5 crazy things UFC fighters did when drunk
All of us have had our share of alcohol-fuelled adventures, some more rambunctious than others. They could range from the innocuous, like hitting on a girl at a bar, to the near-fatal, like re-enacting the "I'm the king of the world" scene from Titanic on the ledge of a 30-storey building.
The prescribed amount of alcohol to stay on cloud nine varies from individual to individual, but once that line is crossed, the human mind becomes less restrained. Long-suppressed feelings and thoughts come gushing to the surface. A drunken rant against an ex-girlfriend might actually be very therapeutic, but what if that's not the worst thing someone's experienced?
What if it's the burden of thousands of hours of battering your body and mind, and then doing it in full view of millions of people? Difficult to process, isn't it? Well, that one line doesn't do infinitesimal justice to the life of a professional mixed martial artist. Fighters are after all human, but the hidden cost of celebrity is having all your faults magnified to the public.
There have been many instances of fighters losing control, some of them being just mischief while others were dire. Here are a few from both ends of the spectrum:
#5 Rampage Jackson drunk dials Ariel Helwani early in the morning
Rampage Jackson and Ariel Helwani's beef is one of MMA's more facetious ones, not as notorious as Dana White-Tito Ortiz or Jacob Volkman-Barack Obama. Which is surprising considering Helwani's ability to get under people's skin and Rampage's lack of a filter.
If you've followed their exchanges, you can't help but be facetious about their love-hate relationship. Helwani's tenacity for the truth has revealed tales from Rampage's life that are compelling, like reportedly being cheated out of millions by his manager and claims that Michael Bisping's anti-doping invective is like the pot calling the kettle black. But it's instances like this that stand out in fans' minds and create a canopy of humour that defines their equation.
In the wee hours of October 6th, 2015, a drunk Rampage Jackson called Ariel Helwani because his followers on the gaming stream Twitch told him to! His first call went to Helwani's voicemail, which only spurred the former UFC light heavyweight champion on and he called again. A sleepy-voiced Helwani picked up this time and was treated to Rampage's version of birds chirping in the morning. Here's the recording which contains a weird reference to Jewish balls, Rampage telling Helwani to get a nose job and him picking Jose Aldo over Conor McGregor ahead of their fight at UFC 194. Have a listen: