Mixed Martial Arts and Trash Talking: Is It Doing More Harm Than Good?

Trash talk is something that every sport has in its makeup. Some do it to help promote business, others do it out of genuine feelings.

In Mixed Martial Arts, there has been no shortage of trash talk over the years.

The great thing about MMA is that it is a sport that allows one athlete to talk trash to another, and then have the chance to back it all up. Since MMA is an individual sport, one cannot help but speak of their own abilities and possibly disrespect their opponent.

Many times, the trash talk remains in the divisions. It is not as common for a Demetrious Johnson to talk trash about Brock Lesnar, than for a Frank Mir to.

The only times it seems to extend beyond division boundaries is when the talk is in criticism or commentary of an event, or if the fighter they are speaking of is near their weight class.

Many fans love the factor of trash talking more than any other form of promoting a fight. Sometimes just having some bad blood can sell the fight. Take Rampage Jackson vs. Rashad Evans.

During their stint with The Ultimate Fighter, they captivated the audience with their banter back and forth. Then Rampage and Rashad exchanged words inside the octagon post-fight that many did not soon forget.

In fact, UFC Magazine even put their verbal engagement on the double cover of their magazine with the two fighters.

But one man recently has stood out. That man is Chael Sonnen.

Chael has single-handedly created a new era of trash talking. He has always been one to talk before a fight, but it was after he made comments about what he was going to do to Anderson Silva that caught the attention of the fans.

Chael Sonnen delivered on most of the things he stated he would do to the Middleweight Champion.

Seeing Sonnen dominating the best Middleweight in the world, made many people start to listen to him. From before his title shot and to this day, he has become a centerpiece of comedy and verbal bashing in the MMA world.

But is his talking creating more of a problem than people realize?

Fighters are allowed to speak their mind, and Sonnen certainly does, but how much of what he says does he truly and sincerely believe? How much is actual thoughts, and how much is promotional tactics?

No one really knows aside from Chael himself, but one must take into account that not all of it may be his actual feelings.

Many of his clever remarks are preconceived and are some of the most entertaining statements made during interviews or on Twitter, but when he speaks about fighters, he goes beyond the fight he has with them.

Chael targets not just you, but anything that has to do with you. Chael has every right to, but as fans, we have to be careful as to what we allow to enter our visions and perceptions.

What results from Chael speaking ill of a subject in the manner he does, he creates a following that starts to believe what he “believes.”

This is not necessarily the case with everything, but when Chael makes a funny comment or opinion on something, people are listening and thinking about what he said.

Essentially, Chael says a fighter is a coward using a funny analogy. Fans find it hilarious and decide to repeat it and believe it because it was entertaining, and they do not want to be on the side of the one’s being targeted.

Does this happen with everyone? Absolutely not, but it does happen, and we fans should be aware of the whole factor of media influence.

Chael Sonnen is not only an excellent fighter, he is indeed witty, outspoken and willing to fight whomever, whenever it would seem. His trash talk though, should be taken with a grain of salt.

The issues lie with those fans whom belittle and do not respect fighters and what they are doing, just because of comedy or commentary. 

Similar to hype, MMA fans should be careful of how much value they put to one event, or one statement. The biggest hurdle that has faced the sport of MMA in recent years is education, and as the greatest fans in the world, we should take pride in being educated in the sport and exercise it. 

What are YOUR thoughts on Chael or Trash Talking in general? Leave your comments below!

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