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In the UFC, certain fighters make it their mission to generate as much interest in their bouts as they possibly can. Often-times, this manifests in behavior meant to enrage their colleagues and even fight fans.
They might verbally eviscerate the city that a UFC fight card is being hosted in. Others, like Colby Covington and Chael Sonnen, take it a step further by trash-talking an entire country.
Both men styled themselves as super-villains with the specific aim of drawing in as many eyeballs to their matchups as they could. However, there are fighters who became super-villains or 'heels' without ever intending to do so, but accepted their fate nonetheless.
Last Saturday, Khamzat Chimaev left UFC fans indignant after he missed weight for his scheduled bout against Nate Diaz. The Chechen phenom's attitude following the MMA media's coverage of the events has inspired this list.
Here we look at Chimaev and 4 other UFC fighters who embraced the super-villain role in the UFC.
#5. Greg Hardy
NFL export Greg Hardy is one of the most perplexing signings the UFC has ever made. With only three amateur bouts and three professional bouts prior to officially joining the promotion, Hardy was a highly inexperienced mixed martial artist.
Yet, the UFC signed him regardless of how poorly prepared he was for professional MMA bouts. This was primarily because of his notoriety in other sports.
'The Prince of War' also brought a controversial past marred by the domestic violence fiasco that has hounded him ever since.
Despite Hardy's best attempts at rehabilitating his image, fight fans never accepted him. His disqualification loss in his first-ever UFC fight after he landed an illegal knee to a downed opponent certainly didn't help matters.
His experience with the fans only worsened as he was often booed and heckled. While Hardy seemed initially intent on making a better impression on fight fans, he embraced their hatred for him by adopting a heel persona.
He criticized the athletic landscape of the heavyweight division and promised he would end his career as the greatest heavyweight in history. He also described himself as the most dangerous man on the planet and the greatest athlete in the world.
Lastly, Hardy branded fan-favorite Tai Tuivasa a "liar" and a "crybaby" who feared him so much that he wouldn't give him a rematch. However, Tuivasa knocked him out in the first round of their match, at UFC 264.
Despite his bold statements designed to incense fans, Hardy's final UFC bout also ended in disaster as he suffered another 1st round knockout loss, this time to Sergey Spivak.
#4. Tony Kelley
While Tony Kelley has fallen off the radar of most UFC fans since his disastrous exit from the promotion, the bantamweight contender is a fighter who became a heel without ever intending to.
At the time of the incident that engulfed him in infamy, Kelley was cornering fellow fighter and girlfriend Andrea Lee at the UFC on ESPN 36 fight card. Between rounds, Kelley used shocking language when referring to Lee's Brazilian foe, Viviane Araújo.
Not only did Kelley imply that Brazilians have a natural instinct for cheating, but he also branded them "dirty." While he didn't expect the moment to be captured by a cameraman, Kelley was unapologetic when asked for his thoughts on his own remarks.
Instead, he claimed people were simply eager to victimize themselves and that he hates everyone equally. In his matchup with Adrian Yanez at UFC on ESPN 37, Kelley sought to capitalize on his newfound notoriety.
During his walkout, he flipped the Texan crowd off to a deafening chorus of boos. That, however, was the end of his heel run. Within three minutes, Kelley fell to Yanez and was TKO'd out of the UFC.
#3. Ronda Rousey
Ronda Rousey never pretended to be anyone she wasn't. The former UFC women's bantamweight champion has always been outspoken and brash. She often spoke highly of herself before aiming bold trash talk in her opponent's direction.
Despite some of the more vitriolic comments she reserved for hated rivals like Cris Cyborg, 'Rowdy' was not being a deliberate heel.
However, a turning point came when Rousey faced her other rival Miesha Tate in a rematch of their Strikeforce matchup. Tate was the first opponent to survive Rousey's 1st round onslaught, although she eventually surrendered to an armbar in the 3rd round.
Right after the bout, a defeated Tate sought to shake Rousey's hand but was snubbed. In a moment that few people expected, the crowd in attendance booed Rousey's actions.
However, the former champion was unbothered by the reaction her actions garnered. It was the beginning of the MMA fandom's turn on Rousey. From then onwards, she became a polarizing figure, equally loved and hated.
Yet she never shied away from it all, embracing her role by being as unapologetic as possible. She even tried to manufacture ill will towards Holly Holm at the weigh-ins before their bout the next day.
#2. Khamzat Chimaev
UFC 279 was designed to be Khamzat Chimaev's crowning moment. Nate Diaz was easily his most high-profile opponent to date. No star in the UFC, and indeed all of MMA, shines brighter than Diaz with the exception of Conor McGregor.
Not only was the matchup one of great visibility, but it was a bout that Chimaev was expected to win in dominant fashion. The Chechen phenom was a source of excitement for fight fans.
Undefeated and bearing stylistic similarities to another undefeated sensation by the name of Khabib Nurmagomedov, 'Borz' generated enormous intrigue. Before his matchup with Gilbert Burns, he steamrolled every opponent he ever faced, finishing them all by either knockout or submission.
His quick back-to-back fights endeared him to upper management in the UFC, and many believed he was a future champion in the making.
His gritty war with Burns only magnified fan interest as he showed enough heart to defeat a top-three welterweight even under suboptimal circumstances. Unfortunately, that all changed at the weigh-ins for UFC 279 when Chimaev stepped on the scale and was 7.5 lbs over the welterweight limit.
He was widely criticized for how unprofessional it was, but even more so for his reaction as he merely shrugged, smirked, and flipped off the crowd.
After being forced to face Kevin Holland instead of Diaz, Chimaev earned an easy 1st round win. When the crowd booed him during his post-fight interview, 'Borz' antagonized them before telling the journalists at the post-fight press conference that he wasn't concerned with what anyone was saying.
#1. Jon Jones
There is a night and day difference between the Jon Jones of today who can't seem to keep himself out of legal trouble and the version fans sighted earlier in his career.
When Jones first embarked on his unbeaten run in the UFC light heavyweight division, he styled himself as a man of Christian ethics. Jones exhibited a humble streak that is far from what he's become. However, according to some, Jones never became anything, he simply embraced who he always was.
Rashad Evans, Jones' former best friend, was the first fighter to claim Jones was disingenuous. Those sentiments were later echoed by Jones' most heated rival, Daniel Cormier.
Still, for much of his time in the UFC, Jones maintained the image of a good-natured athlete and always sought to endear himself to fans. However, once he began failing drug tests, fans soured on him. The nail in the coffin was a hit-and-run incident he caused, which involved a pregnant woman.
However, Jones has himself embraced the heel persona by deriding fighters on social media. He even went so far as to claim that Francis Ngannou and Israel Adesanya combined will never match the accomplishments he's made.
Additionally, Jones routinely got into arguments with fans on social media and took every opportunity to remind the world that Khabib Nurmagomedov should not be ranked close to him on the GOAT list.
