The Craziest Trash Talk Moments in UFC History

A lot can be said about trash talking, and it has become quite prevalent, especially within the combat sports industry, and the leading promotion in the industry is the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Promotion and psychological warfare are at the heart of it, as fighters engage in verbal battles to further enmity and gain attention from the public. The UFC, with its cast of characters and the very nature of the competition, has produced some of the greatest and most nonsensical trash talking in sports. Despite the fact that these fighters are superb athletes, the science of mind games may be as important as physical training.

Here, in this article, we’ll look into some of the most outrageous cases in the history of the promotion, when fighters took trash talking to the next level and created some of the most memorable moments in the history of the sport.

1. Conor McGregor defeated José Aldo, UFC 194.

Any list of trash talk moments has to include the preeminent trash talker in the UFC today, Conor McGregor. The most vicious and psychological battle of words took place in the build-up to McGregor’s fight against the then-featherweight champion José Aldo at UFC 194 in December 2015.

Aldo had been unbeaten for a decade and was the champion of the featherweight category without any contest. But McGregor, who was steadily climbing his way up the ladder, embarked on a psychological warfare against Aldo that lasted for months. During the UFC’s world press tour, McGregor continued to provoke Aldo at any chance he got, including snatching the Brazilian’s belt during a press conference in Dublin and constantly referring to Aldo as ‘a broken man’.

McGregor also applied psychological pressure and he did it continuously. McGregor had this overconfident Irish fighter personality, which was quite the opposite of Aldo’s calm personality. But when it was the night of the fight, McGregor’s psychological warfare seemed to have paid off. McGregor has been going at Aldo and other fighters for months with insults leading into this fight and the fight lasted 13 seconds. It has been described as one of the biggest rivalries in the history of UFC and McGregor’s taunting could not be said to have played no part in the victory.

Chael Sonnen vs Anderson Silva, the fight that took place at UFC 117 and UFC 148.

Chael Sonnen was the first man to rule the MMA trash talk before Conor McGregor came into the picture. His fight with Anderson Silva, the greatest middleweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship was one of the most vicious trash talking bouts in the history of the sport. Prior to the two fighters’ first meeting in the octagon at UFC 117 in 2010, Sonnen was an expert in pre-fight psychological warfare.

Sonnen continued to try to hit Silva, and the insults did not cease. He also made fun of Silva and his heart and even went ahead to disrespect Brazil which is Silva’s country. Sonnen delivered one of the greatest quotes ever and he said, “If Anderson ever beats me, I’ll leave the middleweight division, I’ll leave the UFC, I will leave this planet.”

However, Sonnen followed the hype to the letter for most of the fight by outstruck Silva for four and a half rounds before being submitted in the last five minutes. The rivalry reached its peak before their second bout at UFC 148, where Sonnen said that Silva’s title was a fake. In the second fight, Silva would once again defeat Sonnen but Sonnen would make himself a celebrity and one of the most entertaining fighters in the history of the UFC.

Nick Diaz vs. Georges St-Pierre, UFC 158

Nick Diaz has never been one to sugarcoat anything or even try to sweet talk an opponent, and his prefight banter is not exactly poetic. The promotion for Diaz’s fight with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 158 saw one of the most heated trash-talking incidents, and for the most part, Diaz was doing most of the talking.

Throughout the pre-fight interviews, particularly during the press conferences, Diaz always labeled St-Pierre as a baby or a spoiled child of the UFC. He said that St-Pierre had been “protected” and that he was not a true fighter like Diaz himself. The line that Diaz used during the buildup of the fight was: “I think Georges is scared to fight me. I don’t think Georges is hurt; I think he’s scared.”

The unashamed mouth that Diaz used to talk trash was not only directed to St-Pierre but also to the whole promotion machinery of the UFC. Regardless of Diaz’s attempts to provoke GSP to anger, the Canadian champion did not lose his temper and, as a result, won the fight by unanimous decision. Still, Diaz’s trash talk brought extra interest to the fight and further solidified his position as one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC.

McGregor Khabib Nurmagomedov UFC 229

This is not just the typical trash talking that is usually associated with the buildup to a fight, but it escalated to a level that was more personal than promotional. In buildup to the much-hyped fight, McGregor went for the jugular attacking Khabib on all aspects, including his origin, religion, and even his family. McGregor took it a notch higher by calling Khabib a “Dagestani rat” and making fun of his religious beliefs.

Unfortunately, the trash talk did not end there. McGregor also went on to disrespect Khabib’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, and make unpleasant comments about Khabib’s father. Arguably, the most provocative of the instances that McGregor used was when he mentioned a political and personal conflict between Khabib and the Chechen leader.

McGregor, on the other hand, continued to rage, and Khabib only replied back, “I will smash your face.” And that is the truth. Khabib had the better of McGregor inside the cage, finishing him by submission in round four. Following the fight, there was an all-out war between the two teams due to the fact that McGregor went out of his way to make it personal.

McGregor is a man who has always liked to talk a big game as much as he likes to fight, and the lead-up to UFC 229 demonstrated that there is only so far one can go with words, and once the gloves are off and it gets very nasty indeed, it can end in tears, both in and out of the cage.

Michael Bisping vs. Luke Rockhold, UFC 199

Michael Bisping is another UFC fighter who also does not shy away from using his tongue when saying nasty things to his opponents. The promotion leading to Bisping’s fight against Luke Rockhold at the UFC 199 was characterized by the bitter exchanges that made the rivalry even more interesting. Rockhold had already beaten Bisping in their previous bout, and prior to their second match, Rockhold was very confident.

As for the rematch, Bisping had every chance to mock Rockhold’s arrogance, especially when he said to the latter, “You’re a smug f***er, aren’t you?” Though Bisping took the fight on just 17 days’ notice, he played the role of an underdog, but he did not shy away from getting into a verbal battle with Rockhold.

To which Rockhold replied with arrogance and disrespect for Bisping, stating that he will not win and will be defeated easily by him. Bisping, however, would get the last laugh. It was one of the most stunning upset victories in UFC history as the British fighter Bisping KO’d Rockhold in the first round to win the middleweight crown. The win not only stunned the MMA fraternity but also brought the feud the two had been having to a close by providing a fitting end to it.

Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock, UFC 40 and UFC 61

Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock were two of the most bitter foes in the early years of the UFC. The rivalry started when Ortiz defeated Shamrock’s friend and training partner, Guy Mezger, and then proceeded to mock the Lion’s Den team with his infamous ‘grave digger’ dance. Shamrock, a UFC Hall of Famer and MMA pioneer was offended and promised to teach Ortiz a lesson in their next match.

Some of the most infamous hype-making gimmickry that was witnessed in the run-up to the UFC 40 fight was between Ortiz and Shamrock. Ortiz said that Shamrock was old and had nothing left to offer, while Shamrock said that he was going to beat Tito into a living death.

Ortiz would then beat Shamrock by TKO, but the rivalry would not stop here though. They would fight two more times, and in all three fights Ortiz emerged as the winner. Shamrock never got the better of his opponent inside the cage, but the trash talking between them both will go down in UFC history and played a part in the promotion of the sport to the mainstream.

Joanna Jędrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha, UFC 200

The rivalry between Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha is one of the most captivating in women’s MMA, and many of the battles took place during the show of “The Ultimate Fighter 23.” Joanna was the UFC strawweight champion, and she constantly provoked Gadelha, teasing her and challenging her to become tougher.

Joanna’s trash talk was continuous, and she had one of the most memorable quotes during her fight with Gadelha when she said, “I’m the boogeywoman of this division.” This kind of psychological warfare clearly got under the skin of Gadelha, who was doing a poor job of hiding how much Joanna’s trash talk was affecting her.

Finally, when they both met in the Octagon at UFC 200, Joanna showed that she had substance to her boastful words by beating Gadelha via unanimous decision in a very intense five-round fight. Joanna’s performance on the cage and on the mouth made her one of the most feared and respected trash talkers in the women’s MMA, and her fight with Gadelha became one of the most memorable in the history of the sport.

Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones UFC 182 & UFC 214

It is crucial to note that animosity between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones has been one of the most bitter in UFC history. Their rivalry was not only characterized by personal rivalry but also by some of the most brutal verbal exchanges that were ever seen in the sport. Cormier and Jones have had a bitter rivalry since they were slated to face each other in UFC 182, and prior to the fight, both fighters engaged in a war of words, with Jones once saying to Cormier during an interview, “I’m going to kill you.”.

Their rivalry extended to trash talking each other during different press conferences, interviews, and during a brawl in a Las Vegas press event. Jones referred to Cormier as a ‘fake champion’ and constantly insulted Cormier’s muscles, whereas Cormier constantly criticized Jones for his off-cage problems, such as drug bans.

Their rivalry was put to an end in UFC 214 when Jones knocked down Cormier to win the light heavyweight belt, only for the victory to be changed due to the emergence that Jones had used performance-enhancing substances. Their bitter and aggressive trash talking to each other as they hated each other is perhaps one of the most famous rivalries in the history of MMA.

The Colby Covington vs. Kamaru Usman fight was at UFC 245

Colby Covington has come to enjoy the part of being the heel in the UFC, and his pre-fight trash talk in the buildup to his fight with Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 was arguably some of the most inflammatory in recent memory. Covington targeted Usman’s Nigerian origin, mocked him as “Marty Fake Newsman,” and even branded him a “phony.”

Covington went even further than staring down his opponent and aggressively taunting him in the ring, insulting Usman’s family, and making provocative political statements for the purpose of getting attention. But Usman was cool all through the buildup and only engaged in limited trash talk of his own.

Apparently, the rivalry between the two fighters was not limited to words and gestures as the two engaged in a hard five-round bout. Usman later on cracked Covington’s jaw and knocked him out in the fifth round through TKO. Covington’s trash talk paved the way for one of the most anticipated welterweight title fights in recent UFC history, even though he lost.

UFC light heavyweight title bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell—UFC 47 and UFC 66

Tito Ortiz was one of the original UFC fighters that mastered the art of trash talking, and his feud with Chuck Liddell was a perfect example of how heated words make a fight more significant. Ortiz and Liddell were training partners until the friendship between them went sour when Liddell started moving in the light heavyweight category.

Ortiz, who was the UFC light heavyweight champion at that time, started giving Liddell mouth before their first fight at UFC 47. Ortiz always said that Liddell was overrated and charged him with cowardice for not wanting to fight with him before. In his brief and laconic manner, Liddell just replied with confidence, saying, “I’ll knock you out.

In the UFC 47 event, Liddell was able to prove his mouth by defeating Ortiz through a second round knockout, but this did not stop the two from feasting on each other’s tongue. Ortiz kept on provoking Liddell after the fight, and this was the reason that they were scheduled to fight again in UFC 66. Liddell knocked out Ortiz again, and this time the fight proved that he was the superior fighter in the rivalry, though Ortiz’s mouth had contributed to the development of the early UFC.

Conclusion

UFC has never been just about fighting, it is about the drama, fighters, and most importantly, the hype. Conor McGregor, Chael Sonnen, and Tito Ortiz are some of the fighters who have taken the art of trash talking to the next level where they use it to sell fights, ppv, and get into their opponent’s head.

From Conor McGregor’s fight with José Aldo to the animosity between Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones, such moments of confrontation have gone beyond the cage and have become legends of MMA. Whether verbal attacks on an opponent, intimidation tactics, or the good old-fashioned cockiness, trash talking has become an indispensable part of UFC. These verbal confrontations produce memorable scenes that put the drama, tension, and excitement into the fight while guaranteeing that the UFC is the theater of the surreal.