What an Ass: The Most Unlikeable Fighters in the UFC

I think the title speaks for itself here.

These are my picks for the most unlikeable fighters inside the UFC. Obviously, it's a very subjective topic, but I feel like I've been reasonably objective.

While we may not like these fighters and their antics may be questionable, there is no denying that by being the heel they generate a lot more hype and anticipation going into fights. For that reason, I appreciate these guys.

But I also hate them.

A lot.

Karo Parisyan

picture courtesy of combatlifestyle.com

Karo Parisyan, like most who will appear on this list, is featured because he likes to talk—a lot. Unlike most people on this list, he is not being featured because he likes to talk a lot of trash, but because he is always making excuses for himself.

He has a plethora of excuses every time he loses inside the Octagon. Most notably, he made loads of excuses after his fight with Diego Sanchez, going so far as to blame his mouthpiece not fitting correctly.

Karo's excuses have even perturbed Dana White in the past. Parisyan was set to face Dustin Hazelett at UFC 106 and backed out of the fight. Dana then posted the following Tweet:

"Karo Parisyan will not be fighting Saturday or ever again in the UFC!!"

White also stated later that Parisyan made a "laundry list of excuses" as to why he couldn't fight.

The fact that Karo tested positive for banned substances after his split-decision victory (later changed to no contest) probably didn't gain him any fans either

And let's not ignore the fact that when he grows a goatee he looks like he should be starring in low-grade pornography.

Junie Browning

Junie Browning's stint in the UFC was short, but few people have been so disliked in such a short amount of time.

Junie's time with UFC began when he was a cast member on the eighth season of the Ultimate Fighter. Browning's antics inside the house were like Chris Leben's in season one—on steroids. He would drink frequently and pick fights with anyone and everyone. He even went so far as to throw a glass at both Shane Primm and Kyle Kingsbury.

He was also extremely cocky, never missing an opportunity to tell people how much better he was than everyone else.

His hype was exposed as hooey when he was defeated by Efrain Escudero in the semifinals.

Junie went 1-1 in the UFC after that loss and his contract was later terminated due to an incident outside of the UFC.

Side note: Junie receives a lot of flack from people who think his hair looks stupid. I think it actually looks pretty cool.

Dan Hardy

Despite the fact that Hardy is reasonably popular with the fans in the UK, I feel comfortable putting him on this list.

He has the trait that earned most people on this list their spot: cockiness. He is the kind of guy that talks a lot of trash before a fight and elevates it to a level of disrespect.

He has more confidence in himself than everyone else in the world put together and has never beaten anyone that good.

He's the classic chip-on-his-shoulder loudmouth that people love to hate. I will say this: Hardy can occasionally be funny. Referring to George St. Pierre's gi as pajamas—pretty funny.

Side note: Unlike with Browning, I agree with the general consensus that his hair looks stupid.

Paul Daley

Paul Daley has a lot of the same issues as Dan Hardy. He's loudmouthed and overly confident. Unlike Hardy, I haven't once heard him say something humorous whilst talking trash.

Fans' dislike for Daley skyrocketed after he punched Josh Kosheck after their fight at UFC 113. He went from being disliked for being cocky to being considered a legitimately dirty fighter.

I could go on about this guy, but I think the following statement will suffice: You know people don't like you when they enjoy seeing Josh Koscheck beat you.

Michael Bisping

Up until UFC 127, I probably would only have Bisping as an honorable mention. But this past Saturday, cemented his place on the list.

Bisping has always been a little bit cocky and liked to talk trash, but his actions at UFC 127 were disgusting.

Going into the fight, Bisping found himself on the receiving end of a lot of trash talk from Jorge Rivera and he clearly did not handle it well.

During the fight he hit a clearly downed Jorge Rivera with an illegal knee. Now, whether or not the knee was intentional is a debatable matter, but after he delivered it he gestured to the crowd to try and get them to cheer. Not classy.

What's less classy than attempting to coax an audience into cheering you for kneeing a downed opponent? Let's take a look at after the fight.

Bisping stopped Rivera in the second round via TKO and instead of congratulating his opponent he taunted him, called him a loser and demanded an apology from Rivera for his trash talking. The gloating was particularly distasteful, considering his victory was probably largely due to the illegal knee.

Bisping apologized for his actions during his interview with Joe Rogan, but it was just to save face with Dana White.

Side note: Bisping kept saying that Jorge insulted his family. Does anyone know what he was talking about? I don't recall Rivera insulting The Count's family and I followed most of the trash talk leading up to the fight. A link in the comments would be appreciated.

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar is most commonly disliked for carrying his WWE style antics into the UFC. He has shown on multiple occasions how short-tempered he is and his actions after his second fight with Frank Mir were despicable.

Frank Mir was nearly unconscious, receiving medical attention and Lesnar saw it fit to scream in his face. He followed that act by flipping off the audience (straight 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin—though people liked him) and insulting a UFC sponsor (Steve Austin would probably never insult beer; the comparison ends at this point).

Dana White was furious as he has worked hard over the years to disassociate the UFC with professional wrestling.

Brock Lesnar is also known for his dislike of being in the public eye, so he often comes off as abrasive and short-tempered in interviews.

Side note: Since being reamed out after UFC 100 by Dana White, Brock's attitude has improved somewhat. In fact, after the Velasquez loss he was pretty respectful, though it's hard to trash-talk a guy who just decimated you. If Lesnar keeps this up, he could work his way off this list.

Chael Sonnen

Nobody—and I'm not being hyperbolic—talks more trash than Chael Sonnen. He has the gift of the gab and is pretty entertaining when he speaks. This can likely be attributed to his career in politics.

Unfortuantely, Sonnen made the mistake of going overboard with his litany of trash talk leading into his fight with Anderson Silva. He even went so far as to insult Lance Armstrong, a hero to many, for using performance enhancing drugs.

After the Silva fight, Sonnen tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He says he was taking a substance that is not banned and the issue was his failure to disclose that he was using it, but with the amount of talking this guy does, who knows what to believe.

You'd think after an incident like that he would want to lay low. You'd be wrong.

Sonnen was open in criticizing Anderson Silva after Anderson knocked out Vitor Belfort at UFC 126. He said that Anderson "exposed himself," but didn't elaborate.

For awhile, Sonnen's antics were fun to watch. But at this point, everyone is just sick of hearing him talk.

Josh Koscheck

This list isn't meant to have any particular order to it, but if it did, Koscheck would be at the top. This guy loves to play the heel.

This is the guy who told a Montreal crowd that the Montreal Canadians were going to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins (which they did) and that he was going to beat St-Pierre (which he didn't).

Keep in mind that Koscheck did this after his fight with Paul Daley. After Daley's post-fight actions people were actually on Koscheck's side. He could have received a reasonable ovation, but instead decided to piss off thousands of people.

Koscheck established himself as an ass on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter—talking trash and playing petty pranks—and he's the person today that he was then (but a better fighter).

I don't think we'll see him change anytime soon.

Dishonorable Mentions

These are just a few guys I thought about including, but ultimately decided not to for various reasons:

Anderson Silva

Brandon Vera

Rashad Evans

Nate Diaz

Diego Sanchez