5 UFC stars who have mastered the art of self-promotion

---

#4: Khamzat Chimaev – UFC welterweight contender

Khamzat Chimaev has wasted no time in becoming a genuine UFC star

Okay, so it’s fair to say that Khamzat Chimaev has been pretty impressive inside the octagon thus far into his short UFC career.

‘Borz’ destroyed John Phillips, Rhys McKee and Gerald Meerschaert in quick succession in 2020. After successfully fighting off a bad case of COVID-19, he then returned to throttle top ten-ranked welterweight Li Jingliang.

While Chimaev can clearly handle himself inside the octagon, it’s fair to say that other fighters such as Anderson Silva have had more impressive runs to begin their UFC careers.

What sets Chimaev apart from them is the fact that from the moment he stepped into the UFC, he’s been an absolutely brilliant self-promoter.

The native of Chechnya clearly has plenty of charisma, and while his English isn’t the best at times, his promise to “smash everyone” in the UFC made him an instant star in the eyes of the fans. Particularly those who were missing Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Outside of the octagon, ‘Borz’ has shown a surprising amount of wit and humor on social media – particularly on his Twitter account.

When he’s in action, he’s also shown a penchant for the kind of showmanlike antics that made fighters such as Nurmagomedov, Tito Ortiz and Conor McGregor into superstars. An example being the way that he carried Jingliang towards Dana White before slamming him down.

Essentially, while the UFC have pushed Chimaev as a star, they haven’t exactly had to put a lot of effort into doing so, showing how good of a self-promoter he is.

---

#3: Colby Covington – UFC welterweight contender

Colby Covington's self-promoting skills turned him into a major villain in the UFC

While the majority of the UFC’s great self-promoters have worked to ensure they gain popularity with the fans, some fighters have bucked that trend by embracing the world of villainy.

Chael Sonnen was arguably the first UFC fighter to really attempt to get the fans to boo him. However it’s probably fair to say that current welterweight contender Colby Covington has taken that idea to another level entirely.

Initially seen as another cookie-cutter grinding wrestler, similar to, say, Jon Fitch, Covington was supposedly on the verge of being cut by the UFC in 2017 despite a stellar record inside the octagon.

However, before that could happen, ‘Chaos’ changed his persona entirely, becoming a loudmouthed, outspoken American patriot who wasn’t afraid to use xenophobia, Trumpism and even near-racism to get under the skin of his opponents.

While it’s probably fair to question the ethics of this approach, there’s no disputing that it’s worked. Covington now gets a deafening reaction every time he fights, with some fans embracing his new persona while many others feel compelled to boo him.

More importantly, though, ‘Chaos’ has gone from being the kind of fighter that the UFC would attempt to bury on prelim cards to one of their more recognizable stars and multi-time headliner.

The fact that he’s done it off his own back, regardless of the method, makes him one of the UFC’s masters of self-promotion.