The Fighters With The Best Tattoos In The UFC
In modern day MMA, you can’t go a fight card without seeing a wide variety of tattoos on fighter’s bodies. These fighters come from all walks of life so have a real variety of different tattoos with various meanings ranging from the downright ridiculous to the rather poignant.
Like anything else in life, you will find that there is a real mixed bag of tattoo quality within the UFC. Some fighters have thought long and hard about what ink they wanted, and then got their artwork completed by the best tattoo artist they could find. Others seem to have had a spur of the moment decision to get whatever came into their head and then went into a back alley to get it done within 15 minutes.
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The Top 8 Fighters With The Best Tatttos In The UFC
Israel Adesanya – Broken Native
One of the most iconic and well recognized tattoos on a UFC fighter is the “Broken Native” and Africa continent ink on the chest of Israel Adesanya. Whilst this piece is not the most eyecatching or visually stunning tattoo, it is the meaning behind it that is more important. Although Broken Native was a crew of dancers that Adesanya belonged to, it is also much more personal than this. Adesanya has frequently mentioned in interviews that he was always the odd one out and regularly bullied after his family emigrated to New Zealand.
The continent of Africa has a lion etched into the background, whilst Nigeria (Adensanya’s home country) is also outlined within the map.
Conor McGregor – King Ape
There is not too much meaning behind the tattoo of the vicious looking ape on McGregor’s chest, but it is certainly a piece of original artwork which hadn’t really been seen before and has since been copied by a small legion of fans. For those who are unaware, the ape is the logo used for SBG Dublin, which is the gym where McGregor trains MMA.
This ape is a lot more detailed and well drawn than the SBG logo (as you would expect), as well as having a crown upon its head, whilst eating a human heart.
Brock Lesnar – Sword
Another very unique tattoo that stands out from the crowd is the sword on Brock Lesnar’s chest. Once again, this is not a particularly outstanding or intricate tattoo but represents a period in the life of the UFC and WWE superstar. Lesnar has stated that at one point in his life he felt like there was a knife to his throat in terms of what he did next. As he was feeling like this, he did not hesitate and rushed to get the ink put onto his chest. What makes this piece stand out more is that Lesnar has no other tattoos on the front of his upper body.
Max Holloway – Native Polynesian Artwork
Max Holloway is one of the most underrated fighters of his generation and often overlooked due to the other superb athletes in his weight division. As a native Hawaiian, Holloway is of Polynesian descent which is seen in his patterned chest tattoo. This artwork displays various designs such as birds, eyes, a sword, and tribal markings.
Holloway got this tattoo because it is representative of the people of Polynesia and also various stages in his life. Despite what some people may think, the complete tattoo is unfinished and Holloway will likely keep adding to it as his life progresses.
Jeff Monson – Capitalism
One of the most heavily tattooed men in the entirety of mixed martial arts. Jeff Monson has everything from the extreme political tattoos pictured on his back, to a Hello Kitty and Power Puff Girl. Needless to say, it seems Jeff Monson doesn’t care what anybody else thinks of him.
It also goes without saying that we know what the meaning behind his anti-capitalist tattoo is. As a citizen of Russia, Monson did not defect from the USA, but clearly shows a disdain for its politicians, leaders, and lifestyle. Pictured just under his neck is a picture of a man with a gun to the head of another man with the word capitalism printed at the bottom.
Andy Ogle – Yakuza
Not a typical tattoo for a fighter that was born and raised in Sunderland, UK. Either way, the Yakuza tattoos of Andy Ogle are finished to an extremely high degree and are superbly detailed. If you weren’t to look at the face of Ogle, you would likely think that this was a real member of the Yakuza by just looking at the tattoos.
The left side of the design features a water serpent or dragon emerging from the waves, whereas the right side features a phoenix. Although the two sides are very similar, they contrast with one another very nicely.
Benson Henderson – Angel Wings
A deeply religious fighter, Benson Henderson will often thank god in his post fight interviews and will always enter the cage to Christian music. This can be seen in his detailed angel wings upon his back. Unlike many other fighter’s demonic style wings on their back, it is quite clear that Henderson chose these to be drawn in a religious style.
Henderson also has many other Christian themed tattoos which are written on his body in Korean.
Mark Hunt – Dead Samurai
In a tribute to Japan, Mark Hunt added to his already near full body of artwork with 3 dead samurai warriors. Japan is the birthplace of several martial arts with the likes of Judo, Karate, and almost every form of sword fighting originating from the region.
The 3 dead samuai on his chest are exceptionally well detailed and displayed across the broad chest of Hunt. The New Zealander is well known for his famous walk off punches and began his career in PRIDE during the golden age of Japanese MMA.
