5 great UFC fighters who got angry with reporters

UFC fighters and reporters often get along about as well as a house and flooding. Despite there being obvious benefits in working together - for reporters, there's more interviews and better coverage, for fighters, it can mean better exposure and promotion - the two sometimes butt heads.

Whether it's a question too many or one they feel is unfair, there's been plenty of instances of UFC fighters tearing hapless reporters a new one. It doesn't just stop at the fighters either. UFC president Dana White infamously banned Ariel Helwani from UFC shows in 2016 after he leaked the news of Brock Lesnar's return. While the ban was eventually lifted, White's initial actions hammered home his fury over the leak.

More recently, White expressed his frustrations with the New York Times over a report they ran about UFC parent company William Morris Endeavor. As loud and clear as White's been with reporters who've angered him, he's got nothing on the antics of some of his fighters over the years.

Here are five UFC fighters who lost their temper with reporters:

#5 Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort

UFC 198 Weigh-ins

Everyone has sensitive topics in life they’d sooner not discuss in the open. For former UFC knockout artist Vitor Belfort, that sensitive topic appears to be TRT (testosterone replacement therapy).

Following his round one KO victory over Luke Rockhold in Brazil in 2013, Belfort was asked by MMAJunkie’s John Morgan about his TRT and if he was frustrated over it being brought up constantly. Evidently, Belfort was incredibly frustrated by the constant mentions of his hormone therapy.

A controversial topic in the sport, TRT is intended to help older men who are struggling with low testosterone levels in their blood. The treatment can also be applied to men of any age provided their hormone levels are imbalanced enough.

Some have claimed TRT should be banned from the sport owing to its similarities to the use of testosterone as a PED. Belfort in particular was under a lot of scrutiny at the time for this reason. Disgusted by Morgan’s line of questioning, Belfort demanded the reporter be assaulted for bringing it up:

“Can someone beat him up for me please? Can somebody beat him up?”

Fortunately for Morgan, no one took Belfort up on his request.

#4 Former interim UFC Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson

UFC 262: Tony Ferguson v Beneil Dariush

UFC star ‘El Cucuy’ has always been an unpredictable interviewee. Notorious for his eccentric comments, colorful insults and off-tangent tirades, Ferguson was hit with a more personal issue at a press conference for UFC 249. The fifth time Dana White attempted to match Ferguson up with Khabib Nurmagomedov, UFC 249 became infamous for two things: the beatdown Khabib replacement Justin Gaethje delivered to ‘El Cucuy’ and Ferguson’s preoccupation with baseball analogies.

When asked for his thoughts on Khabib at the press conference, Ferguson extracted a baseball. Using America’s national pass time as a metaphor for his beef with ‘The Eagle’, Ferguson remained calm throughout his curious monologue. Everything was going smoothly until Cageside Press reporter Rodney James Edgar asked Ferguson about his mental health and personal issues. Visibly uncomfortable with the line of questioning, a perturbed Ferguson quickly replied with “F*** you.”

Ferguson had made clear in the past (particularly in the lead-up to his fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC 238) that he was not comfortable with questions regarding his mental health.

#3 Former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey

UFC 205: Weigh-ins

In the lead-up to her UFC 184 showdown with Cat Zingano, Ronda Rousey grew heated over Breitbart Sports’ Daniel Flynn’s comments on women’s MMA. UFC 184 was supported by Holly Holm vs Raquel Pennington in the co-headlining spot.

Highlighting certain sections of the UFC fanbase who were not supportive of women’s MMA, Flynn asked if the card’s drawing power would be hurt by the lack of male headliners.

Incensed, the then 10-0 UFC women’s bantamweight champ tore into Flynn, saying:

“You even asking that question, it really proves that the inequality still exists. If they put up a men’s 125-pound main and co-main event, people wouldn’t be asking the question, like, ‘Oh, if this doesn’t sell very well we might just get rid of the whole men’s division.’ Why are we still even asking the question? Do you remember the last time you asked that question to a guy?”

Things only got worse from there when Flynn questioned Rousey’s exploits outside of the octagon. A huge star for the sport by this point, Rousey was beginning to find work in film, commercials and had appeared in Sports lllustrated’s swimsuit issue that year. Flynn asked the former Olympian if all of these gigs would prove counter-productive to her training and focus. In response, Rousey said:

“The reason why you doubt the ability that it could ever be done is the reason why you will never do anything that great.”

Harsh words from the armbar whiz.

#2 Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones

UFC 239 Jones v Santos

UFC 232 was initially set to take place in Las Vegas. Unfortunately for the promotion, the Nevada State Athletic Commission picked up a positive drug test from card-headliner Jon Jones.

Refusing to grant Jones a competing license for the state of Nevada, the whole show was uprooted and moved to California.

In a press conference to promote his main event bout with Alexander Gustafsson, Jones was given the third degree from Swedish reporter Izabelle Kostic.

Jones initially dismissed a question regarding his positive drug test. Kostic than moved it over to Dana White, asking why the fight was still happening at all. Acknowledging that such drug tests normally lead to suspensions, Kostic asked White why Jones was seemingly receiving such special treatment.

Enraged, Jones asked the already seated Kostic to sit down before saying:

“Someone take the mic from her. Better questions. Better journalism. You suck. Have you been listening?”

#1 Former UFC welterweight fighter Nick Diaz

UFC 183: Silva v Diaz

During his time as Strikeforce’s welterweight kingpin, the endlessly quotable Nick Diaz had some pretty choice words for Ariel Helwani. Helwani interviewed the karate master ahead of his Strikeforce welterweight title defense against Paul Daley in April 2011.

Diaz was quick to express his disdain for Helwani’s style of reporting, even accusing him of instigating fights. From there, Diaz uttered one of his most (in)famous comments:

“Where I come from, you know, people like that get slapped.”

Diaz’s words might have seemed unnecessarily harsh on Helwani at that point. The interview had only just started and Helwani was being perfectly respectful to the Stockton tough guy. That being said, Diaz touched on a criticism that has followed Helwani throughout his illustrious career as an MMA reporter.

Despite his reputation for being one of, if not the greatest MMA reporter of all time, Helwani’s methods have drawn the ire of several fighters. UFC welterweight Mickey Gall also called him out for it in a more light-hearted fashion in 2017 on episode 401 of The MMA Hour.

Despite the uncomfortable start - and some additional needling from Diaz about Helwani’s coverage of his fight with Daley - the interview continued without a hitch. Diaz’s comments have frequently been referenced in the years since. It appears there’s not too much bad blood between them given Diaz gave his first interview in years to Helwani in 2019.