We all love sound-out, softly-spoken UFC fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Junior dos Santos and “Big Nog”.
But some fighters, Nick Diaz being one of them, have garnered notoriety through their mixed martial arts careers based on their behaviour inside and outside the octagon.
And in honour of the Stockton fighter, who misses UFC media appearances the way that normal people miss buses, fighting in the main event of UFC 183 tonight, we’ve put together our list of the top 10 bad boys in the history of mixed martial arts.
10. Josh Koscheck
Hard to tell how much of Josh Koscheck’s bad-boy persona is bravado and how much is genuine but he’s a nice place to start off our list.
The yellow-haired wrestler popped onto our screens 10 years ago during the first series of The Ultimate Fighter when he engaged in a feud with (no angel himself) Chris Leben that came to a head when Koscheck soaked Leben as he was trying to distance himself from any altercation by sleeping in the garden.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUWJ8pcWnw8
His nastiness reared its head again when he returned to TUF in a coaching capacity when he bullied a member of Georges St-Pierre’s medical team.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMHZwJ6Ii74
GSP, who most agree is one of the nicest guys in the sport, also fell victim to Koscheck’s tormenting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oXSjT_ajlU
9. Nate Diaz
A lot of siblings end up being polar opposites of each other as they attempt to rebel against conforming to their big brother/sister.
Not Nate Diaz. He’s almost an identical replica of elder brother Nick and we shudder to think of the hassle that Mr and Mrs Diaz had to deal with in the 1990s.
Nate’s quite a fan of showing his opponents just what he thinks of them with the raising of a solitary digit.
And back in 2013, Diaz was suspended and fined $20,000 for this homophobic tweet.
8. Paul Daley
A brash Brit whose aggressive fighting style has transferred into his post-fight behaviour.
He went down in every fight fans’ estimation after his welterweight title elimination bout against our #10 Josh Koscheck.
After being dominated for three rounds by “Kos,” Daley snapped at the final bell and confronted the TUF 1 veteran before landing a left hook to his jaw.
After the cheap shot, UFC president said of “Semtex”:
“He’s done. I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170-pounder in the world. He’ll never come back here again. I don’t care if he fights in every show all over the world and becomes the best and everybody thinks he’s the pound-for-pound best in the world. He will never fight in the UFC ever again.”
7. Michael Bisping
“The Count” is undoubtedly one of the best trash-talkers in the history of MMA but that fight-selling turned into genuine hatred when he met Jorge Rivera in 2011.
The fight brought out the nasty side of Bisping who caught Rivera with an intentional illegal knee to the head before, at the final bell, spitting at Rivera’s corner.
He’s fantastic at pumping fights but his “fuck”-fuelled chatter often portrays him poorly in the public eye.
6. Nick Diaz
The main man for the day that’s in it, Nick Diaz is one of the original bad boys of mixed martial arts.
We’d be here until after tonight’s main events listing the reasons for Nick’s inclusion but we’ll do our best.
He’s been involved in post-fight brawls such as this melee in Strikeforce when teammate Jake Shields was disrespected by Jason Miller.
He’s been suspended for a year after testing positive for marijuana metabolites and allegedly attacked Joe Riggs in the hospital after their fight in 2006.
And something with which Nick Diaz will be forever associated is his continued absence at media events in the build-up to his fights. Only this week, Diaz skipped out on the UFC open workouts which does not endear him to the top brass of the promotion.
5. Tito Ortiz
Probably the most recognisable name on this list for the casual fight fan, Tito was talking trash before most of these other guys had laced up their wrestling boots for the first time.
After beating Lions Den fighter Guy Mezger, he flipped the bird to his corner which set up a long-running, if mismatched feud with Ken Shamrock.
He’s also been very vocal about his hatred of UFC president Dana White.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” did absolutely nothing to remedy his image by engaging in a street fight with English MMA fighter Lee Murray.
But hey, he’s one of the most famous guys ever to come out of the UFC so he must have been doing something right.
4. Rousimar Palhares
The Brazilian was cut from the UFC roster after consistently holding onto submissions for too long after his opponent had tapped.
The signature submission of “Toquinho” is a heel-hook, a terribly painful lock which can cause permanent damage to an opponent but Palhares has been a recidivist in displaying a lack of sportsmanship when the referee attempts to break the fight up.
Palhares was also given a 9-month ban for elevated levels of testosterone during his time with the UFC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYfe07LVDW4
3. Junie Browning
The most notorious fighter ever to take part in The Ultimate Fighter reality show, Browning has all but disappeared off the MMA map since his last fight in 2012.
Browning seemed to almost cause a fight during every episode of TUF 8.
His short temper led to an unsuccessful UFC career as he went just 1-1 with the promotion and he has since been in trouble with Thai authorities after being involved in a bar fight in Phuket.
2. Gilbert Yvel
Undoubtedly the dirtiest fighter ever to wrap his hands, the now retired Yvel has done absolutely everything illegal in the sport of mixed martial arts.
He’s bitten, gouged and kicked his opponents square in the groin en route to a career record of 38-16-1, 1NC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_sewKEyUuA
But his biggest crime came when he knocked out a referee during a fight with Atte Backman. A fairly nasty piece work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4uQnUyUBfI
1. War Machine
If your legal name is War Machine, it’s probably a good bet to say you’re not a gentle soul.
The former UFC and Bellator fighter put himself in fight fans’ bad books with his comments about the late Evan Tanner and making numerous appearances in pornographic films.
Most of the crimes of War Machine (real name Jonathan Koppenhaver) have come in a literal sense rather than in an MMA sense.
The former TUF cast-member has been arrested on more than one occasion assaults in his personal life before pictures of his girlfriend Christy Mack emerged which Mack claims show the marks left after being viciously attacked by War Machine.
