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The UFC thrives on having unique personalities within its roster. With so many athletes all at an incredibly high level of martial arts prowess, being eccentric can pay dividends when it comes to standing out from the pack.
Fighters like Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya have mastered the ability to promote themselves, with their skills on the microphone unmatched. They can sell a potential fight with just a few minutes in front of the camera; as McGregor often says, "it's just business."
There are some fighters out there who aren't trying to promote themselves and create hype around their names. Instead, they are simply expressing themselves the only way they know how. In the following list, we will go over five fighters whose eccentric personalities stand out from the rest of UFC's roster.
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#5 Kevin 'Trailblazer' Holland - UFC middleweight
Outside of the UFC octagon, Kevin Holland is charismatic, confident and quick-witted. However, it is when he steps inside the cage that his eccentricity truly comes out. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of a crowd presence essentially became the norm in UFC events. This allowed Holland to stand out.
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Holland is incredibly vocal when fighting. This can range from him giving Joaquin Buckley advice on his punch technique mid scrap to commentating on how surprised he was at Darren Stewart's strength when the Englishman began wrestling exchanges with him.
However, the most bizarre Holland moment to date was in his fight against Derek Brunson. Holland struggled against Brunson's wrestling-heavy attack, and his corner attempted to give him advice in between rounds. Rather than listen to his coaches, Holland began shouting at Khabib Nurmagomedov, who was watching the fight with Dana White.
The bizarre exchange can be seen below:
#4 Jiri 'Denisa' Prochazka - UFC light heavyweight
Jiri Prochazka is a Czech light heavyweight contender in the UFC. He follows the credence of The Book of Five Rings, an ancient Japanese codex written by the legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi.
He lives the life of a traditional martial artist, a starkly different one to that of the modern MMA fighter. Prochazka is the closest thing we have to a modern-day samurai in the UFC. He has even gone so far as to have his hair styled in the traditional way of the samurai.
Following his victory over Dominick Reyes, Prochazka stated the following:
"I'm going to shut myself in the dark for a few days now, because only in peace and quiet can pure motivation be found directly from the source."
#3 Michel 'Demolidor' Pereira - UFC Welterweight
Brazil's Michel Pereira is truly unlike any other fighter in the UFC. His capoeira background means that he is more akin to a whirling dervish than an MMA fighter when he steps into the octagon.
However, Pereira's antics are not limited to inside the octagon. During his walkouts, 'Demolidor' can be seen putting on choreographed dance numbers with his team. He even has a tendency to throw out some street dance moves while Bruce Buffer announces his name.
#2 Johnny Walker - UFC light heavyweight
Johnny Walker has often been called a wildman when he steps inside the UFC octagon, and the moniker isn't entirely incorrect. However, he appears to exude the same amount of eccentricity both inside and out of the cage.
One example of the bizarre events surrounding Johnny Walker is the image below, which shows Walker having his beard combed just after he knocked Justin Ledet out cold in only 15 seconds.
There was also the time when Walker KO'd Misha Cirkunov in one round via flying knee, and then did 'the worm' in celebration. However, Walker was too vigorous in said celebration and promptly popped his shoulder out of place. This forced Walker to take eight months out in order to recover.
Watch the incident below:
Walker is now matched up with Thiago Santos in what will undoubtedly be the source of a plethora of unique moments involving the eccentric Brazilian.
#1 Tony 'El Cucuy' Ferguson - UFC lightweight
Never has there been a more unique individual in arguably the whole of UFC history. Tony Ferguson is a complete wildcard, with everything surrounding him in a constant state of unpredictability.
'El Cucuy' is known to condition his elbows and shins by slamming them into metal poles. Whether or not this is effective has not been scientifically proven, but it has to be said that Ferguson has some of the most lethal elbow attacks in the UFC.
Take a look at a video of Ferguson conditioning his elbows:
There are many videos of Ferguson's unique training methods out there. However, he stands out just as much when a mic is placed in front of him. Whether it's the nicknames he makes up for his rivals, e.g., McNuggets, or his outlandish gym stories.
Listen to his performance at the UFC 262 press conference:
Combat sports fans are unlikely ever to see a fighter bring the level of eccentricity that Ferguson has blessed us with during his time with the UFC.
