Mixed martial arts is not a sport for the mellow. When you step into the octagon, it becomes a primal war between two people who are trying to physically overpower each other. But, that doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk about it.
People like Daniel Cormier, Georges St. Pierre, and Damien Maya have proved that you can be an elite level fighter even if you aren’t, if you will excuse my French, an a**hole. Not everyone seems to have learnt this lesson, though, as a number of fighters in the UFC and beyond don’t seem to understand respect.
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There are plenty of fighters who see MMA as an avenue to bully their opponents and gain an ego trip. Despite being good fighters, these men and women are pretty terrible human beings, which is why there is a sense of satisfaction when they put in their place.
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With that in mind, here are 5 MMA bullies who got exactly what they deserved:
#5 Ronda Rousey
Maybe a somewhat unexpected name on this list, considering her Golden Girl status with the UFC. But, dig a little deeper and you’ll see that Rousey is indeed a bully who made a career out of intimidating and destroying her opponents inside the octagon.
While there wasn’t anything overly controversial about her incredible run in the company prior to her back-to-back defeats, Rousey always seemed to exude an aura of invulnerability which bordered on narcissistic. This is one of the reasons so many hardcore fans of the sport were happy to see her go down.
Not many people gave Holly Holm a chance against the then-undefeated Rousey, but an expert striking performance at UFC 193 from Holm saw her crush Rousey and knock her out with an incredible head kick.
A sweet sweet moment for everyone who was sick of Rousey’s era of dominance.
#4 Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz is a bonafide MMA legend. He was amongst the earliest fighters to make the sport popular and was even inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2012. But, there’s a reason his nickname is “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy.” Well, the two reasons – the first is because Ortiz is numbskull who doesn’t know how to pick a good nickname. The second, more relevantly, is because he has gained a reputation as a bully and a jerk.
Having had numerous clashes with people like Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, Dana White, and Matt Hamill – who he claimed had a soft head because of his deafness – Ortiz isn’t exactly a well-loved individual.
This is why everyone rejoiced when Liddell TKO’d him twice, including a particularly vicious encounter for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. Thank you very much for those memories, Iceman.
#3 Quinton Jackson
Quinton Jackson is a bit of a loose cannon. ‘Rampage’ as he is not so fondly called in the MMA community, Jackson has had numerous incidents which have established his reputation as an all-around jerk.
From taking shots at opponents who have already been knocked out to a particularly disturbing hit-and-run incident where the victim – a pregnant woman – ended up miscarrying her unborn child, Rampage has not endeared himself to many people during his lifetime.
It is for this reason that when fellow bad boy, Jon Jones, took him apart at UFC 135, thereby becoming the first man to ever submit Rampage, the world smiled. It was damn good to see Rampage get a taste of his own medicine.
#2 Rousimar Palhares
Rousimar Palhares is a prodigiously talented submission specialist who has made a career of submitting people with his unbelievably effective Heel Hook. The problem for Palhares comes from the fact that he seems to enjoy causing his opponents pain rather than just winning a fight.
In his career, Palhares has been brought up on charges of holding onto a submission after an opponent has tapped no less than three times. The second violation resulted in his dismissal from the UFC while the third one got him a two-year suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Now fighting in Europe, Palhares haters have had reasons to celebrate as the Brazilian has been knocked out in vicious fashion in his last two fights against lesser known opponents in Italy and Poland.
#1 War Machine
No, that's not even his nickname. Born John Koppenhaver, he legally changed his name to War Machine in 2008. Machine has been one of the most despicable human beings on the planet, having been arrested multiple times for getting into altercations and seriously harming people.
The worst case of this is when he attacked ex-girlfriend and adult film star, Christy Mack, at her home resulting in 18 broken bones, a broken nose, missing teeth, a broken rib and a ruptured liver for Mack. She also alleges that War Machine tried to rape her.
The MMA fighter is now awaiting a hearing to decide his fate and it does not look promising. Inside the cage, though, there was a lot of celebration when he was choked out by Ron Keslar at Bellator 104.
We sincerely hope that we never see this man anywhere near MMA again.
