5 Most Ridiculous Fan Insults in MMA

Look through any collection of MMA articles and you would be led to believe MMA fans are some of the most negative fanbases in all of sports.

When writers create pieces about controversial issues, they can be expected to receive a handful of the replies found on this list. MMA is a totally different animal than the major sports because it seems fans cannot argue without personally attacking one another.

It's one thing to disagree with someone but these insults are about as common as they are stupid to say. So I'll be expecting plenty of these comments once you're done reading through this.

WWE Mark/Pro Wrestling Fan

A popular insult when discussing fighter's charisma (especially Chael Sonnen) is calling somebody a WWE mark or a pro wrestling fan in general.

The two sports are often intertwined more than MMA fans would like and relating something in MMA to pro-wrestling is almost certain death when commenting on an issue. There are a lot of items in MMA that have been played out before in pro wrestling.

Stories like teammates fighting each other, disputes between fighters and gyms/managers, overzealous boss, and the dominant champion becoming human are just a few examples of how MMA and WWE are similar.

Relating issues in MMA to WWE isn't meant to be a diss towards either sport but the people who use the "pro wrestling fan" insult discredit both.

You Have No Idea

Being a fan generally means that you have to be pretty critical of some high-level athletes. A popular comeback when criticizing a fighter is that "the writer has no idea" of what it's like to be a MMA fighter.

A great handful of fans compete in some form of martial arts like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay-Thai, or boxing among others. But unless the person making the comment is an actual professional fighter in a major organization, how would they know either?

Most people will never know what it's like to fight in the UFC but that doesn't mean the critical analysis is any less relevant. If nobody but fighters judged each other we would have the most boring sports coverage in the world.

Discrediting a Fighter from Years Ago

Yes Tim Sylvia was once considered a top-five heavyweight in the world and held the UFC heavyweight crown.

Does that mean he's still fighting at a champion caliber level now? Absolutely not. However, it does mean that beating Sylvia when he actually cared about his career meant something back then.

Sylvia is just one example of a fighter who was once great but now is only a shell of their former self. Lyoto Machida and "Rampage" Jackson are most recent examples who after one loss, were instantly labeled with "They're done."

Fans who want to discredit a fighter's win over an opponent from years ago are either really short sighted or simply have no grasp of the history in MMA.

Excusing a Fighter's Performance Due to Injury

There's been countless times when fans want to excuse their fighter's performance due to an injury. If we want to accept the statement "no fighter is ever 100 percent going into a fight" as a fact, then the injury excuses need to stop.

If a fighter is too injured to perform, they have the ability to pull out of a fight. Yes, some fighters will not want to lose out on money but given that the UFC will pay for injury treatment and a poor performance could send a fighter packing, competing with a serious injury could hurt more than help a career.

I understand the need to find a reason for your favourite fighter losing but just accept the fact the other guy was better and move on.

TUF Noob

A popular insult is to call someone a "TUF Noob." The insult implies that a person didn't start watching MMA until the popular reality series kicked off.

These fans must forget that the vast majority of MMA fans nowadays started watching the sport after this show. If anything, these "die-hard" fans should be thanking people for tuning into the show and in to MMA or else their beloved sport would've never made it as big as it is now.

Yes, fans who tuned in after TUF will never understand what it was like to watch UFC 1 live but then again, neither do most fans who use the "TUF Noobs" insult. That's why we have Youtube.