5 greatest callouts in UFC history
As the old saying goes, closed mouths don’t get fed. In the world of the UFC, that couldn’t be truer. There’s no better way for a fighter to get the opponent they want than by calling them out.
Over the years we’ve seen countless numbers of callouts inside the UFC. While plenty of them have come off as clunky or simply didn’t work, a handful stand out as true classics.
"Conor McGregor, you're taking everything I worked for m**********r."
"I'm gonna fight your f*****g ass."
On this day in 2015, Nate Diaz went on this expletive ridden tirade...
...And the rest is history 👊 https://t.co/DrDVjDmhri
What’s more, some of these classic call-outs led directly to some of the biggest fights in the history of the promotion, as well as some of the best-selling pay-per-views, too.
With this considered, here are five of the best callouts in UFC history.
#5. B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk (UFC 80)
The UFC lightweight division is now full of absolute superstars and has seen some of the biggest fights in the promotion’s history, including ones between the likes of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, it wasn’t always that way.
It all changed when former welterweight champion B.J. Penn decided to return to the division in 2007.
‘The Prodigy’ won his first fight at 155 pounds by defeating his old rival Jens Pulver. However,before a fight with champion Sean Sherk could be set up, ‘The Muscle Shark’ tested positive for steroids and found himself slapped with a suspension.
Naturally, Penn was furious about this. By the time the promotion booked him against Joe Stevenson in a fight for the now-vacant title, it felt like he had plenty to say on the matter.
Sure enough, ‘The Prodigy’ choked Stevenson out in the second round to claim the title and then took to the microphone. Where some of his other callouts in the octagon felt clunky and forced, this one was perfect.
Penn didn’t even sling an insult towards Sherk, instead uttering a single line that had far more effect. That line? “Sean Sherk – you’re dead.”
"Sean Sherk — you're dead!!!" twitter.com/MMA_Rewind/sta…
The callout immediately set up a major feud between the two lightweights, which came to a head four months llaterwhen they squared off with the title on the line. While the Hawaiian didn’t quite live up to his threat, he did come out on top – stopping Sherk with a violent TKO in the third round.