Nick Diaz and the 10 Most Unprofessional Fighters in MMA

Being a professional athlete comes with the responsibility of obvious duties, like being a professional.

Although most mixed martial artists act with class and professionalism, there are still some fighters who act unprofessionally. This not only hurts their image, but can be a potential roadblock to getting fights in organizations.

Anthony Johnson

Anthony Johnson is a good fighter and a nice guy, but he still is very unprofessional as a fighter.

Johnson has missed weight several times, and it was not even close. In his fight against Rich Clementi, he missed the 171 pound cutoff by about seven pounds. In his fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida, he again missed weight by about seven pounds.

To solve his weight cutting issues, Johnson moved up a weight class in a bout against Vitor Belfort. Despite needing to cut 15 less pounds than he would have needed to cut to make welterweight, Johnson missed weight by a whopping 12 pounds.

Johnson's third strike earned him his walking papers following the Belfort fight at UFC 142. Until he hits weight consistently, we can't expect to see Johnson back in the UFC for a while.

Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping may be the ultimate heel of mixed martial arts, but he has nobody to blame but himself.

His childish antics as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter have highlighted his unprofessionalism. Look no further than the instance where he squirted water in the face of DaMarques Johnson for no apparent reason other than the fact that he is a jerk. In the latest season Bisping coached, he got a taste of his own medicine when Jason Miller did the same thing to him, and Bisping was furious.

The entire Jorge Rivera fight was unprofessional as well, as Bisping threw a blatant illegal knee to the head of a downed Rivera. Add in the fact that he spit in the corner of Rivera during the fight, and you have a great example of how unprofessional Bisping is.

Rivera did mock Bisping a lot leading up to the fight, but Bisping is a huge trash talker. It is obvious that Bisping can dish out, but can't take, trash talk.

Karo Parisyan

Diego Sanchez was completely correct when he called Karo Parisyan, "The King of Excuses."

After every loss, it seemed that Parisyan had an excuse as to why he didn't perform up to par or why he dropped the bout. Parisyan was a great fighter that won a majority of his fights in the UFC, but listen to his post-fight interviews in losses to Diego Sanchez or Thiago Alves. All you will hear are excuses.

Karo also is unprofessional in the sense that he is known for pulling out of fights extremely late. Look no further than his planned fight with Dustin Hazelett. After pulling out the day of the weigh-ins, Parisyan was cut from the UFC for his lack of professionalism.

Even more unprofessional was his failed drug test following his fight with Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94. With failure due to banned painkillers, we again saw Parisyan make excuses and not own up to his mistake.

Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock is a legend of mixed martial arts, but he has shown his unprofessionalism through the years.

To start off with, while cornering Guy Mezger at an event in PRIDE, Shamrock pulled Mezger mid-fight in protest of a rules change. Mezger could have won the fight, but Shamrock took his ball and went home, which only hurt Mezger.

Later, while coaching The Ultimate Fighter opposite Tito Ortiz, Shamrock seemed not to take his coaching role seriously, which in turn hurt his fighters' chances. As a man who ran a reputable gym like the Lion's Den, one would think that Shamrock would have been a great coach.

More recently, Shamrock showed his unprofessional ways by burying the company that made him rich, the UFC. While ESPN tried to exploit the UFC for not paying its fighters well, many fighters were unwilling to throw the UFC under the bus. Shamrock, however, did bury the UFC. This is unprofessional, as the UFC made Shamrock one of their most well-paid stars.

Paul Daley

This one is obvious.

Paul Daley's unprofessionalism has been showcased numerous times. To start off with, he sucker punched Josh Koscheck after the final bell of their fight. This cannot happen in any instance. This sucker punch got Daley thrown out of the UFC, and to this day he remains blacklisted from the UFC.

Even more than the sucker punch, Daley is another fighter who misses weight far too often. He has missed weight in fights against Jordan Radev, Yuya Shirai, Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Hazelett. Making weight is a part of being professional, and Daley proves he is unprofessional every time he misses contracted weight.

Tito Ortiz

Tito has appeared to be more professional as of late, but he has a track record of being unprofessional.

Early in his career, he showed disrespect and an unprofessional attitude when he flipped off Guy Mezger's corner, which included Ken Shamrock. Mixed martial arts is about respect, which Ortiz has shown a lack of throughout his career.

His constant contract issues and talks about money have also highlighted how unprofessional he is. During his frustrating contract negotiations which led to a hiatus, Ortiz sported a "Dana is my bitch" shirt to the weigh-ins at UFC 84. Openly disrespecting the guy who puts food in your family's mouth is extremely unprofessional.

Compound that with the constant excuses he makes when he loses fights and the fact he ducked Chuck Liddell for years, and you have the ultimate unprofessional fighter.

Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva is and always will be a fan favorite. But that does not mean he is not unprofessional.

Silva always lets his emotions get the best of him. It has been showcased numerous times during his tenure in the UFC and PRIDE.

After Quinton "Rampage" Jackson called out Silva in PRIDE after a victory, Silva stormed the ring, shoved Jackson and started a near riot in the ring.

That was not the only time he helped escalate a situation in PRIDE, as he sucker punched Mark Coleman and got in a near fight with Phil Baroni at the conclusion of Coleman and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's fight.

He also is known for shoving opponents at weigh-ins, as you can see in the picture. Silva takes exception to things much too often and needs to be more professional in the future.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Quinton Jackson is very entertaining, but it comes at the cost of his professionalism.

Jackson has shown his unprofessionalism in interviews with female reporters, where he has done such things as hump them and fake motorboat their breasts. This simply cannot happen, as it does not represent Jackson or MMA well.

Also, his high publicized arrest following a car chase with the police was unnecessary and unprofessional. It was incredibly dangerous and could have been fatal.

With that in mind, I must say that his interviews with Ariel Helwani, while unprofessional in ways, are very entertaining.

Josh Barnett

Unprofessionalism at its finest is exemplified in Josh Barnett.

Barnett has been caught with steroids an multiple occasions. One instance cost him the UFC Heavyweight Championship, when he defeated Randy Couture but tested positive for banned substances. This would lead to his departure from the UFC.

Another instance cost Affliction their main event. Barnett was supposed to meet Fedor Emelianenko in the headliner of the third Affliction event, but Barnett failed a pre-fight drug test and was yanked from the slot. This led to the cancellation of the event and the eventual folding of the promotion.

Barnett needs to clean his act up if he ever wants to call the UFC home again.

Nick Diaz

They don't get much more unprofessional than Nick Diaz.

As seen in the above picture, Diaz shows his disrepectful ways by flicking off Frank Shamrock at a press conference.

More than that, Diaz gets in inappropriate fights constantly. Diaz got in a brawl at a hospital with Joe Riggs after the two squared off in the Octagon. He also started a near riot in Elite XC when he stormed the cage and confronted K.J. Noons.

He also played a major part in the Strikeforce: Nashville brawl, which saw him jump Jason Miller with his brother Nate, Gilbert Melendez, Cesar Gracie and Jake Shields.

He has also been caught in post-fight drug tests twice, failing both for his marijuana usage. The first occurred following a gogoplata victory over Takanori Gomi, which was overturned to a "no contest."

The latest incident came earlier this month, when he lost an interim championship bout to Carlos Condit. Had he won, he would have been stripped of the title and had the contest overturned again.

His missing of pre-fight press conferences embarrassed the UFC and himself, which led to his exit from the main event title fight against Georges St. Pierre. As a professional, you need to make your scheduled appearances and fulfill you obligations. Diaz obviously did not do that.

He constantly complains about how much money he makes, despite the fact that he is usually the top paid fighter on a given card.

Nick Diaz, in general, is just completely unprofessional.