5 of the worst trash talkers in the UFC right now

Trash talking is naturally a huge part of promoting a fight in the UFC. The likes of Conor McGregor, Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping were all able to sell their fights using their microphone skills.

Over the years we’ve also seen plenty of bad trash talkers in the UFC, with some of them simply making the fans cringe. Right now, there are a number of these fighters active in the promotion.

Often, these fighters are fond of either using offensive insults towards their opponents, or they simply lose self-control on the microphone and end up failing to make sense entirely.

Here are five of the worst trash talkers in the UFC today.

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#5. Tony Ferguson – former UFC interim lightweight champion

Tony Ferguson's trash talking attempts often come across as awkward

Tony Ferguson might appear to be past his fighting prime at this stage, but at his best, ‘El Cucuy’ was a monstrous fighter who was able to beat the majority of the world’s best lightweights. He even put together a 12-fight win streak between 2013 and 2020.

However, one area that Ferguson has always seemingly struggled with is trash talk. UFC fans were first introduced to him during TUF 13, with his most memorable moment being an awful bit of trash talk that saw him taunt Charlie Rader about not being able to see his estranged son.

‘El Cucuy’ was never as villainous as that drunken insult made him out to be. In fact, he tends to come across as a nice guy for the most part. However, it’s probably fair to say that many fans over the years have cringed at some of the barrages – both verbal and written – that he’s fired at his opponents.

Ferguson famously labeled Conor McGregor ‘McNuggets’ – one of the more cringeworthy insults in UFC history – while a YouTube video of him talking to Kevin Lee has outright been titled ‘When Trash Talk Goes Wrong’.

In fact, Ferguson’s Twitter account in general is both hilarious and odd, as it’s filled with comical insults towards various fighters along with a number of bizarre diatribes.

‘El Cucuy’ is set to move to welterweight for his next bout, and quite what kind of trash talk he’ll sling at opponent Li Jingliang remains to be seen.

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#4. Rose Namajunas – former UFC strawweight champion

Rose Namajunas doesn't seem like a natural on the microphone

One fighter who has become wildly popular despite seeming more than a little awkward on the microphone is former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas.

There’s no disputing that ‘Thug Rose’ has a certain amount of appeal and charm. She comes across as unassuming, and often – like the equally popular Diaz brothers – doesn’t really seem to enjoy the life of an MMA fighter.

However, the tendencies that make her so endearing also make her one of the promotion’s more awkward trash talkers.

In the press conference prior to UFC 217, for instance – the event that saw her win the strawweight title from Joanna Jedrzejczyk – she basically admitted that she wasn’t enjoying the experience. She was just looking forward to the fight rather than the build-up and came off as clunky in comparison to her opponent.

Worse still, when she did attempt to talk some trash towards Weili Zhang before their bout in 2021, she somehow managed to interject Cold War politics into the mix. She discussed her Lithuanian heritage and stated “rather dead then red” in reference to Zhang being Chinese – despite ‘Magnum’ never championing the Communist cause.

Overall it’s probably fair to say that some fighters are naturals on the microphone, while some simply aren’t. ‘Thug Rose’ belongs in the latter camp.

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#3. Cody Garbrandt – former UFC bantamweight champion

Cody Garbrandt's hot-headed nature has led him to some gaffes on the microphone

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt definitely has a certain level of charisma. At one point, he appeared to be pushing close to becoming one of the promotion’s top stars.

However, the same issue that has tended to plague him in his fights – a tendency to get too hot-headed and emotionally invested – has also helped to make him one of the most awkward trash talkers in the business right now.

One infamous quip from ‘No Love’ saw him take to Twitter to claim that in a fight with Sean O’Malley, he’d make ‘Sugar’ “lick white dog sh*t." This was something that left fellow UFC star Kamaru Usman in stitches and seemed to confuse the fans more than anything else.

During his feud with former teammate TJ Dillashaw, when asked whether Dillashaw was using steroids, Garbrandt got so heated in claiming that he did, he seemed to throw his own team under the bus. When it came to steroid use, he stated that his opponent “taught everyone on Team Alpha Male how to.”

Essentially, ‘No Love’ would probably be far better off both as a fighter and as a trash talker if he could manage to keep his emotions in check a little more.

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#2. Henry Cejudo – former UFC bantamweight champion

Henry Cejudo has been happy to label himself as the 'king of cringe'

It’s fair to say that Henry Cejudo certainly doesn’t have an issue with talking trash. The former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion is one of the most comfortable fighters out there when it comes to working the mic, and he’s certainly charismatic.

However, could anyone really argue that ‘Triple C’ is a great trash talker? In all honesty, it’d be tricky. Even Cejudo himself is happy to accept ‘The King of Cringe’ label due to some of the more questionable things he’s done to attempt to build his fights.

Prior to his fight with TJ Dillashaw, for instance, he awkwardly pretended to kill a plastic snake. This was a reference to Conor McGregor labeling Dillashaw a “snake in the grass." There was also a problematic tweet that saw him label rival Aljamain Sterling “Aljamima” which led to him being accused of racism.

Even when he’s been more serious – like calling out reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in an attempt to secure a bout with him – Cejudo still comes across as awkward. While ‘Triple C’ is undoubtedly one of the most gifted and accomplished fighters in UFC history, he’s not the greatest trash talker.

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#1. Colby Covington – UFC welterweight contender

Colby Covington's trash talk has often been questionable

It’s hard to deny that Colby Covington’s reinvention as a major league trash talker has been successful for him. It has turned him from an under-the-radar prospect to one of the biggest villains in the UFC. However, it’d also be tricky to claim that he’s actually a great on the microphone.

Where Conor McGregor, for instance, would hit his opponents with genuinely witty barbs, Covington’s approach has been very different.

Rather than being clever, ‘Chaos’ simply aims to hit the lowest common denominator with his trash talk. It means that he often comes across as crass and offensive more than anything else.

When he took to the mic after defeating Demian Maia in Sao Paulo, for instance, he managed to insult the entire country of Brazil by labeling them “filthy animals.”

Some of his more controversial insults towards rival Kamaru Usman, including a rant that saw him make references to “tribes” and “smoke signals,” meanwhile, bordered on being racist.

Overall, while Covington is undoubtedly a brilliant fighter who may well have won the welterweight title were it not for the existence of Usman, it’s also fair to suggest that his brand of trash talk simply isn’t the best at all.