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In the UFC, certain fighters have become the subject of both hype and humor. This is especially true in the internet age, where a fighter's performance will be analyzed under a microscope by a much wider audience than ever before. Any shortcomings or success a fighter has will either become a meme or be celebrated.
All fighters have their performances scrutinized and evaluated. However, once a decline or increase in a fighter's performance is noticed, especially after a secondary change is noticed, like a haircut or a mindset, the birth of a comically hailed 'mythical fighter' becomes a reality.
Few will forget the memes about 'Motivated B.J. Penn' being unstoppable, but what of the other mythical UFC fighters that have come and gone? And what of the ones who are currently fighting? This list takes a look at five cases.
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#5. Cain Velasquez, former UFC heavyweight: Sea-level Cain
A decade ago, the UFC heavyweight division was ruled by Cain Velasquez. He reigned over the 265-pound weight class with an iron fist, brutalizing everyone who dared stand against him. Barring an early knockout loss to Junior dos Santos in the first of the pair's three encounters, he hadn't tasted defeat.
Much of his success was owed to his cardio. Velasquez set a pace that few could match and even set a significant strike record at one point. After a four-fight win streak over 'JDS' (2x) and Antônio 'Bigfoot' Silva (2x), Cain Velasquez defended his heavyweight title against his third Brazilian: Fabricio Werdum.
Their bout took place at UFC 188 at a high elevation in Mexico City. The result was shocking. Not only did Velasquez lose, he also gassed out, unaccustomed to the city's high-altitude demands. This was no one-minute flash knockout. Werdum outstruck him for two rounds before submitting a tired Velasquez in the third.
Thus, the mythical fighter of 'Sea-level Cain' was born, which jokingly claimed that at standard elevation, Velasquez was a different fighter. A better one.
#4. Conor McGregor, UFC lightweight: Motivated McGregor
Conor McGregor is a fighter that has more than one mythical version of himself. His most well-known might be 'Karate-stance McGregor' due to his legendary featherweight run and his subsequent abandonment of a karate-based style after his lightweight debut.
But there is another version of him that was created from one of the many excuses the Irishman has offered to explain away some of his losses. His historic defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov is one that he dismissed as the result of him not training seriously for it, claiming to Joe Rogan that he had a hangover on fight night.
Given the vast wealth he accrued from boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr., some of the Irishman's fans bought into the notion that he wasn't motivated afterward. When he returned to defeat Donald Cerrone and claimed that he was motivated and described it as the beginning of a season, fans dubbed him 'Motivated McGregor'.
This led to the birth of the idea that when he's motivated, McGregor is impossible to beat. At least, in the eyes of his most fervent supporters.
#3. Alexander Volkanovski, UFC featherweight champion: Bald Volk
It is possible that the version of Alexander Volkanovski that fans have had the pleasure of watching as of late is arguably the most skilled an MMA fighter has ever been. The reigning UFC featherweight champion has no apparent weaknesses and is elite in every aspect of the game.
But there is a clear difference in the skill level he showed against Max Holloway in their second bout and his subsequent title defense against Brian Ortega a year later. He followed up his gutsy performance against 'T-City' with one of the most one-sided beatings in UFC featherweight history by TKO'ing Chan Sung Jung.
In the aftermath of that win, he faced Holloway in a trilogy bout that made the Hawaiian great look like he didn't belong in the cage with him. The difference between the Volkanovski responsible for all of these performances after UFC 251? He was bald.
So, he was christened 'Bald Volk' by the masses as the new mythical fighter, which even drew a response from the man himself.
#2. Vitor Belfort, former UFC middleweight: TRT Vitor
Did Vitor Belfort ever throw spinning heel kicks before his career rebirth due to testosterone replacement therapy? In 2013, one of the most terrifying sights a middleweight faced was a shredded, mohawked Vitor Belfort twitching from across the cage with the promise to end their night as quickly and as violently as he could.
For three straight fights, he did just that. Former UFC middleweight champions Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, as well as former PRIDE middleweight champion Dan Henderson, were all felled by the Brazilian's explosive head kicks. There was a clear difference in Belfort due to his use of TRT.
He was freakishly explosive and even more muscled. Before 2013, no such version of him had existed since his PRIDE days. But even then, he wasn't kicking his opponents' heads off. After the mohawk, he was different, and fans dubbed this version of him 'TRT Vitor'.
#1. Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight: Left Hook Larry
Most of Michael Bisping's career could be defined as coming just shy of earning a title fight before losing the pivotal bout needed to solidify himself as the number one contender. While he never abandoned his dream, it seemed less and less possible to fulfill the more time passed him by.
He wasn't getting any younger, but after rebuilding himself one final time, he embarked on an impressive win three-fight win streak that earned him a title fight against newly crowned middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Unfortunately, 'The Count' was a short-notice replacement... to a man who had previously beaten him.
No one gave him a chance. Rockhold was regarded as nothing short of invincible at the time. But, with one well-placed left hook that crushed his foe, making him pay for his tendency to drop his right hand, Bisping did the impossible.
He dethroned Rockhold to become a UFC champion, creating a mythical fighter that he named 'Left Hook Larry'. The fans loved it and ran with it ever since.
