There was recently a massive popular thread on teh UG, with 100s of people writing over 40,000 words (the length of a short novel) on the nicest and the meanest MMA fighters they ever met.

The results were tabulated, and this the official nicest and meanest fighter in MMA, along with random observations and anecdotes.

The Nicest People in MMA

14

Wanderlei Silva

10

Dan Henderson, Tim Sylvia

9

Jens Pulver, Dana White, Rich Franklin, Matt Serra

7

Chael Sonnen, Chuck Liddell, BJ Penn, Joe Rogan, Bas Rutten, Renzo Gracie, Tito Ortiz, Gilbert Melendez

6

Rashad Evans, Antonio Bigfoot Silva, Jake Shields, Alan Belcher

5

Anderson Silva, Randy Couture, GSP, Nick Diaz, Phil Baroni, Jake Shields, Matt Hughes, Mark Munoz, Royce Gracie

4

Fabricio Werdum, Eddie Bravo, Josh Barnett, JDS, Urijah Faber, Clay Guida, Kevin Randleman, Johnny Hendricks, Nate Diaz, Miguel Torres, Shonie Carter, Stitch Duran, Big Nog, Paul Daley

3

Don Frye, Eugene Jackson, Mike Kyle, Ivan Salavarry, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, Pat Miletich, Ricco Rodriguez, Frank Mir, Mark Coleman, Jake Ellenberger, Jeremy Horn, Tank Abbott, Heath Herring, Clay Guida, Jose Aldo, Kenny Florian, Rampage, Ken Shamrock, Matt Mitrione, Evan Tanner, King Mo, Maurice Smith

2

Renato Babalu, Dustin Hazelett, Joe Daddy Stevenson, Bob Sapp, Eric Koch, Fedor Emelianenko, Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones, Gray Maynard, Gina Carano, Spencer Fisher, Roger Huert, Miesha Tate, Mikey Burnett, Jon Fitch, Ben Rothwell, Ariel Helwani, Michael Chiesa, Vitor Belfort, Lyoto Machida, Mayhem Miller, Don Frye, Krzysztof Soszynski, Takanori Gomi, Keith Jardine, Gerald Harris, Hector Lombard, Matt Lindland, Matt Hume, Mike Whitehead, Cyborg, Phil Davis, Robbie Lawler, Cung Le, Cris Cyborg, Frank Shamrock, Matt Brown, Mark Hughes, Diego Sanchez, Marcus Davis, Thiago Alves, Duane Ludwig, Jamie Varner, Stephan Bonnar, Karo Parisyan, Dean Lister, Brian Ebersole, Brian Stann, Dan Severn, Elvis Sinosic, Marco Ruas, Mac Danzig, Jon Olav Einem, Shogun, Ryan Bader, Melvin Guillar, Pat Barry

1

George Sotiropolous, Brett Rogers, Gabe Ruediger, Demetrious Johnson, Scott Smith, Guy Mezger, Laverne Clarke, Sam Stout, Brian Bowles, David Loiseau, John Hathaway, Marius Zarmoskis, Chris Lytle, Demian Maia, Carlos Newton, Murilo Bustamante, Thierry Sokoudjou, Dave Gardener, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, Big John McCarthy, Jeff Blatnick, Dave Menne, Lyle Beerbohm, Mike Cies, Travis Fulton, Dewey Cooper, Dan Hardy, Mark Kerr, Tom Lawlor, Rumble Johnson, Enson Inoue, Frank Trigg, Thomas Denny, Wallid Ismael, Jason Reinhart, Alessio Sakara, Jorge Rivera, Rich Cementi, Ben Saunders, Rickson Gracie, Donald Cowboy Cerrone, Carlos Condit, Mike Pierce, Rick Story, Dave Herman, Chris Leben, Nate Quarry, Scott Ferrozzo, Wes Sims, Tim Kennedy, Giant Silva, Todd Duffee, Royler Gracie, Houston Alexander, Hermes Franca, Roli Delgado, Cody McKenzie, Jason Von Flue, Justin Wren, Matt Wiman, Rory Markham, Chris Horodecki, Yushin Okami, Fejaio Calvacante, Ian Freeman, TKZ, Semmy Schilt, JZ Cavalcante, Josh Thomson, Tyrone Spong, Neil Grove, Alistair Overeem, Manny Gamburyan, Rulon Gardner, Melvin Manhoef, Yushin Okami, Travis Browne, Mauro Ranallo, Ronda Rousey, Yves Lavigne, Mario Sperry, Dennis Hallman, Benji Radach, Ricardo Liborio, Gleison Tibau, Keita Nakamura, Logan Clark, Jeff Monson, Sean Sherk, Cheick Kongo, Jason MacDonald, Ryan Ford, Brian Stann, Joe Riggs, Matt Hamill, Mark Bocek, Mark Hominick, Josh Koscheck, Gene Lebell, Brad Pickett, Eric Paulson, Ben Henderson, Joe Charles, Rich Clementi, Sean McCorkle, Tim Hague, Patrick Cote, Erick Silva, Mike Brown, Brendan Schaub, Frankie Edgar, Stephan Bonnar, Kendall Grove, Kyle Kingsbury, Ricardo Almeida, Cody McKenzie, Forrest Griffin, Tim McKenzie, Jorge Gurgel, Don Frye, Chris Clements, Jimmy Smith, Tim Hague, Brian Bowles, Joker Guymon

That Wanderlei Silva is the nicest guy in MMA is widely known. Less widely understood is that Tim Sylvia is frequently named as one of the most fan friendly fighters, ever.

And then there is The Not Nice List.

While Matt Huges was cited by a number of people as one of the friendliest fighters they ever met, he won meanest by an overwhelming margin.

Nobody is close.

However, the thing that most stands out about the mean list is how thin it is. Except for Hughes, there were very few people who fans reported were not nice, and all others have at least a comparable number of nicest, too.

17

Matt Hughes

4

Rampage, Clay Guida, Ken Shamrock, Forrest Griffin

3

Phil Baroni, Jon Jones, Karo Parisyan

2

Alistair Overeem, Don Frye, Tito Ortiz, Valentijn Overeem, Nate Diaz, Sam Stout

1

CB Dollaway, Mike Chiesa, Sam Stout, Alan Goes, Randy Couture, Brad blackburn, Mike Whitehead, Ricco Rodriguez, GSP, Mayhem Miller, Josh Koscheck, Todd Duffee, JZ Cavalcante, Patrick Cote, Tim Sylvia, Nick Diaz, Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar, Big Nog, Tiki Ghosn, Gray Maynard, Ross Pearson, Dominic Cruz, Sergei Kharitinov, Maurice Smith, Stephan Bonnar

In addition to a simple list, member of the UG also related meeting fighters, with varying results

Racer X

Back in the cable dark days, I used to drop off publicity posters for the UFC at AKA in San Jose. One time, my six year old son went with me. He was pretty intimidated by the whole scene, but one guy saw him and said, ” Hey, what’s up, little man? You gonna come in here and show us how it’s done?”

My boy lit up, thinking he was being shown some respect by one of these HUGE guys.

That was Mike Kyle who treated my son like a man.

—

torquemada

My best story is Renzo. Met him at a fight night, and he couldn’t have been nicer. Talked jiu-jitsu and Pride. He was talking about dieting down to fight Matt Hughes, and I mentioned how I was trying to eat very clean.

The next day, I am with my wife at a restaurant in downtown charlotte eating. I figured that I’ve been eating so clean, I can have a dessert.

Suddenly, someone comes up behind me and grabs me, and says “My fren! What the f— are you eating?”

My wife immediately asked “how the f— do you know Renzo?”

—

LucasBTiger

GSP sat next to my nephew on a plane out of New Mexico. When he heard that my brother was a giant fan, he not only took a pic with my nephew to send, but he CALLED MY BROTHER from my nephew’s phone and left a message. Great dude…

—

cjkozeluh

Nicest Clay or Sonnen. I was a boxing coach at Gilbert grappling when clay started fighting and have known him for seven or eight years. Chael did a seminar at clay’s gym and even though he was cutting weight was super down to earth and real funny.

Worst was Jon jones met him at an after party Clay threw at Proof after the UFC in Chicago. My friends asked Clay to ask him if it was ok to take a picture with him and he went off and said that’s why he fucking hates people and some other stuff. When Clay told him I was his boxing coach and did the boxing classes at his gym he offered to sign an autograph and take a picture and I told him no thank you my friends only wanted a picture because they thought he was Rashad Evans.

—

UGCTT_ATLien

Shortly after I moved to Vegas, a bar/restraunt near my house was showing a UFC hosted by Forrest. I’m from GA and went to UGA when he did, so he was my favorite fighter at the time. I was very disappointed when I met him. It was as if he would have rather been anywhere else in the world than there.

Met Frank Mir at the Spearmint Rhino, he was a very cool guy. Bought me a drink and shot the shit for over half an hour.

—

Crush Crawfish

Roli Delgado is the kind of guy I’d hook my sister up with, if I had a sister good enough for him.

Alan Belcher is a super good guy, known him forever

Met Mikey Burnett at a grappling tournament, awesome guy, loves the sport, we sat and talked about grappling and MMA all afternoon.

Tim Sylvia catches a lot of flak, but he was really cool when I met him.

Rob Kaman is one of the coolest people I’ve ever met, fighter or not.

When my brother came to visit, we were at Red Rock Casino eating some Ben & Jerry’s waiting for our movie to start. We see NYBA walking w his smoking hot GF (wife now). He was SUPER nice, took a pic and chatted for a few. My brother tells that story all the time, he was more excited to meet Baroni than any “movie star” or musician.

Have also met Cole and Micah miller a couple times (they are from my hometown) and they are always pretty down to earth as well.

—

UGCTT_molsonmuscle360

Tim Hague and Patrick Cote are both insanely nice people. Hague signed a bunch of stuff for me to give out at my workplace when we were showing his fight against Tuschescher (he was in a month or so before it) and spent a night that he just wanted to chill and play poker chatting up my customers. A lot of them talked about it for quite a while.

The only experience I have had with a fighter that was less than ideal was I once had Randy Coutoure sitting across from me in an airport, I kind of smiled at him and nodded just sort of to say “Hey, cool, I know who you are”, and I got back one of the worst death glares I have ever recieved in my life.

—

rickmelendez

I rarely post but this is a fun topic so here we go.

I’ve almost met every fighter I have ever wanted to meet because I go to all the UFC Fan Expos in Vegas. Just a tip to anyone wondering about those…THEY ARE AWESOME! Fighter access is unparalleled.

I’ll just list my top 3 most awesome dudes and why.

1. Wanderlei Silva-This should be self explanatory. A lot of guys have their on screen persona, and then they are totally different in person. Wand will literally jump over people to sign autographs and take pix. At the 2010 expo, there was a line down the damn street to see Wand. The time that he was scheduled to sign had ended and his manager started telling people to move so that Wand could get through and move to his next location. He literally shouted at the woman and told her that he will sign autographs for every single person in the line and scolded her ass. I was amazed.

2. JDS. I met JDS both when he was literally a nobody and after he became a champion. They said success changes people, and as for JDS this could not be further from the truth. WHen I met him at the UFC Expo, he was a humble and respectful gentleman. SIgned about 4 different items for me. Then when I met him at the UFC 146 open workouts in Vegas, he was EQUALLY Awesome! Signed all kinds of stuff for everyone. Not to mention, he flew an entire family from Brasil to come watch him fight. A total class act.

3. Dana F—— White-Not a fighter, I get it. However, Dana has the reputation for being an asshole. That is his onscreen persona. I went to UFC in Houston (Edgar Maynard III and Expo) and I watched Dana literally pulling small kids out of the aisles and into the VIP area to take pix and sign autographs. I also took a pic with him after I asked. Thought he would tell me to pound sand but he was awesome and very friendly…

Screw it…why not a few more…

4. Met Arianny at Panda Express in Barstow, CA she was polite and took a pic

5. Met BJ Penn and Urijah in Afghanistan-awesome beyond words

Two uncoolest dudes Ive ever met were Forrest and Matt Hughes. Both acted kind of disrespectfully.

—

rickmelendez

S— I have a ton more now that I think of it…ill share a few of the funnier ones.

1. I saw Stitch Duran taking a leak at a vegas fan expo. A fan ran up on him WHILE HE WAS PISSING (penis in hand) and shouted STITCH I LOVE YOU BRO!!! Just then, all of the other men started shouting and cursing at the guy for having the audacity to try and talk to a man while he urinates. Stitch could not have been nice and told the guy he’d meet for an autograph outside.

2. At a fan expo (2010) there were two very drunk men harassing and cursing at Anderson from the line. I had a brasilian girlfriend at the time who translated for me. Apparently the guys were shouting some pretty foul cursewords and profanities at Anderson who remained calm and collected the entire time. He totally ignored them which shows his professionalism. A young kid pulled up in a wheelchair to take pics but the line was so long he would not have had a chance. Anderson, spotting him from a distance literally pushed his bodyguards out of the way and went to the boy and signed all of his stuff and took pix, then went back to the booth. I was amazed by this because earlier in the day, the same kid was denied an autograph by Forrest Griffin. This was 2010 and my proof of being there is Forrest was in an arm cast at this time. He was a total jerk. I had been waiting in line to see him when this happened and for that reason, I walked right out of the line.

3. Saw KenFlo after he got crushed by Aldo in Houston. He was totally beaten up in the face and still signed autographs and took pix with folks. I didn’t want to be disrespectful to him, but watched as others asked to take pix to which he obliged. Shows his character as a man because he wasn’t on TV or on camera. He was just Kenny being Kenny. class act.

—

HE H4TE ME

Met Roger Huerta at a house party in uptown Minneapolis. Ended in the police arresting him.

Middle of winter. Uptown Minneapolis. House party. About 10 below 0 out. Roger and 2 of his goons come in the house. Roger of course has his shirt off the second he walks in. He’s here because some chick from some small farm town south of the cities invited him. Problem is, her 6’5 300lb farm boy brother is also at the party, in the kitchen next to the keg. Big guy gets pissed that Roger is trying to get into little sis’s pants. Keep in mind, all we know about Roger is he wrestles at Augsberg. About 12 keystone lights later, the quarter full keg gets thrown across the room and it’s intended for Roger. Roger, double legs farm boy and throws about 6 of the hardest punches I’ve ever seen. He lit that kid up. Everyone gets separated and big fella gets pulled outside as a squad car pulls up. Next thing I know, roger is being put in a squad car. I heard that violated parol and is what ultimately kept him from doing the Real World.

Who knows what the real story is, but Roger was a gigantic slime ball and kicked a guys ass who was legitimately 3 times his size. FRAT 

I can kind of relate to him in a way, whenever I go to a party the first thing I do is take off my shirt whatever the temperature so the chicks can see my tribal tattoos, although the tattoos are personal and have meaning for just me, I don’t like to show them off at all, some guys do get a bit intimidate by it I guess.

But if a guy throws a keg at you, well I’m thinking that hes not doing it to be neighbourly.

—

soldave

met Rampage twice, first time he got super upset that I was drunk and said my girlfriend wanted a pic with “mr t”. He exclaimed he would put his foot up my ass. At that point he was invited into the cage on the local show, instead of speaking to the crowd he called me out pointing and saying he wanted to fight me (at which point a sea parted around me). Gave me a decent interview after saying “fuck the ufc”. ha good times

Haha, I remember this story. That’s quite funny. That’s definitely his humour. I was in the changing rooms at Cage Gladiators in Liverpool when he was with some Wolfslair fighters and a girl managed to get in and wandered over and butted in when I was chatting to him, trying to get him to kiss her. He was like, “Just wait, wait, I’m talking” but she persisted so jokingly I said, “Man, just kiss the bitch!”

A stern look came across his face and he looked at me and said, “You DON’T call a girl a bitch……………………..not to her face anyway!” Then laughed. I think I did a little shit in my pants and laughed it off like I knew he was joking initially.

—

Fight! UK Online

met GSP, super nice guy posed for a photo and then slipped into the London night on his own

Yeah, quite honestly one of the nicest humans I’ve ever encountered. We were waiting for a few other media types to come round so we could do like a group interview with him and I was just sat with him for about ten minutes having a chat about this and that. Really humble and grateful for what he has, just down to earth.

—

EatItPal

Aldo forrest kenflo all super.nice guys…forrest was funny as hell …busted everyones balls who came up to him was super friendly tho

Coleman was by far the nicest shot the shit with him before a signing for a half hour …was with his daughters kept talking about how proud he was of them …talked about the old pride days said fedor hit him so hard he thought he caved his chest in …let me and my buddy hold the ufc n pride belts …guy talked to u like u have known him for years 

—

mmmuscar

I met quite a few fighters at the Fan Expo in Houston when they came. All the fighters I met were nice: Frye, Ludwig, Bas, Jardine, Renzo, Griggs and more.

Forrest and Bonnar were both rude though, but in Forrest’s defense he was sick.

But, I brought me stepson the the Expo and We were both dying to meet Mitrione but kept missing him. We went early to the next meeting area, which was hosted by TrauMMA. They told us everyone was running late and we said we would wait. One of the guys overheard us talking and saying we could call it a day after Mitrione cause he was one of the main reasons we came. Guy walked over and said no matter how long the line is to go get other autographs and come back and we will come through VIP like. Come time and we saw the guy and he had us upfront to meet and take pics with Kennedy, Cormier and Rockhold. Then comes Matt with a cheeseburger and fries. We both got to sit with him while he ate and take pics. It was funny cause Matt never put his food down. He has a cheeseburger in all the pics.

Also, met Tracy Lee there. Super nice.

—

rockyrocks90

Brian Bowles on both lists. Awesome guy to chill and hang out with. but in the gym hes a vindictive sociopath really awesome dude

—

JHR

It goes without saying but Jens Pulver.

I asked to be a corner man on this very website, and the guy said yes. (Versus Daune Ludwig) Unfortunately he got sick as a dog and the first fight was postponed, what does Jens do? Sets it up so I can be in Jeremy Horn’s corner for that event. That’s how I first met Horn

Seriously, what other sport can you do that? Hey Derek Jeter, can I can some batting practice with you?

Horn is on the same level as Jens as is Monte Cox. All gracious guys

Hughes was great with me also. We had dinner soon after his loss to BJ I think it helped that I was a farm boy also, so I think he enjoyed talking about farming and not fighting. 

Also high up the list are Tompkins and his crew. Shawn basically made me feel like part of the team and Hominick, Stout, Horodecki…they all were class acts and we had a blast hanging out getting into trouble with them.

I’ve only met one fighter who I didn’t like. He thought his s— didn’t stink something fierce. No sense naming him because he no longer fights and most wouldn’t recognize the name anyways.

On a side note, Yves Lavigne is amazing. A real genuine nice guy who always takes the time to chat and make you feel great. Top notch in my books.

—

UGCTT_Winnson 

Keep in mind it’s all frame of mind and who they just dealt with.

My buddy and I were getting lunch and dumped our trays on the ground when we saw Royce Gracie in Macau.

He was our hero and did not disapoint. He actually interrupted a lady that was talking to him to run over and shake our hands because he saw how bug eyed we were.

I got to help Bas Rutten buy a new belt once. The level of coolness that radiated off this dude was over 9000, so we got him a good deal.

Realize that MMA dudes are people and they have good days and bad.

Did you see that dude asking Rashad to sign his picture that was his KTFO from Machida? Fuck you bro.

You want to see nice guys? Be nice to them and treat them with respect. Want to be an asshole for laughs? They should be legally allowed to slap the shit out of you.

Teach you some respect.

—

mixedmartialfarts

Rogan was incredibly nice considering how mobbed he was getting after a WEC. He stuck around way longer than he should have chatting with people and taking pictures while everyone Ken Shamrock gets a bad rap IMO. Met him once at the Reno Rib Fest and the guy couldn’t have been nicer… shot the shit with my friends and I for almost a half hour about the role of karate in MMA (it was during the “Machida Era”) and overall just seemed like a really nice dude.

There are definitely people that are more stand-offish than others, but some people are just less outgoing than others and potentially less comfortable with the idea of celebrity. For fans that have had a bad experience meeting any kind of celebrity, the person may actually be an asshole but they could also just be having a super shitty day and you caught them at the wrong time. I can’t imagine a world where I have random people coming up to me anywhere I go and I have to be nice to all of them or they will think that I’m a horrible person.