When people want to watch a fight they expect a few things, such as poise, control, and one helluva good fight between two individuals that are there to destroy each other. What gets tiring very quickly is a fighter that can’t learn when it’s time to talk and when it’s time to just fight. A cocky fighter isn’t exactly all mouth and no skill, but a lot of those that do talk appear to be making up for a lack of skill by running their mouth to distract or possibly intimidate their opponent. As one can guess, this rarely goes well since there are only so many fighters out there that can run this line of trash-talking and still walk out at the end of the fight victorious. Plus, if a person can talk and back it up then let them talk, but their skill can’t back up their mouth it’s likely that they should stay quiet and work a little harder on those skills.
When you can throw those hands as well as you wag your tongue then it’s considered okay to brag a little, but even then the talking needs to be kept to a minimum as most fighters understand since the ones that talk the most are usually the ones that are going to end up losing the hardest at some point. It’s not a guarantee, since some of the best fighters in the world are still massive trash talkers. But trying to demoralize your opponent and ride them until you work their last nerve isn’t something that a lot of people enjoy unless it’s coming from both sides, or it’s well-deserved and is just damned funny.
Watching a cocky fighter get destroyed is amusing.
Why though? You would think that even a cocky fighter would have enough fans that would want to encourage them and give excuses for why they lost. Oh, there are plenty of those, and while some of them have the good sense to turn away and be silent when their big-mouthed fighters get stomped into the canvas, others will blame everything and everyone else for the loss, and sometimes so will the fighter. In fact, the difference between a truly cocky and loudmouth fighter is that the cocky fighter might actually learn a lesson and be quiet for a while. The loudmouth will keep going and find a scapegoat for every little thing that went wrong. Plus, a person that doesn’t stop talking before the fight is rarely going to stop talking after, the only that will change is the tune they’re singing.
There are a few people that want to know why a loudmouth will keep popping off even if they get beaten, and there are plenty of them, such as:
- The loudmouth fighter won’t take the blame for losing, since in their eyes it’s the coach, it’s the referee’s, it’s the judges, and so on and so on. It’s never their fault because in their mind they’re perfect, and there’s no reason for them to change until their perfect little world is shattered and they have to rebuild.
- Ego is a real killer in the ring since anyone walking in thinking that they’re going to dominate had better know they have the skill to do just that. Of course, if a fighter walks in knowing that their opponent is that much weaker than they are, an honorable fighter might get things over quickly and not bother talking.
- A lot of loudmouth fighters are narcissists and absolutely need the attention. They need the validation that they’re every bit as awesome as they think they are. If they can’t amuse the crowd then they kind of lose their purpose.
Some fighters can be cocky and back it up.
It’s kind of like Kid Rock said “It ain’t braggin’ m**********r if you back it up!”. Call the guy whatever you want, but he has a damn good point. If a fighter talks a good game and can’t bring that same intensity with their skills then it’s time to send them back to the kiddie table with a pat on the head and a juice box. But those that can talk that smack and step in the ring to lay it down, well, you can like them or not, but they’ve shown that they’ve earned the right to talk big. There have been plenty of fighters over the years that have earned this right and lost it only to regain it. But just a few of them that were absolute animals before they let their legends and their heads get a little too big.
- Muhammad Ali-This man could talk trash with the best of them and was in fact THE best for a while since he didn’t quiet himself for nearly anyone. As he grew older and started taking losses he still didn’t talk because he wanted people to know he was coming for them.
- Mike Tyson-Mike didn’t really talk a lot most of the time while he was on his way up, but what little he did say people listened to. When he started trash talking though it felt like his lost a lot of his focus, and things kind of went downhill after that.
- Ronda Rousey-Ronda didn’t really talk much either, but her attitude was anything but pleasant at times since she flat out refused to touch gloves with other fighters now and then. Whatever issues you have with a fighter outside the ring don’t need to come into the ring. But while she was an ass-kicker for a while, her attitude kind of buried her.
- Brock Lesnar-The guy is intimidating to a lot of people, but listening to him trying to talk trash was just cringe-worthy. The time he said that Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass so he “pulled it out and beat him over the head with it”, was enough to say “Shh, go sit down Brock.”.
- Connor McGregor-The guy is a beast in the ring, but he sounds like straight ass during interviews. He might be a nice guy for all we know but the way he talks to people now and then makes it hard to take him seriously. Plus, this last bout against Dustin Poirer almost feels like a bit of karma finally reaching out and telling him to sit.
A cocky attitude can’t increase one’s skill.
Like it or not, talking a great game doesn’t mean you HAVE a great game. Some fighters can make it work since they can focus on their fighting skills and their smack talk, but others just need to practice the art of silence along with the martial arts if they want to win. It’s not always easy to stay silent as a fighter since the adrenaline rush, the ability to knock someone out and then go celebrate, and the roar of the crowd are bound to get to just about anyone and make it nearly impossible at times to not get a little full of oneself. But the smart fighter learns how to either embrace the crowd’s reaction or to block them out in order to focus on what matters, which is being the last person standing. There are a few reasons why people enjoy watching cocky fighters get knocked out or humbled or both, and a few of those are:
- You don’t need to be a cocky jerk to be great, you can be humble in mind and spirit and still know that you can knock someone out. Walking into a ring where you’re about to do battle with someone is the last place to be cocky if you can’t bring what’s needed to back it up.
- Cocky people tend to thrive on getting into a person’s head, and when it fails to happen it’s like karma just b-slapped the other fighter using their opponents’ hands. that’s the kind of cosmic justice that a lot of people love to see since it proves that the more crap a person talks, the bigger the bill is when it comes due.
- A sanctioned fight is meant to be fought with at least some respect. Both fighters know that they have enough skill to be in the ring with each other, but the cocky fighter usually has to play mind games since they’re not sold on their own skill level. Cowards talk the most while the smart fighter keeps their mouth shut and lets their hands do the talking.
- It’s just a desire to see some comeuppance finally delivered with a five-knuckle shuffle that can hopefully close the trash talker’s mouth for a little while. If the person talking the most goes down and admits they were beaten it’s all good, but a lot of them tend to get up and keep talking no matter how badly the crowd lets them have it. So, you end up wanting to see them beaten again and again until they finally shut up. There’s no need to break their spirit, but shutting their mouth is definitely a bonus.
Cowards usually talk the most and they talk the loudest since they have the biggest need to get into someone’s head to gain every possible advantage.
WTR?
Let’s put it this way, watching two people go at it in a ring is sometimes a little hard to justify since we’re basically cheering for one person to do a great deal of harm to the other in order to win and get paid. But there are those times when one fighter or another will pop off at the mouth in order to have their say or gain an advantage or just be a general nuisance since they can be. That’s when a lot of us think that it’s time for someone to shut their mouth, and it’s satisfying when someone does. There’s no need to wish massive injury on a fighter, but seeing them humbled just a bit and reminded that they’re still human and not Superman or Wonder Woman is definitely a pleasure.
