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UFC fans have a great sense of humor. While it has gained much more mainstream appeal over the past few years, the sport as a whole has mostly been watched by a dedicated fanbase who make up a large internet community. The interwebz is a breeding ground for sarcasm, absurdist humor, and, most of all, photoshops. The messageboard-centric fans mixed with a litany of ridiculous characters who fight in an eight-sided cage for a living is really the perfect recipe for some hysterical and enduring inside jokes. From knocked out faces to over-used phrases, it was difficult narrowing down so many funny concepts and images from over the years. Here are the top 20 UFC memes.
#20: Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, strawberries
Every single thing that Brock Lesnar did became a meme. The former UFC heavyweight champ only fought seven times inside the Octagon in three years, but every second of it was memorable. Pre-fight interviews, post-fight interviews, the fights themselves, his weigh-ins, the secrecy of his training camps, his acclaimed collegiate wrestling, his controversial professional wrestling, his chest tattoo, his back tattoo, his entrance music, and really anything we knew about Lesnar made him that much more interesting. The man’s name “Brock” “Lesnar” sounds like it should have been the UFC heavyweight champion.
Even with a limited amount of fights, Lesnar won the belt and had a rivalry with Frank Mir. Their feud started in Lesnar’s UFC debut when Mir subbed Lesnar right after Lesnar almost knocked out Mir. The destined rematch happened at UFC 100 in a title unification bout. Obviously a more mature fighter than he was the year prior, Lesnar used his wrestling, size, and strength to keep Mir where he wanted him and beat out a TKO finish in the 2nd round. And as soon as it was over, Lesnar showed there was no love lost and got right into Mir’s bloodied face with an extended finger.
#19: Tito Ortiz’s head
A lot of reverence has been paid to fighters being born with heavy hands, but only one fighter was bestowed with a heavy head: former UFC light-heavyweight champ Tito Ortiz. For much of the company’s existence, if one mentioned the UFC then one thought of the dyed dome of Ortiz. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” and his big head wore the crown for the 205 pound division for three years and successfully defended it five times. Whether it helped him absorb punches in the Octagon, helped him stick out in the crowd or was just big enough to house his notorious ego, Ortiz’s head was a staple in and out of the UFC’s cage for an incredible 15 years. It’s been commonly photoshopped to appear grossly disproportionate to his body or been made relative to the size of a planet in other pictures.
#18: Fighters catching other fighters sleeping
The UFC is a business and, like other companies, they have their employees go to work conferences to learn more about their job. For the UFC, it’s called “The UFC Summit” and its Twitter hashtag is #UFCSummit and it’s hilarious. The Summit started a few years ago and lasts a few days, the entirety of the UFC roster is split into two groups and those groups sit through lectures and presentations ranging from saying no to steroids to saying yes to Instagram.
It’s pretty much UFC school and, as one would expect, people who choose to fight in cage for a living do not make the best students. It’s a roster full of class-clowns trying to make each other laugh or UFC fans laugh through the Twitter hashtag. The funniest is when a fighter falls asleep during a presentation and the cast of The Ultimate Fighter season 5 all take pictures of it and post it to Twitter like they were taught to do earlier that day.
#17: I train UFC
Those three letters have become synonymous with the toughest athletes in combat sports and the most vile posers to ever rock a t-shirt with a glittery cross. The UFC has a broad appeal from conventional martial artists to all the meatheads who think they’re “The Situation”. Actually, “The Situation” has been at a couple UFC events. It’s a melting pot of people who do train martial arts and those who say they do but don’t. For the truly ignorant, UFC is a martial art that one trains and not a company name for a sport that is a blending of all martial arts into a hybrid combat sport. So to all the tough guys at the club who don’t know Brazilian jiu-jitsu or Muay Thai or have never wrestled, we all fully believe that you train UFC because of course you do.
#16: Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is the biggest
Fight fans are riveted by weight cutting. It’s fairly non-existent in team sports and is mostly a product of the American wrestling system, but the idea is that a person walks around at one weight, will cut a drastic amount of weight prior to weigh-ins, rehydrate the next day, and have a size advantage in the match. On average, fighters cut 15-20 pounds, so a guy who fights at 185 pounds walks around at 205 pounds perhaps. But there are those outliers, those mythical stories about a fighter weighing 30 or 40 or sometimes 50 pounds heavier than what they’re fighting at. It’s insane!
The star of a lot of those stories is Anthony Johnson who fought 11 times in the UFC with most of those bouts at 170 pounds, which he routinely didn’t make. A possible reason why were the rumors that Johnson walked around at 220 to 250 pounds. With that, pictures or gifs of Johnson being bigger than Godzilla to bigger than the universe began flooding in for everyone’s delight.
#15: “Harlem Shake” at MMA gyms
Practically, everyone and their mother made a “Harlem Shake” video, which most definitely includes MMA gyms ranging from Jackson-Winkeljohn’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, Sweden. Actually, it was in the latter’s video that Alexander Gustafsson called out UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones, which Jones responded to. Not to say their UFC 165 title fight, which was one of the best title fights in UFC history was because of their “Harlem Shake” videos, but it could’ve been. MMA fighters from Australia to America produced their own 30 second peculiar dance remix showing that even the toughest cagefighters know how to have fun too.
#14: Kiai Master vs. MMA
If there’s one thing that UFC/MMA has done, it removed the mysticism from martial arts and replaced with the truth of what an actual trained martial artist is. If you walk into a gym that’s in some way associated with the UFC or its current/former fighters, you will be taught how to throw punches, kicks, take people down, control them, choke them out et cetera. But there are gyms out there where it’s a hoax about what techniques they’re teaching and some of those places do practice a crazy idea that the top guy in the gym has more or less super powers.
Such was the case with Kiai Master Ryukerin who claimed to have 200-0 record and is shown in the over 10,000,000+ viewed video immobilizing attackers by waving his hands at them. Apparently, this delusional old man wagered $5,000 that he could beat any MMA fighter and, sadly for him, some random guy accepted. In front of a live audience, the expected happens and the hand waving doesn’t deter the anonymous MMA fighter from grabbing the old man and punching him in the face until someone stops it. By the way, the kid genuinely shows remorse about shattering this old man’s world of falsehoods.
#13: Hipster MMA
All it takes is adding a pair of horned-rim glasses and a condescending one-liner to a photo of your favorite UFC fighter. Sometimes a scarf is applicable as well. An offshoot from the “hipster barista” meme, but with jokes an average cagefighting messageboard lurker would enjoy. One of the originals, a portrait of Gabriel Gonzaga wearing the trademark glasses and the phrase, “I high-kicked Cro Cop, just because it was ironic”. What makes it funny? Cro Cop was famous for head kick KOing his opponents and Gonzaga did just that to him, and hipsters love irony.
#12: Chael Sonnen barrell roll
The most hyped title defense in company history was Chael Sonnen vs. UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva at UFC 117. It was a year long taunting from the challenger, which turned Sonnen from a fighter to a celebrity. The heat and anger and passion built into this fight was palpable for months and when the two were finally locked inside the Octagon together who knew what was going to happen next. No one could’ve guessed the clash would’ve ended the way it did with Silva’s fifth round submission of Sonnen, but no one could’ve guessed it would start with a “barrell roll” escape from Sonnen either.
About 40 seconds into this title fight for the ages, Sonnen threw out a right low kick which Silva caught. The quick thinking Sonnen pivoted and did a somersault away from Silva, turned and got back to standing, and went back to engage with the champ. If those two were so focused on punching a hole through each other’s head, they probably would have laughed like the rest of us who saw it live. A barrell roll! That maneuver has been worked into many videogame gifs like “Street Fighter II” and “Star Fox”.
#11: Frank Mir face
The man’s got an expressive face. Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has a certain air about him and sometimes he was wears it with his eyebrow raises, quizzical smirks, and head nods. Like he’s John Krasinski from “The Office”, Mir needs no words to get across what he’s feeling and only needs a specific look. The creator or the pointer-outer of Mir’s wonderful facial expressions is UFC lightweight Danny Castillo who really pushed the idea through the popular Twitter hashtag #FrankMirFace. Whether it’s condescending or it’s withdrawn or it’s nodding along to music with a pair of oversized headphones, the greatest submission artist in UFC heavyweight history has a face for it that perfectly encapsulates that moment.
#10: Who is Lyoto Machida?
Before he was “The Dragon” and before he stepped inside the Octagon, former UFC light-heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida was famous for one thing: he beat Rich Franklin. There was a time when former UFC middleweight champion “Ace” Franklin was seen as the absolute best by UFC fans. Franklin was 7-0 in the UFC and was an overall 22-1, 1NC before Anderson Silva ever arrived. If fight fans only watched the UFC then checking out Franklin’s record led them to one question and one question only: who is Lyoto Machida? The lone loss of Franklin’s otherwise flawless record was a knockout to an undefeated striker with only a few professional fights including a TKO over Stephan Bonnar and a decision win against BJ Penn. Countless messageboard threads were made with the purpose of understanding one dire query, who is this guy?
#9: Old Vitor
Only 19 years old, Vitor Belfort blew the roof of UFC 12 with back-to-back TKO wins in the span of 2 minutes time inside the Octagon. In February 1997, Belfort debuted and won the UFC heavyweight tournament like an unstoppable juggernaut of punches. Belfort was a star pre-dating Zuffa’s purchase of the company and left to fight in Japan after two more wins in the Octagon. From there, Belfort’s career meandered and so did his performances for the first half of the 2000’s.
What happened to the furious punches and quick pace? Was it all a dream? A common thought by fight fans, what if Vitor Belfort found his stride again and started fighting like the “Old Vitor”? This theory that if Belfort could return to his previous form then no one would be able to stop him went of for years and was thought to be a joke. Then the most unexpected thing happened, at 32 years old Belfort began fighting like “Old Vitor”. Now in his mid 30’s and actually considered old as a fighter, Belfort is 5-2 in the UFC and with the same knockout power as before. The “Old Vitor” prophecy came true.
#8: Jacob Volkmann wants to fight Barack Obama
Yes, the President of the United States of America was called out by then 12-2 lightweight Jacob Volkmann in an interview with Ariel Helwani following a mediocre split-decision at UFC 125. Volkmann was asked who he wanted next, and he responded with Obama because he disagreed with the President’s policies and added, “Someone needs to knock some sense into that idiot.” This interview went viral when NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno played an altered video where Obama walks up and slams Volkmann’s head into the wall, knocking him out. The result was minor fame for Volkmann including a visit from, not joking, the Secret Service as well as Volkmann selling orange t-shirts that said “Volkmann for President”.
#7: Dana White’s shocked face
The UFC President Dana White is arguably the most quotable and most memorable character in the company. The Prez wears his emotions on his sleeve and doesn’t hold back when he thinks something is right or wrong or if a knockout was "f***ing insane". Forget about the millions in the bank, White is a fight fan just like all of us. He screams, he curses, he gets frustrated, and when something amazing happens he jumps out of his seat with an involuntary “OHHHHHHHH!!!” look plastered on his face.
There have been a bunch of these reactions over the years, but this one is from the first episode fights to get into the house for season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter. It’s gone on to be shooped and gif-ed as a reaction to about every knockout that has happened since in the UFC to more comical situations like reacting to Alistair Overeem’s hulking body.
# 6: Matt Hughes defending against Georges St-Pierre’s kick
In the passing of the torch main event, UFC welterweight champ Matt Hughes took on Georges St-Pierre in a much anticipated rematch of their title clash two years earlier. It comes down to taking a picture out of context can be awfully funny as Hughes tried to defend a kick from GSP, which resulted in a dainty stance, his hands up, and a more than awkward face. Probably the most unflattering photo of the UFC Hall of Famer ever taken including ones of him being knocked out or anything. The photo has lived-on on web boards in hundreds of photoshops, but the best may be incorporating Hughes into the faceplant gif from “So You Think You Can Dance” tryouts.
#5: “Just Bleed” guy
To those who don’t like or understand the UFC, we’re all the “Just Bleed” guy.
In Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, while panning the crowd prior to the semi-final bout between Mark Kerr and Greg Stott, the cameraman found the most indelible image and personification of every terrible UFC fan. He was sans shirt, equipped with beer in hand, “JUST BLEED” painted in red and white on his chest, and a neon green “UFC” painted on his forehead. If that wasn’t enough, the “Just Bleed” guy was in mid shoulder and neck popping flex mode and his mouth movements were either denoting how intense his flexing was or that he was being secretly disemboweled at that very moment.
Actually, UFC 15 was quite a nice little event with Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort, Maurice Smith vs. Tank Abbott for the heavyweight strap, and, as mentioned, “The Smashing Machine” Kerr fought and won the night’s tournament. Also, it showed an improvement in rules with groin strikes, headbutts, and hair pulling all became officially illegal. Nevertheless, the most overused image is that idiot in the stands grimacing with “Just Bleed” neatly written out on his flesh.
Such an iconic moment it was, UFC middleweight Tom Lawlor reenacted it at the weigh-ins to a cheering crowd at UFC 100. Also, it makes for a great, cheap and easy Halloween costume.
#4: Steven Seagal’s lessons
At UFC 126, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva front-kicked Vitor Belfort in the face and knocked him out. The kick was a revelation and started a revolution of fighters throwing front kicks to their opponents’ faces hoping for the same highlight reel result. What came next no one could have guessed, “Under Siege” action star Steven Seagal took credit for teaching that kick to Silva. Seagal was at the event in a black leather coat, black hat, and yellow tinted shooting glasses and was there with Silva. A couple months later, Lyoto Machida defeated Randy Couture with a jumping front kick (“Karate Kid” crane kick) and Seagal quickly took credit for that as well. A meme was born about how the mother of all invention is actor/director of “On Deadly Ground”, none other than Seagal.
#3: Sexyama
He wasn’t always known as “Sexyama”, but in some way he always was. A decorated Judoka turned life icon, Yoshihiro Akiyama was a very successful MMA fighter in his native Japan going 12-1, 2NC with all of his victories via finish. In 2009, Akiyama signed with the UFC and has gone 1-4 inside the Octagon, but did win 3 consecutive Fight of the Night bonuses. But that’s far from the whole story of Akiyama because his pro record doesn’t talk about the man’s undeniable sex appeal. The persona of “Sexyama” is from his modeling career, his music career, his dyed hair, his fantastic fashion sense, his operatic entrance to the cage, his impeccable tan, his buff physique, that winning smile, and the soulfulness in his eyes. At first, it was an internet craze that morphed into a self-fulling prophecy as Akiyama took on the mantle that always was his and accepted the nickname “Sexyama”.
#2: Dan Henderson knocks out Michael Bisping
The H-Bomb! Dan Henderson has had a marvelous career winning tournaments, winning belts, making Olympic teams, and so on and so forth, but all he ever had to do was KO Michael Bisping at UFC 100 to be immortalized. The two coached as national rivals on The Ultimate Fighter: USA vs. UK with their coaches collision set for the UFC’s pay-per-view centennial. The whole fight was Henderson stalking with his right hand loading up to catch the quicker Bisping just one time.
A little more than halfway through the second round, Henderson dropped the “H-Bomb” overhand right, which nearly took Bisping’s head off. With the ref out of position, Henderson literally dove on top of Bisping to deliver a second “H-Bomb” for good measure. Easily, one of the most replayed, most photoshopped, and most gif-ed knockouts in UFC history. At least, it is in the USA as many pictured it as an Octagon account of the Revolutionary War.
#1: Rashad Face
THE GREATEST UFC MEME EVA! If you can only see one UFC meme this year then invest your life into the ‘Shad Face meme. No one image has been more loved and taken care of and shooped into so many other images with such thoughtfulness than that of the knocked out face of Rashad Evans from UFC 98 at the hands of Lyoto Machida in their UFC light-heavyweight title fight.
There are memes and there is the ‘Shad Face. Whether it is partially hidden in the background, made transparent as if an ethereal spirit, put on anyone’s body in any situation, or on a zombie’s head in the Michael Jackson “Thriller” video, this meme is simply the gift that keeps on giving. Both its ridiculousness that it’s real and the overall goofiness of former UFC light-heavyweight champ Evans’ expression is always topical and forever timeless.
