3 UFC fighters who embarrassed themselves in post-fight interviews

In the UFC, emotions can understandably run hot immediately after a fight. There’s also the added risk of delirium given most fights involve competitors taking hard shots to the skull.

Needless to say, plenty of fighters have said things they probably wished they hadn't. Worse still, there are things said that everyone else wishes the fighter hadn't said either. Not everyone can throw out a classic line like "We're not here to take part, we're to take over" a la Conor McGregor at UFC Fight Night: Dublin. Nor can just anyone turn heads by controversially going to war with the UFC's sponsors a la Brock Lesnar at UFC 100.

Sadly, sometimes, whether it's due to injury, ego or something else entirely, fighters wind up with egg on their face. The post-fight interview's a tricky one; here are three times UFC fighters have come out of it looking foolish:

#3. Derrick Lewis at UFC Fight Night 105

‘The Black Beast’ has garnered quite the reputation for his rambunctious, over-the-top post-fight comments. While the number two ranked UFC heavyweight can often be very funny, he can also veer off into incomprehensible territory.

Derrick Lewis knocked out Travis Browne in round two of their February 2017 clash. Despite a vicious assault to the body by Browne, Lewis stood tall, albeit with a hand over his pain-stricken midsection.

When asked about the pain his stomach was clearly in, Lewis claimed he was simply in dire need of a “number two”. From there, Lewis trailed off in several curious directions. Everything from distasteful jibes about Travis Browne’s personal life and legal troubles to his own need for a three-month vacation from the fighting game came up. At one point, Lewis decided now was the time to bring up his sex life for reasons that presumably only he knew.

The hard-hitter was nice enough to thank the fans in attendance before informing Canada that he’d like them to keep their snow. Perhaps it was just post-fight adrenaline doing the talking, but Lewis came off so bizarrely here that even the interviewer looked deeply uncomfortable.

Disgusted by Lewis' comments at his expense, Travis Browne had some choice words for 'The Black Beast' following his loss to Mark Hunt later that year:

#2. Paul Buentello at UFC 57

Catchphrases are great when they take off. When they don’t, they wind up being just plain cringeworthy. For Paul Buentello, UFC 57 was (initially) a great night. Rebounding from his soul-destroying 15 second KO loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 55, Buentello crushed Gilbert Aldana via second-round TKO.

‘The Headhunter’ had recently coined a new catchphrase for himself:

“Don’t fear me. Fear the consequences.”

Not exactly “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” on the catchy front but Buentello persisted with it anyway. Buentello hoped to say the first half of his catchphrase at which point the audience would say the second half. Sadly for the axe kick maestro, the audience remained silent and he was left listening out for crickets and tumbleweeds.

Nothing else he said or did here was embarrassing at all. Unfortunately, the over-powering awkwardness of his failed slogan still served as a humiliating anchor for the rest of his interview.

#1. Conor McGregor at UFC 264

McGregor’s antics here were perhaps the closest MMA has ever come to the Black Knight scene from Monty Python’s The Holy Grail. Grounded with a broken ankle, the just-defeated McGregor went on an epic tirade when Joe Rogan asked him for his thoughts.

At one point, despite having just one leg to stand on, McGregor suggested he and Dustin Poirier take the fight outside. Clearly furious, the Irishman laid in further digs about Poirier’s wife and exclaimed, “This is not over!”

‘The Notorious’ claimed to have been dominating the fight right up until his ankle snapped. While the round had certainly been competitive, the notion that McGregor was all offense throughout is simply not true.

The former champ-champ denied the theory that Poirier checking a calf kick is what did the damage. The Irishman then went on a profanity-laden tirade about something to do with an after party. Given the shocking state of the whiskey magnate's ankle, one must assume that party was taking place at the hospital.

While McGregor’s anger over losing in such a freak-of-nature manner is understandable, his behavior here did nothing to paint him in a positive light. It was made all the worse by the fact that he’d vowed to send Poirier out on a stretcher beforehand.