Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a sport full of tough guys and alpha personas and it comes as no surprise that more than a few well-known MMA fighters exhibit such unnecessary macho behaviour and typical bullying-antics from time-to-time. But as the saying goes- ‘The bigger they are, the harder they fall’.
The same goes for the in-cage/ring bullies as the bigger and ‘badder’ the stars behave, the sweeter is the humble-pie that they’re served. Today we take a look at a few such MMA bullies and discuss a few instances when said bullies got their comeuppance-
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#5 Nick Diaz vs. Condit and GSP
Alright before you Stockton 209 fans jump to your hero’s defence, let’s get one thing clear- The Diaz brothers rely on being the bully in their fights and that’s a fact! And I’m not merely parroting the words of former Nick Diaz-rival Georges St-Pierre.
Every single opponent of Nick or Nate Diaz has alluded to the fact that Stockton’s finest sons are good boxers, great BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) fighters and even greater ‘Bullies’.
GSP was the long-time UFC Welterweight (WW) champion and with him being out-of-action due to injury, the UFC created an Interim-WW belt, pitting Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz against one another at UFC 143 in February of 2012. Condit beat Diaz via a clear-cut Unanimous-Decision (don’t listen to any Diaz fan who says otherwise).
After the fight, Nick accused Condit of...ahem...running. Nevertheless, after losing at 143 for the Interim strap, he would get another shot at UFC gold, against GSP, who was the aforementioned Condit’s next opponent, following Nick, and had successfully beaten ‘The Natural Born Killer’ in a 5-Round war.
Nick faced St-Pierre at UFC 158 and once again lost a clear-cut decision. Let’s take a brief look at how Condit and GSP tamed the bully:
With a Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn devised game-plan in his arsenal, as well as a vast array of Muay Thai techniques coupled with a granite chin; Condit stayed true to his strategy and avoided phone-booth fighting with Nick at all costs. He successfully tagged his boxing-centric opponent, catching him with a wide variety of glancing punches, kicks, knees and elbows.
Diaz, who always relies on throwing his opponents off their game by hurling colourful profanities at them as well as their mothers, was discombobulated against Condit.
That brings us to the fight with one of the most cringe-worthy build-ups of all time: GSP vs Diaz. With St-Pierre’s gentleman-like mannerisms and Nick’s devil-may-care attitude, the fight was a fire-and-ice, clash of personalities. When the Octagon door slam shut, GSP shut the mouthy Stockton native up with his stinging jab, coupled with a chain-wrestling strategy.
After 25 minutes of domination on the feet as well as the ground, St-Pierre overcame one of the biggest challenges of his UFC title reign by beating the ex-Strikeforce and WEC WW champ, Nick Diaz.
It’s essential to note that Nick wasn’t physically rocked, hurt or close to being finished in either fight, however, the mental fortitude that Condit and ‘Rush’ exhibited toward the trash-talking Stocktonian shut down his entire game and with that his profanity-hurling machine-gun of a mouth, albeit temporarily. Up next we see two giants fight over a girl...
#4 Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski 4
Alright before you folks get pumped up over the mysterious beauty that led to Arlovski-Sylvia feuding with each other for years, you ought to know that said beauty kicked both of them to the curb and Arlovski and Sylvia have now buried the hatchet.
Sylvia is 2-1-1(NC) against Arlovski, with the fights taking place at UFC 51 in 2005; 59 and 61 in 2006 and at One FC Pride of a Nation in 2012.
Sylvia lost the first matchup via submission, won the second by KO and the third by decision. The entire UFC trilogy was marred by a love triangle featuring Arlovski, his then-girlfriend Polish model and Playmate Patrycja Mikula and the ‘Maine-iac’, Tim Sylvia.
Long story short, Mikula was ‘Pitbull’s’ girlfriend but midway through their trilogy, she started dating Sylvia. Result: Arlovski and Sylvia have hated each other ever since.
Just when all of us thought the Arlovski-Sylvia saga had come to an end, the rivalry popped its ugly head once again, when One FC signed on the two ageing veterans for a 4th matchup in 2012. The fourth fight featured Sylvia plodding forward at snail’s pace, flailing his arms throwing wild hooks, hoping to connect on one of those Hail-Mary punches.
On the other hand, Arlovski was light on his feet and despite being taunted and goaded by Sylvia to stand-and-bang, stayed true to his Jackson-Wink game-plan and steered clear of phone-booth exchanges. Toward the end of Round 2, he caught Sylvia with a 1-2-1-2 combination, dropping him to the mat.
He then proceeded to land 2 clean soccer kicks on his life-long nemesis and the man with whom his ex had cheated on him.
Arlovski was given a Yellow Card (One FC Rules) and the fight was declared a No-Contest owing to One FC’s stupid rule that required a fighter to ask the referee’s permission mid-fight, before landing soccer kicks (the rule has now been rightfully slashed).
Nevertheless, the Belarusian former UFC Heavyweight champ finally gained closure and redemption over the man who had gotten personal with him about a decade ago. Which brings us to the destruction of a gigantic bully up next…
#3 Bob Sapp vs Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic (K-1 kick-boxing rules)
Bob Sapp was a legitimately scary fighter many years ago. After all, he beat kickboxing royalty Ernesto Hoost 2 times in consecutive matchups, with both victories coming via stoppage. After riding high on that success in 2002, he fought legendary Croatian kickboxer and MMA fighter, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003.
It was the height of Sapp’s popularity, especially in Japan, and the Japanese crowd went absolutely bonkers when the caricature-like American fighter made his entrance. Now mind you, although this wasn’t an MMA fight, both combatants are one of the biggest names in our sport. The fight took place under K-1 kickboxing rules.
The fight started with Sapp’s typical bully approach, featuring his signature ‘Sapp Bullrush’, wherein he would rush forward closing the distance with windmill punches and simply look to overwhelm his opponents. However, Cro Cop, the first fighter to KO Sapp, used his excellent evasive footwork.
Just past the halfway point of Round 1 (3-Minute Rounds), Cro Cop landed a beautiful left roundhouse kick to the American’s gut and followed it up with a classic Southpaw 1-2, that made the giant wince and fall down. Sapp was literally in tears out of a combination of both fear and pain.
Now although, this wasn’t his first loss in combat sports as he had lost in 2002 to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira by submission, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ as the first man to knock Sapp out, and shatter his aura of invincibility on the feet. Up next we see a female bully, get a taste of her own medicine...
#2 Cris Cyborg vs. Jorina Baars (Muay Thai rules)
Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino is a former Strikeforce and current Invicta FC Women’s Featherweight Champion and is touted to be the favourite in a potential matchup against the inaugural UFC Women’s FW champ, Germaine de Randamie, if and when that fight takes place.
On the other hand, Jorina Baars is a Dutch Muay Thai and MMA fighter, who is widely regarded as one of the best female fighters in the sport of Muay Thai. She is also the current Lion Fight Welterweight champion. Cyborg faced Jorina Baars for the Lion Fight Welterweight title in a Muay Thai matchup scheduled for five 3-minute Rounds.
With Cyborg being one of the most notorious steroid users in the game, and widely despised by MMA casuals owing to her destruction of Hollywood star Gina Carano, Lion Fight 14 in March of 2014 was a memorable event for the anti-Cyborg brigade.
The fight started off with Cyborg’s usual flurry, but Baars dropped Cyborg in Round 1 with a huge front kick to the face. She dropped her again, this time with a roundhouse headkick. After a close second round in which she outpointed her Brazilian opponent, Baars dropped her again in Round 3 once with a knee to the jaw.
Furthermore, several spinning back-kicks connected for Baars throughout the duration of the fight. Now although Cyborg landed a higher volume for trips and dumps on Baars (dumps and trips are allowed in MT but submissions and ground-grappling are not), Baars was clearly the more technically superior fighter.
In Round 5, she landed a picture-perfect spinning back kick to the gut that knocked Cyborg down. The judges awarded Baars the decision victory and with it, the Lion Fight WW title.
Baars vs. Cyborg once again proved that technique trumps brute force and although the Dutch striker has a less-than-stellar MMA record (1 win with 3 defeats), on that night she faced Cyborg in the sport of Muay Thai and absolutely schooled the Brazilian bully, giving the steroid-abusing Invicta champ a taste of her own medicine and leaving her footprints all over Justino’s face.
Up next we take a look at two bullies who took turns to humble one another...
#1 Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz 1 and 2
‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor (21-3) is a former UFC Featherweight champion and current UFC Lightweight champion. On the other hand, Nate Diaz (19-11) is the TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) Season 5 winner.
Both rely on their trash-talking abilities to throw their opponents off their game, as well as have classic bully personas. They fought each other twice, with the first matchup taking place at UFC 196 in March of 2016 and the rematch taking place in August of the same year.
The first fight saw Nate step in as a short-notice replacement for the injured then-champion Rafael Dos Anjos. With Diaz having only 11 days notice, the fight took place at Welterweight and saw Nate outbox an overconfident McGregor, rocking him and making him shoot a panic-takedown.
Nate reversed him easily and took his back, applying a Rear-Naked choke and securing the submission victory.
After a few months of back-and-forth negotiations with all kinds of drama from the UFC, McGregor and Diaz; a rematch was finally agreed upon for UFC 200, but later postponed to UFC 202. McGregor spent over $300,000 in training camp in order to prepare himself for his UFC 202 rematch against the Stockton native.
By then, the tables had turned and Nate was all over the MMA and mainstream media, even making an appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on National Television. With the Diaz bros already being well-known for their bully mentality and devil-may-care attitude, Nate’s win over the ‘Notorious’ Irishman served to provide a boost to their already inflated egos.
August came and so did Diaz-McGregor 2. The rematch saw McGregor take a smart approach against Nate, tagging him with a constant bevy of leg kicks and mixing it up with left crosses, dropping Diaz 3 times in the opening stanza.
Although Diaz made a late surge, Conor was already ahead on points and had the fight in his kitty. McGregor beat Diaz by Majority Decision.
The aforementioned pair of fights is ironic, in the sense that, the man who entered each fight with all the momentum, ended up losing. And the bright side of the Diaz-McGregor fights is that the MMA community got to witness two extremely entertaining matchups between excellent strikers.
Besides, who doesn’t like watching two bullies beat the living hell out of one another? The bottom-line is that Conor and Nate deserve each other.
Our list is in no way meant to demean the aforementioned martial artists but to merely point out the fact that a true martial artist is not a ‘bully’. Some of the fighters that made this list exhibited some less-than-stellar behaviour. Keep up with our combat tradition and write in to me about fighters that you think could’ve made the list.
Keep training and remember ‘Bullies’ are cowards. Don’t be a coward. Don’t be a bully.
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