The 10 Worst Fighter Nicknames In MMA

Over the years, countless MMA fighters have stepped into the cage to put it all on the line. Whilst they should be commended for this – there’s also a more comedic side to fighting. Specifically, we’re on about corny MMA nicknames that are actually quite commonplace. Throughout time, there have been a lot of fighters who have pretty awful nicknames. From awkward play-on-words, to cheesy rhymes and overly dramatic names, we’ve listed them all. Some are stupid, some just plain don’t make any sense at all. Read on for more information.

Omar Morales – Venezuelan Fighter

Whilst Omar Morales may have been one of the better MMA fighters to come out of Venezuela, he’s also arguably got the worst nickname ever to hail from the country. This name lacks any creativity whatsoever and sounds like it was literally read off a card by mistake. However, this wasn’t the case – as he’s used this nickname throughout his career. In his 30s, Morales enjoyed moderate success in the likes of Bellator and the UFC. Nonetheless, his name leaves a lot to be desired…

Katlyn Chookigian – Blonde Fighter

Continuing the ‘Fighter’ trend, we’re now onto Katlyn Chookigian who goes by the name of ‘Blonde Fighter’. Yes, this nickname is based on the color of her hair. Honestly, this moniker sounds like something a 5 year old would come up with and lacks any ounce of creativity. According to some, her nickname is ironic which still doesn’t let her off the hook but it does explain its very unimaginative nature. Of course, most MMA fighters aren’t exactly known for their creativity, but come on.

Hector Lombard – Showeather

Hector Lombard may be one of the better-known MMA fighters from previous generations gone by. Still, his nickname was pretty terrible. According to Lombard, his name was based on two factors. The first is that he’d always turn up and put on a show. The second is because he would put his opponents under a weather of attacks whilst fighting.

In fairness to Lombard, this nickname does have some creativity involved. However, it just seems too forced and a little corny. It may not be the worst on this list, but falls into the category of trying too hard when it comes to nicknames.

Greg Hardy – The Prince Of War

Talking of trying too hard, Greg Hardy’s nickname is a classic example of this. Introducing, The Prince Of War. At best, this name sounds a bit cocky and pretentious, at worst it just sounds lame. Firstly, surely you’d rather be a king of war as a prince usually lacks experience? Secondly, the term prince has certain negative connotations. Often, princes are thought of as spoilt and lacking in real experiences, like Joffrey Baratheon in Game Of Thrones. In short, we just can’t take this nickname seriously, regardless of Hardy’s talents.

Julian Marquez – The Cuban Missile Crisis

Perhaps there’s something in the water with Cuban fighters (see Hector Lombard) but they seem to struggle with making good nicknames. Enter, Julian Marquez – also known as The Cuban Missile Crisis. Like Lombard, Marquez has enjoyed a successful MMA career and managed to hold his own in the UFC. However, this name is just plain bizarre. Of course, it’s a tenuous historical reference to his homeland, but it’s also not really appropriate to MMA.

In short, The Cuban Missile Crisis doesn’t really relate to fighting and is reaching at best. As said…perhaps there’s something in the Cuban water.

Rick Pfeifer – The Ginger With Intent To Injure

Rick Pfeifer seems to be yet another MMA fighter whose nickname sounded way cooler in his head than it actually was. He retired from MMA with a pro 5-6 record and his career never really took off. Perhaps one reason for this was due to his awful nickname…where he literally rhymed ginger with injure. That’s as creative as it got for Pfiefer, and to be honest – the less said on this the better. In fairness, at least he didn’t call himself ‘The Ginger Fighter’.

Corey Anderson – Beastin 25/8

Supposedly, this nickname is a nod to the term 24/7, as if Anderson was somehow ‘beastin’ more than is humanly possible. It’s a daft name that belongs in a playground. However, as we know some MMA fighters keep this child-like mentality well into their adulthood. Anderson eventually changed his name into something more fitting. Nonetheless, it’s still a case of a name that didn’t really fit and failed to ever catch on.

Jon Jones – Sexual Chocolate

These days, Jon Jones is best known as Bones which isn’t the most exciting MMA nickname going, but it’s certainly not the worst either. However, veteran MMA fans will certainly remember his previous nickname, Sexual Chocolate. This monicker was later dropped by Jones as it just seemed massively inappropriate for an MMA fighter. Nonetheless, it’s a name he had for a big chunk of his career.

Actually, this is probably the worst nickname that a UFC champion has ever used. As for Jon Jones, it seems that his fighting skills are certainly much better than his naming skills, or much of his personal life for that matter.

Miesha Tate – Cupcake

Another UFC champion with a dodgy nickname is Miesha Tate, who somehow managed to sandwich ‘Cupcake’ in between her first and second name. Apparently, this is because she genuinely enjoys cupcakes, which is fair enough but you wouldn’t really put that love into your nickname. Before this, she was previously called Miesha ‘Takedown’ Tate which is a bit better and more fitting. Whilst Jon Jones fixed his cheesy nickname, it seems that Tate managed to reverse hers.

Kevin Burns – The Fire

Last but not least is Kevin Burns. His name may have been influenced by Elliot ‘The Fire’ Marshall which sounds way cooler. However, ‘The Fire’ Burns literally just sounds like a sentence, rather than something overtly threatening or catchy. Once again, he’s fallen into the classic MMA trap of thinking something sounds way better than it actually does. Burns retired from MMA in 2012 with a 12-6 record and thankfully took his trashy nickname with him.

Notable mentions

Sadly, there’s a lot more who could have made this list. In brief, there’s actually a huge number of MMA fighters with bad nicknames. No matter whether they’re a UFC champion or a small-timer who barely made it pro, there’s enough of them out there. Here are a few that could have easily made our list, but just about survived:

• Khabib ‘Bad Boy’ Nurmagomedov
• Volkan ‘No Time’ Oezdemir
• Rodney ‘Sho Nuff the Master’ Wallace
• Molly ‘Meatball’ McCann
• Logan ‘The pink pounder’ Clark

Thankfully, there are some much more creative nicknames in MMA and we’ve also mentioned them in a previous article.