UFC: 5 Guys Who Are Their Own Worst Enemy

Some guys in this world are their own worst enemy. Actually, as one of those guys myself, I’d like to think I’m qualified to point out those who are similarly inclined.

In a sport where the point is to put yourself in great danger of physical harm in order to do great physical harm to another person, it seems like there are a few such folk around.

Folk that include: 

Jon Jones

For all his destructive capacity and ability to entertain in the cage, probably no one in MMA—maybe the world—has done less for himself by talking.

Jones is a sanctimonious, irritating, arrogant individual who is just utterly unpleasant to be exposed to when he’s not smashing someone's face in. You needn’t look any further than his Twitter account or check out a few press conferences to see just how hard of a guy he is to like.

From criticizing Anderson Silva for “abusing his gift” in a loss to Chris Weidman to wrapping his Bentley around a pole and still finding time to lob stones from within his suddenly glass house, the guy just doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

While he’s far from his own worst enemy in the cage, outside of it he’s as bad as anyone. 

Michael Bisping

Bisping used to be similar to Jones in his ability to cannibalize himself at every turn when a microphone was in his face or a Twitter machine was in his hands. After hiring a new management firm a while back, though, he’s become oddly genial and has actually seen his popularity rise.

That said, in the cage, he’s still cutting himself off at the knees.

Every time he’s in a position to make a statement with his fists that supports the self-professed greatness coming from his mouth, he finds a way to lose in spectacular fashion.

Dan Henderson almost killed him when he was a fight away from a title shot, Chael Sonnen grinded him out under the same circumstances, and Vitor Belfort might have outdone Henderson with a KO the next time Bisping was a fight away.

On pure in-cage merit, The Count is as much an enemy to himself as anyone in the game.

Nick Diaz

Similar to Bisping in his capacity to undermine himself in the cage, with a hint of Jones’ ability to hurt himself away from it, Nick Diaz is as hard on himself as anyone. Incredibly, though, it’s sort of become his thing and he’s probably more popular now than he ever was as a result.

In the cage, you know what you’re getting from Stockton’s fighting pride: He’s going to walk forward, throw a stupid number of punches, and try to knock you out. Even if grappling is his best avenue to victory, he wants to win by beating you senseless. Nothing else will satisfy him.

Outside of it, his penchant for avoiding media and PR obligations has been beaten to death. There is literally no chance anyone is getting Nick Diaz to do something he doesn’t feel like doing, regardless of the level of peril it’s going to provide him.

Unfortunately for Diaz, guys willing to duck under his punches for a double leg tend to expose him as his own worst enemy in the cage, while an angry Dana White is just as good at exposing him outside of it when he steps out of line.

Regardless, he’s one of the most popular guys on the roster and it’s a certainty that his second un-retirement fight in two years will draw eyes for the UFC.

Dana White

SUPEEEEEEERRRRRRRR FIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTT!

They’re words that the prez has thrown around so much in the past few years that they don’t even make sense any more. Having to listen to him as he guaranteed that Anderson Silva was going to fight someone—anyone—other than a 185-pound contender and that it was going to happen AS SOON AS THIS NEXT FIGHT IS OVER, it just got to be too much.

Here’s hoping that Chris Weidman's left hook permanently ended the talk of such a frivolous, frustrating exercise.

Throw in the amount of hyperbole, exaggeration and outright lying that White has come to do in recent memory and it’s clear he’s become his own worst enemy. He promises cards he can’t possibly deliver, makes nonsensical fights seemingly on a whim, and is quick to dismiss anyone who doesn’t agree in his typically vitriolic fashion.

There’s no way he’s a bad guy when you hear so many good things about him, but he’s a promoter who’s watching his sport get well out of his grasp with every event that involves a dozen international TUF contestants most people have never heard of.

The fact that he still tries to sell it like things are the way they were when the UFC was growing at a steady, manageable pace is simply indicative of how hard he makes his own life sometimes. 

Anderson Silva

Until UFC 162 you wouldn’t have said Silva belonged on this list, but after his own hubris provided the biggest upset in middleweight history, it’s hard not to reconsider.

The thing about Silva is that he hasn’t been his own worst enemy historically. He didn’t really have a worst enemy other than Chael Sonnen, whom he beat twice. Other than that, flying heel hooks were, I guess?

Regardless, you’d have to add him to the list after Chris Weidman’s surprisingly impressive finish of The Spider—one that saw the now-former champ shoulder rolling with his hands down until he rolled chin-first into a massive left hook.

You’d have to figure he’ll be removed pretty quickly, though, if (when?) he gets his title back.