Sherdog’s Top 10: Trash Talkers

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3. Michael Bisping

You could argue that nobody in MMA has more genuinely enjoyed the process of getting under his opponents’ skin than Bisping. He treats pre-fight trash talk like an integral part of the process, just as important as pad work and cutting weight, and goes out of his way to dig at anything and everything possible in order to build the profile of the matchup. He is a naturally gifted ball-buster and has honed his craft for more than a decade at the highest level on every platform imaginable. In just one Twitter exchange with Luke Rockhold, you can get a sense for how he positions himself for fights while never seeming to err into the waters of scripted promotion.

Bisping’s material is never canned or hackneyed, and he tailors it to every opponent he faces. Dan Henderson took the brunt of it during their time coaching on “The Ultimate Fighter,” so much so that the normally soft-spoken American said that the leaping bomb he delivered onto an already unconscious Bisping at UFC 100 was intended to “shut him up.” With some aid from Jorge Rivera, Bisping managed to create a festive atmosphere in Australia for a fight with a career undercard staple. He tweaked Alan Belcher about his Johnny Cash tattoo and did his best to rile up Tim Kennedy.

The Englishman has never been the most powerful, the most athletic or even a truly elite middleweight. He has, however, maximized his talent through hard work and marketed himself in the most appealing possible way. Love him or hate him, people care about Bisping, and that is a great deal more than can be said for most fighters.

Number 2 » The best part about the Irishman’s motor-mouthed stream of chatter is that it is essentially his regular personality turned up a few notches. Ask people who knew him back when he was fighting in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, and they will tell you that he was essentially the same guy even back then, before anybody knew who he was. He was born to be a combat sports star, and the UFC has repeatedly given him the platforms necessary to make that a reality.