5 best times that UFC trash talkers were humbled in the octagon
Next month will see trash-talking extraordinaire Colby Covington attempt to claim the UFC welterweight title from Leon Edwards, and it’s likely he’ll up the ante with the smack talk soon.
Over the years, though, we’ve seen a number of examples of trash talkers being humbled inside the UFC, often being handed a dose of poetic justice. Will Colby Covington end up on this list again after his fight with Leon Edwards next month? Only time will tell.
For now, though, here are the five best times that UFC trash talkers got humbled.
#5. Randy Couture vs. Tito Ortiz – UFC 44
While Tito Ortiz was largely popular with the fans during his reign as UFC light heavyweight champion, there’s also no denying that he was a very arrogant trash talker during the same period.
‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ was rarely seen without his title belt – which he often wore backwards – and he was always willing to throw verbal barbs at rivals like Chuck Liddell and Ken Shamrock, who often bit back hard.
The early part of 2003, though, saw Ortiz at odds with Dana White and company for the first time, as he felt he wasn’t being paid enough following his big pay-per-view bout with Shamrock.
With ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ sitting out briefly, then, the promotion created its first interim title. In somewhat of an upset, former heavyweight kingpin Randy Couture dropped to 205 pounds to beat Liddell to claim it.
This naturally led to a unification bout between Ortiz and Couture, and given that ‘The Natural’ was 40 years old at the time, most people figured Ortiz would run right through him.
Indeed, Ortiz seemed more confident than ever coming into the clash, talking plenty of trash about Couture being old and washed up.
However, when it came to fight time, ‘The Natural’ thoroughly outclassed his younger foe, easily outwrestling him and beating him up on the ground. When Couture blocked a fifth-round kneebar attempt and literally spanked Ortiz, it only put an exclamation mark on an amazing humbling.
The aftermath of the fight saw a tearful Ortiz recognize Couture as the better man, and in hindsight, it’s arguable that his career was never quite the same again.
#4. Georges St-Pierre vs. B.J. Penn – UFC 94
B.J. Penn is widely recognized as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but it’s easily forgotten that the former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion was also a great trash talker.
‘The Prodigy’ built his rivalries with the likes of Sean Sherk and Jens Pulver as brilliantly as any other fighter in the promotion’s history. However, it’s arguable that his best feud came against Georges St-Pierre.
The two rivals first clashed in early 2006, with ‘GSP’ edging out a semi-controversial split decision win. The result never sat right with Penn, and so nearly three years later, with both men now holding titles, it made sense for them to rematch with St-Pierre’s welterweight crown on the line.
Recognizing how big the fight was, the UFC upped the ante by producing a ‘Prime Time’ series to build to the pay-per-view. With St-Pierre positioned as the fan favourite, it only made sense for Penn to play the villain – and it was a role he clearly relished.
He labelled ‘GSP’ as a quitter and mentally weak, and even told the Canadian’s coach Firas Zahabi to “go f*ck himself.” By the time the fight came around, it was clear that the fans were desperate to see St-Pierre make Penn eat his words.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what ‘GSP’ did, beating the Hawaiian from pillar to post for four rounds before Penn was forced to quit on his stool before the fifth.
Sure, ‘The Prodigy’ was clearly playing a role during this period and quickly became a fan favorite again months later, but it was still poetic to see St-Pierre make him quit, particularly given what he’d said beforehand.
#3. Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor – UFC 229
Conor McGregor is arguably the greatest trash talker in UFC history. With a number of iconic insults to his name, the Irishman became the megastar that he is today because of his sharp tongue as much as he did for his fighting abilities.
However, during his famed rivalry with Khabib Nurmagomedov, which spanned a couple of years, it’s arguable that ‘The Notorious’ went a little too far.
McGregor threw barbs at the Dagestani’s heritage, edging dangerously close to xenophobia at times. When he badmouthed Nurmagomedov’s family, it was clear that he’d angered his rival beyond anything we’d seen before.
Add in the Irishman’s wild attack on a UFC bus transporting ‘The Eagle’ a few months before, and by the time their fight finally came together, it had become the biggest in promotional history.
However, if McGregor had figured his trash talk would throw Khabib off his game, he was badly mistaken. The fight quickly became a one-sided mauling, with Nurmagomedov beating ‘The Notorious’ down on the ground and even knocking him down with a right hand at one stage.
By the fourth round, it was clear where the fight was going, and when Khabib clamped onto a neck crank and looked to twist McGregor’s head off, the bout was over.
Sure, nothing was really settled as the two men and their camps launched into a wild post-fight brawl, and then continued to talk trash afterwards – but it was also clear that McGregor had been well and truly humbled, at least for a time.
#2. Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen – UFC 148
Back in 2010, Chael Sonnen turned himself from a largely nondescript wrestler into one of the biggest stars in UFC history by embracing his inner villain.
To build to his middleweight title bout with Anderson Silva, Sonnen talked an unprecedented amount of trash, insulting Silva’s family, fighting abilities, teammates and even his home country of Brazil.
It led to an epic clash that Sonnen almost had in the bag, only for ‘The Spider’ to produce a miraculous comeback via a triangle choke in the fifth and final round.
Naturally, that didn’t stop ‘The American Gangster’ from continuing to talk trash about Silva, and after calling him out in an epic post-fight promo after beating Brian Stann, it was clear they needed to face off again.
Finally, in the summer of 2012, the rematch was signed, and unsurprisingly, Sonnen didn’t shut up once during the build. When the fight came around, ‘The American Gangster’ won the first round – but in the second, he made the fatal error of throwing a wild spinning backfist.
Silva dodged it, caught him with a knee to the midsection, and then destroyed him with strikes on the ground to finally end the rivalry for good.
Post-fight, Sonnen admitted that he’d been beaten by the better man, and while it didn’t stop his trash talk entirely, it did humble him for a time at least.
#1. Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – UFC 245
The greatest example of a trash talker being humbled in the octagon came at UFC 245, when welterweight champion Kamaru Usman finally settled the score with bitter rival Colby Covington.
The two fighters were always natural foes thanks to both men coming from an outstanding wrestling background. However, the bad blood ran much deeper than that.
Around two years prior, Covington had decided to attempt to follow Chael Sonnen’s blueprint for stardom by embracing a villainous, trash-talking persona. However, where Sonnen’s barbs often seemed tongue in cheek, the same could not be said for ‘Chaos’.
By the time he was matched with Usman, he seemed happy to straddle the line between xenophobia and outright racism, throwing shots at the champion’s Nigerian heritage in a highly offensive manner.
Even fans who weren’t that into ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ couldn’t help but get behind him once it came to fight time, as Covington had quickly became a major, major villain.
The fight turned out to be a wildly exciting, back-and-forth brawl over five rounds, but in that final round, Usman dug deep and landed the shots that mattered. After dropping Covington with a right hand, he sent him down for a second time and finally finished him off.
When it later emerged that Covington had suffered a broken jaw in the fight, it was hard not to laugh at the sheer irony of it all. Thanks to this poetic injury, this fight remains the best example of a trash talker being humbled inside the octagon.