UFC Fighters Who Need to Stop Talking Trash
Trash talk has long been a part of combat sports, and the rise of Conor McGregor has given some MMA fighters the thought that they can replicate his success.
They can't.
They don't have... it.
"It" is indescribable. It seems like one should be able to follow a similar blueprint, but even those with charisma fail in replicating that kind of success. It's because it takes someone special in and out of the cage to sell it. There has to be an authentic method to the madness. Most don't have it.
Yet they continue to try.
This is a petition to get them to stop. To stop trying to sell fans a false bill of goods and focus on selling us all on their talent. Talent always finds a way to rise to the top, and fans will ultimately see through phony words and antics.
Who are some members of the UFC's roster who need to stop trying to trash talk?
We take a look at seven fighters who should take a step back from the hot mics to reexamine just how they decide to build up their fights. Here are the fighters who just need to stop talking.
Kelvin Gastelum
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Remember when Kelvin Gastelum was the respectful, blue-collar, hard-working wrestler with heavy hands who came off The Ultimate Fighter? He was likable, and you wanted to root for his success.
Somewhere along the way, Gastelum saw the comeuppance of the Conor McGregors of the world and tried to replicate their success on the mic.
It didn't work.
The most embarrassing display happened at UFC 234. Gastelum was supposed to challenge for the middleweight title, but a medical issue forced Robert Whittaker off the card. Instead of issuing a classy response wishing the champion well, Gastelum borrowed 125-pound king Henry Cejudo's title and declared himself the middleweight champion.
UFC President called it "cute" at the post-fight press conference (h/t MMAFighting.com). McGregor himself chimed in on Twitter calling him a "worm" for the stunt.
The entire display was embarrassing, and one can only hope his foray into nonsensical trash talk ended with a loss to Israel Adesanya. Gastelum is still a fighter everyone would love to cheer for. He is an exciting fighter with incredible talent. The Fight of the Year contender against Adesanya showed his true value inside the cage.
He just needs to stop trying to sell us all with cheap trash talk outside of it.
Sijara Eubanks
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Much like Gastelum, Sijara Eubanks is a fighter fans want to cheer for inside the Octagon. But sometimes her talking gets a little too much.
When Joe Rogan mentioned on his podcast that he didn't know who Eubanks was, she took offense. She said she was disrespected on The MMA Hour. Which is understandable. No one would say otherwise.
However, she threw a few shots at Rogan along the way. Going after the most popular commentator on the roster isn't the best look.
After her win over Roxanne Modafferi, Eubanks told Rogan, "Well, you know I’ve got to talk a little smack," per John Morgan and Ken Hathaway of MMAJunkie.com. The thing is... she didn't have to talk any smack. But it's not just prodding at Rogan that draws the ire of some fans.
It's that she does this when missing weight and underperforming.
She was supposed to compete for the inaugural flyweight title. A bad weight cut forced her into the emergency room and off the card. Two fights later, against Modafferi, she missed weight again. After a second missed weigh-in, Eubanks went to bantamweight, where a loss moved her record to 4-3 overall.
If you are going to talk trash, you have to perform well. Missing weight and almost going to a .500-record is not going to cut it. If Eubanks can put all her talent together and string together a nice win streak, fans will begin to buy into her trash talk and accept it. Until that happens, it's best to not draw too much attention to the repeated downfalls under the UFC banner.
Luke Rockhold
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The former middleweight champion of the world is a polarizing figure to be sure. Luke Rockhold has an air of superiority around him that can conjure up a lot of disgust. The good news for Rockhold is that more often than not, he backed up what he said.
But on the occasions that he did not—he gave his enemies all the ammo in the world to fire back. Chief among them was the rematch with Michael Bisping.
Rockhold was coming off his title victory and facing a fighter he stopped before. He had every reason to feel invincible. The pre-fight video package of UFC 199 sold his dominance well. Rockhold even held his own against Bisping in press conferences with his trash talk. But then he suffered an embarrassing first-round KO to Bisping.
He got back in the win column against David Branch before meeting Yoel Romero. In the third round, Romero iced Rockhold. It's been over a year since that happened and still when Rockhold's name comes up some fans recoil due to his brazen personality.
Now he is moving up to light heavyweight. He should be humble, right? Well, that's just not Rockhold.
In a video with TMZ Sports, Rockhold appears with sunglasses on and sans shirt to call Jon Jones a "princess" and to tell him he's coming. Big talk from someone who hasn't fought at light heavyweight yet and has lost two of his last three by knockout. Everyone understands he's trying to generate some interest with Jones, but it's just not working.
Until he can work his way into contention and a have a reasonable shot at Jones, it's just best to mute Luke Rockhold.
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Greg Hardy
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Greg Hardy. Sigh.
Hardy was always going to have a tough time with fans and media alike due to his checkered past, but he had a small window of redemption with MMA. He could have proved himself to be the ultimate selfless teammate, given back to the community, worked his way up the ranks, and generally kept quiet.
Instead, he seems determined to be unlikable. In his first UFC bout, he got disqualified. That did not help his narrative.
While Hardy hasn't singled any fighter out with his talk, he followed up his first UFC win by saying, "This is going make Bo Jackson look like a joke. I’m the fight-sports-athlete version of what Michael Jordan can be" (h/t John Morgan and Matt Erickson of MMAJunkie.com).
I mean... what?
Bloviate elsewhere, Mr. Hardy. No one is buying into this line of thinking.
I suppose if you are already a villain you want to just lean into that role, but when your past contains actual villainous content it's best to just keep quiet. Why give fans more reason to dislike your presence? Hardy could have thanked his coaches and talked about his progression in a much less groaning way than to compare himself to two of the greatest athletes of all time.
It's a confusing path he is choosing, but I doubt anyone is surprised.
Cody Garbrandt
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Some fighters need to stop talking trash to avoid cutting off their nose to spite their face. Others need to stop talking trash until they work their way into a position to warrant the trash talk. Others, like Cody Garbrandt, need to stop because they just aren't any good at it.
Garbrandt's attempts at trash talk occurred largely against Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw. Two of his rivals.
Both of them made him look foolish on the mic. If there is any saving grace for Garbrandt, it's that he at least finished Cruz inside the Octagon where it counted most.
Both Cruz and Dillashaw ran circles around Garbrandt in the lead-up to their fights. Garbrandt tried his best to keep up, but retorts were not his strongest suit. Which is fine. Some of the best fighters and most marketable fighters didn't trash talk. But the key was that they knew better than to try.
Anderson Silva's blueprint against Chael Sonnen is one more fighters can take. There isn't a need to try and meet your opposition on the mic at press conferences or during interviews. Especially when they can make you look bad by comparison.
Garbrandt is extremely talented and a treat to watch perform. Make that his calling card and limit his time with a live microphone.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
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It feels a little strange to include Joanna Jedrzejczyk on this list, but it is more of a plea to not talk trash upon her return than anything else.
Jedrzejczyk was one of the most feared women in the strawweight division. Precision striking brutalized opponent after opponent—until Rose Namajunas ended her reign and beat her in two consecutive bouts. Jedrzejczyk returned with a win over Tecia Torres before moving to flyweight in a failed bid to win that title.
One of Jedrzejczyk's calling cards was intimidating opponents. She would often bring them gifts at the weigh-ins to continue to play mind games.
After losing three of four, that doesn't tend to work anymore. The aura is gone. At least, for now.
Jedrzejczyk has tons of charisma and is a fan favorite. She is fun in and out of the cage. But returning to her old ways of building up fights may need a brief break. If Jedrzejczyk can pick up a couple of wins and look like her old self, then the confidence will be there to go back to her brash ways.
Jedrzejczyk is one of the only entries who can talk trash effectively. She just needs to re-establish herself in the division and build the trust of the fans back up after her recent losses. This is an appeal to halt the talk until she takes back her place among the elite.
Colby Covington
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If there is one person on the entire UFC roster who needs to zip it, it's Colby Covington.
Covington's biggest problem with his trash talk is the language he used. They have including homophobic language and bordered on outright racism. In 2017, he called Brazilians "filthy animals" which caught the eye of Jon Jones. Jones responded on Twitter (contains NSFW language).
When pressed about the language used, Covington said, "They call me a racist, but I'm a realist." A rather disgusting rebuttal to say the least.
Leaning into this (utterly low) level of trash talk is a bad look. It's a bad look for Covington, the UFC and the sport itself. It feeds into stereotypes of what combat sports athletes are and is a stain on what humans should strive to be. Why is he happy to feed into these bigoted roles?
Covington's trash talk helped him gain some momentum in the division, including an interim title shot against Rafael dos Anjos. So, to that end, it was partially effective. But it wasn't exceedingly effective.
McGregor's trash talk has also had borderline moments. But his trash talk generated a fervor around his events. The same cannot be said for Covington. During his biggest bout, at UFC 225, Covington's talk only got him the co-main event slot. Per MMAPayout.com's Blue Book, the pay-per-view only generated 250,000 buys. That's a far cry from one million buys.
If his trash talk was effective in captivating audiences, even in the role of a heel, one would think he could at least reach 500,000 or 600,000 buys. Instead, he's second fiddle on the bill and cannot crack 300,000 paying PPV customers.
The market has proved he can stop with the charade. His heel tactics and words didn't create the next big star for the UFC—It just created some bad press. Covington can continue being a heel, that's fine. He needs to just drop the disgusting language because no one is buying what he's selling, and that's a great thing.
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