While fight promotion and trash talk do a lot in terms of building pre-fight hype for mixed martial arts (MMA) fights, quite often staredowns set the tone for the matchup to come.
Take a few moments, watch the embedded video and enjoy your adrenaline rush for the day.
A few highlights from the video:
Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II – In one of the most anticipated rematches in MMA history, Chael Sonnen faced Anderson Silva for the second time at UFC 148. As the two men faced off, Silva checked Sonnen’s face with his shoulder, setting the tone for a dominant performance from The Spider the following evening.
Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway – Conor McGregor is arguably MMA’s biggest draw. Before he was the international phenomenon that he is today, McGregor fought fellow up-and-comer Max Holloway at UFC Fight Night 26.
BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz – It was the fight between the man who coined the phrase Just Scrap and the man who is arguably the most popular member of the Skrap Pack. The fighters nearly came to blows during their weigh-in at UFC 137.
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort – Before Anderson Silva entered the Matrix and nearly front kicked Vitor Belfort’s face off at UFC 126, he and Belfort got into it at the weigh-ins the day before.
Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier – In one of the wildest pre-fight spectacles in UFC history, Jones and Cormier brawled at a press event ahead of their showdown at UFC 182.
Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida – At the Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, Sanchez and Guida threw down with such intensity and vigor that it was a shoo-in for the 2009 Fight of the Year award, handed out by Fighters Only Magazine. Their staredown just before the fight should have won some sort of an award too.
If you’re yearning for more intense staredowns make sure to check out UFC Fight Night 86 this weekend, which emanates from Zagreb, Croatia. Official weigh-ins take place Saturday, April 9th at 11:30AM EST.
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Ray Higginbotham is an MMA writer and avid enthusiast of combat sports. For more content, follow him on Twitter @_MMARAY.
