Ask a room full of MMA fans which fighters they love to root against the most and the two names that come up most often will likely be Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping. Guys like Tito Ortiz and Josh Koscheck have made a career out of playing the part of the villain, but in the modern day UFC, no fighters do it better than Bisping and Sonnen.
Both middleweights are brash, outspoken and have a knack for saying things that make fans want to pull their hair out, which has caused them to be two of the most disliked fighters in the sport.
While most would agree that their antics are primarily used to sell fights, it doesn’t make anyone like them any more than they have to.
Sonnen has driven MMA fans crazy with comments that can only be described as insane, as he has taken verbal shots at Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida,Wanderlei Silva, Lance Armstrong and, yes, Michael Bisping.
Bisping has been less cartoonish with his antics, taking a more hostile approach that has rubbed fans the wrong way. Bisping has been pissing off fans for years, but his antics at UFC 127 in his bout against Jorge Rivera, where he threw an illegal knee and allegedly spit in the direction of Rivera’s corner, pushed most viewers over the edge.
The two top-ranked middleweights got thrown into a No. 1 contenders bout on just 11 days’ notice when Mark Munoz was forced from the UFC on FOX card with an injury, and while anticipation has skyrocketed for the bout in a short amount of time, there is still a feeling of what could have been.
These two could have had a war of words that would have only been described as legendary, but with just under two weeks left to promote the fight they will likely not have enough time to take thing to another level.
In most UFC high-profile fights, you can guess which fighter the fans will be rooting for going into the fight, but with these two it will be interesting if either fighter gets cheered at all.
In the next week or so, not only will the hype for this fight grow on a daily basis, the sheer personality of these two fighters is going to force fans to pick a side. I’m not saying Team Michael and Team Chael T-shirts are going to be made, but everyone is going to find a reason to hate one guy a little more than the other.
These two have both made a career out of trying to get a reaction out of people, and most of the time that reaction seems to be negative.
Obviously, the most important battle will take inside the Octagon on fight night, but a minor victory will be won before Sonnen and Bisping even step into the cage.
Whoever gets booed more loudly on their way to the cage will know that they have done their job well over the last few years and, perhaps more importantly, will be viewed as the best villain the UFC has to offer.
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