If UFC fighters were supervillains

Week in and week out, the UFC has its fair share of drama. As fighters scramble to the top of the rankings, they often perform certain vaudeville-esque acts to achieve maximum media exposure.

That could be as simple as trash talk or as complex as a rap song. Either way, fans keep watching once entertaining storylines are in supply.

Their behaviour can often be downright dastardly, but what if UFC fighters were actually supervillains? Let's take a moment to imagine.

Conor McGregor [The Joker]

‘The Man Who Laughs’ is a 1928 film credited as the inspiration for Batman villain The Joker, but its title also perfectly describes Conor McGregor. ‘The Notorious’ has a maniacal cackle fit for a supervillain.

Although McGregor is a gifted UFC fighter, the Irishman is better known for creating chaos while mocking anyone who stands in the way to success.

In 2018, Batman and his friends (Khabib Nurmagomedov and other UFC fighters) attempted to escape by bus from the basement of Arkham Asylum (the loading dock of Barclays Center). The Joker, backed by his goons (McGregor, backed by his goons) intercepted the fleeing bus, throwing a razor-sharp playing card (a dolly) through one of the windows.

Tony Ferguson [The Riddler]

Who can solve the riddle of El Cucuy?

With the nickname ‘El Cucuy’ (loosely translated as ‘bogeyman’), Tony Ferguson wouldn’t be out of place in an epic encounter between good and evil. Yet it is the puzzling antics of Batman villain The Riddler that come to mind.

Whether it is balancing a toddler on his hand, lifting weights while upside down, or performing a backflip off a hoverboard, it is hard to predict what Ferguson is going to do next. This unpredictability has often made him hard to beat inside the octagon.

‘El Cucuy’ uses a Riddler-esque level of cryptic symbolism in his emoji-heavy social media posts, and fans are now accustomed to his crazy personality. In fact, it is not preposterous to imagine Ferguson at UFC 262 in a green suit with black question-marks saying “riddle me this."

Ben Askren [The Penguin]

Fight or flight or flightless?

As he posed on the weighing scales before his recent fight with Jake Paul, former UFC welterweight Ben Askren had an air of Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot about him - or The Penguin, to be more precise, another one of Batman’s enemies.

Just like Danny DeVito’s incarnation in the 1992 film Batman Returns, Askren likes to drag his foes to the ground (sewer), where he can finish them off.

However, in recent times, the ground has only served as a place to wake up from. Askren has been stopped in three successive fights - the last of which came at the hands of YouTuber Jake Paul on Saturday. We may have seen the last fight of this flightless bird.

UFC President, Dana White [Kingpin]

Who is harder to control: McGregor or Spiderman?

Remove the white suit jacket and it would be hard to spot the difference between Wilson Fisk and Dana White. One man is a feared and powerful overlord, the other is Spiderman’s adversary, Kingpin.

With great power comes great responsibility, it can be a challenge to please over 600 UFC fighters at once. Naturally this has led White to accumulate some foes over the years - which wouldn’t be lost on Kingpin, as he also made himself an enemy of Daredevil and The Punisher.

WE ARE BACK!!!!!!#UFC261 April 24th. Jacksonville, FL. FULL CROWD. pic.twitter.com/5dy7wb4OWE

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 16, 2021

Obviously there is a clear difference between reality and fiction, but it will be worrying if Dana White starts using a cane.