Tito Ortiz, Chael Sonnen and MMA's 25 Cockiest Fighters

The dictionary defines “cocky” as “boldly or brashly self-confident.”

What follows is a list of the 25 fighters I believe best fit that definition.

Before going any further, let me take this opportunity to let you know what I do NOT mean when I talk about cockiness, and to preemptively respond to some comments I anticipate:

• Anticipated comment no. 1: “Fighter X has a right to be cocky.”
  Preemptive response:  Yes, he does. You're right. Everyone has a right to be cocky. Just like everyone else has the right to point it out.
• Anticipated comment no. 2: “Fighter X is not cocky, because he backs it up.”
  Preemptive response: Wrong. To assert that being successful means you’re no longer cocky is like cooking a delicious meal and then asserting that the kitchen is no longer dirty.
• Anticipated comment no. 3: “You’re just hating on Fighter X by calling him cocky.”
  Preemptive response: Looks like the jig is up. I am jealous of your fave, and as such specifically created this slideshow to undermine him. It’s the culmination of more than a decade of hard work and effort. All leading up to this! This is my moment! I can’t wait to see how he reacts, either. I’m outside his window with binoculars right now!
• Anticipated comment no. 4: “You’re being mean to Fighter X by including him on this list.”
  Preemptive response: I’m making no judgments on whether these guys are good or bad at fighting, good or bad people or justified or unjustified in their cockiness. I’m just saying they come across as cocky. That’s it. The sky is blue, water is wet and these guys are cocky.
• Anticipated comment no. 5: “Dude, how dare you judge someone you never even met?”
  Preemptive response: It’s pretty easy, actually. Through TV, the Internet and so on, it’s really not hard to get a sense of a fighter’s personality. If you’ve never formed an opinion about anyone (fighters, celebrities, politicians, business leaders, your girlfriend’s co-workers) without meeting them first, then and only then are you entitled to make this comment. Although I’d have to take issue with you for judging my intentions without ever having met me.
• Anticipated comment no. 6:  “Dude, it’s all just an act by Fighter X to get attention.”
  Preemptive response:  That’s probably true in some cases. I can’t imagine an exceptionally nice and humble person doing a full 180 and turning cocky when the red light comes on, but I suppose it’s plausible. So let’s stipulate that this slideshow deals only in the perceptions an outsider would have, which are by no means unimportant, inaccurate or irrelevant.

I’m glad we had this talk.  And now, please enjoy the slideshow. The list is by no means comprehensive, so if you want to throw any of your own out, or want to take issue with mine, please do so in the comments.

25. Chuck O'Neil

I enjoyed O’Neil and his exploits on the previous season of “The Ultimate Fighter.”

But if “Cold Steel” had done half of what he said he was going to do when the cage door closed, he’d be the one with The Six-Figure Contract right about now.

24. Nate Diaz

Maybe not so notorious as his brother, Nate nevertheless has his moments, most notably celebrating a submission victory before the opponent ever tapped out.

23. Jon Jones

I hesitate to besmirch The Chosen One here, especially since I believe he is, at heart,
a respectful and humble guy.

But there are plenty of signs lately that he is not exactly staying grounded in the midst of his newfound fame.

22. Cole Miller

The quotable Cole Miller seems to direct his cockiness toward his fellow fighters, admonishing them for putting on boring fights, whining about matchups or whatever the hot subject is that day.

Donald Cerrone and Frankie Edgar are two of the more recent objects of his derision.

21. Steve Cantwell

Cantwell makes the list for one particularly cocky deed.

After using an armbar to bend Razak Al-Hassan’s elbow a long, long way in the wrong direction, he gushed to Joe Rogan after the fact that he had “always wanted to do that,” even as Razor Razak received medical attention nearby.

20. Frank Mir

He seems like a smart guy who is capable of both decency and cockiness.

It’s a pick-your-poison type of deal. If he disdains you as an opponent, then you’re dumber and less skilled than he is (see Brock Lesnar, Cheick Kongo).

If he generally disdains you as a person, you’re jealous because you’re not a “stud” (his word) like he is (see would-be UFC employees on “The Ultimate Fighter.”)

19. Gray Maynard

The Bully seems to do what he can to live up to his nickname, openly disdaining lesser mortals and offering smirking, sarcastic responses to fair-minded media questions.

From what I can tell, in fact, all of his interactions with the public seem to start from a defensive, you-don’t-know-what-you’re-talking-about, I'm-only-talking-to-you-because-they-make-me kind of place.

18. Thiago Silva

A nasty light heavyweight, Silva gets cocky points for the throat-slashing gesture he insists on making, even when opponents lie unconscious just a few feet away.

His crowning moment of cockiness, however, came at UFC 125, when he repeatedly chose to slap a beaten Brandon Vera in the face rather than waste any more punches.

17. Dan Hardy

The Outlaw seems to have been knocked down a peg or two lately, after his special brand of British smack talk was smothered by Georges St-Pierre. Like him or not, GSP is Kryptonite for cockiness.

The Nate Marquardt allegations seemed to reinvigorate his smack-talking motor, however. It seems cocky people aren't exceptionally strong in the self-awareness department.

16. Dave "Pee Wee" Herman

He has had a solid, if perplexing, career thus far, punctuated by a semi-famous aversion to training, based on the assumption that he doesn’t need to put in the same work that lesser humans do.

In advance of his fight with Jon Olav Einemo, he gleefully insulted an entire branch of MMA by claiming that “jiu-jitsu doesn’t really work.”  

15. Brock Lesnar

In a way, the opposite of Jon Jones. He came in cocky—pointing and laughing at Heath Herring in the closing seconds of their fight, screaming at Frank Mir after pounding him out—but has slowly mellowed over time as he comes to realize that respect sells in MMA.

Nevertheless, I believe him to be cocky at heart even if he is calmer on the surface, which is why I’m placing him above Jones.

14. Urijah Faber

The California Kid comes across as a laid-back, well, California kid. But it’s not hard to see that he believes his own biological by-products to be far more aromatic than most.

He seems like the type who wants you to believe he’s Above It All. He seems like the kind of guy who would assume you’re only in his airspace because you want his autograph.

Here you go, brah. You don’t gotta be scared. Look, here’s one for your girlfriend, too. You like that? Great. Hang loose, guy!

He even developed his own version of Red Auerbach’s victory cigar—one of the most delightfully arrogant maneuvers in sports history.

As a fight winds down, if Faber believes victory is in the bag, he flashes the “hang loose” sign, or whatever it’s called. This is the time when you cheer for me, guys!

13. Brandon Vera

A classic case of spending the money before you actually make it.

Even Vera—who likes to call himself “The Truth”—has admitted to being “cocky as hell” during his career.

He is capable of showing humility, but usually only after a loss. Go figure. After a win, it's all dancing and gesticulating.

12. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Rampage has a recent history of toying with male reporters’ manhoods and, eh, disregarding the presumed personal boundaries of certain comely female reporters.

But Jackson's true arrogance lies in his oft-stated desire to leave MMA as soon as the entertainment industry pays him enough to make it possible. Way to give back to the sport, Rampage.

11. Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto

After a quick KO win in the Hero promotion in Japan, Yamamoto blurted out that “I'm the coolest, I'm the most dangerous and I'm the best!"

It’s pretty representative of his entire public persona. Like some of the others on this list, Yamamoto is comfortable with the love-him-or-hate-him position in which he has placed himself, and as such plays it up to the hilt.

10. Phil Baroni

Every now and then, you'll encounter a fighter who seems to have gotten detoured into MMA on his way to a pro wrestling career.

The self-proclaimed New York Badass is one of those fighters. The man who likes to refer to himself as “the best eva” generally and deliberately draws attention to himself and his cockiness at every possible turn.

9. Tim Sylvia

I don’t know whether to put him on the cockiest list, or most delusional.

But his dogged claims that he is “the best” in MMA both as a striker and as a heavyweight could form the basis of a strong argument for either.

8. Nick Diaz

One of the most interesting personalities in the sport has a reputation for disrespecting opponents, media members and lots of others around the sport.

Plenty of people who say they know him claim he is far more laid-back away from the spotlight. OK, fair enough. At the same time, though, I’m not a subscriber to the theory that cockiness is not really cockiness if you “only” do it to the media.

They’re people, too, and have jobs to do like everyone else. It also happens that media members are often in a position of need—i.e., inferiority—with respect to the fighters they need to interview.

As the old saying goes, you can tell a lot by how people treat those below them.

7. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal

A dancer holds an umbrella over his crowned head as he makes his way to the ring. The prosecution rests, your honor.

6. Paul Daley

Though the sucker punch heard round the world is his primary calling card in this arena, he was plenty cocky before (and after) that unfortunate incident.

Witness this piece of artwork, created by one of Daley’s fans at Daley’s urging.

5. Josh Koscheck

The sucker punch was wrong, but Kos was talking smack at Daley throughout the fight. Kos also likes to needle fighters before fights as well.

Head games? Probably. Good strategy? Maybe. Cocky? Definitely.

T 4. Michael Bisping

Cocky AND thin-skinned. A double-threat guy!

T 4. Anderson Silva

Silva has made a science out of showing up opponents in the cage, be it through dancing, in-fight provocation, over-elaborate gesturing and dodging or simply refusing to engage with (rather than finish) any opponent he deems inferior, of which there are many.

Apologists for MMA’s pound-for-pound greatest like to draw comparisons to Muhammad Ali’s dancing and trash-slinging. But the difference between the two is that Ali owned it. He was, at least in part, having fun.

In contrast, Silva likes to claim ex post facto that he wasn’t trying to show anyone up, and anyone who thinks otherwise just doesn’t understand the sport.

Needless to say, that just makes matters worse. He’d have to think we were all pretty stupid to believe the disrespect (both to opponents and paying fans) everyone saw with their eyes was somehow all in their heads.

3. Chael Sonnen

He constantly calls out other fighters with intentionally below-the-belt and inflammatory statements. Just recently, he reasoned that he was “the champion” because he landed “300 strikes” on Anderson Silva. That is, before, eh, tapping to a late chokehold. But that's not important!  Morons.

He has also been strangely cavalier about his failed drug test and money-laundering conviction. What, those? Pure nonsense! Mere chicanery! Nothing to see here! Now let’s get back to the real story: Lyoto Machida’s sexuality.

2. The Entire Gracie Family

Whether it’s holding submissions too long, proudly and loudly trumpeting their importance to anyone within camera range, spitting on opponents or any number of other gestures, this is one cocky unit.

They’re great, and they deserve accolades. But come on. They’re cocky.

1. Tito Ortiz

The one, the only, the intentional heel-turning, Chuck Liddell-baiting, injury-excuse-making, in-the-ring-grave-digging, opponent-ducking, Ken-Shamrock-taunting, making-losers-on-TUF-defend-chokes-right-after-they-lost cockiest SOB in the history of the UFC.

And proud of it.