By Tom Palmer January 19, 2011
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The sport of mixed martial arts is perfect for rivalries. For starters, its two guys fighting in a cage for Chrissakes. A cage. With no placekickers, no front offices, no equipment, and no excuses. One guy wins, one guy loses, save the couldas and wouldas for tennis. For this reason, MMA is the perfect breeding ground for good old fashioned, genuine, hate-filled feuds. MNL takes a look at the top 5 tiffs in the sport today. And stop looking at me like that, you wanna go?
5. Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
While this rivalry lacked the intensity of some of the others in the sport of mixed martial arts, it was entertaining nonetheless. Dana knew he had a potential blockbuster pissing contest on his plate and played his cards perfectly, aligning these two as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter before turning them loose on each other in the weeks leading up to their fight.
Jackson creatively and humorously played the race card while Evans and his camp questioned Jackson’s dedication to MMA and work ethic, which would irritate any fighter. Most of the trash-talking during the show came across and forced and contrived but near the end you got the sense these guys were actually starting to truly despise each other.
The fight was ok, with Evans winning a unanimous decision but Jackson’s rhetoric during the pre-fight hype was what made this matchup entertaining to fans.
4. Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar
This rivalry doesn’t have the unfiltered hatred for each other that other feuds offer, it’s just two hyper-conditioned, hyper-gifted athletes with similar styles who have fought two very competitive fights already, and have a third on the horizon.
Edgar and Maynard have similar wrestling-based styles with Edgar having better timing and technical boxing while Maynard possesses more raw power. Maynard won their first fight by imposing his will and landing a couple big shots to in the third round to win a unanimous decision. Their second fight, a title fight for Edgar’s UFC lightweight belt, was an epic 5-round struggle that ended in a draw and instantly became an early frontrunner for 2011 fight of the year.
In an age where rivalries are created for marketing purposes, it’s a shame that a true rivalry like this one doesn’t get nearly the fan interest that a farce like the one between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz did.
These two fighters are at the pinnacle of their respective careers and the third fight, scheduled for May 28th, will be rounds 9-13 and a continuation of their highly entertaining rivalry.
3. Chael Sonnen and The Sport of MMA
With Sonnen’s self-imposed silent treatment yet again, MMA’s resident clown prince has transformed himself into the felonious monk. Sonnen, fresh off covering his face completely with egg by testing positive for steroids after making comments about Lance Armstrong and PED’s, outdid himself by pleading guilty recently to federal mortgage fraud before a grand jury in Oregon.
Sonnen’s behavior has cast a dark shadow over the entire sport of MMA. Armstrong is an American hero who looked death directly in the eye during his fight with cancer, and conquered the disease. He represented the United States like no other American Tour De France competitor has in its history winning the event a record 7 times. While rumors of Armstrong’s drug use have circulated his entire career, Armstrong has never failed a drug test. Never. Not once. More than we can say for Chael Sonnen who wasted no time letting fans know he was a cheater, testing positive in the fight directly following his comments about Armstrong.
So at last check we had Sonnen making ridiculous comments about an iconic American sports hero, then refusing to acknowledge that he made the recorded comments. Following that, he tests positive for banned substances and fails to make a public statement regarding his positive drug test.
Now, he’s pled guilty to money laundering and doing his part to lead this nation to its greatest economic crisis since the great depression. And for good measure, he made disparaging comments about two of MMA’s greatest ambassadors, Georges St. Pierre and Wanderlei Silva.
2. Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
After the typical pre-fight trash talk for Mir/Lesnar II went down without a hitch, Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir looked to put on a nice little heavyweight fight then go back home, nurse their war wounds and get back to work. However, this turned into a budding rivalry when, after stopping Mir with a particularly brutal grounding and pounding, Lesnar stuck his finger in Mir’s bloodied mug and asked him if he wanted to continue the trash-talking, using rather colorful wording to do so.
From there, the nastiness escalated through the media with Mir stating in an interview that he wanted to break Lesnar’s neck the next time they fought. When given an opportunity to retract that sentiment Mir instead went further with his sweet nothings about Lesnar saying, “I want him to be the first person who dies from Octagon-related injuries.”
Nothing like a little Frankness (bad, I know) with your feelings about a guy to legitimize a feud. It struck such a chord in the MMA community that UFC President Dana White issued a gag order on Mir. When Dana White says to curtail the trash talking, you know it’s gotten out of hand.
I think what resonated the most with fans about Mir’s comments was how genuine they sounded. This wasn’t made an attempt to create something that wasn’t there. Mir’s comments rang with authentic hatred for Lesnar. Good stuff.
1. Nick Diaz and Jason “Mayhem” Miller
While Nick Diaz has had his share of rivalries over the years, his current feud with the outspoken Jason “Mayhem” Miller tops the list as MMA’s top current rivalry.
This beef started when Miller jumped into the Strikeforce cage and obnoxiously requested a rematch with current UFC welterweight contender Jake Shields, one of Diaz’s close friends and training partners, during a post-fight interview. Shields took offense, Diaz and his brother Nate rushed in, and the monkey scrum was officially on.
You had two Diaz brothers, Shields, and Gilbert Melendez all swinging wildly and attempting to stomp the appropriately named “Mayhem” Miller while CBS commentator Gus Johnson choked back tears watching the melee. Strikeforce officials eventually restored order but the pilot light for this explosive feud had officially been lit.
To illustrate how much these guys hate each other, Nick Diaz once fought Joe “Diesel” Riggs in a hospital room THE SAME NIGHT after fighting him at a UFC event. And that Diaz feud is only the 2nd best. That’s some hate your momma type stuff right there folks.
The barbs between these two have gotten more personal and more frequent while Strikeforce somehow tries to capitalize on this legitimate blood feud. If and when the fight between these two super-talented fighters takes place, I have a feeling even Mr. Hatfield and Mr. McCoy will turn to each other during the fight and say “Wow, these guys really do hate each other.”
