5 UFC stars whose ability on the microphone was more exciting than their fighting skills

#2. Tito Ortiz – former UFC light heavyweight champion

Tito Ortiz's charisma and microphone ability meant that he became a star even when his fights weren't great to watch

Not only was Tito Ortiz once the biggest star in the UFC, he was probably the biggest drawing card in the world of MMA, too. ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ held the promotion’s light heavyweight title from 2000 to 2003, defending it on five occasions.

Ortiz always talked a good game. He would tell everyone that would listen that he was going to take his opponents to the ground and punish them. However, the truth is that his fights were often not as exciting as the feuds that preceded them.

‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was rarely accused of lay-and-pray tactics. For the most part, unless he was faced with a largely overmatched foe, he was often unable to finish his opponents in the octagon.

In fact, his victories over Vladimir Matyushenko and Patrick Cote were probably as slow as the fights produced by far more maligned fighters like Jon Fitch and Jake Shields. The only difference was that Ortiz had the innate ability to ensure that the fans were emotionally invested in everything he did.

These days, fans often poke fun at Ortiz for a perceived clunky nature on the microphone, but 20 years ago, this would’ve been a crazy statement to make.

When he was at his peak in the UFC, few fighters possessed the charisma of ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’, meaning that even if some of his actual bouts were dull, it was hard not to be drawn in by his pre-fight trash talk, explaining why he became such a huge superstar.

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#1. Chael Sonnen – former UFC middleweight contender

Chael Sonnen talked his way to a level of stardom that his fighting skills never could've gotten him

When it comes to talking trash and building feuds up, no fighter can really come close to former middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen.

Once widely seen as another stoic wrestler, ‘The American Gangster’ established himself as a master on the microphone during his 2010 feud with Anderson Silva. He never looked back from there, becoming one of the biggest stars the UFC had to offer at the time.

Sonnen would not only brag about his own abilities inside the octagon, but he was so witty in the way that he would put his opponents down that he ended up being seen as more of an anti-hero than an outright villain.

However, despite his ability to talk a good fight, his actual abilities inside the octagon rarely led to true fireworks.

There’s no denying that in his prime, ‘The American Gangster’ was a fantastic talent. He defeated top contenders like Michael Bisping, Nate Marquardt and Mauricio Rua, and pushed Silva harder than anyone had done at that point.

While he did push a harder pace than most of his contemporaries, the truth is that his approach of takedowns and ground-and-pound was very similar to perceived dull fighters like Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck.

Sonnen’s mic skills meant that he got away with this scot-free, though, and his fights were usually viewed as must-see attractions. In 2013, he literally talked his way into a largely undeserved shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.

Essentially, then, ‘The American Gangster’ is the prime example of a fighter whose skills on the microphone helped fans to ignore a less exciting fighting style.