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There’s no disputing that taunting and showboating are part and parcel of life in the UFC. But in a sport where things can change in an instant, taunting an opponent is always a risk.
Over the years we’ve seen plenty of UFC fighters who decided to taunt their opponent during, or before a fight, and ended up paying the price for it. At times, champions have even fallen right after making the error of taunting a foe at a key moment, making for some truly memorable moments.
Here are five UFC fighters who taunted their opponent and paid the price.
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#5. Spencer Fisher vs. Matt Wiman – UFC 60
When Matt Wiman signed with the UFC and took a late-notice lightweight bout with Spencer Fisher in the summer of 2006, he knew that the spotlight would be on him like never before.
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Few fans had heard of ‘Handsome’ before the clash, but he surprised everyone by coming out and taking the fight to Fisher from the off. Wiman grounded ‘The King’ and dominated him from back control, but as the first round ended, Fisher was able to switch position, opening a nasty cut on Wiman’s forehead with an elbow.
That seemed to turn the tide of the fight, and when the second round started, ‘Handsome’ was unable to get a takedown and was basically forced to brawl with his foe, who was renowned as a deadly striker.
Still, Wiman appeared to be holding his own. That was until Fisher clocked him with a big right hand that clearly rocked him. Instead of backpedaling to recover, though, ‘Handsome’ decided to taunt his foe, waving his finger at him to tell him that the right hand hadn’t really hurt him.
Unfortunately, raising his arm in such a way left his chin undefended, and it was all the invitation that Fisher needed. ‘The King’ flew through the air, nailed Wiman with a jumping knee that put him down, and quickly finished him off on the ground.
Wiman did go onto a successful run with the UFC that lasted well over a decade, but he remains best known today for this instance of taunting gone badly wrong.
#4. Chris Leben vs. Terry Martin – UFC Fight Night 11
A veteran of the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris Leben was renowned more than anything in his prime for having a truly iron chin. Put simply, at times it seemed impossible to knock ‘The Crippler’ out.
It was something that Terry Martin found out the hard way when the two middleweights clashed in late 2007 in the co-headliner of a UFC Fight Night event.
After a back-and-forth first round that saw Leben deducted a point for a fence grab, ‘The Crippler’ seemed to take over in the second, outworking his foe. That left Martin needing a finish in the third and final round.
Sure enough, Martin, a hard hitter in his own right, began to really push the pace. As the round began to tick away, he caught Leben cleanly with a right hand that caused ‘The Crippler’ to wobble back towards the fence, apparently on the edge of going out.
Rather than follow up, though, Martin made the error of standing off and chose to taunt Leben instead, outstretching his arms and yelling at him to bring it on.
Despite looking hurt, Leben did just that. Seconds later, he stunned everyone by leveling Martin with a left hook, knocking him clean out with a single shot.
The finish was truly remarkable, as Leben – and his iron chin – had snatched a victory from the jaws of defeat. Would it have happened had Martin followed up rather than taunt his foe, though? It’s doubtful.
#3. Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral vs. David Heath – UFC 74
While the other examples on this list saw fighters taunt their foes during a bout only to pay the price for it, this instance actually happened at the weigh-ins.
What looked like a throwaway preliminary bout between light heavyweights Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral and David Heath quickly became personal when Heath decided to wear a t-shirt with the Brazilian’s mugshot from an earlier arrest printed on it.
More to the point, he also called ‘Babalu’ a “motherf*cker,” something that didn’t sit well with the former UFC title challenger at all.
When it came to fight time, then, Sobral was angry and he quickly took his frustrations out on his opponent. After battering him with ground-and-pound throughout the first round, he took Heath down again to begin the second, and quickly sliced him open with an elbow.
Heath’s head began to bleed like a faucet, immediately making the fight look like a clip from a horror movie. When he attempted to scramble to escape, ‘Babalu’ locked up an anaconda choke, synching it in perfectly.
Heath tapped out, but that wasn’t enough for the Brazilian. Despite referee Steve Mazzagatti stepping in to stop the bout, ‘Babalu’ simply squeezed even harder, to the point that a twitching Heath passed out.
Left unconscious in a pool of his own blood, there was no doubt that Heath had paid the price for his pre-fight taunting. Unfortunately, ‘Babalu’ paid a price of his own. Due to his unsportsmanlike conduct, he was cut from his UFC contract and never returned to the promotion.
#2. Erick Silva vs. Nordine Taleb – UFC 196
One of MMA’s most renowned dirty tricks involves a fighter offering a glove touch to their opponent at the start of a bout, only to suddenly surprise them with a strike instead.
In 2016, though, Erick Silva took this trick to a new level. With just over a minute left in the first round of his welterweight clash with Nordine Taleb at UFC 196, ‘The Tiger’ was able to scramble free from a tricky position on the ground.
Leaping to his feet, he offered Taleb a glove touch – only to crack him with a nasty left hook as the Canadian dropped his guard for a second.
It was a truly dirty move and the fact that Silva followed it by taunting Taleb with a grin, telling him to bring it on, made matters even worse. Unsurprisingly, the fans immediately turned on the Brazilian.
The fight did make the second round, but by that point, it was clear that Taleb was fighting angrily. Midway through the stanza, he finally made Silva pay, catching a kick and landing a clean right hand to knock him out instantly.
In this case, it took some time, but the taunting and dirty tricks definitely caught up with ‘The Tiger’, particularly as he only won one more fight in the octagon afterwards.
#1. Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman – UFC 162
The most infamous example of a fighter whose attempts to taunt their opponent went wrong remains legendary UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Renowned for his unique style, ‘The Spider’ would often taunt or “clown” opponents during his fights, regularly dropping his hands to entice them in before destroying them with Matrix-esque strikes.
Silva’s great rival Chael Sonnen was the first of the Brazilian’s opponents to recognize his taunting as what it truly was – a clever way to set up his striking attacks. But it wasn’t until 2013 that someone really made him pay for it.
Faced with hot prospect Chris Weidman in his eleventh title defense, Silva expected the fight to be business as usual. However, it quickly became clear that Weidman would be a tougher nut to crack.
Not only did ‘The All-American’ have success on the ground in the first round, but he also largely refused to engage when Silva attempted to entice him in with his usual taunting.
In the second round, then, ‘The Spider’ turned the heat up even more. After blocking a takedown, he began to taunt Weidman heavily, waving his arms around and dropping them to his waist, wobbling his knees randomly at one point.
Undeterred, Weidman charged forward with a combination – and as Silva leaned back with his hands lowered, it suddenly became evident that he’d underestimated the challenger’s reach.
Weidman missed with a swiping backfist, but landed cleanly with a left hook that dropped Silva, knocking him silly in an instant.
The crowd in attendance were left in shock as Weidman became the first man to beat ‘The Spider’ in the UFC, ending both his title reign and a 16-fight win streak in the process. Not only had he refused to be suckered in by Silva’s taunting, he’d made him pay the price for it, too.
