taken care of, when it needed to be taken care of.
“It’s done, it’s over, I’m solid as a rock. I feel good. And we got the fight. That’s it.”
He retained his title via split decision against Ugas.
Haircuts at the weigh-ins in UFCPhoto by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Jaws dropped to the floor when Tracy Cortez weighed in for a UFC fighter holding a large quantity of her own hair, which she had cut off, in her hand.
Cortez was a late-notice replacement to fight Rose Namajunas last year but was half-a-pound above the flyweight limit.
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Without a second thought, a chunk of her long hair was cut off and Cortez was light enough to meet the weight limit. Proudly, she posed on the scales holding a chunk of hair and sporting an unexpected new haircut.
“What was it, 0.5 [pounds]?” she told ESPN. “I was like, ‘No hesitation. We’ll do whatever it takes. This is a big opportunity.'”
Matt Schnell had a full head of hair when he missed weight for a flyweight fight in the UFC in 2022. He was given extra time to shed the surplus half-a-pound but, instead, returned to the scales having shaved his head entirely. It worked a treat.
Roosevelt Roberts trimmed his long hair after a long session in the sauna was still not enough to make weight on The Ultimate Fighter 31. Roberts, in Michael Chandler’s team, made weight but lost to Austin Hubbard, of Conor McGregor’s team. Their fight is better remembered for McGregor yelling at the referee to separate the grappling fighters.