MMA is a brutal sport to be apart of, whether it would be the intense fans and fighters, or what this article entails, the biggest jerks. MMA if full of these people who are full of themselves, mean to other people surrounding them, and physically violent. This list is filled with people who simply cross the line, with their attitudes and how they portray themselves to be.
Along this list, are personalities who are very famous, and well known MMA fighters, some of whom you may not have thought would have made it on this list. Some are clear prospects as biggest jerks in MMA, simply because of actions they have done unto others.
We all know MMA involves beating people up, notably in cages. Clearly, these people can be very rash at times, or just have angry personalities. In every sport there are nice athletes who are beloved by fans, and in all sports there are people full of themselves. People who couldn't care less about what you think, what the guy next to them thinks, or what their parents think. This is not to say fans don't enjoy "jerks" in MMA, as they fuel excitement for the sport.
Although some of these fighters may act a certain way to get more money by promoting fights, or events, these people are simply and only, jerks. They are trash talking fighters, violent fighters, angry people who have a long list of past problems or disturbances. This list is compiled of mean guys, some of which have attacked people before in their everyday lives. Some stories in this article are bizarre to say the least.
Note: while War Machine is undoubtedly a huge jerk for what he did to girlfriend Christy Mack, he will be excluded from this list, as his MMA career is basically over, having been locked up.
As always feel free to let us know which jerks we forgot to mention in the comments below, so without further ado, here are the top 15 MMA fighters who are jerks in real life.
15 15. Melvin Guillard
Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard is known to be one of the older jerks in MMA. After losing to Justin Gaethje, Melvin talked bad about his employees to the media, and about other people close to him. Guillard is a trash talker, notably about the World Series of Fighting, and Brandon Girtz.
He has always trash talked his promoters, but Guillard continues to get big fights, as a product of his entertaining personality. It seems this attitude is working for him, as he was signed to Bellator as a result of it.
14 14. James Toney
James Toney's jerkhood started right out of high school, as Toney had an offer to play college football at Michigan. He turned it down admitting to being a jerk, and that he would be unable to listen to anyone but himself. This attitude followed him into his boxing career with former boxer Jeremy Williams saying, "James Toney is the biggest jerk in boxing".
While Williams didn't give specific reasons, his short run in the UFC may have shed some light on his trash talking nature. In 2010, Toney got a UFC deal, subsequently calling out fighters for anything and everything that annoyed him; one of those fighters being Quinton Jackson. The two sparred verbally for months, until Toney actually had his first fight against UFC legend Randy Couture. Apparently Couture beat some humility into Toney, as the boxing legend was released after his loss, and has barely been heard from since.
13 13. Cecil Peoples
"If you don't like me you can go to hell," is a phrase that is indicative of Cecil Peoples' career as a referee.
Many people hate Peoples for his over confidence, and he has a reputation for being inconsistent. He once messed up as a referee for the Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio Rua fight. One fighter even kicked him below the belt, because they were so annoyed with him. Many fighters simply despise Cecil, as favoring certain fighters, or "reffing" like he doesn't care about his job. The last person in the world who should be a jerk, is the person who is supposed to call the fight right down the middle.
12 12. Michael Bisping
Michael Bisping is especially known for his trash talking. He incessantly talks trash to opponents, or people he doesn't like, and can be seen batting down cameras in public when people try to take a picture of him. There are many rumors of fights with fans he has been apart of. Aside from all of this, Bisping once spat on Jorge Rivera, which is the ultimate sign of disrespect.
No matter how he changes his lifestyle or moves on, Bisping will always be one of the biggest jerks in MMA.
11 11. Quinton Jackson
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is one of the biggest jerks in entertainment, seriously, here's how.
In 2008 Jackson was involved in a hit and run, where he was not the victim. He hit a car with a pregnant woman in it, and she had a miscarriage; Jackson then fled from police at the time. Though he was may have been directly responsible for the death of the unborn child, the alleged victim dismissed her lawsuit against Jackson, perhaps having settled out of court.
Aside from that horrible story, Jackson has a short temper, and has been known to flip out on fans and fighters alike. There is even an entire season of him talking trash about everyone during his run as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter.
10 10. Josh Koscheck
Koscheck's personality is in question, and has been for many years. He was kicked out of the U.S. Kickboxing Academy, and also told people he hoped that the facility would burn down. His peers aren't favorable of him either, as Javier Mendez had this to say about Josh.
"He's not a good guy. He is who he is...the hate for me from him is real. And I did something I shouldn't have done, that I regret. I shouldn't have done it. Did it warrant what he's doing? Hell no. I have no desire to sit down with him ever."
So it sounds like Josh isn't exactly beloved by fans, nor his teammates. This lands him at number ten on this list.
9
Dana White claims Nate Diaz NEVER answers any texts or calls from him, which you will know if you have ever been blown off, is a huge jerk move. Diaz is as unprofessional as it gets during pre-fight events. We can't forget the time he gave Frank Shamrock the middle finger during a press conference. He even fought Joe Riggs at a hospital once, over his anger from previous fights.
Diaz even complains about how much cash he makes from fighting! Can this guy be any more annoying?
8 8. Anthony Johnson
Other than being noted as rude and even abusive to people in the gym, Anthony Johnson is a textbook jerk. Whether it be his rudeness or unprofessional attitude in the cage, Johnson is always up to something. His peers have nothing nice to say about him, mainly due to his alleged domestic abuse, as some claim he is abusive to women. There was also the story last year of him losing his temper at the gym, snatching a yoga mat from underneath a woman and throwing it across the gym.
7 7. Jason Miller
Jason "Mayhem" Miller has been arrested on many occasions and been charged with domestic violence. Miller promotes drugs among one thing he loves in his life, and he always shows his emotion, which is usually anger. At least he doesn't lie about his mean attitude, as he is very straight forward. Regardless, you cannot be beating up, or even be remotely violent with women. Mayhem is always in trouble with the law, women and minors. He was once kicked off of a plane too.
6 6. Tito Ortiz
Ortiz has never been liked by many in the MMA community, which is probably why he is nicknamed the "Bad Boy". He has angered many people, including, Dana White, Ken Shamrock and Chuck Liddell during his tenure in the UFC. Oritz once made rude remarks about Matt Hamill, claiming he had a soft head, due to his deafness, which caused quite a controversy from the deaf community.
There's no doubt Tito is one of the biggest jerks in MMA, but his attitude has contributed to his fame level, that fans gobble up. That is just the way it goes in MMA.
5 5. Karo Parisyan
Karo is the absolute king of excuses in MMA, Diego Sanchez even called him out for it. His unprofessional attitude is noted by everyone who follows the sport. He is known as a mean guy, who simply doesn't like to interact with fans on any level. His title of "King of Excuses" is because he always drops out of fights before they occur. He will be scheduled to fight, and then back out of it, which angers everyone involved, including his promoters.
He's a jerk for his demeanor and attitude towards fans as well. There are many stories in which he would refuse to meet or sign autographs for people who waited hours to see him.
4 4. Dana White
If the UFC is filled with jerks, then Dana White must be the president of jerks. Though he has contributed so much to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, his attitude it noted by many to be arrogant and annoying. Fighters especially voice negative opinions about the guy, constantly questioning his motives. Dana himself talks bad about fighters intentionally, or "snitches" on them for certain actions, which gets them all in public trouble.
Dana has made a name for himself by speaking his mind, which due to his personality traits, make him seem like a jerk, even if he isn't being one.
3 3. Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock is very famous when it comes to the sport of MMA, no questions asked. But here are some stories about his questionable decisions.
When he was coaching The Ultimate Fighter, he did not take coaching seriously at all. He joked around, and didn't really do his job properly, with many speculating that he just wanted to collect a paycheck. The legend even lashed out at UFC for unknown reasons, along with ESPN in 2016; many think this was for publicity. For a business that made him so much money, and basically made him, why would he be so arrogant to call them out like that?
He demonstrates unprofessional tactics, and basically mood swings. One could not be sure what goes on in Ken Shamrock's head.
2 2. Shinya Aoki
This Japanese fighter is viscous, in and out of the ring. It should be noted that Shinya Aoki broke a fighter's arm, and flipped him the middle finger in 2009. Here's what the Aoki had to say about the incident:
“When I had his arm behind his back, I could feel it popping, I thought, ‘Well, this guy’s pride just won’t let him tap, will it?’ So without hesitation, I broke it. I heard it break, and I thought, ‘Ah, there, I just broke it.’ I was stopped afterward, but even if I hadn’t been, continuing to break it more would have been fine by me.”
First of all, what the...? Is this guy into sinister stuff? This kind of mindset isn't normal, for any person, let alone for some one with the skill to actually hurt someone.
1 1. Conor McGregor
None other than Mr. Irish himself, Conor McGregor tops this list. McGregor prides himself on being a jerk, and frankly, that is how he makes cash. He's known to call out fighters on really anything, like at UFC's press conference UFC Go Big in Las Vegas. He hijacked the event and talked trash about almost every single member of the UFC for eight straight minutes.
McGregor's "jerk level" is making him money, so I guess he will continue this annoying approach at fame. Until he changes his ways, Conor McGregor is the biggest jerk in MMA.