5 Times that showboating in MMA went wildly wrong
As we saw just last week when the video below went viral across the internet, there are few things more entertaining in MMA than when a bit of showboating goes wrong.
Sure, it’s all good fun when a guy like Cody Garbrandt manages to taunt a great fighter like Dominick Cruz with some Ali-style shuffling, but in the clip above, taken from British Challenge MMA 18, it didn’t work out quite so well for Joe Harding, who is now known worldwide for being knocked out cold.
Fortunately for Joe, he’s not the first fighter to see his showboating go wildly wrong, and in fact, it’s happened before on much larger stages than British Challenge MMA 18.
Whether it’s due to a bit of dancing during the fight, or trash talk in the cage or during the weigh-in, one thing is for sure – it’s always entertaining to see showboating fail miserably in MMA. Here are five of my favourite examples.
#1 Mayhem Miller channels Shawn Michaels....and eats some Sweet Chin Music of his own
While this moment didn’t actually end the fight, it’s funny nonetheless and remains one of my favourite examples of showboating going a bit awry.
Back in 2005, the world outside of Hawaii hadn’t really heard of Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller, despite him putting together a 16-3 record prior. He’d actually signed with the UFC midway through 2004, but a legal issue forced him to withdraw from his spot on UFC 48.
His opponent that night would’ve been rising Canadian prospect Georges St-Pierre, who had beaten Karo Parisyan in his own UFC debut that January.
When Mayhem cleared up his legal problems, the fight was rebooked for UFC 52 on April 15th, 2015 and was given the opening slot on the PPV card, largely due to GSP’s rise to fame following a good showing in a title fight against Matt Hughes.
The PPV was arguably the UFC’s biggest to that point, as it was headlined by Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture, coming off their stint as coaches on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter. For two young prospects like GSP and Mayhem, this was a chance to make a mark in front of a huge audience.
Clearly recognising the opportunity, Mayhem came out looking to stand out from the crowd. He entered wearing a pro-wrestling mask, throwing dollar bills around into the air, and then danced to GSP’s entrance music rather than warm up.
When the fight began, despite Mayhem’s unorthodox style, it was clear that he was overmatched, as St-Pierre landed some impressive strikes– including an axe stomp to the body – and also took him down a few times.
It was off the back of one of those takedowns that our classic moment happened. Mayhem attempted a leglock and GSP pulled free, so Mayhem in his infinite wisdom decided to attempt the Shawn Michaels kip-up to get back to his feet.
Landing a clean kip-up is tricky enough but when you’re in an MMA fight with a dude as dangerous as GSP, it’s just not smart. Sure enough, as Mayhem landed on his feet, GSP met him square in the face with a kick and followed with some nasty shots on the ground.
While Mayhem was able to survive to the final bell, he took an absolute one-sided beating from GSP that really began following the kip-up. You’d think it would’ve taught him not to showboat, but incredibly in his very next fight, he was throwing the ‘Hang Loose’ sign while taking full mount on his opponent.
That’s Mayhem for you!