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There is one promo king in MMA. No one would ever confuse him for anyone other than Conor McGregor. The UFC's first-ever double champion is as good a fighter as ever been with a microphone.
Over the years, the Irishman has cut scathing promos designed to tear down his foes. The wit and peaking confidence McGregor exhibited was unlike anything MMA fans had ever seen.
While McGregor's promos have become legendary MMA moments, he's backed up most of his words with inimitable in-cage performances.
He is not, however, the only fighter to have the gift of gab. McGregor was partially inspired by the venomous verbal assaults launched by retired MMA fighter Chael Sonnen.
As the Irishman's wit has waned in recent years, replaced by shock value, others have risen to challenge him for the crown of MMA's resident promo king. This list looks at five of those fighters.
#5 Nick Diaz
While Nick Diaz is on his way out of the sport, he remains an active fighter on the UFC roster. He fought Robbie Lawler late last year and even called out reigning welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for a fight recently.
Like his younger brother Nate Diaz, he cuts promos like few others. They're not especially witty or clever. Instead, they're as authentic as any a fighter has ever cut.
Both Diaz brothers have garnered a cult following in MMA for their unapologetic authenticity and in-cage grit. At UFC 137, Nick's most memorable moment on a microphone happened.
Fresh after beating legendary UFC lightweight and welterweight BJ Penn in what remains the last win of Nick's career, he paced around the cage calling for then reigning welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Once Joe Rogan placed his microphone in front of him, Nick expressed his doubts over the authenticity of the knee injury St-Pierre suffered. It was that injury which led to him cancelling a scheduled title defense against Carlos Condit, who had replaced Nick, St-Pierre's initial opponent, due to Nick missing several press events related to the fight.
Not only did Nick question St-Pierre's injury, but branded St-Pierre a coward by claiming he was avoiding fights. It was a vicious verbal assault for the time and defined the most memorable rivalry in both Nick and St-Pierre's careers.
#4. Michael Chandler
Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler is a relative UFC newcomer and already one of the promotion's best when it comes to cutting promos.
With a 2-2 record in the UFC, Chandler punctuates every victory with emphatic promos like no other. In his successful UFC debut against Dan Hooker, his post-fight interview was just as memorable as his knockout.
Chandler referenced one of McGregor's most infamous lines by announcing himself as the lightweight division's new king, while calling out the Irishman. He then took aim at Dustin Poirier before finally challenging Khabib Nurmagomedov to return to the octagon from his retirement to face him.
In a single moment, Chandler staked his claim on three of the lightweight division's elite.
#3. Dominick Cruz
The widely-accepted greatest bantamweight of all time, Dominick Cruz is cold-blooded with a microphone. While he is not as loud or as brash as the others on this list, Cruz is known for his cerebral approach to verbal jousts.
His storied feud with Team Alpha Male is best reflected by him telling former opponent and Team Alpha Male member Cody Garbrandt that he bought a house with all the money he's made from beating fighters of this group.
Cruz's ability to channel almost supernatural nonchalance while clearly going out of his way to say something offensive seems to unsettle opponents and all others like no other.
In the leadup to his past bout with TJ Dillashaw, Cruz questioned his foe on how he intended to beat him during a shared interview with Jon Anik. He goaded Dillashaw into hastily claiming he'd knock him, only to dismantle his claim by bringing up the statistics of how little Cruz himself is hit in fights.
#2. Colby Covington
At one point, Colby Covington was on the verge of being cut from the UFC despite the four-fight win streak he was on at the time. According to Covington himself, the UFC's rationale was that his fighting style wasn't exciting nor was he a character the fans found interesting.
Upon being needled by the crowd after beating hometown hero Demian Maia in São Paulo, Brazil, Covington's new persona was born. He viciously insulted the Brazilian crowd and the country as a whole. The people in attendance were so incensed that they peppered Covington with drinks and anything within reach.
Following the incident, Covington adopted an outlandish persona that he took to almost cartoonish heights. He began cutting promos antagonizing everyone, whether they were future opponents or fighters in divisions he would never compete in.
No one was spared, as Covington even targeted media personalities and athletes from other sports. It was all done in an effort to increase his notoriety, and it heightened fan interest in the promos he's cut since on the likes of Kamaru Usman, Jorge Masvidal, and Dustin Poirier.
#1. Nate Diaz
Few fighters can cut a promo quite like Nate Diaz. With a current MMA record of 20 wins and 13 losses, Nate has had a career defined by start-stop win streaks.
Yet, the younger Diaz brother has managed to achieve unprecedented levels of success largely due to his unapologetic promos. Off the heels of a convincing win over Michael Johnson back in 2015, Nate cut a promo that would spark the biggest rivalry in UFC history.
Calling out Conor McGregor, Nate disparaged the Irishman for presumably taking everything he himself had worked for. He challenged him to a fight that would eventually come to fruition when the stars aligned, after Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of a scheduled title fight with McGregor.
This caused Nate to be booked as the late-notice replacement. Years later, the overpowering effectiveness of Nate's promos allowed him to essentially talk the UFC into creating an imaginary BMF championship for a matchup between him and Jorge Masvidal.
