“Sonny Liston is nothing. The man can’t talk. The man can’t fight. The man needs talking lessons. The man needs boxing lessons. And since he’s gonna fight me, he needs falling lessons.”
The art of talking trash is nothing new, as Muhammad Ali demonstrated in 1964, prior to his fight with Sonny Liston. Talking smack in MMA can happen for several reasons. Some fighters let the insults fly in order to get in his opponents head. An unusually gregarious Dan Henderson utilized an aggressive confidence leading up to his war with Rich Franklin. “I think I have more dimensions as an MMA fighter, so if he is for some reason beating me up on my feet, I am going to take him down and beat the shit out of him there,” Hendo boasted before his fight. Anyone who happened to catch Henderson and Franklin’s interactions on Dana White’s video blog knows that there was no scorn or disdain between the two athletes. Henderson, however, employed some psychological warfare to pick apart Franklin and perhaps to psych himself up for battle as well.
While Franklin did not retaliate in Hendo’s war of words, there have been genuine rivalries throughout the history of MMA that have translated into big bucks. As I search through the archive of smack-talk, the bitter rivalry of words that came to fruition at UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz is a prime example of the benefits of prefight hatred. The genuine contempt between the former friends, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, which was evident leading up to the now record breaking fight, resulted in over 1 million pay-per-view buys.
The upcoming contest between Matt Serra and arch nemesis Matt Hughes will act as a great measuring stick of the significance of prefight bad blood. If a fight between Serra and Hughes (which has no real significance in terms of the title picture) can garner a considerable number of viewers, then the UFC marketing team could attempt to manufacture more “genuine” feuds. While many grudges are in fact a bit fabricated, no one can dispute the authenticity of the hatred that Serra and Hughes hold for one another after watching them as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter. Accusations of “arrogant,” “bully,” “loudmouth,” and “jerk” have been rampant in interviews with both fighters. “People love rivalries, especially if it’s legit,” Serra explained to mmajunkie.com. Can bad blood and trash talk put fans in the seats? This lingering question will be answered in May at UFC 98.
Just as prevalent as furious feuds throughout MMA, mutual respect can be seen amongst world class opponents. From the incessant hugging between Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone opening each round at WEC 38, to the warrior-like admiration that Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch held for one another in their main event clash, respect adds a fist full of poetry to our seemingly violent sport. After pummeling each other for fifteen minutes, opponents who embrace one another with hugs and kisses truly exemplify the beauty of MMA. The juxtaposition of violence and affection adds a depth to Mixed Martial Arts that the officials fighting to keep MMA unsanctioned in my home state of New York will never understand (but that’s a different story). Among the top selling gates in UFC history, these polite and respectful fights are mysteriously absent, proving that talking trash may be good for business after all.
Certain fighters have learned that promoting a fight through talking trash can be essential to the success of the entire event: enter BJ Penn. A veteran of the industry, Penn has perfected the art of hyping his fights with prefight interviews. “That’s one thing no one can ever say about me, you know? That I was a coward and took sports enhancement drugs, because I was afraid I was going to get my ass kicked in front of millions of people,” Penn harped on the steroid accusations of then upcoming opponent Sean Sherk. After brutally finishing Sherk, Penn admitted to his defeated opponent that he was just trying to build a mega-fight. BJ took it to the next level when discussing his January 31 bout against St. Pierre. “I’m going to try to kill you, and I’m not joking about this,” Penn addressed GSP in an interview. He even went so far as to call GSP a “quitter” and a “little bitch” for tapping out to Matt Serra in 2007. While Penn received some criticism for his prefight demeanor, you can’t argue with the numbers! With “The Prodigy’s” efforts, UFC 94 holds the record for the most attended UFC fight in the history of the MGM Grand Garden Arena, not to mention the sixth highest live gate in UFC history with well over 14,500 spectators. Whether the rivalry was genuine or not, I don’t think the boss will be complaining anytime soon.
Regardless of the motivation, talking smack has evolved into a fight selling art form. While some fighters talk to infiltrate his opponents mind, others simply open their mouths to put butts in the seats. I’m not saying that world class fighters should resort to manufacturing storylines a la WWE, but it has become clear that talking smack translates into big numbers.